The origins of the territory can be dated back to the early Roman age. The ancient Via Latina, that gives the name to the quarter, has been an important road axis linking Rome to Old Latium and to Campania and was already used by the Etruscans. The Via Appia, which was called longarum Regina viarum (i.e. "queen of the long roads") by Caecilius Statius, was built centuries after, in 312 BC. The territory of the quarter is crossed by five imposing aqueducts built between 144 BC and 212 AD: Aqua Marcia, Aqua Tepula and Aqua Iulia, gathered together within the same structure, Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus, as well as the Aqua Antoniniana, an offshoot of the Aqua Marcia.
The Roman heritage in the area is proved by a system of sumptuous patrician villas, a network of irrigation ditches, factories and defensive buildings, such as the Aurelian Walls. After the Gothic War the territory was gradually abandoned.
Geography
The territory of Appio-Latino includes the urban zones9DAppio and 9ELatino, as well as part of the urban zone 11XAppia Antica Nord.
To the east, Appio-Latino borders with QuartiereTuscolano (Q. VIII), from which it is separated by the stretch of Via Appia Nuova between Porta San Giovanni and Via dell'Almone.
Southward, the quarter borders with QuartiereAppio-Pignatelli (Q. XXVI), whose border is marked by Via dell'Almone and by Via Cecilia Metella.
Westward, it borders with QuartiereArdeatino (Q. XX), from which it is separated by the stretch of Via Appia Antica between Via Cecilia Metella and the Aurelian Walls; and with RioneCelio, whose boundary is outlined by the Aurelian Walls, between Porta San Sebastiano and Porta Metronia.
Historical subdivisions
L'Alberone
The quarter includes the area traditionally known as L'Alberone, which is located on the right side of Via Appia Nuova, among the railway, the park of Villa Lazzaroni and Via Latina. It was built between the first years of the 20th century and the 1940s, becoming one of the first working class neighborhood in Rome.
The name toponym came from a centuries-old holly oak, which was nicknamed Alberone ("the big tree") because of its majestic appearance and its height. It grew near the corner between Via Appia Nuova and Via Gino Capponi and used to be a distinctive feature of the area even before the first edifices were built.
The tree, already assaulted by parasites and supported by a brick wall, ultimately died in 1980–81 and was torn down in the presence of many inhabitants of the quarter. To replace what was felt as a traditional symbol of the area, another centuries-old holly oak was planted in 1986 and lived until a violent storm tore it down in 2014. The current alberone has been planted in 2015 and it is still perceived as a symbol of the area, differentiating it from the remaining part of Appio-Latino.
Borghetto Latino
Next to the Valle della Caffarella, the current Via Latina hosted, until the 1970s, a shanty town known as Borghetto Latino. It hit the headlines in 1969, when the inhabitants, longing for more respectable housing conditions, occupied some buildings of a big real estate company in the rioneEsquilino. The protest drew the attention of the New York Times when the inhabitants burnt down their old shacks to symbolize the fight for a better future.
Odonymy
Streets and squares of Appio-Latino are mainly named after renowned historians and after Roman and Greek regions and cities. Odonyms of the quarter can be categorized as follows:
Local toponyms, e.g. Piazza dell'Alberone, Piazzale Appio, Via della Caffarella, Via della Caffarelletta, Via dei Cessati Spiriti, Viale Metronio, Via delle Mura Latine, Via di Vigna Fabbri, Via di Villa Aquari.
Places of interest
Civil buildings
Casale Tarani (17th century) on the hill overlooking the Valle della Caffarella, surrounded by the quarter Appio Latino
Residential buildings of the Istituto Autonomo Case Popolari Appio III, among Via Magna Grecia, Via Faleria and Via Ardea. 20th-century public housing buildings (1925–30).
