The houses of Pompeii are upon a small scale; generally of one, sometimes of two stories. The principal apartments are always behind, inclosing a court, with a portico round it, and a marble cistern in the middle. The pavements are all mosaic, and the walls are stained with agreeable colours; the decorations are basso-relievos in stucco, and paintings in medallion. Marble seems to have been common.
On both sides of the street[124] the houses stand quite in contact with each other, as in modern times. They are nearly of the same height and dimensions, being similarly paved and painted. The houses, as we have before stated, are on a small scale. The principal apartments are always behind, surrounding a court, with a small piazza about it, and having a cistern of marble in its centre.
An edifice, supposed to be Sallust's house, has an unusually showy appearance. The rooms are painted with the figures of gods and goddesses, and the floors decorated with marbles and mosaic pavements.
The gates of the city, now visible, are five in number. These are known by the names of Herculaneum or Naples, Vesuvius, Nola, Sarno, and Stabiæ[125]. The city was surrounded with walls, the greater portion of which have also been traced. Its greatest length is little more than half a mile, and its circuit nearly two miles. It occupied an area of about one hundred and sixty-one acres. The general figure of the city is something like that of an egg. There have been excavated about eighty houses, an immense number of small shops, the public baths, two theatres, two basilicæ, eight temples, the prison, the amphitheatre, with other public buildings of less note; and also fountains and tombs. The streets are paved with large irregular pieces of lava, neatly dovetailed into each other. This pavement is rutted with the chariot wheels, sometimes to the depth of one inch and a half. In general, the streets are so narrow, that they may be crossed at one stride; where they are of greater breadth, a stepping-stone was placed in the middle for the convenience of foot passengers. On each side of the street there is a footpath, the sides of which are provided with curbs, varying from one foot to eighteen inches high, to prevent the encroachments of the chariots.