Abstract

ABSTRACTThe dice tower, orpyrgus,an ancient device for rolling dice, was an everyday object in the Roman world, but up to now only two towers, from Germany and Egypt, have been found. In re-examining a group of bone box-casings from Richborough Roman Fort, however, the author has found that some of these casings must have belonged to such a tower. This article shows how this dice tower may have been constructed. The author also summarises the literary and artistic evidence for dice towers, and shows how the rosette decoration on this tower links it to the Roman game of Duodecim Scripta.

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