House of the Surgeon, Pompeii

One of Pompeii's most famous houses, excavated in 1770 by Francesco La Vega and named after surgical instruments (forceps, scalpels, probes) found during the dig. Built in opus quadratum style from large Sarno limestone blocks, modern archaeology dates its construction to around 200 BC based on a late 3rd-century coin found beneath the atrium. The classic atrium-style layout includes shops flanking the entrance, a tablinum with folding wooden doors, and a colonnaded portico overlooking a garden. By AD 79, the house showed significant decline with post holes in the atrium floor suggesting temporary roof supports after the AD 62 earthquake. The surgical instruments are now in the Naples National Archaeological Museum.