Alea jacta est

Backgammon was very popular in the Roman Empire, especially among patricians. Archeological research in Pompei showd that there was a backgammon table carved in the courtyard of almost every villa.

Even in a wall painting in Pompei two scenes depicted; first one shows two players arguing over a backgammon table and second one shows inkeeper throwing them out.

Romans called the game in three different names; alea (dice), tabulae (tables) or the most definitive ludus duodecim sciptorum (twelve-line game) for having twelve points on each side of the board.

Though Julius Caesar may have said “Alea jacta est” (the die is cast) when he crossed the Rubicon, there is no evidence that he played any particular dice game. Other Roman emperors did, however; one even had a special room in his palace designed for dicing. And according to Suetonius, the emperor Claudius was so fond of the game that he wrote a book on it - and had a table mounted on his chariot so he could play while travelling! There are also records that say Domitian was an expert player - and that Caligula was a cheat. And there are reports, fanciful or otherwise, that Marc Antony played ludus duodecim scriptorum with Cleopatra.

It seems some Romans used to play the game like strip poker. On a painted glass a young man and a girl seated in front of a backgammon board, almost undressed and cloths on the floor. And inscription on it says devincavi which means “I think I’ve beaten you”.

It is said that emperor Nero used to play the game on stakes as high as $15.000. The emperor Commodus is reported to have turned the imperial palace into a grandiose gambling casino. On ancient recordings it is said that emporer has even lost a part of imperial treasury which was reserved for Africa expedition.

The game continued to be played in Christian Rome. A marble slab was found among the Christian artifacts in Rome in which a backgammon board had been carved; in the centre is a Greek cross, and there is an inscription which roughly means “Our Lord Jesus Christ grants aid and victory to dicers if they write his Name when they roll the dice, Amen”.

The Roman legions must have brought tabulae with them through Europe. But except for the fact that the name survived in Britain as “tables”, it does not appear that Rome’s conquered lands were immediately receptive. It seems to have been the return of the Crusaders that effectively spread the game throughout Europe.



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