Watch “Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum | Ancient Roman board game | Rules | History | Strategy #backgammon,” a how-to-play guide for Tabula on BoardGameVideo.
Description provided by The Gaming Bench on YouTube:
Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum (or just duodecim scripta) is an ancient race game that was played throughout the Roman Empire by Emperors and commoners alike. This video describes the current academic thinking around the game, and how it is connected to the modern game of backgammon.
Duodecim scripta build video: https://youtu.be/n_RIGLqX_Oo
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PHOTO CREDITS
Bronze mirror
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The Trustees of the British Museum
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/image/1203829001
Duodecim 19389001
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The Trustees of the British Museum
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/image/1203829001
David Parlett
CC BY 3.0
Unknown YouTube channel
Roman game of 12 lines board
CC BY 2.0
wneuheisel
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wneuheisel/7471668214/
Roman Circus
CC BY-SA 4.0
John Romano D'Orazio
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Lwangaman
Tabula
CC BY-SA 3.0
TakenakaN
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:TakenakaN&action=edit&redlink=1
MUSIC CREDITS
Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100303
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
REFERENCES
Publications
* Austin, R. G. (1934). Roman Board Games. I. Greece & Rome, 4(10), 24–34. http://www.jstor.org/stable/641231
* Bell, R.C. Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations, Dover Publications, 1979
* Finkel, Irving. Discover and Play 5 Famous Ancient Games, British Museum Press, 2005
* Knight, Hugh T. Jr. Pastimes with Good Company: European Games from Antiquity to the Renaissance, Lulu.com, 2022
* Leary, T.J. (1988). “Some Roman Board Games.” Akroterion. Retrieved from http://akroterion.journaIs.ac.za on 10/02/2025
* Murray, H.J.R. A History of Board-Games Other Than Chess, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1952
* Parlett, David. Parlett’s History of Board Games. Echo Point Books & Media, 2018
* Schädler, Ulrich. (1995). “XII Scripta, Alea, Tabula—New Evidence for the Roman History of ‘Backgammon.’”
Websites
https://www.getty.edu/education/college/ancient_rome_at_home/pdf/ludus_duodecim_scriptorum_game.pdf
http://www.cyningstan.com/game/61/ludus-duodecim-scriptorum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludus_duodecim_scriptorum
https://ludii.games/details.php?keyword=XII%20Scripta
http://www.cyningstan.com/game/61/ludus-duodecim-scriptorum#:~:text=Home,gambling%20regulations%20in%20ancient%20Rome!
https://locusludi.ch/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Ludus-XII-scriptorum_ENG.pdf
Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuQbHgfwYjs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt5jxZcFTHU
TIMECODES
00:00 - Intro
00:26 - Board & pieces
01:24 - Rules
03:30 - Rule variations
04:51 - History
09:10 - Favorite inscriptions
09:55 - Beginners Board
11:12 - Similarities to backgammon
12:18 - New theories
14:10 - Strategy
15:26 - Wrap-up
#boardgames #ancientgames, #romangames #gaming, #games, #oldgames, #leatherworking, #leathercraft, #DIY
STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional game scholar. At best, I am an enthusiastic amateur. This means my work may be incomplete, biased and, (I hope only rarely) outright wrong. I work hard to use reliable sources, double-check for accuracy, and draw reasonable conclusions. However, the scholarship surrounding ancient games is constantly growing and evolving; as a part-time game researcher and YouTube content creator, I am not always up to date on the most recent findings. If I present anything that is demonstrably incorrect, please call me out so I may increase my personal knowledge and understanding of this fascinating subject. Reach me at heygamingbench@gmail.com.
