More Than Marching: The Games Roman Soldiers Played in Their Free Time
When most people picture a Roman soldier, they usually imagine someone marching down a dusty road, standing in formation behind a shield, or fighting in one of Rome's many battles. It's an understandable image the Roman army certainly spent plenty of time training and campaigning, but soldiers weren't on duty every hour of every day. Like modern military personnel, they had moments of downtime. They joked with one another, wrote letters home, shared meals, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, found ways to entertain themselves. Archaeology and ancient writings reveal that Roman soldiers enjoyed a variety of games, from simple board games scratched into stone to gambling with dice and tests of athletic skill. In many ways, those moments of recreation remind us that, despite the nearly two thousand years separating us, Roman soldiers weren't all that different from soldiers today.
A Board Game Carved Into Stone
One of the most fascinating discoveries from Roman military sites is just how often game boards appear where soldiers lived. Archaeologists have uncovered game boards carved directly into stone steps, barrack floors, and even the walls of forts across the Roman Empire. Instead of carrying a dedicated game board everywhere, a soldier could simply scratch one into a convenient surface and use pebbles or pottery fragments as playing pieces. Some of the best examples come from Vindolanda, just south of Hadrian's Wall, where numerous gaming pieces have been recovered alongside other everyday objects. Similar finds have appeared at forts stretching from Britain to the Middle East, suggesting that gaming was a common pastime throughout the Roman army. Imagine finishing a long day's march or construction work, sitting outside the barracks with your tentmates, and passing the evening over a familiar game. It's not difficult to picture because soldiers have been doing much the same thing for centuries.
Ludus Latrunculorum – The Game of Mercenaries
Perhaps the best known Roman strategy game is Ludus Latrunculorum, often shortened to Latrunculi. Although historians still debate its exact rules, it appears to have been a game of military tactics. Ancient references describe pieces being surrounded and captured rather than removed through chance, leading many scholars to compare it loosely to chess or checkers, although neither comparison is perfect. The Roman poet Martial briefly mentions the game, while Ovid also refers to it in his writings, confirming that it was widely known during the early Empire. It's easy to understand why soldiers might have enjoyed it. Success depended on planning, positioning, and anticipating an opponent's next move—skills that would have felt familiar to professional military men. While we can't say with certainty that every legionary played Latrunculi, the number of boards and gaming pieces found at military sites strongly suggests it was popular among soldiers.
There Was More Than One Game Around the Campfire
While Ludus Latrunculorum may have been the best known Roman strategy game, it certainly wasn't the only way soldiers passed the time. Archaeologists have identified several different styles of game boards at Roman forts and settlements, suggesting that soldiers enjoyed a variety of games depending on who they were playing with and how much time they had. One of the simplest was what modern historians call Three Men's Morris (think ancient tic-tac-toe). Played with just three pieces per player on a small grid, the objective was to line up three pieces in a row while blocking your opponent from doing the same. It was easy to learn, required only a few pebbles or pottery fragments as playing pieces, and could be scratched onto almost any flat surface. Although no Roman author leaves us a complete rulebook, brief references in Ovid's Ars Amatoria and the numerous carved boards discovered across the Roman world strongly suggest that simple "morris" games were already familiar during the early Empire. Modern reconstructions rely on both those literary references and archaeological evidence, though scholars rightly caution that some of the finer details remain uncertain.
Another favorite was Tabula, a race game played with dice that most historians consider a direct ancestor of modern backgammon. Unlike Latrunculi or the Morris family of games, Tabula combined strategy with chance, requiring players to move their pieces around the board according to the roll of the dice. Although our clearest written description survives in the writings of the seventh-century scholar Isidore of Seville, earlier literary references and Roman archaeological finds demonstrate that the game itself was already well established in the later Roman Empire. Even Emperor Claudius was said to be so fond of board games that he wrote a now lost treatise explaining how to play them.
Dice Were Everywhere
If strategy games exercised the mind, dice added an element of chance. Roman dice look remarkably familiar to modern eyes. Six-sided dice made from bone, antler, ivory, and even glass have been found throughout the Roman world. Ancient authors occasionally complained about gambling, suggesting it was widespread despite periodic legal restrictions. The satirist Juvenal mocked men who gambled away fortunes, while other writers mention wagering during festivals and private gatherings. Military forts have yielded countless dice, making it clear that soldiers participated as well. Of course, whether they were betting money, food, or simply bragging rights is impossible to know in most cases. Human nature hasn't changed very much, give a group of friends some free time and a pair of dice, and eventually someone is going to suggest making things interesting.
Not Every Game Needed a Board
Entertainment wasn't limited to carved game boards or dice. Roman military training itself often became a form of recreation. Wrestling, running, swimming, throwing contests, and mock combat all helped soldiers stay physically fit while also providing friendly competition. Ancient military writers, including Vegetius, stressed the importance of regular physical exercise even during periods without active campaigning. Competitions naturally followed. Who could throw a javelin the farthest? Who could finish a route march first? Who was strongest? These weren't just games, they reinforced the very skills that made the Roman army effective.
Passing the Time on the Frontier
Life in a Roman fort wasn't constant excitement. A soldier stationed along Hadrian's Wall or the German frontier might spend months performing routine duties. Guard shifts, equipment maintenance, construction projects, patrols, and paperwork filled much of the day. Letters discovered at Vindolanda paint a surprisingly ordinary picture of frontier life. Soldiers requested socks, complained about supplies, invited friends to celebrations, and handled administrative tasks that sound remarkably modern. During quieter evenings, games would have offered a welcome break from the routine. Those moments of leisure also strengthened the bonds between soldiers. A contubernium, the eight-man group that shared a tent and lived together did almost everything as a team. It's easy to imagine those same men gathering around a scratched game board after supper, joking, arguing over the rules, and enjoying a few hours before the next day's duties began.
More Than Warriors
One of the greatest lessons archaeology teaches us is that Roman soldiers were far more than fighting men. They were builders, engineers, clerks, craftsmen, and ordinary people trying to make the best of life wherever the empire sent them. The gaming pieces found buried in barrack floors aren't evidence of military strategy or imperial conquest, they're evidence of laughter. They're reminders that after the drills were finished and the armor was hung away for the evening, Roman soldiers still enjoyed friendly competition, conversation, and a chance to unwind with the people who had become their second family. Perhaps that's why these discoveries resonate so strongly today. Whether it's a Roman legionary rolling a pair of bone dice on Hadrian's Wall or a group of modern soldiers passing the evening over a deck of cards, some traditions don't really change. The uniforms may look different, the games may evolve, but the need for camaraderie after a hard day's work is timeless.
Legio XIIII, Protinus!
