Apopudobalia ( grc, ἀποπουδοβαλία; ἀπο- + ποδός + ball + -ία) is a fictional sport which was the subject of a famous

fictitious entry Fictitious or fake entries are deliberately incorrect entries in reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summar ...

(humorous

hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

or copyright trap in a reference work). Although no such

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

actually existed, the

German-language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

Der neue Pauly Der or DER may refer to: Places * Darkənd, Azerbaijan * Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US * Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq * d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...

Enzyklopaedie der Antike'', edited by H. Cancik and H. Schneider, vol. 1 (Stuttgart, 1996, {{ISBN, 3-476-01470-3) gives a description of it as an ancient

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were dir ...

sport that anticipates modern soccer. The article goes on to cite suitably sparse documentation for the non-existent sport (this includes a ''

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the ...

'' to one M. Sammer), and to assert that a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

form of the game enjoyed a certain popularity amongst the

Roman legion The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of t ...

s, and consequently spread throughout the Empire as far afield as

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, "where the game enjoyed a revival in the 19th century." (It also notes that the game was frowned upon by some

early Christian Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...

writers, such as

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of ...

.) In reality, the ancient Romans did play a game resembling rugby called ''

harpastum , also known as , was a form of ball game played in the Roman Empire. The Romans also referred to it as the small ball game. The ball used was small (not as large as a , , or football-sized ball) and hard, probably about the size and solidity o ...

''.

External links

A facsimile of the article
accompanied by a mock review by two classical scholars and another piece in which Wolfgang Hübner discusses the review. Fictitious entries Fictional ball games Hoaxes in Germany 1996 hoaxes