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.