Tali (dice game)
Tali were dice that the Romans used in dice games. They consisted of the ankles of animals that have claws. These knuckles were modified in such a way that they were made into dice that were six-sided, but only had four flat sides with numbers.
Texture and lettering
These flat sides have been numbered. The other two sides were round and so the cube did not stay in these places. The names of the other sides were: 1 and 6 as well as 3 and 4. 1 and 6 were opposite each other, just like 3 and 4. The numbers were symbolized by means of dots or lines. The numbers 2 and 5 did not appear on the Roman dice.
The other type of dice used by the Romans, "Tesserae", had 6 flat sides with the numbers from 1 to 6. These had the advantage that you usually only used three of them in the games, while four of the Tali were needed.
Dice luck
The best litter with the talis was called "jactus Venereus" or "Venus". It was a roll where the dice represented different numbers, such as 1, 3, 4, and 6. Another roll would be one that showed the same value on all dice: e.g. B. the number 6 on all dice (Senio).
In the case of the Talis, it was more about the compilation of the numbers, unlike the Tesseris, where you only added up the eyes of the dice.
swell
The Roman officials and writers Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus shortly Suetonius , who lived about 70 to about 122 and has also published on the subject of games (eg., Via which the Greeks games) described the setting of the emperor games (Kaiserviten). Even if works were lost, many of his game descriptions have been preserved.
literature
- Carl Philipp Funke, New Real School Lexicon containing the auxiliary sciences necessary to explain the old classics , Volume 5, S.517 and S.580f
Individual evidence
- ^ Heleen Groot, On the importance of the public games in Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio , in Volume 12 of Ancient Culture and History ISBN 3825815609