in thepolitical, religious and economic life of the city. It had the Temple of Apollo, the Templeof Vespasian, the Sanctuary of the Lares Publici, Macellum, a Basilica, public buildings,etc. In Pompeii, there are two theaters, gladiators barracks, an amphitheater, private andpublic baths, temples, gates, houses and villas, and even a bakery.Pompeii attracted many wealthy Romans. They built great villas near theMediterranean shore, where they could enjoy the mild, sunny climate. It is in the houseswhere wall paintings are founded, and, believe it or, not Pompeii owes its fame to themural art preserved because they were hermetically sealed by hardened lava and slimefrom all destructive atmospheric influences(Kraus 156). Because of that, the houses ofPompeii have given us a treasure of mural paintings, the most complete record of thechanging fashions in interior decoration in the entire ancient world. The quantity of thepaintings, tells us about both the prosperity and the taste of the times. In the early years ofexploration, excavators were interested exclusively in the mural paintings, especially thoseabout Greek heroes and famous myths. They were cut out of the walls and transferred tothe Naples Archeological Museum. Later, archeologists stopped this practice and seriousattention was given to the mural designs as a whole. At the end of the 19 century, AugustMau, a German art historian, divided the paintings into four so-called pompeian styles.The technique used in these walls differed considerably from that used in Renaissancefrescoes. Before the artist could begin his work, the rough wall had to be covered withthree coats of fine lime mortar, followed by other three coats of a mortar using powderedmarble. When the wall surface was ready, it was polished with mable dust and the colorslaid on at the same time. By doing that, the walls were protected against future crackingand had a brilliant surface like that on marble itself. The mi...
