The games
The Pompeians loved a lot the games of hazard; they had been impassioned of it in every time. Very often the inns dissimulated in the back-shop a real gaming-den about which every day of the year Pompeians could bet and throw the dice.
There were for playing of two types of dice: the tali, of oblong shape and with only four numbered faces, and the tesseræ, common dice with six faces. The dice were thrown from a container (fritillus) and the purpose was to get the best score (venus). Other games were navia aut capita (head or cross), par impar (evens and odds), micatio (the actual game of morra).
There were for playing of two types of dice: the tali, of oblong shape and with only four numbered faces, and the tesseræ, common dice with six faces. The dice were thrown from a container (fritillus) and the purpose was to get the best score (venus). Other games were navia aut capita (head or cross), par impar (evens and odds), micatio (the actual game of morra).
A very frequent game was the tric - trac: on a table there were marked twelve crossed lines and some pieces, with a mythological symbol and a number on the side. The pieces (calculi) had to be moved along the lines according the score obtained throwing the dice and some small bones.
The games of the Pompeians children were not dissimilar from those of the modern ones: they played with small swords (ensiculum), with barrows and hobby-horses hauled by strings; diffused was the game of the blindman’s-buff and of the walnuts.
Pompeians children also imitated the adults: they dressed up as soldiers, judges, magistrates and ladies
The games of the Pompeians children were not dissimilar from those of the modern ones: they played with small swords (ensiculum), with barrows and hobby-horses hauled by strings; diffused was the game of the blindman’s-buff and of the walnuts.
Pompeians children also imitated the adults: they dressed up as soldiers, judges, magistrates and ladies