File:Roman Board Game 02.jpg

English: The Romans liked board games, played on boards of various shapes; however they did not just play these games at tables. In all kinds of locations, in various cities in the empire or in the streets, tabulae lusoriae (gaming boards) have been found carved into the floors of Basilicas, Forums and, in our case, the edge of a large pool, where people played whilst seated in the water. The games enjoyed by the Romans also included this one, known as tropa or "hole-game", played with marbles, walnuts or knucklebones. The game involved getting a walnut into each of the hollows, in a predetermined order, and then getting the last one across the line (as in today's mini-golf). In some cases, the last hole was rectangular to mark the end of the game. On our tabula lusoria we can identify some Latin letters, probably carved by the players who attended the baths and that appear to rea: NESCIS / PLORAS / AGIS / CAVEBIS (VE as a ligature). "You do not know, you cry, you move, you will be careful". These were probably jokes exchanged by opponents during the game.