Latrunculi

Another popular game throughout the history of the Roman Empire was Latrunculi. The name of this came is a form of the Latin latrones, meaning “mercenaries.” Latrunculi boards have been found in a variety of sizes and numbers of squares but the most common layout was twelve squares wide by eight squares high. There were two types of playing pieces of different sizes. The main piece was the stone. Each player also had another piece called the Rex, or king, or sometimes the Aquila, or eagle. This piece was taller and sometimes pyramid shaped.

The play of this game was similar to chess but much similar. The player would advance his king and move the other pieces around the board, trying to out-flank or box-in his opponent. While details of how the moves were executed are not clearly understood, a game set with the pieces in the start position was excavated in Stanway, England. In this game, the pieces were arranged in two rows on each side with the “king” was placed in the second line, symmetrically opposed in the front to the opponent’s king as in chess.

As with many of the details of everyday life in the ancient world, much needs to be learned about the leisure activities of the Romans. Perhaps the science of archaeology will fill in many of the gaps and one day we will be able to play these games just as the Romans did.