Monte Testaccio: A Place of Memory and Festivity

Title

Monte Testaccio: A Place of Memory and Festivity

Description

Monte Testaccio is an ancient port along the Tiber. In the medieval period, the hill was part of the disabitato within the walls of the city. It 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, games held as part of the Roman carnival during the Lenten season. These 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. This 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

Monte Testaccio is an ancient port along the Tiber. In the medieval period, the hill was part of the disabitato within the walls of the city. It 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, games held as part of the Roman carnival during the Lenten season. These 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. This 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.

Geolocation