Image 1. Finished game boards and tokens.
Introduction
Games and other diversions are an important part of society, both ancient and modern. It is games that we play, and to some extent, how we play them that we learn, grow, acquire socialization skills, and expand our knowledge. Games also give us the opportunity to satisfy our primal urges to conquer our opponent without doing actual harm. For our ancestors; games provided the opportunity for entertainment, diversion, and as a way to learn strategy.
In our Current Middle Ages games provide a distraction and something to do at events between planned activities. Games provide a way to challenge others without leaving bruises and to just have fun with friends and family. Playing games, therefore, is a wonderful opportunity at events since all that is really needed is a gameboard.
For a Roman-themed event I wanted to craft gameboards that would not only be entertaining but follow the theme of the event as well. I decided on two games, Felix Sex and Duodicem Scripta, and crafted two boards for them. I utilized both sides of a wood board for the games so that each board had the two diferent games painted on it. Since both of the games needed the same amount of playing pieces I was able to create one set of playing pieces per each board.
As an important note: while it is plausible that two different games could have been put onto one gameboard current Roman archeological evidence does not support this. However, I did not let this stop me from crafting the gameboards as I had designed them.
The Game of Felix Sex
An interesting game, and one that I found quite enjoyable, is the game of Felix Sex. Felix Sex was first mentioned in Ovid’s “Ars Amorous” around 8 CE under the name Ludus Duodicem Scripta [Hübener]. The name “Felix Sex” translates to “lucky sixes” and is poetically descriptive of what the board actually looks like. The board is made up of six separate lines of six spaces arranged in two columns and three rows. In most cases, the spaces were actual letters which would spell out a witty saying or something poetic, but gameboards have also been found without letters and just empty playing fields. For my gameboards each letter is a separate space in which tokens land on during gameplay.
The two boards that I crafted on are based on extant finds and each board has a different phrase for the Felix Sex side:
LUDITE SECURI QVIBVS AES EST SEMPER IN ARCA
“Play without concern when your purse is full”
VENARI LAVARI LUDERE RIDERE OCCEST VIVERE
“Hunting, bathing, playing games, and laughing, this is the life”
There were other phrases used according to archeological finds including menus for taverns and even military slogans. However, these two phrases evoked the spirit of playing games for me, and therefore, I chose to use them with the Felix Sex boards.
How to Play. Players determine who goes first; either at random or by agreement. Each player has fifteen tokens that are placed off the board. Players then roll three six-sided dice and move one, two, or three tokens accordingly. Numbers rolled on a single dice may not be split up between tokens.
Players move the tokens down the center line on their side towards the center of the board, then from right to left on the upper line and finally from left to right on the bottom line before exiting their tokens.
Image 2. Direction of Play for Felix Sex.
Tokens may be stacked on top of each other and may move as a group. Tokens may not land on a space occupied by the other player unless the number of tokens is the same or greater, in which case the space is captured and the tokens are returned to the other player and placed off the board to be played again on the next turn.
You must roll an exact number to move your tokens off the board, which is counted as one space.
As a variant of this game: Tokens may only advance on the board when all of the player’s tokens are on the players first word. Additionally, tokens may only leave the board when all of the player’s tokens are on the last word.
The first player to successfully remove their tokens off the board wins.
The Game of Duodicem Scripta
Another fun diversion is the game of Duodicem Scripta, or “twelve lines”. This game resembles Backgammon and Duodicem Scripta is considered one of the many precursors to the game many people are familiar with. Duodicem Scripta was a popular game that enthralled the Roman Emperor Claudius around 54 CE and, even though he wrote about this game and many others he enjoyed playing, none of the forty copies of the book survived [Hübener]. The board is made up of two lines of twelve squares each. Some researchers believe that the squares represent the twelve months of the year although other interpretations can be made.
Some of the extant finds of these game boards have names for different squares although the meanings of those squares in the game is now lost to time.
