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Insula Orientalis I lies across Cardo V from the House of the Deer in Insula IV and north of the Suburban Thermae. Its northern side faces Insula Orientalis II across a narrow lane.
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House of the Gem (Ins Or. I, 1)
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The house was named after a piece of jewelery found there. It dates from the Claudian period and bares the engraved effigy of Livia. A row of columns separates the Tuscan order atrium, adorned with red and black frescos, from the tablinium. The tablinium itself leads into a cubiculum and onto a fine terrace which was originally enclosed by windows. The rooms that look onto the terrace are reached by way of the vestibule and hallway off the atrium.
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To the right of the atrium, a narrow passageway leads to the kitchen and the latrines (pictured opposite), where graffiti on one of the walls records the visit of Apollinaris, physician to the emperor Titus: 'Apollinaris medicus Titi imp(eratoris) hic cacavit bene'.
Among the rooms opening off the terrace is a large chamber with black and white mosaics forming a central panel, divided into twenty scenes, surrounded by a rosette.
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House of the Relief of Telephus (Ins Or. I, 2-3)
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The house is one of the largest in the excavated area. It has an irregular layout due mainly to its location. The atrium has a colonnade on two sides to
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support the upper storey. The spaces between the columns are decorated with circular marble panels.
The tablinum is on the far side of the atrium. On the left, two small doors lead to basic apartments, part of which were stables.
The rest of the house, laid out along a different axis, is on a lower level and is reached by way of a corridor off the tablinum. The peristyle surrounds a garden with a central basin. Off the peristyle are three rooms decorated with marble.
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Another corridor leads to a terrace overlooking the sea. Magnificient and exceptionally coloured marble flooring and wall panelling was discovered in a room opening off this terrace.
The relief depicting an episode from the myth of Telephus (after which the house was named) was uncovered in an adjoining room. The photograph opposite shows one of the fine marble floors of the house. In the background, on a facing wall, is the relief itself.
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