Horti Sallustiani

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As Gardens of Sallust (Latin: "sallustische gardens") were referred to in ancient times a park in Rome , which was once the Roman historian Sallust belonged. It was located in a depression in the north of the city outside the former city wall, in front of the Porta Collina and at the foot of the Quirinal , and had the shape of a stadium or hippodrome .

history

The first arrangement of these "gardens" probably goes back to Caesar . Sallust took over the site after his death. Probably at the time of Tiberius the gardens passed into the possession of the Roman emperors. Nero , Diocletian and Constantine lived here. Vespasian and Aurelian often stayed in them, Nerva died in the complex. When Rome was taken by the Visigoths in 410, the gardens were also looted.

buildings

Ancient written sources mention various buildings in the Horti Sallustiani. 184 BC The temple of Venus Erycina was built north of the later gardens. A second temple of Venus, a smaller rotunda, was probably located in the garden itself. Caesar, who traced his family tree back to this goddess, must have agreed with this.

The largest remaining building remains belonging to Hadrian's Palace and is 14 meters below today's street level.

Statues and sculptures

Numerous statuary finds indicate that the Horti Sallustiani were once richly decorated. Some of the still images fit thematically to the Venus temples; for example, a relief on the Ludovisian throne depicts the birth of Aphrodite .

Several depictions of niobids found in the Horti Sallustiani possibly originate from the Temple of Apollo in Eretria , as well as an Amazon statue, and were later transferred to the Roman temple of Fortuna publica.

The portrayal of the dying Gaul is also known .

Many works of art that once adorned the Horti Sallustiani are now part of the collection of the Ludovisi family , who built the Villa Ludovisi on the site in the 17th century . The obelisk that stands in front of Santa Trinità dei Monti today also comes from these gardens.

literature

  • Maddalena Cima (Ed.): Horti Romani . L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome 1998.
  • Monika Frass : Ancient Roman Gardens. Social and economic functions of the Horti Romani . Berger & Sons, Horn et al. 2006.
  • Matthias Grawehr: A Homeric group in the Horti Sallustiani? In: Ancient Art . Vol. 53, 2010, pp. 88-94.
  • Kim J. Hartswick: The gardens of Sallust. A changing landscape . University of Texas Press, Austin 2004, ISBN 0-292-70547-6 .
  • Samuel Ball Platner , Thomas Ashby : A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome . Oxford University Press, London 1929, pp. 271-272 ( online ).

Coordinates: 41 ° 54 ′ 17.6 "  N , 12 ° 29 ′ 22.4"  E