No one remarks how trite and formulaic the frescoes' compositions are. They are painted as if from soap-opera re-enactments performed by actors bored to tears. Evidently whoever commissioned the frescoes couldn't tell, cared less, or could do nothing about it. That who paid for them was Aulus Rustius Verus, a local politician, tracks. The mosaic floor of 3 million tiles with no more decoration than a double black line around the perimeter tracks, too; probably rugs covered most of it.

These are lavish trappings of a slave-keeping society. The slaves could be compelled to paint and lay mosaic tiles, but not to care. They were anyway able to ensure viewers would know. Moderns working in advertising will understand.