According to the ''
Etymologiae
''Etymologiae'' (Latin for "The Etymologies"), also known as the ''Origines'' ("Origins") and usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) towards the end of his life. Isidore was ...
'' by
Isidore of Seville, Alea was a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
soldier of the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ha ...
who invented the dicing game
tabula. French sociologist
Roger Caillois uses the term "alea" to designate those games which rely on luck rather than skill in ''Man, Play and Games''. While Caillois notes the term is the Roman word for games of chance,
Robert C. Bell
Robert Cook Bell (November 1, 1880 – March 17, 1964) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota.
Education and career
Born in Harrisonville, Missouri, Bell received a Bachelor of Laws ...
suggests that the Greek game tabula, a precursor to modern
backgammon
Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back nearly 5,000 years to the regions of Mesopotamia an ...
, became more commonly known as "alea" "towards the end of the sixth century". However, games historian
H. J. R. Murray asserts the shift in nomenclature was in the other direction and the game "alea" was later referred to as "tabula".
[.]
References
Citations
Sources
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Year of death unknown
Ancient Greek inventors
Year of birth unknown
{{AncientGreece-bio-stub