Monte Testaccio: A Place of Memory and Festivity
Title
Monte Testaccio: A Place of Memory and Festivity
Subject
Daily Life
Description
An ancient port along the Tiber. In the medieval period, the hill was part of the disabitato within the walls of the city and was used partially as land for cultivation and partially for the celebration of games and ceremonies. In particular, the hill was the scene of the ludi di Testaccio which were games held as part of the Roman carnival which took place during the Lenten season. The games involved running bulls and pigs down from the top of the hill to the bottom where an armed mob waited to tear the animals to pieces. Before being killed, the animals were paraded through the city in red cloth to symbolize the earthly desires of the Roman people and, thus, the sacrifice symbolically cleansed the city of its sins before Easter. In the medieval period Monte Testaccio was also used during Lent for a procession of crosses to the top of the hill to commemorate Christ's crucifixion.
Abstract
Monte Testaccio is essentially a trash heap from antiquity composed entirely of discarded amphorae (called testae) unloaded from ships at the ancient port along the Tiber. In the medieval period, the hill was part of the disabitato within the walls of the city and was used partially as land for cultivation and partially for the celebration of games and ceremonies. In particular, the hill was the scene of the ludi di Testaccio which were games held as part of the Roman carnival which took place during the Lenten season.
Creator
Francesca Arcidiacono (2016)
Source
Brentano, Robert. Rome before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-Century Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. p 63.
Burroughs, Charles. "The Demotic Campidoglio: Ritual, Social Unrest, and a Case of Wizardry." RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, no. 49/50 (2006): 171-87. Ramieri, A.M. "Monte Testaccio." Sign at Via Nicola Zabaglia entrance.
Identifier
montetestaccio_2015
Spatial Coverage
00153 Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome
Description
An ancient port along the Tiber. In the medieval period, the hill was part of the disabitato within the walls of the city and was used partially as land for cultivation and partially for the celebration of games and ceremonies. In particular, the hill was the scene of the ludi di Testaccio which were games held as part of the Roman carnival which took place during the Lenten season. The games involved running bulls and pigs down from the top of the hill to the bottom where an armed mob waited to tear the animals to pieces. Before being killed, the animals were paraded through the city in red cloth to symbolize the earthly desires of the Roman people and, thus, the sacrifice symbolically cleansed the city of its sins before Easter. In the medieval period Monte Testaccio was also used during Lent for a procession of crosses to the top of the hill to commemorate Christ's crucifixion.Creator
Francesca Arcidiacono (2016)Source
Brentano, Robert. Rome before Avignon: A Social History of Thirteenth-Century Rome. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. p 63.
Burroughs, Charles. "The Demotic Campidoglio: Ritual, Social Unrest, and a Case of Wizardry." RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, no. 49/50 (2006): 171-87. Ramieri, A.M. "Monte Testaccio." Sign at Via Nicola Zabaglia entrance.