In this recess stood the table of standard measures, _mensa ponderaria_ (Fig. 34), which is now in the Naples Museum, unfortunately not entire; a part of it has disappeared. The part remaining consists of a large slab of limestone (a little over 8 feet long and 1.8, or 2 Oscan feet, wide), in which are nine bowl-shaped cavities with holes at the bottom through which the contents could be drawn off; this slab rested on two stone supports, and similar supports above it carried another slab, which is now lost, with three cavities. The table thus contained twelve standards of capacity for liquid and dry measure, but only ten are shown in the illustration, as two are too far back. It is evident that the table has come down from the pre-Roman period. The names of the measures were originally written in Oscan, beside the five largest cavities, and though the letters were later erased, they are still in part legible. Only one word, however, can be made out with certainty, beside the next to the smallest cavity; that is _Kuiniks_, plainly the same as the Greek _Choinix_. We naturally infer that in the pre-Roman time the Pompeians used Greek measures. [Illustration: Fig. 34.--Table of standard measures, _mensa ponderaria_.] In the time of Augustus, about 20 B.C., the cavities were enlarged and made to conform to the Roman standard, but the new names were not put beside them. The inscription on the front of the larger slab has reference to these changes: 'Aulus Clodius Flaccus, the son of Aulus, and Numerius Arcaeus Arellianus Caledus, the son of Numerius, duumvirs with judiciary authority, in accordance with a decree of the city council, caused the measures to be made equal' to the Roman measures. A similar adjustment of measures to the Roman standard is indicated by the use of the phrase _metra exaequare_ on a table found at Minturnae. The adoption of a uniform standard was made a subject of imperial regulation by Augustus, who, by this means, sought to promote the unification of the Empire. Similar tables of measures have been found in various parts of the Roman world, as at Selinunto in Sicily, in the Greek islands, and at Bregenz on the Lake of Constance. It is probable that an official charged with the oversight of the measures had his office in the small room next to the stairway (11). CHAPTER XII _THE MACELLUM_ The large building at the northeast corner of the Forum was a provision market, of the sort called _Macellum_. The name Pantheon, once applied to it, is now abandoned, and there is no longer the slightest doubt regarding its purpose, which is indicated by its general plan, the remains found in the course of the excavations, and the paintings upon the walls.