Editing Backgammon (section)

==== Roman and Byzantine Empires ====

[[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 earliest identifiable tables game, [[Tabula (game)|Tabula]], meaning 'table' or 'board', is described in an [[epigram]] of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[Zeno (emperor)|Emperor Zeno]] (AD 476–491).<ref name="austin-zeno">{{cite journal |last=Austin |first=Roland G |title=Zeno's Game of τάβλη |journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |volume=54 |issue=2 |year=1934 |pages=202–205 |doi=10.2307/626864 |jstor=626864|s2cid=163212104 }}</ref> The overall aim was to be first to bear one's pieces off; the board had the typical tables layout, with 24 points, 12 on each side; and there were 15 counters per player. However, unlike modern Western backgammon, there were three cubical dice not two, no [[bar (tables game)|bar]] nor [[doubling die]], and all counters started off the board.<ref name="austin-zeno" /> Modern backgammon follows the same rules as tabula for hitting a blot and for bearing off; and the rules for re-entering pieces in backgammon are the same as those for initially entering pieces in tabula.<ref name="bell">[[Robert Charles Bell]], ''Board and table games from many civilizations'', Courier Dover Publications, 1979, {{ISBN|0-486-23855-5}}, pp. 33–35.</ref> The name Tavli ({{lang|el|τάβλι}}) is still used in Greece for various tables games, which are frequently played in town [[plateia]]s and cafes.<ref name="koukoules">{{cite book|last=Koukoules|first=Phaidon|author-link=Phaidon Koukoules|title=Vyzantinon Vios kai Politismos|year=1948|volume=1|pages=200–204|publisher=Collection de l'institut français d'Athènes}}</ref>

The {{lang|grc-x-medieval|τάβλι}} of Emperor 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">{{cite journal|last=Austin|first=Roland G.|title=Roman Board Games. II|journal=Greece & Rome|volume=4|issue=11|date=February 1935|pages=76–82|doi=10.1017/s0017383500003119|s2cid=248520932 }}</ref> {{Lang|la|Ludus duodecim scriptorum}} used a board with three rows of 12 points each, with the 15 pieces 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 gameplay of {{lang|la|Ludus 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 ''[[Ars Amatoria]]'' ('The Art of Love'), written between 1 BC and 8 AD. In Roman times, this game was also known as ''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>