How to Play. Players determine who goes first; either at random or by agreement. Players sit across from each with the short side of the board in front of them. Each player has fifteen tokens that are stacked on the square closest the them on the left-hand side. Players then roll three six-sided dice and move one, two, or three tokens accordingly. Numbers rolled on a single dice may not be split up between tokens.
Players move up the left line, across to the right line, and work their way down to the final square which is the right square closest to the player.
Image 3. Direction of Play for Duodicem Scripta.
The players may stack their tokens of the same spot on the playing field but cannot move stacks at a time. No player may occupy a square that is occupied by another player unless it is a single token, in which case the space is captured and the token is returned to the opponents first square.
The first player to move all of their tokens to the final square wins.
A Note on the Accuracy of Modern Gameplay of Ancient Games
It is important to remember that the ways listed to play the games are supposition; nobody knows how they were actually played. While it the case of Duodicem Scripta, where a numbered board was found, the playstyle of the game can be interpreted with relative ease. However, the game of Felix Sex is a little more difficult. Research on the Internet shows many variations of these two games as each author puts his or her own interpretation on the available material. The game rules that I chose to follow were based on Kowalski’s Roman Board Games research. There were some awkward playing rules notated in his works for Felix Sex which I chose to add as a variant to preserve the simplicity of gameplay.
For Felix Sex numerous examples of extant gameboards show circular spaces in between the words on each line. It is unknown if these circular items are a playing field, decoration, or just a way to ensure that the words are seen as separate when looking at the board. I did not include them in the gameboards that I crafted.
For Duodicem Scripta certain squares on the board were named; Antigonus, Summus, and Divus. The names most likely had meaning to the Ancient Romans who were playing the game but not to the modern person who is far enough removed from ancient times to be unaware of what these special squares are all about. While we can research the words and understand their meaning we will probably never know the squares meant in the process of gameplay.
Additionally, throughout the research on these two games, both the name Felix Sex and Duodicem Scripta were used interchangeably by many authors, with Duodicem Scripta or Ludus Duodicem Scripta being used to a greater extent. It can be surmised that both the game Felix Sex and Duodicem Scripta were known as the same game but played with a different styles of boards. It is only by reading the descriptions of the games can it be possible to ascertain which game is being discussed.
The concept is very similar when somebody talks about the game of chess but does not define if it is Byzantine, Persian, or some other type of chess being played. In the cases where this has occurred, it has been corrected in my research to show the difference between the two gameboards.
Creating the Game Boards
A search on the Internet invariably will bring up several commercial playing boards for these two games. However, the fun comes from actually creating them and adding your own artistic expression to the boards.
The Boards
The boards are made of poplar; a readily available, inexpensive, and hassle-free wood that is easy to work with. The gameboards measure 20 inches long by 5.5 inches wide—adequate dimensions for both games. The length of the board was determined by figuring out the length of each space needed and adding enough room for a border around the playing field. I determined the space of each square was to be more than 1 inch in diameter—the size of a token. By adding an extra half inch to the measurement for each square the individual playing areas then became 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches. When multiplied by how many squares were needed for the games, I was able to determine the length needed for the board. The wood was required to be cut to size from the board length purchased. I used a hand saw for this part but power tools could easily be used.
After basic sanding; the playing field was drafted with pencil and then painted with acrylic paint. Acrylic paint, while not appropriate for the time period is easy to find, easy to work with, and comes in a wonderful selection of colors. Some extant examples of gameboards, especially bone or ivory ones, have traces of polychrome meaning that they could have been painted as well.
The Felix Sex lettering was handwritten in square spaces. Both the letters for the Felix Sex board and the squares for Duodicem Scripta were painted with a mixture of Ivory and White paint. During the planning phase for the boards, the white was determined to be too bright so by adding ivory to the mix the playing spaces were of less color intensity and quite pleasing to the artistic eye. Two layers of paint, both the ivory/white mix and the dark brown used for the rest of the board were applied and sprayed with clear matte acrylic paint to seal them in when they dried.
