Roman game board was discovered at Hadrian’s Wall

In the vicinity of Hadrian’s Wall, a preserved stone game board was found, which was used by soldiers during their military service.

The discovery took place during excavations carried out on the building behind the thermal baths in Vindolanda. Due to the fact that the board is cracked, archaeologists suspect that the board was used after damage as a fragment of the floor in the bathhouse.

Researchers suspect that the board could have been used for a game very popular in the Roman military ludus latrunculorum – most likely involving two players. The term latrunculi literally means “rogues” or “robbers”; therefore, the game can be called a rogue/robber game.