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(S+) Drinking and gambling in Pompeii's taverns: »Fight outside!«

2022-08-09T22:26:14.947Z


Games of chance were popular in everyday life in antiquity, especially forerunners of backgammon. Sometimes games in the bars of Pompeii ended in wild arguments - about bad luck or cheating with loaded dice.


Enlarge image

The Romans used, among other things, six-sided dice - fraudsters often manipulated them

Photo:

Scala / bpk / Scala

Suddenly the mood between the two players in the tavern, who were sitting opposite each other with their game board on their knees, changed.

A heated argument broke out in ancient Pompeii.

It was around 2000 years ago, historical murals in the ruins of a tavern bear witness to the dispute, and inscriptions even record scraps of dialogue.

Accordingly, the player on the left in a red tunic proudly calls out: "I'm out!" and declares himself the winner.

His counterpart, a man in a yellow tunic, protests: "It's not a three, it's a two." His outstretched hand points to the dice cup that his counterpart is holding.

Did his opponent cheat and not roll a three at all?

A second mural depicts how the argument escalated and the men, easily recognizable by their colorful clothing, got into each other's arms.

Their upper bodies touch, the man in the red robe grabs his opponent by the shoulder, threatens with his raised fist and says: »You criminal, I had the three, it was me!« His counterpart claims that he rolled a three himself and insults his Opponents as »miserable knaves«.

A third man, possibly the innkeeper, tries to throw the brawlers out of the bar: "Fight outside!"

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Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2022-08-09

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