Roman Football

• The Romans played a ball game called ‘Harpastum’ that was derived from the Greek ball game ‘Phaininda’.
• The Game was similar to modern Football, in that it was played by two teams who had to get the ball into the other team’s goal.

Description of ‘Harpastum’

• A line was drawn in the ground between the two teams.
• But the ball could be held by hand, and so the game bears a greater resemblance to modern Rugby.
• It was extremely physical, and involved wrestling with the other players to get the ball.
• The ball was small and solid, like in softball, but had hexagonal and pentagonal designs similar to a modern football.
• No description of the Rules of the Game have survived.

The Ball

• A Tombstone from the Castra at Trilj (Roman Sinj) in Croatia, shows a boy with a Harpastum ball which has hexagonal and pentagonal markings, just like today’s football.