Games in ancienr Rome - research help...

[Skaut_PL]

Hello,

Just started searching informations about old games, esp. from medieval, viking and roman times. Does any one knows the rules and names of them? Or maybe some pictures of artefacts?

I am also searching for the article "Roman Game Boards from Abu Sha'ar" from ANTIQUITY, Volume: 78 Number: 301 Page: 602

[Vibius Tiberius Costa]

Heres a start

 

I know of these: Lantrunculi (a game not dissimilar from chess, where the objective is to defeat your opponent by removin all his pieces from the board, it involves many military tactics so was popular among the learned and generals).

 

The Venus throw which i think is a dice game that has four sides and knucklebones. This was where the game the majority played.

 

Noughts and crosses were also played, but i don't know if this is true.

 

The tabula which is also similar to the twelve line game

 

I believe that the most interesting is the ludus duodecim scriptormu or the twelve line game. This and teh tabula became mordern backgammon.

 

Here is my source

http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-350810/...ecim-Scriptorum

and this site has a picture of a tabula on an urn

http://www.tassoni.it/ancient-rome/romerecreation.htm

 

sorry i can't be of more help

 

vtc

[Skaut_PL]

http://www.tassoni.it/ancient-rome/romerecreation.htm

 

THX. That's some help. I've already have info aboudt XII Scripta and Tabula (selling leather replicas on polish historical festivals, for. ex. Malbork Siege)

 

Webpage tassoni.it..... it seems to be based on Kowalski's page (http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/showcase/boardgames.html) which is not exactly historical... (http://www.boardgamestudies.info/research/notes.shtml).

 

But Latrunculi... maybe there are other known games, not only board, for ex. bowling, dice...

[caldrail]

Yes, dice were used in gambling games throughout the empire, though I haven't a clue what the rules were. I can imagine that from time to time new board games were invented and played in certain regions for a period of popularity. There was also a game where two men faced each other and had to guess how many fingers the other man had outstretched. Romans were usually very physical about their competitiveness, so fit young men would rather wrestle, run, race horses/chariots - or perhaps even take the plunge and sign up at the ludum. In fact, like their greek forebears, many roman sports had military roots.

[Vibius Tiberius Costa]

There was also a game where two men faced each other and had to guess how many fingers the other man had outstretched.

 

I found another game much like this. Two people both put out their hands - with their choice of fingers outstretched - at the same time and while they're doing this shout a number between 1 and 10. Seems simple but many seemed it a deft game of skill and tactics because if you don't use any fingers, your guess is between 0 and 5 but this is an obvious tactic so your oppenent may also use it, so your guess is 0 but then they may guess 5 because they predict you will want to send out 5 outstretched fingers etc.

 

Really try this out!

 

vtc