Venus Throw

Last updated

The Venus Throw was the highest roll in the Ancient Roman gambling game of tali (knucklebones). The game was played with four 4-sided rectangular dice numbered I, III, IV and VI, usually made from sheep's or goat's knucklebones. In a Venus Throw, each talus landed on a different side, yielding as a score of 14. A gambler would either throw the tali from his or her hand, or from a small box, (called a fritillus). Thirty-five different throws were possible. While the Venus throw was the highest, the Vulture throw (all aces)—also known as the Dog throw —was the lowest. The Venus throw could be used to designate the master of the revels.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bocce</span> Ball sport

Bocce, sometimes anglicized as bocce ball, bocci or boccie, is a ball sport belonging to the boules family. Developed into its present form in Italy, it is closely related to British bowls and French pétanque, with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire. Bocce is played around western, southern and southeastern Europe, as well as in overseas areas with historical Italian immigrant population, including Australia, North America, and South America, principally Argentina and the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Initially played just by the Italian immigrants, the game has slowly become more popular with their descendants and more broadly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dice</span> Throwable objects with marked sides, used for generating random numbers

Dice are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing games, and games of chance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock paper scissors</span> Hand game for two players

Rock paper scissors is an intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstretched hand. These shapes are "rock", "paper", and "scissors". The earliest form of "rock paper scissors"-style game originated in China and was subsequently imported into Japan, where it reached its modern standardized form, before being spread throughout the world in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venus (mythology)</span> Ancient Roman goddess of love, sex and fertility

Venus is a Roman goddess, whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the ancestor of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas, who survived the fall of Troy and fled to Italy. Julius Caesar claimed her as his ancestor. Venus was central to many religious festivals, and was revered in Roman religion under numerous cult titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game of chance</span> Game whose outcome is determined by random events

A game of chance is in contrast with a game of skill. It is a game whose outcome is strongly influenced by some randomizing device. Common devices used include dice, spinning tops, playing cards, roulette wheels, numbered balls, or in the case of digital games random number generators. A game of chance may be played as gambling if players wage money or anything of monetary value.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cloacina</span> Roman Goddess protector of the Cloaca Maxima

Cloacina was a goddess who presided over the Cloaca Maxima, the main interceptor discharge outfall of the system of sewers in Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazard (game)</span> Early English game played with two dice

Hazard is an early English game played with two dice; it was mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the 14th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dreidel</span> Four-sided spinning top used on Hanukkah

A dreidel, also dreidle or dreidl is a four-sided spinning top, played during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is a Jewish variant on the teetotum, a gambling toy found in many European cultures.

Tali may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astragalomancy</span>

Astragalomancy, also known as cubomancy or astragyromancy, is a form of divination that uses dice specially marked with letters or numbers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pub game</span> Game traditionally played in or outside pubs and bars

A pub game is one which is traditionally played inside or outside a pub. Most pub games date back many years and are rooted in village culture. Many derive from older outdoor sports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talus bone</span> One of the foot bones that forms the tarsus

The talus, talus bone, astragalus, or ankle bone is one of the group of foot bones known as the tarsus. The tarsus forms the lower part of the ankle joint. It transmits the entire weight of the body from the lower legs to the foot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knucklebones</span> Dexterity game of ancient origins

Knucklebones, also known as scatter jacks, snobs, astragalus, tali, dibs, fivestones, jacks, or jackstones, among many other names, is a game of dexterity played with a number of small objects that are thrown up, caught, and manipulated in various manners. It is ancient in origin and is found in various cultures worldwide.

<i>Alea iacta est</i> Latin phrase

Ālea iacta est is a variation of a Latin phrase attributed by Suetonius to Julius Caesar on 10 January 49 BC, as he led his army across the Rubicon river in Northern Italy. With this step, he entered Italy at the head of his army in defiance of the Senate and began his long civil war against Pompey and the Optimates. The phrase, either in the original Latin or in translation, is used in many languages to indicate that events have passed a point of no return. It is now most commonly cited with the word order changed rather than in the original phrasing. The same event inspired another idiom with the same meaning, "crossing the Rubicon".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birkie</span>

Birkie or Birky is an historical Scottish west coast card game for two players that is first recorded by Sir Walter Scott in 1819. It has been equated to Beggar my Neighbour, however, its rules are different.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shagai</span> Animal ankle bones used for games and divination

Shagai, chükö, asyk/ashyk/oshuq, gachuha refers to the astragalus of the ankle of a sheep or goat. The bones are collected and used for traditional games and fortune-telling throughout Central Asia, and games involving the ankle bones may also be referred to by the name of the bones. They may be painted bright colours. Such bones have been used throughout history, and are thought to be the first forms of dice. In English language sources, shagai may be referred to as "ankle bones", and playing with shagai is sometimes called ankle bone shooting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludus (ancient Rome)</span>

Ludus in ancient Rome could refer to a primary school, a board game, or a gladiator training school. The various meanings of the Latin word are all within the semantic field of "play, game, sport, training".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planets in astrology</span> Astrological interpretations of the planets of our solar system

In astrology, planets have a meaning different from the astronomical understanding of what a planet is. Before the age of telescopes, the night sky was thought to consist of two similar components: fixed stars, which remained motionless in relation to each other, and moving objects/"wandering stars", which moved relative to the fixed stars over the course of the year(s).

Pugasaing is a Native American dice game played by the Ojibwe. It is mentioned by name in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, The Song of Hiawatha. The word pugasaing is the participle form of the verb "to throw" in the Ojibwe language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toys and games in ancient Rome</span>

The ancient Romans had a variety of toys and games. Children used toys such as tops, marbles, wooden swords, kites, whips, seesaws, dolls, chariots, and swings. Gambling and betting were popular games in ancient Rome. Legislation heavily regulated gambling, however, these laws were likely not enforced. Tali, Terni lapilli, Duodecim Scripta, and Ludus Latrunculorum were all popular games in ancient Rome. They were similar to poker, tic-tac-toe, backgammon, and chess respectively. Nine men's morris may also have been a popular game in ancient Rome. Roman children also played games simulating historical battles and could pretend to be important government officials.

References