Romans played board games for fun, 1700 years ago

3 Jul 2020

Romans played board games for fun, 1700 years ago

Romans played board games for fun, 1700 years agoWe all enjoy game nights - sitting around with friends and family to play board games.

A recent discovery shows that people during ancient times enjoyed playing board games too.

An ancient board game called ludus latrunculorum was discovered in Norway recently.  It was played by Romans around 1,700 years ago.

The game has 19 playing pieces and are made of bone. They include a very long type of dice. Unfortunately, the board is still missing.

This game is thought to be similar to chess or backgammon. In these type of games, player challenge each other using military tactics (like they are fighting a war).

The Ytre Fosse site where the board game was discovered is a burial place. It is believed someone important was buried there, judging by the other items found.

It is also near an important sea route known as the 'Nordvegen' or 'north way'.  The game could have been a way for traders to socialise or pass the time.

Here is a video on the Roman civilization:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXoEpNjgKzg

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Comments: 2

Sanaa says:

3 July 2020 at 7:36 pm

Did you know that the ancient Romans used to speak In latin

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- curioustimes says:
  
  3 July 2020 at 7:57 pm
  
  Wow, Sanaa.
  
  That’s a good insight. We are sure our readers would love to know this as well.
  
  Stay Curious!
  
  Log in to Reply

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