04-07-2013, 02:36 AM
Hello Roman Army talkers! I have been lurking and reading these forums for quite some time now. I am a Roman reenactor and work in the historical park Archeon in the Netherlands.
I have been trying to figure out how to play the game Ludus Castellorum.
This is the research i have done:
The poem 'Nux', persumably by Ovid, is about a 'sad' walnut tree. In one of the verses (sentence 75 to 100) he describes a few games played using the walnuts.
"These, as they stand upright, a boy splits with certain aim, or, as
they lie on their side, strikes with his finger once or twice. In
four nuts, and no more, is all his hazard, when one is added to the
three beneath it. Another bids them roll down a sloping board, and
prays that one out of many, whiche'er it may be, may touch his own."
![[Image: CPH8bkG.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/CPH8bkG.jpg)
The image of this child Sarcophagus (vatican museum) seems to correnspond with the game descriped in the poem.
On the right half we see a little boy throwing a walnuts. It could be possible that he is throwing one walnut on top of the other three as described "In four nuts, and no more, is all his hazard, when one is added to the three beneath it'.
[img width=20]http://i.imgur.com/yeTvLAs.jpg[/img]
On this reliëf from the Louvre we probably see the game described as "Another bids them roll down a sloping board, and prays that one out of many, whiche'er it may be, may touch his own."
So the first game seems to be what is now commonly called 'Ludus Castellorum'. It seems to me that according to the poem, the object of the game was to throw one walnut on top of three others as to form a pyramid. I have tried this and it is really really hard. On the street and other hard surfaces the nuts just bounce all over the place. When you push the three nuts down in to sand or dirt it becomes a little bit easier but it is still quite hard. Even then i think playing the game this way would become boring quite soon, and the game wouldn't be so popular that there are reliëfs and poems out of it.
Other idea's about this game, as in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, the object of the game would be to have several players create their own 'fort' pyramid by placing three nuts with one on top and then the object of the game would be to destroy eachothers 'fort' by throwing other nuts at them. However this does not correnspond to the poem.
Either way i think i am missing elements of this game. What i would ask of you, fellow reenacters is to try this game out. Try to find different methods of playing this game while still stying true to the description in the poem and the picture of the childs sarcophagus. Or maybe you already play this game and can tell me what style and rules you play by.
Thanks,
Jan
I have been trying to figure out how to play the game Ludus Castellorum.
This is the research i have done:
The poem 'Nux', persumably by Ovid, is about a 'sad' walnut tree. In one of the verses (sentence 75 to 100) he describes a few games played using the walnuts.
"These, as they stand upright, a boy splits with certain aim, or, as
they lie on their side, strikes with his finger once or twice. In
four nuts, and no more, is all his hazard, when one is added to the
three beneath it. Another bids them roll down a sloping board, and
prays that one out of many, whiche'er it may be, may touch his own."
The image of this child Sarcophagus (vatican museum) seems to correnspond with the game descriped in the poem.
On the right half we see a little boy throwing a walnuts. It could be possible that he is throwing one walnut on top of the other three as described "In four nuts, and no more, is all his hazard, when one is added to the three beneath it'.
[img width=20]http://i.imgur.com/yeTvLAs.jpg[/img]
On this reliëf from the Louvre we probably see the game described as "Another bids them roll down a sloping board, and prays that one out of many, whiche'er it may be, may touch his own."
So the first game seems to be what is now commonly called 'Ludus Castellorum'. It seems to me that according to the poem, the object of the game was to throw one walnut on top of three others as to form a pyramid. I have tried this and it is really really hard. On the street and other hard surfaces the nuts just bounce all over the place. When you push the three nuts down in to sand or dirt it becomes a little bit easier but it is still quite hard. Even then i think playing the game this way would become boring quite soon, and the game wouldn't be so popular that there are reliëfs and poems out of it.
Other idea's about this game, as in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, the object of the game would be to have several players create their own 'fort' pyramid by placing three nuts with one on top and then the object of the game would be to destroy eachothers 'fort' by throwing other nuts at them. However this does not correnspond to the poem.
Either way i think i am missing elements of this game. What i would ask of you, fellow reenacters is to try this game out. Try to find different methods of playing this game while still stying true to the description in the poem and the picture of the childs sarcophagus. Or maybe you already play this game and can tell me what style and rules you play by.
Thanks,
Jan
