Games and gamers in Dacia

Abstract

The necropoleis of Braniște and Gura Secului, both found in the village of Nemțișor (Vânători-Neamț
commune, Neamț County, Romania), and of Târzia (Brusturi-Drăgănești com., Neamț Co.) produced several small lenticular artefacts made of glass, which were interpreted as counters, pieces used in tabletop games (Germ. Spielsteine). Similar items have been found especially in forts (castra) inside the Empire, particularly along the Rhine, but also in the province of Dacia. Furthermore, such objects have also been recorded in sites from the Barbaricum, which confirms the wide spreading of such games in the Europe of that time. Besides certain links, more extensive than generally agreed, between lands inside the Empire and those outside of the limes, the aforementioned discoveries also signal the adoption of specifically Roman customs, a phenomenon that had profound implications in changing mindsets inside the barbarian world.