De arte aleae

De arte aleae (Latin: [deː arte ˈaː.le.ae̯]; On the Art of Dice) is the name of a now-lost book written by the fourth Roman emperor Claudius. As the name suggests, it details how to play the game of dice.

History

The only mention of the work is to be found in the Roman historian Suetonius's work The Twelve Caesars, wherein he recounts that Claudis’s favorite pastime was dice playing, and that he wrote a book on the art of the game.[1] The title De arte aleae seems to be mostly speculative, and based merely on the assertion by Suetonius that the book was "on the art of [dice]" ("He played dice most avidly, on the art of which he also wrote a book." Aleam studiosissime lusit, de cuius arte librum quoque emisit).[2] In the textual history, the book became simply known as De arte aleae.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, 33.
  2. ↑ Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, 33.
  3. ↑ E.g. Schädler, Ulrich (November 2012). "Games, Greek and Roman". Encyclopedia of Ancient History. p. 1. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
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