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Latrunculi can basically be described as Roman checkers or roman chess. Latrunculi was played from 27 AD 400 BC by Roman royalty and peasants. Latrunculi is played on boards of varying sizes however the most common size is 12 x 8. The game consists of two types of pieces the main unit plays exactly like the rook in chess. It is able to move an unlimited number of spaces in one of the four cardinal directions. Game pieces can be captured by positioning two units on either side of an opponents game piece. Capturing removes the piece form the playing field. The other type of unit is a "Dux" or a king. The king plays the same as a regular piece however it cannot be captured, it can only be immobilized by surrounding the unit so that it is unable to move. this ends the game and it the requirement for obtaining victory. Unfortunately, no official record of the true rules exist. Most of the rules have been reconstructed by either; an in progress game recovered in essex, england, or from quotes written about the game.
Rules
Rules
Use a 12 x 8 (but possibly can be played on boards of 8 x 8, 8 x 7, or 9 x 10) board with the starting arrangement as shown above. It is possibly that the actual dimensions of the board are not integral to the gameplay.
Black plays first.
All pieces may move any number of spaces in the horizontal or vertical direction, like the rook in chess.
A single stone is captured if it is surrounded on two opposite sides.
The outside walls cannot be used to capture men. (some sources say that that it may be possible to capture using a wall)
A stone in the corner can be captured by two stones placed across the corner.
Multiple stones can be captured along a line.
The king (or dux) cannot be captured but can be immobilized by being surrounded on all four sides.
First player to immobilize the enemy king wins.
The king is immobilized if it is blocked by an enemy stone such that it has no place left to move.
If the game stalemates, the player with the most captured enemy stones wins.
Sequences of plays that repeat endlessly must be prohibited (this is usually obvious to both players after two series of moves repeats -- any move initiating a third repeating series of moves is illegal).
Players must announce when they 'squeeze' a stone in-between enemy stones (to avoid any later dispute).
History
History
The name Latrunculi derives from the Greek game Petteia, which means "pebbles" or "stones". It is possible that the game traces its origin all the way back to an Egyptian game named "Siga" (Seega). A fragment of a Petteia game board was found in Athen, an indication that Latrunculi may have been a transplant from Egypt with slightly differing rules. The earliest reference to Latrunculi was somewhere between 116 and 27 BC. People came from surrounding towns and villages to see a Roman senator named Cnaeus Calpurnius Piso play the game competitively in Piso, Rome. Latrunculi is regarded as a war game where the main pieces are armies, and potentially the spaces are land or cities. Unfortunately, because no written rules exist, scholars have attempted to recreate the rules by dissecting writings and poems, about the game. A Persian writer named Firdawsi (circa 400 BC) writes about Latrunculi:
"He arranged an army similar to that of chess; he placed the two sides in order of battle and distributed the troops, ready for battle and for the assault of the town, among eight houses. The field was black, the battle-field square, and there were two powerful kings of good disposition who should both move without ever receiving injury. Each had at his side an army in its arrangements, collected at the head of the field, and ready for the fray. The two kings advanced upon the field of battle, their troops moved on all sides around them, each trying to outgo the other; now they fought on the heights, now on the plains; when two on one side had surprised a man by himself, he was lost to his side, and the two armies remained face to face until it was seen who was beaten.
Game Design Elements
Game Design Elements
As far as designs go it is the most basic of basic designs. you have two pieces both with basically the same abilities besides that one cannot be captured. however i feel that this game would take an excruciatingly long time to win a game. Winning consists of either immobilizing an opponents pieces or immobilizing the other players king. While this is a very interesting gameplay mechanic the fact that to remove an enemy's piece from play requires you to surround a single piece on either side makes be believe that this would be very hard to do and conceivably lead to a game that would last much longer then ones interest in the gameplay would last. Its a game of Pure strategy, setting up traps and devising ways to trap and immobilize the opponents king. Unfortunately, i feel as though very few people would be willing to sit through a game that could last as long as Latrunculi could.
Art
Art
There is no art associated with Latrunculi. The game only consists of glass pieces of either white or black, and a game board which was not even colored in a specific way to denote spaces or sides. The King piece can be a pyramid of any other shape but it is not designed to resemble anything specific nor is it painted in a fancy matter. There are pieces of art that show other games being played that are similar to Latrunculi. These games may have been precursors to Latrunculi but are not directly about the game.
by:Josiah Haworth
by:Josiah Haworth
References
References
"Roman Board Games." AbleMedia LLC - A Knowledge Company. Web. 01 Feb. 2010. <http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/showcase/boardgames2.html>.
"Latrunculi." Welcome to Aerobiological Engineering. Web. 01 Feb. 2010. <http://www.aerobiologicalengineering.com/wxk116/Roman/BoardGames/latruncu.html>.
"Games of Soldiers - LATRUNCULI." Web. 01 Feb. 2010. <http://homepages.di.fc.ul.pt/~jpn/gv/latrunculi.htm>.
Links
Links
(Download Mac Game)
http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Games/Latrunculi.shtml
(PDF About the history of Latrunculi)
Scholars tried to determine the rules of the game by dissecting this writing. For example this specific instance of the game, it was determined was played on an 8x8 game board because of the writing: "Ready for battle and for the assault of the town, among eight houses. The field was black, the battle-field square". Also the sentence that states: "The two kings advanced upon the field of battle, their troops moved on all sides around them" lead scholars to believe that there are two types of game pieces. Regular pieces, like pawns in chess, and a single special unit called a "King". Scholars also attempted to determine the way in which pieces are removed from play. The text "When two on one side had surprised a man by himself, he was lost to his side", prompted scholars to believe that the way to remove a piece from play was to surround it on two opposing sides. While these all seem to be logical jumps from text to gaming practice they are still suspect because there is no original written rules.
However, in 1996 a game of Latrunculi was discovered at Stanway in Essex, England. This showed that in fact that scholars were correct when they deduced that there are two types of unites in the game. This rare glimpse into a game lost to time confirmed many of the scholars theories about how the game was played. Judging by the relic it is obvious that there are two different types of units. It also reenforces the notion that the pieces can move an unlimited number of spaces in any of the cardinal directions. however what is not shown is how to remove a piece from play. The game appears to have only just begun and for some reason was left and never finished.
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