Hobbies And Interests
Dice Games
The Romans used 6-sided dice much like modern dice in a game similar to modern craps. Roman board games used dice much as modern board games do. They also had knucklebones, which were similar to dice. Knucklebones were sheep bones with 4 sides that the Romans adapted from the Greeks. Originally, they were actual sheep bones. The Romans made them from glass, precious stones, bone clay or metal. The sides had the numbers 1, 3, 4 or 6 on them. Knucklebones was one of the most popular ancient Roman games.
Board Games
In their board games, the ancient Romans used boards that were commonly 8-by-8, 8-by-12 and 12-by-12 inches. Sometimes, they played the same game on different board sizes. The boards could be made of wood, wood with inlay, marble or bronze. Without instructions for some of the games, no one knows exactly how to play them. Duodecim scripta used three dice and evolved into the game called tabula, similar to backgammon. Some think the game felix sex, or six words, is also a variant of backgammon. Some scholars say the popular Egyptian game senet is a precursor of these Roman games. Tabula was popular with soldiers, and they spread the game over the world. Pettcia was a Greek version Romans modified into the Roman game, latrunculi. They played it on an 8-by-8 or 8-by-12 board. Latrunculi used markers and was played similarly to chess or checkers. Senet was played with sticks instead of dice. The senet board is 3-by-9. The exact rules and instructions for senet are unknown. Pente grammai is originally a Greek game, played on a 5-by-5 board that may have required dice.
Miscellaneous Games
Terni lappali was popular. It is similar to tic-tac-toe. Ovid recommended the game for women to play if they wanted to have luck in love. Heads and ships was a popular gambling game. It's the same as heads and tails, but Roman coins had ships on the tail side of the coin.