It is easy to think of gaming as a trivial aspect of our daily lives
games can offer insights into a given society by reflecting on aspects such as the social
political and cultural activities of a given time
These insights are demonstrable by popular boardgames within living memory
a game with the objective of world domination through conquest
gained popularity concurrent with the beginnings of The Cold War
Figure 1 – A detail of the Risk boardgame
Image credit: Tom Page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/tompagenet/8585345251
More recently, Pandemic Legacy, experienced a surge in sales in Australia during the country’s first Covid-19 related lockdown in March 2020
The game offers the player the opportunity to cooperatively eradicate the world from a deadly virus that is threatening humanity
These two examples show the potential that games can contribute to our understanding of our own modern societies
But archaeological evidence indicates that humanity has gamed for at least 5000 years
thus offering the potential to better understand civilizations from the ancient world
we will take a journey to the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD
a period when Rome’s golden age had long passed
a time when Rome’s enemies were becoming an increasingly prominent concern for many within its borders
This will be achieved with analysis of a Roman gaming device known today as the ‘Vettweiss-Froitzheim Dice Tower’
This Dice Tower (left) was discovered during an excavation of a Roman Villa in 1983 in Vettweiss
Because of its deteriorated condition upon discovery
it was reconstructed at the Landesmuseum Bonn - where it can still be found today
The Latin Inscription on the front reads: ‘PICTOS/VICTOS/HOSTIS/DELETA LUDITA’ translating to “The Picts are conquered
The Latin inscription on the sides reads: ‘UTERI/FELIX/VIVAS’ translating to ‘Use happily; may you live well’
The device dates to the 4th Century AD and is believed to have been used alongside Alea (games of chance played by the Romans that involved the use of dice
Both its militaristic features and the large Roman military presence within proximity of the villa suggest that it is likely to have belonged to a Roman soldier
Images reproduced here with the kind permission from J
it communicates a positive message – a reminder of their conquest over their enemies and their ability to subsequently play such games without worry
But it may not truly reflect the feelings felt by a Roman soldier protecting the empires’ Germanic borders in the 4th century
The Picts were just one faction in the period to trouble the empire alongside others
if the owner of the object was a Roman soldier
any threat that may have felt would have been justified; the Romans would soon retreat from the area
As is demonstrated with modern boardgames like Risk and Pandemic Legacy
human nature possesses the tendency to use games to play out its’ fears
Games can have a cathartic nature; they can confront the concerns of the period in a leisurely manner and offer respite from concerns like nuclear war and deadly disease
The Romans also had their own boardgames like ‘DuoDecim Scripta’ and ‘Little Robbers’ that may have also possessed a cathartic function
If we consider the view of Nicholas Purcell (1995)
who believes these games (by the nature of their gaming objectives) symbolically mirrored the act of hunting and dueling
then the device’s Latin inscription tells a different story
It now becomes possible to envisage the device working alongside Alea for enabling soldiers to play out their anxieties of combat with the encroaching Germanic threat
The symbolic role of Alea has evidently had a widespread reach in Roman society
has served as a metaphor for multiple ancient writers to narrate Julius Caesar’s famous crossing of the Rubicon to march on Rome (Suetonius
The symbolic nature of Alea and its association with risk and reward also touched into the Roman gambling culture
Gambling offered its users the opportunity to financially profit
and victors were additionally rewarded with social advancement
because winning a game that involved chance could indicate that the individual was favored by gods like Fortuna
and this age-old issue of gracefully accepting defeat is
accusations of cheating were commonplace in Roman society (Fig
we could think of the dice tower as serving as a mediator for Alea
authenticating the winners from the losers
communicating the decisions of Fortuna to the mortal world through the roll of the dice
found in a Taberna (Roman Tavern) in Pompeii
provides an insight into the conflict that Alea could cause
The Latin writing above the left figure reads: “I won”
The Latin writing above the right figure reads: “It’s not three
Figure 3 (left) - Image of players from a Pompeiian Tavern Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wall_painting_-_scenes_around_the_pub_-_Pompeii_(VI_14_35-36)_-_Napoli_MAN_111482_-_01.jpg
The Romans are renowned for their competitive spirit
and the design of the dice tower provides further testament to this notion
We can look to the use of the characteristically Roman Opus Interassile patterns (Fig
4) and further to the two dolphins- which are prevalent Roman symbols of victory (Fig
These features may have served as a reminder to its Roman users of their common Roman standards
Alea attracted players from all echelons of society from the emperor to the plebian
these very different Romans could be unified by their common foes
4 (left) shows the Opus Interassile design on the dice tower
This was a fashionable Roman style of production in the 4th century AD
Figure 5 (right) depicts two leaping dolphins
Each is positioned on either side of the dice towers’ staircase
Dolphins are a common feature of Roman imagery
They are also portrayed on materials such as coins and mosaics
With detailed observation of the Vettweiss-Froitzheim Dice Tower
alongside our current understanding of the Roman empire in the period
we can gain a more insightful and unique understanding of the attitudes and practices from within the Roman empire in the 4th century AD
the device is also an object that we can relate to today
allowing us to form a greater connection with our ancestry through the commonality of gaming
The study of gaming is a field that offers great potential to both our past and present
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