HERCULANEUM, an ancient city of Italy, situated about two-thirds of a mile from the Portici station of the railway from Naples to Pompeii. The small part of the city, which was investi gated at the spot called Gli scavi nuovi (the new excavations) was discovered in the i9th century. But the more important works were executed in the 18th century; and of the buildings then ex plored at a great depth, by means of tunnels, none is visible ex cept the theatre, the orchestra of which lies 85 ft. below the surface.
Herculaneum was a small city of Campania between Neapolis and Pompeii. situated between two streams at the foot of Vesu vius on a hill overlooking the sea with a safe harbour. It fell under the power of Rome during the Samnite wars. It remained faithful to Rome for a long time, but it joined the Italian allies in the Social War. Having submitted anew in June of the year 665 (88 s.c.), it appears to have been less severely treated than Pompeii. It enjoyed great prosperity towards the close of the republic and in the earlier times of the empire, since many splen did villas were built here, one belonging to the imperial house, another to the family of Calpurnius Piso. By means of the Via Campana it had easy communication north-westward with Ne apolis, Puteoli and Capua, and thence by the Via Appia with Rome; and southwards with Pompeii and Nuceria, and thence with Lu cania and the Bruttii. In the year A.D. 63 it suffered terribly from an earthquake ; and hardly had it completed the restoration of some of its principal buildings when it fell beneath the great erup tion of the year 79, described by Pliny the younger (Ep. vi. 16, 20), in which Pompeii also was destroyed, with other cities of Campania. On August 23 Pliny the elder, who had command of the Roman fleet at Misenum, set out to render assistance to Rec tina and others dwelling on that coast, but, as there was no escape by sea, the harbour having been filled up, he was obliged to aban don those who had managed to flee from their houses, overwhelmed in a moment by the material poured forth by Vesuvius. Thus, while many made their escape from Pompeii (which was over whelmed by the fall of the small stones and afterwards by the rain of ashes), comparatively few could manage to escape from Herculaneum, and these found shelter in Neapolis, where they inhabited a quarter called after the buried city. The name of Herculaneum, which for some time remained attached to the site of the disaster, is mentioned in the later itineraries.
In 1719, while Prince Elbeuf was seeking crushed marble, he learned from the peasants that there were in the vicinity some pits from which they had extracted many statues. In 1738, exca vations were begun on the spot. At first it was believed that a temple was being explored; but afterwards the inscriptions proved that the building was a theatre, and many scholars hastened to Naples to see the marvellous statues of the Balbi and the paint Vngs on the walls. Bernardo Tanucci, secretary of state in founded the Accademia Ercolanese, which published the principal works on Herculaneum (Le Pitture ed i bronzi d' Ercolano, 8 vols., 1757-1792 ; Dissertationis isagogicae ad Herculanensium volumi num explanationem pars prima, 1797). The excavations, which continued for more than forty years (1738-178o), were executed at first under Alcubierre (1738-1741), and then with the assistance of the engineers Rorro and Bardet , Carl Weber (1750-1764), and Francesco La Vega. After the death of Alcu bierre (178o) the last-named was appointed director-in-chief, but from that time the investigations at Herculaneum were inter mitted, and the researches at Pompeii were vigorously carried on. Resumed in 1827, the excavations at Herculaneum were shortly afterwards suspended, nor were the new attempts made in 1866 attended with any success. The antiquities excavated at Her culaneum in the 18th century form a collection of the highest scientific and artistic value. They come partly from the buildings of the ancient city (theatre, basilica, houses and forum), and partly from the private villa of a great Roman family (cf. Com paretti and de Petra, La Villa Ercolanese dei Pisoni, Turin, 1883). From the city come, among many other marble statues, the two equestrian statues of the Balbi and the great imperial and munici pal bronze statues. Mural paintings of extraordinary beauty were also discovered here, such as those that represent Theseus after the slaughter of the Minotaur, Chiron teaching Achilles the art of playing on the lyre and Hercules finding Telephus who is being suckled by the hind.
The monochromes of Herculaneum remain among the finest specimens of the exquisite taste and consummate skill displayed by the ancient artists. Among the best preserved is Leto and Niobe. The Villa Suburbana has given up a good number of marble busts, and the so-called statue of Aristides, but above all that splendid collection of bronze statues and busts (mostly re productions of famous Greek works) now to be found in the Naples Museum, the reposing Hermes, the drunken Silenus, the sleeping Faunus, the dancing girls, the bust called Plato, that wrongly believed to be Seneca, the two quoit-throwers or discoboli, and other masterpieces. But a still further discovery made in the Villa Suburbana contributed to magnify the greatness of Her culaneum ; within its walls was found the famous library, of which, counting both entire and fragmentary volumes, 1,803 papyri are preserved. Among the nations which took the greatest interest in the discovery of the Herculaneum library, the most honourable rank belongs to England, which sent Hayter and other scholars to Naples to hasten the publication of the volumes. Of the papyri which have been unrolled, 195 have been published (Her culanensium voluminum quae supersunt [Naples, 1793-1809] ; Collectio altera, 1862-1876). They contain works by Epicurus, Demetrius, Polystratus, Colotes, Chrysippus, Carniscus and Philo demus. The names of the authors are in themselves sufficient to show that the library belonged to a person whose principal study was the Epicurean philosophy. But of the great master of this school only a few works have been found. Of his treatise HEpi ckl €ws, divided into 37 books, it is known that there were three copies in the library. Even the other authors above mentioned are but poorly represented, with the exception of Philodemus, of whom 26 different treatises have been recognized. But all these philo sophic discussions, belonging for the most part to an author less than secondary among the Epicureans, fall short of the high ex pectations excited by the first discovery of the library. Among the many volumes unrolled only a few are of historical importance— that which treats of the philosophers of the Academy and that which deals with the Stoics. There are in the library some volumes written in Latin, all so damaged that hardly any of them can be deciphered. One with verses relating to the battle of Actium is believed to belong to a poem of Rabirius. The plan of the villa is the only satisfactory document for the topography of Herculaneum.
The most important reference work is C. Waldstein and L. Shoo bridge, Herculaneum, Past, Present and Future ( 1908) ; it con tains full references to the history and the explorations, and to the buildings and objects found (with illustrations). Miss E. R. Barker's Buried Herculaneum (1908) is exceedingly useful. Ex cavations were resumed by the Italian Government in 1927, and interesting buildings found.