Imagine, you are a man living in ancient Rome. Life is very busy, with training as a soldier, working, political and religious duties. Despite all of these demands on your time, you still find time for leisure, attending the amphitheatre, entertaining, playing games. You particularly cherish quiet moments when you can indulge in playing board games and, although it may not be the common thing to do, you find your wife is a very competent player, if there are no men to verse that is!
When I showed this Roman bone gaming piece to the children they were both fascinated and horrified. They were fascinated to find out about ancient games, and surprised to discover that board games in particular were so old. Some of the games which I told them about, both board games and other types, were actually quite familiar to them, or at least similar to games they enjoy. They were thrilled to think that Romans so long ago played games just like they do. They were not so thrilled by the type of gaming piece though. They were quite wary when they learned that the piece was made of bone, and some refused to even touch it. Most though were happy to closely examine it, but only after being assured it was animal bone, not human!
Bone was a popular material in the past, being used to make everything from game pieces to tools and jewelery. It was in ample supply with meat a common part of the diet, was long lasting if it was treated correctly and could be worked into all sorts of shapes and items. Sometimes the bone was not shaped at all, simply cleaned and left to dry. This was the case with the game knucklebones which the Romans called Tali and which the children today still play, though the way it is played is slightly different. Unlike the children of today who tend to use plastic 'knuckles' the ancients, right through until the latter half of the 20th century often used real bone knuckles. Many older people remember saving the knuckles from the leg of lamb to play with. The Romans, although playing with real bone knuckles, also sometimes made knuckles from metal, stone, ceramics or even precious metal inlaid with gems!
The gaming token I showed the children is quite elaborately carved, with a small round 'top knot' and concentric circles carved on the sides. It was probably a high status item, and may have been used to play what has been called the most popular 'thinking mans game' of Ancient Rome, latrunculi. It was a game of strategy and tactics, probably a bit like our modern chess or draughts. The name Latrunculi came from the word latrones which meant mercenary or soldier. Unlike our modern chess games though, the board could be different sizes and shapes, though the most common appears to have been 8 squares by 12 squares. It was similar to another popular Roman board game, petteia, but had an extra piece per 'team' - a king or duke and this may be what the bone gaming piece was. Usually, the rest of the pieces were made up of either black or white pebbles, with blacks belonging to one team and whites to another. The aim was to capture the other teams pieces. If you would like to learn more about Roman games, click here. If you follow the links to Latrunculi you can not only find out more about the game, but you can find out how we think it might have been played and have a go yourself!