G.V. Gravina,, Crotone, involved in the Comenius Project Dec 2012

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1 This work was relealized by the students from G.V. Gravina,, Crotone, involved in the Comenius Project Essen, Germany 9-14 Dec 2012 G.V. GRAVINA Headmaster Alberto D'Ettoris Teachers T. Lucy Ferragine Cosimo Pizzuti Stefania Tammaro Students Noemi Gualtieri M. Alessandra Manfreda Sara Stirparo

2 Playing with Dolls Heads or Tails Girls were given a doll (pupa), kept till their wedding day and then delivered to the Lares of their home or to their favourite deity. Capta et Navia (Heads or Tails): two players flipped a coin shouting either capta or navia. The winner was the player who had guessed which side of the coin would show on the ground (the ship or Janus).

3 Watching Gladiators Fight In ancient Rome, adults enjoyed games too, even though they found ways of entertainment that were totally different from the children s ones. Their main entertainment was to watch gladiators fight against each other or against animals of great size like lions, tigers, bears, panthers, bulls, buffaloes and, sometimes, even elephants. Playing with Stick and Circle They played with a circle, making it run with a stick called clavis.

4 War Game The Game of Thieves Ludus Latrunculorum Roman children played war climbing on a cart or standing in buggies pulled by goats or other domestic animals, or by fighting with thin tree branches. The "Ludus Latrunculorum," (the Game of Thieves), was a very popular strategy game. It was played on a black and white chequerboard where pieces were moved in order to simulate a war and win the enemy s territory.

5 Social Gatherings Walnut Game The Romans loved playing games as well as spending their days in good company, organizing parties and having lavishing dinners on luxurious sofas. Before having dinner in separate areas, men and women enjoyed taking baths in order to relax and exchange ideas. Girls played with walnuts. Four walnuts were used to form a sort of pyramid: three were the base of the structure; one was placed on top of the others. The players had to throw seeds or nuts in order to destroy the pyramid.

6 Playing Ball Heads and Tails They also played ball. Marziale (latin scolar) distinguishes various kinds of ball: follis, (made of leather and empty inside), paganica, (filled with feathers), and harpasta (filled with sand). Heads or Tails: shells, knuclebones, pebbles, marbles or walnuts were used. Two or more players took a number of elements and hid them in their hands. Another player tried to guess if the number of the hidden elements was odd or even.

7 Game with Knucklebones Blind-man man s Buff Game with Knucklebones: it was played on a table by throwing four knucklebones in order to form various combinations. The luckiest combination was called the shot of Venus, obtained when the four knuclebones showed four faces with a different value.this game was played with dice as well.two or three dice were thrown at a time. It was played by 4 or 5 children, one of whom was blindfolded and forced to turn around till he/she would lose his/her orientation. The blindfolded player said, "I am going to seek the bronze fly!" and the others replied, "You are going to seek it without finding it." The companions hit the blindfolded child with strings of leather until he/she would snatch a string that child would be the next blind man.

8 Watching Gladiators Fight The Game of Thieves Ludus Latrunculorum The ladrunculorum ludus, game of thieves, or simply Latrunculi (hence the Italian word for thieves), or Latrones (thieves on the road), was practised mostly by legionaries. It was very similar to the modern game of checkers. A board was used in order to move pieces of different colours in a straight line towards the 4 directions. In short, it was a strategy game whose goal was to surround and block the opponent's checkers.

9 Casting a Stone into a Vase Playing Ball Less common and without a specific name, another popular game consisted in throwing a stone into a vase or a hole. This ancient version of basketball could be played by many players at a time. Ball games were appreciated by adults as well as by children: harpastum (a sort of rugby) and prisonball were generally practised.

10 Archery Drama Sports played a central role in Roman adults life: running, boxing, and archery were very popular. Roman adults also loved the theatre. Comedies, tragedies, and comic parodies of politics were often accompanied by music. In order to amplify their voices, actors, who were only men, used heavy masks made of stone with funnel-shaped mouths.