Roman board game Terni Lapilli

Terni Lapilli is considered to be identical to modern Tic-Tac-Toe. However, although Terni Lapilli boards are found throughout the Empire, scratched on walls, floors, and roofs, no X's and O's accompany the markings. Obviously playing pieces were being used for this game.

Here it is an exemple of a Terni Lapilli board

Modern recreation of Terni lapilli game board

Recension of an interesting book

The book is "I FIGLI DI MARTE" (THE SONS OF MARS) by Gastone Breccia, ed Mondadori,              ISBN 978-88-04-61427-2.

I really hope this book will be soon translated in other languages, because it's an useful tool to understand all the aspects of an extraordinary war-machine like the roman army was. The author examines the changes of the characteristics of the single soldier, of his equipment, of the techniques of fighting and of the strategies of the whole army, linking all these aspects together in an extremely rational overview. The reader can understand how the roman army has not been a fixed structure in the centuries but has changed accordingly with the evolution of the techniques of the enemies and with the purposes of the res publica, starting from a bunch of bandits in the time of Romulus and arriving to a flexible, versatile, powerful tool that survived and was improved, even after the fall of the west empire, a thousand years more.

Happy Dies Natalis Solis Invicti

Happy Dies Natalis Solis Invicti!
I wish you all the best for these holidays.
You will find more on this festivity, that concluded the Saturnalia, on this page of Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus

See you soon!

Commemoration of the attempt of Nasiriyya - 12-11-2003

 

On 12th November a vexillatio of the XIII attended the ceremony in the italian memorial of the fallen in the international pace-keeping missions. We standed near the sacrarium, in the uniform of the Roman Legion and in the uniform of the italian Legion (1796)

Historical evidences of real Legio XIII p.2

Tombstone:


The inscripion, incomplete, it is from a Centurio hastato prior of 3 legions: XI Claudia, XIII Gemina, III Scythica


Tombstone























Tombstone of a cornicen of the Legio XIII Gemina and his wife. This stone was found in Medoilanum (today Milan).





 Bullet of a war machine

It is made of lead and 4,5 cm big 

Historical evidences of real Legio XIII p. 1

Here there are some historical evidences of real Legio XIII:

Name plate

Caius Maius, soldier of legio XIII Gemina, centuria of Statius Nana

 Coin:



Tombstone of a soldier:














 C. Iulio stady hastatum of Legio XIII Gemina


Other tombstone:



 Publius Urvinus

ARMILUSTRUM

Here are a few images of the Armilustrum ritual at the past ROMA Festival.