98 



DISCOVERY 



The right relief shows a quieter scene in which t^^•o 

 youths sit on chairs and hold on leashes a dog and a 

 cat respectively on the left and right of the centre. 

 Behind the chairs on each side another youth is leaning, 

 looking on. Each of the figures is clothed in a long 

 garment. 



The rehef which seems most difficult to explain, 

 and which in fact has not been explained, is that above 

 described first as on the left side of the base. The six 

 athletic figures have been accounted for in various 

 ways as dancers, as athletes each representative of a 

 different form of athletics, and as ball-plaj'ers. Xo 

 definite attempt, however, has been made in the last 

 case to ascertain what t^^pe of game they are playing, 

 whether a team game or one in which only one at a 

 time can play, and whether the game corresponds to 

 any of the known " official " games of public festivals, 

 or whether it is one of the ordinary games of every- 

 day life in the palastra. 



A close study of the relief itself shows that the 

 players are grouped round an imaginary central line 

 which divides the relief into two equal parts. The three 

 men on the left seem to be advancing, those on the right 

 retiring. The six thus form two teams of three. The 

 foremost on each side is moving at a moderate pace, the 

 central figures at a faster pace, and the figures at the 

 back of each team at a slow pace, almost a walk. To 

 use modern "Rugby" terms, they might be called 

 " forwards," " three-quarter-backs," and " full-backs." 

 The team that appears to be advancing has possession 

 of the ball, which is a small one and is held in the hand 

 of the full-back. 



It remains to be asked, then, whether there is any 

 record of any such game in literary or other sources 

 in the ancient world. 



The solution seems to me to be given in a passage in 

 the well-known work of Julius Pollux called the 

 Onomasticon, a work which might be described as a 

 " young man's guide to universit}- life." This work 

 is dedicated to the Emperor Commodus and, in con- 

 sequence, must have been published shortly before 

 A.D. 177. It is written in Greek and is concerned 

 largel}' with things Greek. Its author had studied at 

 Athens in the university, and can, therefore, be con- 

 sidered as in some ways an authoritj' upon Athenian 

 life in the days when old traditions were being revived. 

 In the ninth book of the Onomasticon one section is 

 devoted to games, both of children and of young men. 

 Four games of ball are mentioned — Phaininda, Apor- 

 raxis, Urania, and Episkyros. 



The Athenian Form of Rugby 



Episkyros is the only team-game mentioned in 

 which a ball was used. It was a " ball-contest " 



{acjiaipo/j-ax^a) rather than a " game " (irai8ia) for 

 individuals. According to Pollux it was played bj' 

 young men rather than bj' children. The players 

 were divided into " two teams of equal numbers facing 

 each other or separated by a central chalk-line." This 

 chalk-line, or " half-way " line, in the language of 

 Rugby, was called the skyros, another word for chalk. 

 The ball was placed on the central line, as in a 

 " kick-off," before the game, began. There were two 

 other lines drawn behind the central lines that seem 

 to correspond to the " twenty- five " lines of Rugby 

 football, but they were used in the same way as the 

 " back-line," and formed the back limit of the area 

 of play. The game presumably started by the ball 

 being seized by one side or the other and thrown in the 

 direction of the opposing " back-line." The team 

 that held the ball had to avoid being pushed over the 

 " back-line." 



The description is brief and stimmary and many 

 essential details are omitted. We are not told how the 

 game starts, nor whether the players of one team are 

 allowed to pass the ball from one to another, nor what 

 precisely constitutes a win. Probably the team that 

 held the ball had to get rid of it as soon as possible 

 by throwing it in the direction of the opposing goal, and 

 following up with a charge which wotild hustle the 

 opposing team over their own " back-line " before 

 they had time to get rid of the ball themselves. In any 

 case the main point of the game seems to have been to 

 avoid keeping the ball, since the team that held it was 

 at a disadvantage : in this respect the game differs 

 from our own games of football. The description 

 given by Pollux is short and condensed, chiefly because 

 his work was a dictionary packed with condensed 

 information and not an explanatory treatise. At the 

 same time it seems doubtful if he really understood the 

 game he was describing. 



This game of Episkyros, or " the chalk-line game," 

 seems to explain our relief. Here we have two teams of 

 equal size divided by a central line. The team on the 

 right has just thrown the ball, which has been caught by 

 the full-back of the opposing team and is being thrown 

 back before the attacking team has time to charge. 

 The team in possession of the ball is, in its turn, pre- 

 paring to follow up the throw of its own back by a 

 charge which may succeed in htistling the opposing 

 team over their " back-line." The full-back who 

 holds the ball is just about to launch it in the direction 

 of the other team : his " outside " or " three-qtiarter " 

 is preparing to foUow up at full speed, while the ' 

 " forward " is advancing judiciously so as to fall back 

 as a defence in case the opposing team counters the 

 move by throwing the ball back again quickly. It is 

 evident that the team which catclws the ball is in a 

 position of advantage over the team who have to pick 



