Description of the House (Reg III, Ins 2, 1) The House of Aulus Trebius Valens lies on the north side of Via dell' Abbondanza and was first excavated during 1913. Initially only the front of the property was excavated and it wasn't until 1915 that excavators began to clear the interior. .. .. .. The facade of the building held a collection of electoral propaganda as well as adverts for events at the amphitheatre. Unfortunately the facade and much of the front of the building was destroyed by a bomb in 1943. Only a few graffiti remain (above left). One such inscription advertised a forthcoming event at the amphitheatre (CIL IV 7991): .. 20 pairs of gladiators of Gnaeus Allius Nigidius Maius, quinquennial, and their substitutes will fight without any public expense at Pompeii. .. The interior of the house was fully excavated after restoration work in 1952. The house has a standard atrium/garden plan. On entering the atrium (B) it is the checkered polychrome decoration of the back wall of the garden, glimpsed through the tablinum, that catches the eye (pictured left and below). The rest of the house is more conventionally decorated, mostly in the third style. .. .. In the south west corner of the atrium a flight of stairs led to the upper floor. Next to the stairs, the cubiculum (C) is decorated in the second style, with the name of the owner scratched on one of the walls. Immediately north of this room is an ala, decorated in the third style with small studies on a white ground. At the rear of the atrium is the tablinum (F) which overlooks, but does not give access to, the garden beyond. The tablinum is decorated in the third style with black and red panels. .. In the cubiculum (C') on the east side of the atrium, the discovery of a chest with precious objects and ointment jars would seem to indicate that it was the mistress's bedroom. The walls were plainly decorated in the second style on a white ground. On this side of the atrium there is also a rectangular hall (D) (accessed via a small room (E)) decorated in the third style with birds and other animals painted on a black ground. In the garden, against the checkerboard decorated wall, is the summer triclinium which is sheltered by a pergola. It was served from the kitchen (I) via a service-hatch. Four bodies were found in the peristyle during the course of the excavations. .. In the southeast corner of the peristyle is a 'bath suite', remarkable for its diminutive size. In their simplest form private baths consisted of two rooms; one used both as a changing room and tepidarium, and a second as the caldarium with the actual bath itself. The House of Trebius Valens has the distinction of possessing the smallest installation so far found, where two tiny rooms (J) and (K), both 1.7m wide and respectively 1.78m and 2m long served as a balneum. In order to maintain a high temperature these rooms were almost windowless, the only light being provided by a lamp or a small oculus, while the only access to the caldarium (K) was through the tepidarium (J), each having a very narrow door (50cm).

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