Lūdus lātrunculōrum, lātrunculī, or simply lātrōnēs ("the game of brigands", from lātrunculus, diminutive of lātrō, mercenary or highwayman) is a game played by the ancient Romans. Its rules are debated and there are competing conjectures.

History

---

According to Bell (see References below), lātrunculī is first mentioned by the Roman author Varro (116–27 B.C.), although it was most likely invented long before. In the tenth book of his Dē Linguā Latinā, Varro mentions the game in passing, while describing the declension of adjectives:

Ad hunc quādruplicem fontem ordīnēs dēriguntur bīnī, ūnī transversī, alterī dērectī, ut in tabulā solet in quā lātrunculīs lūdunt. Transversī sunt quī ab rectō cāsū oblīquī dēclīnantur, ut albus albī albō; dērectī sunt quī ab rectō cāsū in rectōs dēclīnantur, ut albus alba album; utrīque sunt partibus sēnīs. Transversōrum ordīnum partēs appellantur cāsūs, dērectōrum genera, utrīsque inter sē implicātis forma.

To this fourfold spring/source two sets of lines are drawn up, some crosswise and the others vertical, as is usual on the board on which they play lātrunculī. The crosswise ones are those that slant/decline obliquely, as: albus, albī, albō; the straight ones are those that slant/decline straightly, as: albus, alba, album; both are by/from parts six each. The parts of the rows are called cases, of the columns genders, with them among themselves implying their forms. (Translation based on that of Kowalski; see Links below. Must fix rest later.)

We can see from this quotation that lātrunculī is a game played on a board (tabula), on a grid.

Rules of play

---

Bell gives the following rules…

1. Using an 8×7 board each player has 16 pieces. They are placed two at a time by alternate turns of play anywhere on this board. During this first phase no captures are made. (However, the image here shows a 12x8 board, and 12 ordinary pieces and a king for each player, and a specific starting position.)
2. When the 32 pieces are in position each player adds a blue piece, called King or Dux.
3. The pieces move forwards or backwards or sideways one square at a time. There is no movement in diagonal.
4. A capture is made when two pieces enclose in a line a rival piece. Captured pieces are retired from the board.
5. The king can move like the rest of the pieces, or jumping over an enemy piece that is in an adjacent square. The jumped piece is not captured by the move. Of course, the move can have as consequence the capture of another piece. The king is captured in the same way as ordinary pieces. This ability of jumping permits the king to penetrate defenses.
6. If a piece is moved voluntarily between two enemy pieces, it is not captured.
7. The game ends when a player has lost all of his pieces or when a barrier is formed that no one can pass. The player who has captured more enemy pieces wins.
8. If during 30 consecutive moves, no capture has been made, it is considered that there is an impenetrable barrier, and the game ends.

Later use of the name

---

When chess came to Germany, the chess terms for "chess" and "check" got into German as "Schach". But "Schach" was already a native German word for "robbery". As a result, "ludus latrunculorum" was often used as a medieval Latin word for "chess".

External links

---

• Varro's Dē Linguā Latinā at The Latin Library
• Wladyslaw Jan Kowalski's page on Roman board games
• Latrunculi for Mac OS X a GPL Latrunculi implementation with a strong Artificial Intelligence.

References

---

History of board games

Latrunculi | Latrunculi