. Pompeii : its life and art . Fig. 26. — Interior of the Basilica, looking toward the tribunal, restored. row of columns the lower portions of which show traces oflatticework. The decoration of the walls, like that of the restof the interior, imitates a veneering of colored marbles. Theshape and comparatively narrow dimensions of the elevatedroom indicate that we have here a tribunal in the strict sense, araised platform for the judge and his assistants ; in the basili-cas provided with apses the latter were large enough to makeroom both for the judicial body and for the litigants. Here theli
. Pompeii : its life and art . Fig. 26. — Interior of the Basilica, looking toward the tribunal, restored. row of columns the lower portions of which show traces oflatticework. The decoration of the walls, like that of the restof the interior, imitates a veneering of colored marbles. Theshape and comparatively narrow dimensions of the elevatedroom indicate that we have here a tribunal in the strict sense, araised platform for the judge and his assistants ; in the basili-cas provided with apses the latter were large enough to makeroom both for the judicial body and for the litigants. Here thelitigants stood on the floor in front of the tribunal, and whencourt was in session the general public must have been excludedfrom this part of the corridor. The arrangement in this respect THE BASILICA 77. 0 l i 3 I 5 C 7 WH I I I I I I i Fig. 27. —Front of the tribunal — plan and elevation. was far from convenient, but seemingly convenience was sacri-ficed to aesthetic considerations ; the builders wished to treat theprojecting front of the tribunal as an ornament to the building. Under the tribunal was a vaulted chamber half below thelevel of the ground ; two round holes, indicated on the plan,opened into it from above. It could hardly have been designedas a place for the confinement of prisoners ; escape would havebeen easy by means of two windows in the rear, especiallywhen help was ren-dered from the out-side. More likely itwas used, in connec-tion with the businessof the court, as astoreroom, in whichwriting materials andthe like, or even doc-uments, might bekept; they could ea-sily have been passed up through the holes when needed. The second story of thetribunal was not as completely open to the main hall as thefirst. Its front, the remains of which have for the most partb
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyorkmacmillan
