February
04
/ 2025
Around 400 BC, in a city named after one of their most famous and successful emperors, Roman soldiers spent their idle time shuffling counters around a game board, in an attempt to hone their strategic thinking skills - or maybe just to have fun. During recent excavations carried out in the ancient city of Hadrianopolis in the Eskipazar district of Karabük, Turkey, archaeologists discovered two small objects carved into game pieces, for use in ancient games known as " Ludus Latrunculi" and "Doudecim Scripta." These pieces have been dated to the fifth century AD, and this intriguing find has shed new light on how Roman Empire soldiers stationed in Anatolia kept themselves busy while waiting for a rebellion to quash
