Pompeii. The Villa of Marcus Arrius Diomedes

Daguerreotype copy of a salt paper print; 'Pompeii. The Villa of Marcus Arrius Diomedes'. Includes inscription on back -

"So called merely because a timb bearing that name was discovered near it. All that we know of the owner is that his life had been one of elegant luxery - that his Villa lying between the devoted City & and the raging mountain, must have felt the first effects of the fearful visitation. When the vaults (to the left in the view) were opened, at the bottom of the steps were found the skeletons of seventeen persons covered by sev. feet of fine ashes consolidated by the damp of 17 centuries & retaining the prefect impression of the figures. So exact is the cast of the neck & breast of a girl, as preserved in the museum at Naples, that even the texture of teh dress is apparent. Two golden necklaces & 4 rings with engraved gems were beside them. Near the garden gate, two skeletons were lying - one with the key of that gate in his hand & near to it about 100 gold & silver coins; probably this was the proprietor himself, for with the other were some silver vases lying, as perhaps come by the slave accompanying his master in his intended flight & leaving the women & children to their fate, or in fancied secruity within the villa."

"This villa was excavated in 1763 & is by far the most extensive of the private buildings yet discovered." (1847)

(Private view of Mr. Bridges).

(From an original photography by Rev. Bridges in 1847)

From a fuller account of the above in Pompeii.P516