 |
| You could say we're pretty in to games at my apartment. |
It’s Sunday night and everyone is sitting around. What do you do? The natural reaction, especially in my
experience, is to pull out a game. Growing
up, I was surrounded by a highly competitive family—not passing the blame, I was
one of the most guilty of the culprits.
This competitive nature made games a great love for my family. In fact, above our game table we have the
words, “It’s okay, it’s just a game,” displayed on the wall—just to remind us
of how we shouldn’t take them too seriously.
The Ancient Romans also had a love for games. Dice, Roman chess, checkers, tic-tac-toe,
backgammon. Many of the games that we
play today are products of the Romans.
One account speaks of them having played dice in the Parthenon. An archaeologist named Eleni Karakitsou found
that there were over 50 board games carved into the stairways and floors of the
Parthenon. Art historians have also
found depictions on vases and other mediums displaying the Ancient Romans
playing. Seems that they took their
games pretty serious as well!
How fascinating! It seems funny to imagine Ancient Romans playing games, but then again, they had to have been doing something in their down time. I wonder how complex rules for games could get given there was not really any means of spreading written media.
ReplyDeleteOh, this is fun! I did not know this. Incredible how these games have been passed on through centuries and millennia. I'd love to do more research on the concept of a game, and why people came up with them. Did they know their recreational value? Or, in other words, did they value "fun"? Or was it more of just a mini, more intimate competition? Cool stuff, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete