Dice

Dice (plural of die, Fr. de, from Lat. datum, given). The invention of dice was ascribed by the Greeks to the Lydians, or to the Homeric hero Palamedes: but they are found in very early Egyptian tombs, and are mentioned in the Rig-Veda. In Greece and Rome the small bones from the ankles of sheep and goats were used. Originally the game seems to have been one of skill, the bones being thrown up and caught. Later, the sides of the bones were marked with numbers, the rounded ends being left blank. The values of each throw were determined by special rules, and were not necessarily those of the numbers. Each throw had its own name. Stone dice were also used, and the rounded ends were sometimes squared and numbered. The game was often forbidden by law in Greece and Rome, and also in the Middle Ages, by St. Louis for instance. Playing dice for money has been illegal in England since the reign of George I.