Editing Tables game (section)

==== Roman Empire ====
[[File:Roman Game of 12 Lines Board - Aphrodisias.jpg|thumb|upright=1.10|right|Roman ''[[Ludus duodecim scriptorum]]'' board from the 2nd century, Aphrodisias]]
The {{lang|grc-x-medieval|τάβλι}} of Zeno's time is believed to be a direct descendant of the earlier Roman ''[[Ludus duodecim scriptorum]]'' ("Game of Twelve Lines") with the board's middle row of points removed, and only the two outer rows remaining.<ref name="austin-roman2" /> {{Lang|la|Duodecim scriptorum}} used a board with three rows of 12 points each, with the 15 men being moved in opposing directions by the two players across three rows according to the roll of the three cubical dice.<ref name="austin-zeno" /><ref name="austin-roman2" /> Little specific text about the play of {{lang|la|Duodecim scriptorum}} has survived;<ref name="austin-roman1">{{cite journal|last=Austin|first=Roland G.|title=Roman Board Games. I|journal=Greece & Rome|volume=4|issue=10|date=October 1934|pages=24–34|doi=10.1017/s0017383500002941|s2cid=162861940 }}</ref> it may have been related to the older [[Ancient Greek]] dice game ''Kubeia''. The earliest known mention of the game is in [[Ovid]]'s {{Lang|la|[[Ars Amatoria]]}} ("The Art of Love"), written between 1 BC and 8 AD. In Roman times, this game was also known as ''Alea'', and a likely apocryphal Latin story linked this name, and the game, to a [[Troy|Trojan]] soldier named [[Alea (Greek soldier)|Alea]].<ref>Finkel, Irving L. "Ancient board games in perspective." British Museum Colloquium. 2007. p. 224</ref><ref>Jacoby, Oswald, and John R. Crawford. ''The backgammon book''. Viking Pr, 1976.</ref>
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