We all know how popular gambling is around the whole world. It is one of the most widely spread hobbies around. Found pretty much in every single country in the world, either in massive luxurious, world-renowned casinos in the biggest cities in the world or as a simple pastime activity in the comfort of one’s own home, either with their peers, or even through a simulation on their smartphone!
A fact not all of us know is that traces of gambling in human history dates back to prehistoric dates as far as Ancient Rome, and even further back!
From then to now gambling has truly changed, however the main aspect was always the same. We all love that thrilling feeling of having something on the line for the chance of winning something, and the bigger the winnings, the bigger the thrill. Everyone has always had that drive to win, which is why gambling has been around for so long. Nowadays we don’t even need dice or board games to gamble, One can play betting games or bet on sports, real life or virtual, on countless online casino websites, like betboss.com and many more.
It is said that ancient Romans were very fond of their time spent watching races and playing games. Also that they really loved to gamble. They would gamble in all sorts of scenarios like betting on races, betting on battles, and even betting on board games!
Traces of gambling in Ancient Rome were found in numerous archeological sites where ancient Roman remains were found. Most of which were dice made from all kinds of wacky materials like; ivory, bone, glass, bronze, onyx, porcelain, crystal, amber, jet, alabaster and more. Numerous types of coins and even board games were found along with the interesting remains of this era.
Since we know that gambling has always been around, we must know if cheating has been around for that long as well… Has it? Yep. Proof of cheating in ancient Rome was found in numerous ways, like “rigged” dice, which were unbalanced or biased with small pieces of lead or iron forged inside of the die, pretty smart for almost 3,000 years ago. Coins were also meddled with to become biased, and some even used magic to cheat.
The use of magic to cheat was well known amongst chariot riders, who would pay a visit to their local magician and forge a tablet made of lead which was said to be “magical”. These tablets were to be found later in Roman race courses nailed to the starting gates. A traditional lead tablet would claim, “I call on you, god, and ask you to destroy the horses from the Green faction, and smash the riders Adamus and Rios.” The charioteer who purchased this tablet didn’t mind all the mentioned bloodshed, keeping in mind what was at stake: at certain events, the money earned by the winner was the equivalent of paying 100 lawyers’ fees.