mosaic of marbles, pleasingly adjusted, formed the pavement of the
_cella_, of which the painted walls represented simple panels, separated
here and there by plain pilasters. Our Lady of Pompeii dwelt there.

The last monument of the Forum on the south-west side is the Basilica;
and the street by which we have entered separates it from the temple of
Venus. The construction of the edifice leaves no doubt as to its
destination, which is, moreover, confirmed by the word _Basilica_ or
_Basilaca_, scratched here and there by loungers with the points of
their knives, on the wall. _Basilica_--derived from a Greek word which
signifies _king_--might be translated with sufficient exactness by
_royal court_. At Rome, these edifices were originally mere covered
market-places sheltered from the rain and the sun. At a later period,
colonnades divided them in three, sometimes even into five naves, and
the simple niche which, intended for the judges' bench, was hollowed out
at the foot of its monuments, finally developed into a vaulted
semicircle. At last, the early Christians finding themselves crowded in
the old temples, chose the high courts of justice to therein celebrate
the worship of the new God, and the Roman Basilica imposed its
architecture and its proportions upon the Catholic Cathedral. In the
semicircle, then, where once the ancient magistracy held its justice
seat, arose the high altar and the consecrated image of the crucified
Saviour.

The Basilica of Pompeii presents to the Forum six pillars, between which
five portals slid along grooves which are still visible. A vestibule, or
sort of chalcidicum extends between these five entrances and five
others, indicated by two columns and four pillars. The vestibule once
crossed, the edifice appears in its truly Roman grandeur; at first
glance the eye reconstructs the broad brick columns, regularly truncated