Yesterday at about the 20th hour, His Majesty the King {Ferdinand IV} came to observe the excavation of Pompeii, together with the Queen {Maria Carolina} and Emperor Joseph II. Besides their entourage were Count Kaunitz, the English Ambassador {Sir William Hamilton}, and that ambassador’s antiquary Mr. D’Ancrevil. When the King saw the antiquary entering the site, he told him to carry out his duties, and did me (F. La Vega) the honour of saying that I should follow the King himself; whereas the aforementioned antiquary was there for the express purpose, to explain things to the Emperor en route. Their Majesties first entered the Barracks; they wanted to give all parts of it special attention, as well as the material with which it had been overwhelmed. The Emperor asked how this excavation had had its beginnings, which I answered, and I also added, that it had not been carried out in earlier times because a forest had stood in this place, which had been cut down about 28 years ago. The Sovereign examined this building with pleasure and disapproved of the fact that the earth in the middle of the courtyard had not also been cleared. From this place, their Majesties proceeded to the west to a house, where they admired the vaults still intact, the stairs and plaster. In this site they found work proceeding in four rooms and they observed the digging with pleasure. Through the previous instruction of His Excellency Marquis Tanucci, the number of workers had been increased for some days, in anticipation of the visit. In these rooms the earth remained at a height of only 2 feet, and a good part of this had been cleared, where it was less probable that one could find something. After a short time a bronze vase began to be excavated, and so from one thing to another there was uncovered in the 2 rooms all that which is noted down here in order by material, with the exception of some small things which had already been found. {List of finds includes 12 pieces of silver plaque with relief figures; bronze objects — basin, vases, coins, door-hinges, brooches; items in iron, lead, glass, bone, and pottery.}
And the following pieces of plaster had been found in the same rooms shortly before. . . {description follows}. The Emperor was surprised, and even wondered whether all these things had been placed there artificially in order to flatter their good fortune; but he came to realize the truth as I pointed out the position of the finds, the type of earth that contained them, and when I reported what had been done. He then congratulated the King on such a good day’s hunting, which was in effect to apologize; and I added that such a pleasure had been reserved for him alone of all Sovereigns. The English Ambassador, Sir William Hamilton, with his passion for antiquity, did not fail in the midst of this to make known the value of the discoveries with the most detailed observations. The King displayed the greatest pleasure in this encounter, and was so enthused that, besides not wanting to move a step from the place where excavations were being carried out, he actually said two or three times to La Vega to let him know when places were ready to be uncovered, because he wanted to be present when discoveries were being made; and he would be very happy for a day to be set aside for seeing discoveries being made. The Queen was also very joyful at these finds and impatient to see them soon. In the other two rooms nothing was found except for a skeleton, and two coins of the type already described. Afterwards their Majesties went to see some rooms, which had been exposed, where an intact skeleton was still preserved. From this place they proceeded to the Theatre. . . The Emperor asked La Vega how many workmen were employed in this task, and having been informed that there were 20, asked the King how he allowed such a task to proceed so slowly. When he said that little by little it would all be done, the Emperor added that this was a job for employing 3,000 men, and that he would have thought that nothing like this existed in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, and that this created a special honour for the Kingdom; and he asked the King who was looking after these antiquities; he replied that it was the Marquis Tanucci. Her Majesty expressed disapproval of this, and joined in urging the King to devote some energy to such a task. From this place they continued, after having observed the signs that an Odeion had been found, to a whole private house, to see the Temple of Isis, which brought forth praise from the Emperor; and in the meanwhile he did not cease to encourage the King in the most vigorous manner to value these things most highly. In the temple, La Vega showed to their Majesties the drawings, which he had made, towards which the King graciously condescended to show favour. The Emperor particularly enjoyed seeing what remained as an impression of the wooden door, preserved as an imprint on the ground. After having examined all these buildings, which formed a unit as it were, they proceeded to the town gate, where the Emperor was displeased not to see any workmen. La Vega showed to the Sovereigns the plan, which fixes the location of all the buildings excavated in Pompeii, and what had been done at other times, to make them understand the situation and the shape. The Emperor asked what there was of those buildings which they had not seen, and was assured that they had been covered over again (as perhaps Ancrevil had told him, as he was coming together with the rest of the Emperor’s retinue). And he asked the King why he had allowed this. His Majesty replied to this that it had been done in the time of his Esteemed Father (Charles VII}; and La Vega added that it had been done 20 years ago when there was no sign that the site could be a town; but being assured about 6 years ago that it was Pompeii from an inscription found near the site where they were, they had left buildings uncovered, no measures having been taken before this other than for creating the Museum. Their Majesties after this departed at around the 22nd hour and a quarter.
World History
