Gardens of Sallust

Welcome to Piazza Sallustio. You are standing above what was once the absolute pinnacle of ancient Roman luxury: the Hohr-tee Sahl-loos-tee-ah-nee, the Gardens of Sallust. …

Look down into the excavated basin in the center of the piazza. The massive brick structure you see is the central pavilion of the gardens, dominated by the Great Circular Hall. …

As the gardens passed from emperor to emperor, each added their own monumental features to the landscape. One of the most significant additions was commissioned by Emperor Hadrian in the second century AD: the 'porticus…

While the physical buildings of the gardens are mostly lost, their true legacy survives in museums around the world. The Hohr-tee Sahl-loos-tee-ah-nee was essentially a massive, open-air museum, heavily populated with statues. …

A garden of this unprecedented scale required one critical element to survive the searing Roman summers: an immense, continuous supply of fresh water. The Gardens of Sallust were strategically positioned to take advantage of the…

The vegetation within the Gardens of Sallust was not left to grow wild; it was ruthlessly and beautifully engineered. The Romans were the pioneers of architectural landscaping, and the techniques developed here laid the exact…

As you cast your eyes around Piazza Sallustio, your attention is inevitably drawn to the striking, reddish building that sits directly adjacent to, and partially over, the ancient ruins. This is Villa Maccari. …

As we conclude our exploration of the Hohr-tee Sahl-loos-tee-ah-nee, take one last look down into the fourteen-meter deep excavation. It is difficult to reconcile this quiet, sunken pit of brickwork with the sprawling, opulent…