The district Sallustiano is Rome’s 17th rione and was named for the Gardens of Sallust (Horti Sallustiani). These are former gardens that had been commissioned by Gaio Sallustio Crispo, a historian and senator of the Roman Republic.
Sallustiano district Rome (R. XVII)
History and description
The area used to be full of monuments, but most of these do not exist any more. Of the Tempio Venere Erycuna only a small part has been found and the triptych Trono Ludovisi can nowadays be found in the Palazzo Altemps.
Sallustio‘s villa was destroyed by the Visigoths in the early 5th century. Algeric‘s warriors also destroyed the aqueducts that fed the area so it was left without running water and the inhabitants moved elsewhere.
The area came back to life when Pope Sixtus V had one of the aqueducts repaired. This one was called the Acqua Felice, Felice being Sixtus‘ pre-Pope name.
The Santa Maria della Vittoria Church was commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, in 1608. The area remained only scarcely populated, however, partly caused by the presence of vast villas and palazzi like the Villa Barberini on the Via XX Settembre and a number of beautiful buildings constructed by the Boncompagni family.
There are some remains of the Horti Sallustiani to be admired in the Piazza Sallustio.
In the times of Emperor Augustus the present Sallustiano was still part of the 6th regio, Alta Semita.
Nowadays Sallustio is characterized by the presence of a great number of office and government buildings.