The large domus was most likely owned by Aulus Rustius Verus or a client of his, according to inscriptions found, who was an important figure and duumvir. First excavations of the house began in 1888 CE but then stopped and were resumed in 2023 - some 135 years later.

During recent excavations at least five human skeltal remains have been found in the house, some of whom were most liely killed by collapsing walls and roofs due to the weight of eruption material.

circa 250 BCE- 79 CE

The house comprised of at least two smaller domus structures dating back to the Samnite Period each with an independent atrium. These two atrium houses along the Via Nola dating from the Samnite period as early as the 3rd century BCE were transformed, probably after the earthquake of 62 CE, into a single commercial establishment with residential wings.

At the time of the eruption of 79 CE much of the house is known to have been undergoing renovation or reconstruction as shown by the large piles of roof tiles, stone, mortar materials and tools found throughout the house. Nevertheless, the house was still occupied as shown by the last sacrifice at the domestic altar (lararium) and the remains of the bodies.

circa 250 BCE- 79 CE

The main residential section of the large complex was situated to the north facing the Via Nola, just behind the commercial parts to the south. In ther residential wing of the house a large number of luxurious rooms with outstanding frescoes were discovered. These include the black-painted reception or dining room with white mosaic floor and frescoes of the Trojan War, the large porticoed room with Dionysiac scenes, a shrine (sacrarium) and a large bath complex complete with palaestra for exercise and a plunge pool. The boiler room has a unique arrangement of pipework and valves for the water supply. An exquisite ceiling fresco was found collapsed on the floor.

The two skeletons found sheltering from the eruption in a small room in this part of the house were of a rich woman with gold and pearl earrings and clutching gold coins while a younger man, possibly a slave, was nearby crushed by a collapsed wall.

Two bedrooms adjoining the atrium of house 1 have frescoes depicting Poseidon and Amymone in the first and Apollo and Daphne in the second. In one of these rooms are remains of charred furniture which caught fire during the catastrophe.

Southwest of the atrium of house 1 in Room 12 is a large lararium or household shrine built against the south wall. It consists of two bands: the upper one decorated with two large snakes in stucco; the lower one a fresco dominated by a large snake next to an attached altar. The decorations date to the decade preceding the eruption, proved by the last layer of plaster covering an earlier one on which are numerous electoral graffiti for the office of aedile which Aulus Rustius Verus would have held up to a decade earlier. The room was undergoing reconstruction as shown by mixing areas for mortar on the beaten floor and by piles of rough-hewn building aggregates and ceramic containers full of fresh lime. The altar still contained recent burnt offerings of figs, dates, olives, pine cone bracts, shells and pine nuts.

The house was fitted with a laundry (fullery or fullonica) in the atrium of one houses, while a bakery with an oven and production rooms with millstones was installed in the other house for wholesale distribution of bread to other outlets in the city. Slaves and donkeys were used there to grind the grain for the bread and kept in dark rooms with small barred windows high in the wall.

circa 40-30 BCE

Dionysian Thiasus
An almost life-size frieze, known as a "megalography" (from the Greek term for "large painting"- a cycle of paintings with large-scale figures) has been unearthed in a spacious banqueting room. The fresco occupies three walls of the room while the fourth opens onto the garden. The fresco, like the famous one in the Villa of Mysteries, is one of the few that depict the mysteries of the Dionysian cult. It depicts lifesize figures standing on pedestals as if they were statues although their movement, complexions and dress make them appear lively. One of the details of the large fresco, according to the initial hypotheses, depicts a woman initiated into the Dionysian cult.

The details on the frieze show the procession of Dionysus, the god of wine: the bacchantes (also known as maenads) are portrayed as dancers, but also as ferocious hunters with slaughtered kid goats on their shoulders or holding a sword and the innards of an animal; young satyrs with pointed ears play the double flute, while another performs a sacrifice of wine (libation) in acrobatic style, squirting wine behind him from a drinking horn into a patera (shallow bowl). At the centre of the composition, there is a woman with an old Silenus who holds a torch, indicating that she is an initiate, a mortal woman who, through a nocturnal ritual, is about to be initiated into the mysteries of Dionysus, the god who dies and is reborn and who promises the same destiny to his followers.

circa 40-30 BCE

Trojan Frescoes
A recently uncovered dining room, the so-called "Black Room" or the "Black Painted Room", in Pompeii reveals a striking cycle of frescoes themed around the Trojan War, rendered in the refined visual language of the Third Style. The room, designed for elite banqueting and conversation, features elegantly dark-painted walls that serve as a dramatic backdrop for mythological scenes drawn from the epic conflict between Greeks and Trojans. These compositions were intended not merely for decoration, but as catalysts for philosophical and moral reflection during social gatherings.

The frescoes emphasize themes of fate, heroism, and tragic foreknowledge. Notable figures include Helen and Paris—here identified by his alternate name, Alexandros—as well as Cassandra and Apollo (inspect). Cassandra is portrayed in a particularly poignant moment alongside Apollo, invoking her prophetic curse: gifted with foresight but doomed to be disbelieved. Her image, layered with narrative complexity, embodies the tension between divine will and human agency—central concerns in both myth and Roman moral discourse.

These mythological tableaux, common in Roman domestic art, were selected not only for their aesthetic and literary value, but for their function in stimulating learned discussion among dinner guests. The dynamic quality of the imagery—enhanced by the black background and flickering oil-lamp light—would animate the walls as the evening unfolded, drawing viewers into timeless stories of desire, power, and destiny.

The choice of subject matter and stylistic execution suggests an owner deeply engaged with the cultural and philosophical currents of the time, using visual myth to project both sophistication and intellectual depth.