I.

Several tali lusorii. The tali are supposed to have been known to the Greeks[28] by the name of Ἀϛράγαλοι as early as the Trojan war. But as the monuments before us are undoubtedly Roman, I shall confine my remarks upon them to the usages received among that people; and being guided partly by what appears upon the face of these antiquities, and partly by what the Latin classics have delivered in general upon this subject, beg leave to observe, in the first place, that the tali had each of them but four sides, two broader, and the other two more narrow, on which they would ordinarily rest; as the rounding of their ends did not easily permit them to stand upon those parts. However, the possibility of such a position (tho' it did not occur to me to make the experiment with these pieces) may be deduced from a passage in Tully[29].

Further, with regard to the manner of distinguishing the several sides of the tali, some learned[30] writers speak of it according to ideas taken from the fashion of marking the modern dice, and (I may add) the ancient tesseræ likewise: but, as I did not observe the traces of any engraving, painting, &c. upon the pieces under consideration, it seems to me more probable, what others assert[31], that this distinction was effected by the different configuration of the sides themselves, and not by any numbers marked upon them. And concerning this notation, the common opinion is, that the appearances expressing one and six, as also those representing three and four, were opposed to each other respectively.

But leaving these (however probable) conjectures, we can with certainty determine the number of the tali used in this game to have been four; and likewise, that among the various chances resulting from them, the most fortunate one was that, wherein each of the sides exhibited a different aspect. The former of these circumstances we learn from Tully[32], as we do the latter from Martial, who, in a distich sent with a present of a set of tali to a friend, says,

Cum steterit nullus vultu tibi talus eodem,

Munera me dices magna dedisse tibi[33].

It may further be collected from Horace, that the throw above described had the appellation of Venus: for when he intimates, that the president of the feast was elected by the tali[34], he must be supposed to mean the most favourable chance upon them. But he[35] elsewhere gives us to understand, that the chance, which determined that election, was called Venus.

Propertius is somewhat more explicite in assigning the title of this throw, as above; and at the same time informs us further, that the contrary (and consequently most unlucky) one was termed canes.

Me quoque per talos Venerem quærente secundos,

Semper damnosi subsiluere canes[36].

Now it seems to be agreed among the antiquaries, [37]that canis on the tali was unity: and indeed this opinion is countenanced by Persius[38], who contrasts canicula with senio. If this be admitted, then the canes of Propertius must have been the chance, wherein all (or at least the greater number of) the tali came up (as we should express it) aces.

There have been several other conjectures proposed by learned writers upon this subject, which I choose to omit, for want of proper authorities from the classics to ascertain them. This is likewise the case with regard to the rules observed by the ancient Romans at this diversion. It is not at all improbable, that as we have several species of games upon the same set of dice, cards, &c. so they might have the same variety on the tali: and if there were any laws established by custom for the regulation of this game in public, yet private parties might be at liberty to innovate at pleasure, and agree upon whatever terms of play were most agreeable to their inclinations or circumstances. In this light (according to [39]Erasmus) we are to consider the account, which Augustus gives of himself and his friends, in an epistle to Tiberius[40]: Inter cænam lusimus γεροντικῶς heri et hodie: talis enim jactatis, ut quisque canem aut senionem miserat, in singulos talos singulos denarios conferebat, quos tollebat universos, qui Venerem jecerat. And it is obvious to remark, that (upon this hypothesis) the critics, perhaps, need not have been so much embarassed (as we find they have been) in endeavouring to reconcile this passage of Suetonius with that other of Persius[41] produced above.

I shall conclude with noting, that in order to prevent any fraud or slight of hand in managing the tali, it was usual to put them into a box[42], and, after shaking them together, to throw them out upon a table. Thus Martial introduces one of these turriculæ, as recommending its own usefulness for the purpose above-mentioned:

Quærit compositos manus improba mittere talos,

Qui per me mittit, nil nisi vota facit[43].

However, this caution does not seem to have been so universally observed, but that sometimes, viz. when the party consisted of ladies, it was (I presume, for a reason greatly to their honour) superseded. Thus, in one of the first paintings found at Herculaneum, and now in the royal apartments at Portici, we see a young female figure exhibited, as playing at this game, with one or more of the tali lying upon the back part of her hand, while the rest appear as having fallen off from thence towards the floor.