Roman Ball

According to this source, an ancient Roman ball game one could apparently call "Rome Ball" was very similar to the street game Boxball. OK, Roman Ball is played in circles and not boxes. But the similarity is self-evident. I quote:

1. Draw 2 concentric circles on the ground, 5 feet and 20 feet in diameter.
2. Players ( 3 or more) may stand or run anywhere outside the large circle.
3. The ball must bounce in the inner circle, the 'strike zone', and pass beyond the outer circle.
4. If the ball is not caught and hits the ground, the thrower gets a point.
5. The player who catches or retrieves the ball throws it next.
6. The first player to reach 21 points wins the game.

On the other hand, this is at best a modern intepretation of how the game was actually played, so similarities to modern games are inevitable. On yet another hand, it does illustrate how ancient and profound is our fascination with ball games. So, on either hand, it makes you wonder how old our games really are.

The amazing Dr. Wladyslaw Jan Kowalski has provided us with genuinely illustrated resources on both Roman Ball Games (with a smattering of Egypto-Greekly fun) and even Roman Board Games. He freely admits that he's guessing on a lot of the rules. And that's what makes his work such a valuable resource to those of us who like to play, and those of us who like to make up new ways to play, and those of us who just like to wonder.