Gardens of Sallust

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The Gardens of Sallust (Latin: Horti Sallustiani) was an ancient Roman estate including a landscaped pleasure garden developed by the historian Sallust in the 1st century BC. It occupied a large area in the northeastern sector of Rome, in what would become Region VI, between the Pincian Hill and Quirinal Hill, near the Via Salaria and later Porta Salaria. The modern rione is now known as Sallustiano.

Lucullus started the fashion of building luxurious garden-palaces in the 1st century BC with the construction of his gardens ( horti ) on the Pincian Hill. The horti were a place of pleasure, almost a small palace, and offered the rich owner and his court the possibility of living in isolation, away from the hectic life of the city but close to it. The most important part of the horti was undoubtedly the planting, very often as topiary in geometric or animal shapes. Among the greenery there were often pavilions, arcades for walking away from the sun, fountains, spas, temples and statues, often replicas of Greek originals.

In the 3rd century AD the total number of horti occupied about a tenth of Rome and formed a green belt around the centre.

The property originally belonged to Julius Caesar as the Horti Caesaris, but after his death it was acquired by the historian Sallust, one of his closest friends, who developed it using his wealth acquired as governor of the province of Africa Nova (newly conquered Numidia ). In 36 BC on the death of the historian, the residence passed to his adopted great-grandson of the same name, and eventually to Claudius as imperial property but was maintained for several centuries by the Roman Emperors as a public amenity. The gardens were enriched with many additional structures and monumental sculptures in the four centuries during which they evolved. Many emperors chose it as a temporary residence, as an alternative to the official seat on the Palatine Hill.

Pliny writes that the remains of the guardians of the horti, Posio and Secundilla, were found there in the reign of Augustus and measured 10 feet 3 inches tall.

The Emperor Nerva died of a fever in the villa of the horti in 98, and the emperors Hadrian and Aurelian had major works done there. The latter in particular had a porticus miliarensis built, probably a complex of portico, garden and riding stables, where he went to ride. Other restorations were carried out in the third century.

It remained an imperial resort until it was sacked in 410 by the Goths under Alaric, who entered the city at the gates of the Horti Sallustiani. The complex was severely damaged and never rebuilt. [ full citation needed ] However, the gardens were not finally deserted until the 6th century.

Lucullus started the fashion of building luxurious garden-palaces in the 1st century BC with the construction of his gardens ( horti ) on the Pincian Hill. The horti were a place of pleasure, almost a small palace, and offered the rich owner and his court the possibility of living in isolation, away from the hectic life of the city but close to it. The most important part of the horti was undoubtedly the planting, very often as topiary in geometric or animal shapes. Among the greenery there were often pavilions, arcades for walking away from the sun, fountains, spas, temples and statues, often replicas of Greek originals.

In the 3rd century AD the total number of horti occupied about a tenth of Rome and formed a green belt around the centre.

The property originally belonged to Julius Caesar as the Horti Caesaris, but after his death it was acquired by the historian Sallust, one of his closest friends, who developed it using his wealth acquired as governor of the province of Africa Nova (newly conquered Numidia ). In 36 BC on the death of the historian, the residence passed to his adopted great-grandson of the same name, and eventually to Claudius as imperial property but was maintained for several centuries by the Roman Emperors as a public amenity. The gardens were enriched with many additional structures and monumental sculptures in the four centuries during which they evolved. Many emperors chose it as a temporary residence, as an alternative to the official seat on the Palatine Hill.

Pliny writes that the remains of the guardians of the horti, Posio and Secundilla, were found there in the reign of Augustus and measured 10 feet 3 inches tall.

The Emperor Nerva died of a fever in the villa of the horti in 98, and the emperors Hadrian and Aurelian had major works done there. The latter in particular had a porticus miliarensis built, probably a complex of portico, garden and riding stables, where he went to ride. Other restorations were carried out in the third century.

It remained an imperial resort until it was sacked in 410 by the Goths under Alaric, who entered the city at the gates of the Horti Sallustiani. The complex was severely damaged and never rebuilt. [ full citation needed ] However, the gardens were not finally deserted until the 6th century.

During the planting of 16th century vineyards and especially in the early 17th century when Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, nephew of Pope Gregory XV, purchased the site and constructed the Villa Ludovisi, many important sculptures were discovered.

In the late 19th century the building fever of the construction of Rome as the capital included the destruction of modern villas that populated the Quirinale. It was a lost opportunity to study the archaeology of the site. The ancient topography was irrevocably altered with the filling of the valley between the Pincio and Quirinal hills where these horti existed.

Nevertheless, excavations led to the partial discovery of a nymphaeum probably dating from Hadrian's renovation of the horti. Its walls were encrusted with enamels, pumice and shells, which framed small landscapes and scenes with animals and flowers painted in bright colours. The sculptural decoration included a round altar with four Seasons and the beautiful group of Artemis and Iphigenia with a doe, now in Copenhagen.

Also part of the later complex was the temple of Venus Erycina which stood at the bottom of the valley, a Republican building located just outside the Porta Collina and incorporated in the horti under Caesar. This small temple was reminiscent of a Hellenistic tholos, a very common type in the late Republican age and a typical element of large suburban villas. The connection to Venus, goddess of love, fertility and nature, and therefore protector of horti suited a large villa such as the Sallustian.

The horti also housed a hippodrome ( circus ) built by Aurelian.

A remarkably well-preserved pavilion of the villa can be seen at the centre of present-day Piazza Sallustio, 14 m below present street level. It was probably a summer triclinium like the Serapeum of Hadrian's Villa. The main part of the building was a large circular hall (11 m in diameter by 13 in height), covered by a dome with alternating concave and flat segments (a very rare form, found only in the Serapeum). The walls host three niches on each side, two of which were open as passages for side rooms, probably nymphaea. A few years after construction, the remaining niches were closed and covered with marble panels, which also covered the walls. The floor was also marble, while the dome and the upper part of the walls were decorated with stucco. A grandiose basilica room was framed by two side buildings on two floors, while the upper part of the building had a large panoramic terrace, linked to a gallery.

It was one of the main nuclei in a spectacular location at the bottom of the valley dividing the Quirinale from the Pincio. It was supported by thick walls with arches and buttresses resting on the Servian Walls where the Via Sallustiana runs today, and resting against the hill behind and connected to other remains of poorly preserved buildings.