ROMAN LIBRARIES
tified with a slight interrogation point, by Cagnat and which exhibits a typical apse with side niches.
This library is of uncommon interest as belonging strictly to apostolical times. It lies on the forum at Pompeii, between the market and the Temple of Vespasian, and its purpose had been a mystery. It had been guessed to be a temple, court house, a public Lares. When -the libraries of Timgad and Ephesus had been excavated in 1901 and 1904, Cagnat recognized the resemblance, which is obvious on comparing the ground plans. It consists of a rectangular room 18 metres wide and 20 metres deep with a semicircular niche at the far end and three niches on each side. In the center of the room was a pedestal which might have served as an altar or for a statue; on the right is an opening into a series of adjoining rooms. The situation of the building as well as its form points to this as a public library
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