Pliny the Elder (35.116-117) tells of the innovations brought to painting by one Spurius "Tadius," active during Augustus's reign, which tally well with remains of wall-painting found in Rome, Pompeii, and Herculaneum.

It was he who first instituted that most delightful tech-nique of painting walls with representations of villas, porticoes and landscape gardens, woods, groves, hills, pools, channels, rivers, coastlines—in fact everything which one might want, and also various representations of people within them walking or sailing, or, back on land, arriving at villas on ass-back or in carriages, and also fishing, fowling, or hunting, or even harvesting wine-grapes. There are also. . . many other lively subjects of this sort indicative of a sharp wit. This artist also began the practice of painting representations of seaside towns on [the walls of] open galleries, thus producing a charming view with minimal expense...