Figure 1.--This part of the relief sculpture shows girls playing some kind of ball game. We think that the girl at the bavk is going to throw the ball she is holding against awall and the other two are going to tryto catch it. We are not sure how much bounce there was to Roman balls. The sculpture is believed to date from the second quarter of the 2nd century AD. The provenance is unknown, part of the Compana Collection. Source: Louvre.

Boys liked to play war games with their wooden swords and shields. War and making wars was at the top of the Roman value system. Boys imitated warriors in their play and wanted to great fighters. Boys played war with wooden swords and shields and mimicked their conception of war. There were many other games including still popular games, hide-and-seek and blind man’s bluff. On the previous page the boys are playing knucklebones (talus) a game very popular among both children and adults. The girls are playing ball (pila). We are not sure how accurate that was. There were ball games, but no rubber for the balls. Boys played various games involved with hitting a ball with hands or arms. Padding was used for protection. Girls also played ball games, but we suspect it was less common. On the previous page we see sme sort of ball game, but we do not understand just what the game was or even if one or two games are being depicted. As part of the same relief sculpture we see girls playing a ball game (figure 1). It is unclear just what the came consisted of. but it may be throwing the ball aginst a wall and catching it. The Romans did not have rubber which was a Western Hemishere plant. Theydid have gum resins, but we have no idea how much bounce there was to the balls we see children playing with.

Created: 9:09 AM 2/26/2017
Last updated: 9:09 AM 2/26/2017