the altar, an inscription found there and a statue of the goddess, whose
modest attitude recalls the masterpiece of Florence, sufficiently
authorize the name, in the absence of more exact information, that has
been given to this edifice. Others, however, have attributed it to the
worship of Bacchus; others again to that of Diana, and the question has
not yet been settled by the savans; but Venus being the patroness of
Pompeii, deserved the handsomest temple in the little city.

The columns of the peribolus or inclosure bear the traces of some
bungling repairs made between the earthquake of 63 and the eruption of
79. They were Doric, but the attempt was to render them Corinthian, and,
to this end, they were covered with stucco and topped with capitals that
are not becoming to them. Against one of these columns still leans a
statue in the form of a Hermes. Around the court is cut a small kennel
to carry off the rain water, which was then caught in reservoirs. The
wall along the Forum was gaily decorated with handsome paintings; one of
these, probably on wood, was burned in the eruption, and the vacant
place where it belonged is visible. Behind the temple open rooms
formerly intended for the priests; handsome paintings were found there,
also--- among them a Bacchus, resting his elbow on the shoulder of old
Silenus, who is playing the lyre. Absorbed in this music, he forgets the
wine in his goblet, and lets it fall out upon a panther crouching at his
feet.

We now have only to visit the temple itself, the house of the goddess.
The steps that scaled the basement story were thirteen--an odd
number--so that in ascending the first step with the right foot, the
level of the sanctuary was also reached with the right foot. The temple
was _peripterous_, that is to say, entirely surrounded with open
columns with Corinthian capitals. The portico opened broadly, and a