Sallustiano

Sallustiano is the 17th rione of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. XVII. It is located within the Municipio I and the name refers to the ancient Gardens of Sallust (Horti Sallustiani), which were located here.

During the Augustan age, the area belonged to the regio Alta Semita (Latin for 'high pathway'). Here were the Horti Sallustiani, which gave the rione its name, and the Temple of Venus Erycina, in the area between Via Piave and Via Calabria, no less important than the villa of Sallust, to the point that the golden mirror of the goddess on a blue background was chosen as the coat of arms of the rione. The famous Ludovisi Throne, found during the urbanization works in the area, was most likely part of the temple.

Between Via Flavia and Via Servio Tullio stood the temple dedicated to the goddess Fortuna, while the circus of Flora was probably located between Via XX Settembre and Via Boncompagni. The Sallustian obelisk, found in the area of the Horti Sallustiani and now in Piazza della Trinità dei Monti, was not part of the spina of the circus, but more likely it adorned a private hippodrome of the villa of Sallust.

Via Piave follows the route of the former Via Salaria Nova, which exited from Porta Collina in the direction of the demolished Porta Salaria. Near the street there was an important stately sepulchral area, which included the funerary monument to Sulpicius Maximus, today in the center of Piazza Fiume, and that of Cornelia, currently close to the walls in Corso Italia.

In AD 410 the Visigoths of Alaric cut the aqueducts and plundered the villa of Sallust, which was reduced to a pile of rubble and definitively abandoned. Due to the consequent lack of water, the area between the Pincian and the Quirinal Hill became depopulated.

A slight recovery of the rione was promoted in the 16th century by Sixtus V, with the opening of the new Via Pia and the return of the water to the area, thanks to the restoration of an aqueduct, the Acquedotto Felice (named after the Pope himself, whose name was Felice). Furthermore, in 1608 the cardinal Scipione Borghese promoted at his own expense the construction of a beautiful church: Santa Maria della Vittoria.

Nonetheless the rione, which was then part of Trevi, continued to be sparsely populated, with vast green areas due to the presence of large villas such as Villa Barberini, on the current Via XX Settembre, Villa Mandosi, on Via Boncompagni, and Villa Cicciaporci, between Via Pia, the Aurelian Walls up to Porta Salaria and Via di Porta Salaria (now Via Piave).

All this greenery disappeared with the inevitable urbanisation of the area between the Strada Pia and the walls that followed the breach of Porta Pia; breach that, incidentally, was opened in the short portion of walls belonging to the rione. The Boncompagni had two townhouses built on the street that bears their name, one of which currently houses the Museum of Decorative Arts; the local Basilica di San Camillo de Lellis was built on the area of Villa Spithoever, as well as the smaller Chiesa del Sacro Cuore di Gesù with the adjoining convent. The palace of the Geological Museum in Largo Santa Susanna and the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests in Via XX Settembre were also built.