Tabula, meaning a plank or board, was a Greco-Roman board game, and is generally thought to be the direct ancestor of modern backgammon.
History
According to the Etymologiae by Isidore of Seville, tabula was first invented by a Greek soldier of the Trojan War named Alea. The earliest description of "τάβλι" is in an epigram of Byzantine emperorZeno, given by Agathias of Myrine, who describes a game in which Zeno goes from a strong position to a very weak one after an unfortunate dice roll. The rules of Tabula were reconstructed in the 19th century by Becq de Fouquières based upon this epigram. The game was played on a board nearly identical to a modern backgammon board with 24 points, 12 on each side. Two players had 15 pieces each, and moved them in opposing directions around the board, according to the roll of three dice. A piece resting alone in a space on the board was vulnerable to being hit. Hitting a blot, reentering a piece from the bar, and bearing off, all had the same rules as today. The only differences with modern backgammon were the use of an extra die and the starting of all pieces off the board. In the epigram Zeno, who was white, had a stack of seven checkers, three stacks of two checkers and two blots, checkers that stand alone on a point and are therefore in danger of being put outside the board by an incoming opponent checker. Zeno threw the three dice with which the game was played and obtained 2, 5 and 6. As in backgammon, Zeno could not move to a space occupied by two opponent pieces. The white and black checkers were so distributed on the points that the only way to use all of the three results, as required by the game rules, was to break the three stacks of two checkers into blots, thus exposing them to capture and ruining the game for Zeno. Tabula was most likely a later refinement of ludus duodecim scriptorum, with the board's middle row of points removed, and only the two outer rows remaining. Today, the word "τάβλι" is still used to refer to backgammon in Greece, as well as in Syria and Turkey, Bulgaria and in Romania ; in these countries, backgammon remains a popular game played in town squares and in cafes.