Extant examples of actual gameboards show that the majority surviving are made of stone and in some cases ivory. This may be because of the simple fact that stone and ivory are more likely to survive the passage of time while wood will not. There have been some cases in which supposed wooden gameboards were found but the only surviving pieces were the metal edges of the boards themselves.
Image 4. Felix Sex or Ludus Duodicem Scripta Board made of stone.
Playing Pieces
The playing pieces are one inch round tokens that were painted red and yellow with acrylic paint. The actual roundels were purchased from Etsy supplier SnugglyMonkey as unfinished products. Two thin coats of acrylic paint were applied to both sides of the token as well as the edge and finally sprayed with clear matte acrylic to seal them.
Image 5. Finished Game Tokens.
Extant finds of playing pieces show that they were made of a variety of material, such as glass and ceramic, but the most prevalent appears to have been made of bone with the distinction most often made by applied color [Nuţu & Boţan]. An interesting note is that primitive playing pieces were hard to stack on top of each other as they were uneven and prone to falling down. The problem ended up evolving the shape of the game boards accordingly [Kowalski] often elongating the playing field areas to accommodate the tokens. Kowalski demonstrates this in a drawing of an altered Duodicem Scripta board which begins to look more like the the modern backgammon board we see today.
Image 6. Elongated Playing Fields in a Duodicem Scripta Board.
A “How To Play” Booklet
While working on creating the boards I decided to create a booklet that would cover the basic information, such as how to play and the game’s brief history, in a format that people could take with them and read at a later time. The booklet is a single page, printed on both sides, and folded in half. The booklet can be used for future expansions of different games that we as a group play, and should be a fun and welcome way for people to learn how to play different games.
Image 7. Gameplay Booklet.
In addition to a nice handout at the event; the booklet can be given when bestowing different games away as prizes or largess. The recipient will have a way to learn the game they just received and they are more likely to play it in the future.
Final Thoughts
Making these board games was a fun project but time consuming as I waited for each application of paint to dry before applying the next layer. This project allowed me to produce items that are needed in the Society for Creative Anachronism while exploring how people played games in the past. While we may truly never know how these games were actually played back then, this project allows us an opportunity to be creative in our anachronism and be entertained at the same time.
Two more playing boards will be crafted and, along with instructions and playing pieces, will be donated to my local Barony so that others may have something to do during the down time common at most events. I also have plans for other gameboards such as the Royal Game of Ur, Senet, Gluckhaus, and others.
Bibliography
Hübener, Hardy. "Tabular History of Backgammon." Hardy's Backgammon Page. N.p., 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
Kowalski, Wally J. "Felix Sex." Roman Board Games. Classics Technology Center, 2000. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.
Kowalski, Wally J. "Duodecim Scripta." Roman Board Games. Classics Technology Center, 2000. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.
Nuţu, George, and Sever Petru Boţan. "Roman Board Game Pieces in Northern Dobrudja." Peuce (Institutul De Cercetări Eco-Muzeal) VII (2009): 145-56. 2009. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
Image Sources
Image 1. Finished Game Boards and Tokens. Photograph by Halfdan Ôzurrson.
Image 2. Direction of Play for Felix Sex. Image originally from Roman Board Games-Classic Technology Center.
Image 3. Direction of Play for Duodicem Scripta. Image from Roman Board Games-Classic Technology Center.
Image 4. Felix Sex or Ludus Duodicem Scripta Board made of stone. Image from the Museum at Ephesus.
Image 5. Finished Game Tokens. Photograph by Halfdan Ôzurrson.
Image 6. Elongated Playing Fields in a Duodicem Scripta Board. Image from Roman Board Games-Classic Technology.
Image 7. Gameplay Booklet. Screenshot from the work of Halfdan Ôzurrson.
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