It was, Italian authorities said later, as if the thieves had a catalog and knew just

what they were after. Armed bandits bound and gagged six unarmed guards,

entered a storeroom containing artifacts from the Roman town of Herculaneum, and

stole about 280 objects - gold rings, bracelets, earrings, and precious stones. All had

been discovered during excavations of the seaside town, buried by the same

eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 that destroyed its larger and better-known

neighbor, Pompeii. Authorities said that the stolen items also included a small bronze

statue of Bacchus inlaid with copper and silver, a bronze vase, and a box of coins.

The total value of objects taken during the robbery was estimated at 1.6 million

dollars. Art historians and others criticized lax security that permitted two gunmen to

climb a wall, enter the site, and break through a flimsy partition to get into the room

where the artifacts were kept. Some of the critics also complained that the guards

were unarmed. Officials said it would be hard for anyone to sell the stolen objects

because all had been catalogued and photographed, and most had been exhibited

and published.

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