The Games of Testaccio: When Medieval Rome Turned a Hill into a Carnival

Today, Testaccio is one of Rome’s best-known neighbourhoods for food, nightlife and local character.

In the Middle Ages, however, thousands of Romans came here for something very different.

During Carnival, Monte Testaccio became one of the city’s great public arenas, hosting the Games of Testaccio — or Ludi di Testaccio — with horse races, jousts, bull-related contests and one particularly chaotic spectacle involving carts loaded with animals.

A carnival on a hill made from ancient Rome

Monte Testaccio is not a natural hill.

It was created during the Roman imperial period from enormous quantities of discarded amphorae, especially containers used to transport olive oil into the city through the nearby river port.

Long after that ancient commercial system disappeared, the mound remained. By the medieval period, much of the surrounding area had become relatively open land inside Rome’s walls — making the hill and the fields around it ideal for large public gatherings.

The medieval Games of Testaccio

Written evidence places Carnival celebrations at Testaccio in the 12th century. A Roman municipal source records the ludus carnevalarii there in 1143, with the pope present while races, jousts and animal contests took place.

The festivities brought together different layers of Roman society. Civic authorities, noble families, riders and large crowds all participated in a spectacle that mixed competition, ceremony and public entertainment.

The Games were later regulated in detail by Rome’s municipal statutes. The statutes of 1363 describe horse races and contests involving pigs and young cattle released from carts on Monte Testaccio.

The infamous “ruzzica de li porci”

The event most closely associated with the Games of Testaccio became known as the “ruzzica de li porci”.

Carts carrying animals were sent down the steep slope of Monte Testaccio. At the bottom of the hill, participants waited for the animals and competed to seize them.

Accounts of the medieval Carnival make clear that this was not a gentle spectacle. It was noisy, physical and violent — very far from what a modern visitor might imagine when hearing the word “Carnival”.

Meat was also part of the attraction. According to the Museo di Roma’s account of the Roman Carnival, people gathered not only for entertainment but because these events could offer a rare opportunity to obtain meat.

More than one bizarre game

The carts are the most memorable detail, but the Games of Testaccio were much larger than a single event.

Contemporary descriptions and later records mention horse races, jousting, tournaments and bull-related contests. Young men from Rome and nearby communities participated, while civic and papal authorities watched over the festivities.

For a few days, Testaccio became one of medieval Rome’s great stages: a place where religion, civic identity, competition, food and collective entertainment came together.

Why did Rome move its Carnival away from Testaccio?

During the pontificate of Pope Paul II in the 15th century, the centre of Rome’s Carnival began shifting toward Via Lata.

The street later became known as Via del Corso, a name connected to the races organised there.

Testaccio gradually lost its central role in Rome’s Carnival, although Monte Testaccio remained an important place in the city’s religious and popular geography. It later became associated with Holy Week processions and representations of Calvary.

The Rome hidden behind modern Testaccio

Today, most visitors associate Testaccio with Roman cuisine, its market, former industrial buildings and nightlife.

But underneath that modern identity sits a much longer story.

A hill created from the remains of ancient Mediterranean trade later became the setting for one of medieval Rome’s most extraordinary public festivals.

It is one of those details that completely changes the way you see a place once you know it.