Follis (a term used in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

), or Ball of wind (''pilota de vent'' in Catalan), a term used in the 15th and 16th centuries in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, was a hollow ball inflated with air under pressure, able to jump and bounce when impacting at a certain speed with any solid body. Different types of balls of wind were commonly used to play a variety of ball games that were popular in that particular period of time. Today, although many of the existing balls are inflated with air, the modern name is simplified to "ball" regardless of the system.

History

Ball games were played by the Greeks of

Classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

. Although it is unknown whether they used inflated balls, it is considered likely given the well documented use of "balls of wind" in

, with the larger balls called , and the smaller balls called .

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

described a ''follis'' as a "ball of wind". An animal

bladder The bladder () is a hollow organ in humans and other vertebrates that stores urine from the kidneys. In placental mammals, urine enters the bladder via the ureters and exits via the urethra during urination. In humans, the bladder is a distens ...

was inflated to create a ball, preferably that of a pig. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, balls were mentioned by several authors such as

Desiderius Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

, Rabelais, Calderon de la Barca, Baltasar de Castiglione, and Italian priest Antonio da Salò Scaino, writing about an early form of

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Alfonso X of Castile Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, ; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, Kingdom of León, León and Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia from 1 June 1252 until his death in 1284. During the April 1257 Imperial election, election of 1 ...

banned the () with imprisonment. Trattato del giuoco della palla di messer Antonio Scaino da Salò, diuiso in tre parti. Con due tauole, l'vna de' capitoli, l'altra delle cose piu notabili, che in esso si contengono Early Spanish chroniclers in Mexico compared the different consistencies of the balls filled with ''caoutchouc'' (

natural rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

) used in the indigenous game '' ōllamalīztli'' with the "air-filled" balls used on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. In an important testimony, Joan Lluís Vives (1493–1540) wrote a comparison between the (), a game played with hard balls and gut-string rackets, and the Spanish ball game similar to and played with "balls of wind" struck with the palm of the hand. He also compared the use of gut strings for the racquets with their use for

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

strings, due to their inherent strength and elasticity. Another variant, known as baloun, is similar to modern

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Visiting

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

in 1677, Dutch travelling artist

Cornelis de Bruijn Cornelis de Bruijn or Cornelius de Bruyn (; 16521726/7), also formerly known in English by his French name Corneille Le Brun, was a Dutch artist and traveler. He made two large tours and published illustrated books with his observations of peop ...

wrote:

The balloon game is very popular here during the
Shrovetide Shrovetide is the Christian liturgical period prior to the start of Lent that begins on Shrove Saturday and ends at the close of Shrove Tuesday. The season focuses on examination of conscience and repentance before the Lenten fast. It includes ...
season. It consists of two teams, each of which tries to become the master of the ball, striking it over the other team. The area used as a field is enclosed with a rope all around, and the game is entertaining to watch.

According to a book of 1840, Barcelona had a place for playing a (), but it is not clear what kind of game or games were played. The eventual arrival and discovery of rubber and synthetic polymers allowed an improvement in the performance of the balls used in many games and sports.

Scaino Antonio and his work on the ball game

At the request of

Alfonso d'Este Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...

, Antonio da Salò Scaino (priest, theologian and writer) documented the ball game. With reference balls of wind, he described in detail how the bladder and the small tube and a kind of

Check valve A check valve, non-return valve, reflux valve, retention valve, foot valve, or one-way valve is a valve that normally allows fluid (liquid or gas) to flow through it in only one direction. Check valves are two-port valves, meaning they have ...

(or retention) based packing, allowing the bellows to properly inflate the ball in a similar way of the one being used today. He also mentioned the habit of adding some

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

inside the chamber so the balls could keep its characteristics (its

flexibility Stiffness is the extent to which an object resists deformation in response to an applied force. The complementary concept is flexibility or pliability: the more flexible an object is, the less stiff it is. Calculations The stiffness, k, of a ...

) over the time. The system of "

" employed in the balls of wind made of bladder, was described by Juan Valverde de Amusco and "Fray Luis de Granada."

Construction

The usual ball of wind was the bladder of an animal. Its outer surface was coated with

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

and, once covered, the bladder was filled with air under pressure, using a dedicated type of bellows to inflate it.

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

International Tennis Federation ''
(in English) Balls

History

Scaino Antonio and his work on the ball game

Construction

See also

References

External links