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Ruth Garrido Vila

Game dice

Roman Empire, 1st - 2nd Century AD

Bone

10 mm H. 

Condition: Very good, see photos. 

Provenance: Private collection, Paris, France. Formed in the 1960s. 


Roman bone dice are small objects used in Ancient Rome mainly for games of chance and entertainment, although in some contexts they also had a ritual or divinatory use. They were very common and reflect both the Roman taste for gambling and their skill in working materials such as bone.

What are they?
They are dice generally made of animal bone (such as cow or pig bone), although examples have also been found in ivory, bronze, stone or ceramic.
They are cube-shaped, and their faces are marked with dots (numerals) ranging from 1 to 6, just like modern dice.

What were they used for?
Board games: They were part of games similar to backgammon or tabula, where dice decided the moves.
Gambling: Very popular with soldiers, citizens and even emperors, often played with money or goods.
Divination (less common): Some Romans used dice in oracle-like practices, to ‘tell fortunes’.
Funerary rituals or symbolism: Dice have been found in tombs, sometimes as symbolic objects.

How were they made?
Selection of the bone: A compact bone was chosen, such as a phalanx or part of a leg.
Carving and polishing: It was cut into cubes with knives or metal tools.
Marking: The faces were marked with dots using metal punches or chisels. Sometimes they were filled with pigment (black or red) to highlight the dots.

Decoration (optional): 
Some more elaborate dice had inscriptions, Roman numerals or symbols.Roman bone dice are small objects used in Ancient Rome mainly for games of chance and entertainment, although in some contexts they also had a ritual or divinatory use. They were very common and reflect both the Roman taste for gambling and their skill in working materials such as bone.

Curiosities:
On some Roman dice, opposite sides did not always add up to 7, as in modern dice.
Some dice were tricked, with hidden weights or irregular shapes to favour certain numbers.


1st - 2nd Century AD - Unknown

Ancient Roman Bone Game Dice. 10 mm H. 1st - 2nd Century AD

Archaeology

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Extras

Certificate

Period

Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.)

Cretaceous, Lower (145 - 100.5 million years)

1450-1500

1550-1600

1650-1700

1400-1450

1600-1650

Aravidu dynasty (16th - 17th century)

Tang Dynasty (618-907)

Neogene, Miocene (23.03 - 5.33 million years)

Ordovician (485.4 - 443.8 million years)

Yuan-Ming Dynasty

1700-1750

1750-1800

1850-1900

18th century

Certification

Non-CITES species

No laboratory report

Subject

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Horse and rider

Woman

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Eros

Norse mythological figures

Aphrodite

Horus

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Hathor

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Aššur

Buddha

Style

Ancient Roman

Ancient Egyptian

Medieval, Crusaders Era

Neolithic

Viking Era

Ancient Greek

Byzantine

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Ancient Roman Bone Game Dice. 10 mm H. 1st - 2nd Century AD

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Archaeology

This object is no longer available, but there’s still lots to explore

Ancient Roman Bone Game Dice. 10 mm H. 1st - 2nd Century AD

Popular in Archaeology

1640 objects

Related collections