# Old Greek board game

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-greek-board-game/990238>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Tags:** board-card-word-game\
**Created:** [September 17, 2023, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-greek-board-game/990238 "2023-09-17T05:56:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-greek-board-game/990238/1 "2023-09-17T05:56:03Z")

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We used to play a simple Greek battle game. The pieces were simple shapes= triangles, squares, etc. Each shape matched a type of ancient greek army unit, such as hoplites. The idea was to “kill” an enemy shape unit by getting on two sides of it. This was back in the 1970’s.

Does anyone remember this game? Name?

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**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-greek-board-game/990238/2 "2023-09-17T06:10:29Z")

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Could it have been one of the rule sets that came with [Realm](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3024/realm)? You’ll need to have a free account to access the rules file on that site.

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-greek-board-game/990238/3 "2023-09-17T20:10:46Z")

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> [@Monty](#):
>
> Could it have been one of the rule sets that came with [Realm](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3024/realm)?

Sorry, no. it was a standalone game with tick cardboard pieces.

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**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-greek-board-game/990238/4 "2023-09-18T07:57:11Z")

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To judge by the description, it might be a modern reconstruction of the ancient game “Petteia” (or “Ludus Latrunculorum” for the Romans):

> **[Ludus latrunculorum](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludus_latrunculorum)**
>
> Ludus latrunculorum, latrunculi, or simply latrones ("the game of brigands", or "the game of soldiers" from latrunculus, diminutive of latro, mercenary or highwayman) was a two-player strategy board game played throughout the Roman Empire. It is said to resemble chess or draughts, but is generally accepted to be a game of military tactics. Because of the scarcity of sources, reconstruction of the game's rules and basic structure is difficult, and therefore there are multiple interpretations of th...

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-greek-board-game/990238/5 "2023-09-18T21:04:32Z")

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> [@JoseB](#):
>
> To judge by the description, it might be a modern reconstruction of the ancient game “Petteia” (or “Ludus Latrunculorum” for the Romans):

I do not think so. That just used round pieces. The idea was to use the geometric shapes to attack other pieces.

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**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-greek-board-game/990238/6 "2023-09-18T21:48:13Z")

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Phalanx? [Phalanx | Board Game | BoardGameGeek](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4554/phalanx)

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2023, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-greek-board-game/990238/7 "2023-09-18T21:53:31Z")

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Thats it!

I kept searching for “Hoplite”.

thanks.