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2000 Year Old Roman d20 Up For Auction

Posted by Hemos on from the what's-the-dc-on-that dept.

dolo666 writes "There is a d20 for sale at Christie's. Titled; "A ROMAN GLASS GAMING DIE", this item dates to circa 2nd Century A.D., and it's likely to go for a mere $6k USD! Just think of the die-hard dice gamer on your list, this festive season! That would make all those late night Cthulhu missions with Lord Nekrull, my 16th level Assassin demi-god, a smashing good time!"

6 of 265 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Actual use by tipsymonkey · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Arg! I am actually interested in the use of this die!
    I think that is the real story here. What types of games did the Roman's play with this? What culture / civ came up with it? Was it the Roman's or did they incorporate it from one of the areas that they conquered?

    --
    Outdoor storage sheds and pet kennels
  2. Sounds like a major assumption to me by Angst+Badger · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So what makes them think this was for gaming? Given the religious significance of regular polyhedra in the classical era -- including but not limited to the Pythagoreans -- it's much more likely that this was either a divination tool or a model representing someone's cosmological theory.

    --
    Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
  3. Re:D&D parody by randito · · Score: 2, Interesting

    8 bit D & D parody

  4. Actually these guys did it better... by MsGeek · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Rest In Peace, MTV's Downtown. We hardly knew ye. The 5th episode took place at a Sci-Fi/Horror/Gaming con, and got everything right. A classic. Shouts out to my homie Chris Prynoski..

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
  5. Credit where credit is due... by Cyno01 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The original audio of this is from the group The Dead Alewives, from my hometown. Look for it on p2p and try to find part 2, one of them brings their girlfriend along.

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  6. Bit of Latin trivia that fits in here by dar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    My Latin teacher (mumble mumble years ago) told me this:

    In English, the sentence "The die is cast." Can be read two ways
    1)The die (cube) has been thrown.
    2)The die (form) has been filled and set.

    But both readings mean the same thing - something that has already been done cannot be changed.

    The Latin versions of the above sentences have the same correspondence. And again both readings mean the same.

    Don't remember the exact Latin - it was a looong time ago.

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    My other Slashdot ID is much lower.