THE knights of hazard and devotees of chance, who live in
and by the rattle of the box, little know, or care, perhaps, to
whom they are indebted for the invention of their favourite cube.
They will solace themselves, no doubt, on being told that they
are pursuing a diversion of the highest antiquity, and which has
been handed down through all civilized as well as barbarous
nations to our own times.
The term `cube,' which is the figure of a die, comes
originally from the Arabic word `ca'b,' or `ca'be,' whence the
Greeks derived their cúbos,
and cubeía, which is used to
signify any solid figure perfectly square every way — such as the
geometrical cube, the die used in play, and the temple at
Mecca, which is of the same figure. The
Persic name for `die' is `dad,' and from this word is derived the
name of the thing in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, namely,
dado. In the old French it is
det, in the plural
dets; in modern French
dé and
dez, whence
our English name `die,' and its plural `dies,' or `dice.'
Plato tells us that dice and gaming originated with a
certain demon, whom he calls Theuth, which seems very much
like the original patronymic of our Teutonic races, always
famous for their gambling propensity. The Greeks generally,
however, ascribed the invention of dice to one of their race,
named Palamedes, a sort of universal genius, who hit upon many
other contrivances, among the rest, weights and measures. But
this worthy lived in the times of the Trojan war, and yet Homer
makes no mention of dice — the astragaloi named by the poet
being merely knuckle-bones. Dice, however, are mentioned by
Aristophanes in his comedies, and so it seems that the invention
must be placed between the times of the two poets, that is, about
2300 years ago. At any rate the cube or die has been in use as
an instrument of play, at least, during that period of time.
The great antiquity, therefore, of the die as an
instrument of pastime is unquestionable, and the general reason
assigned for its invention was the amusement and relaxation of
the mind from the pressure of difficulties, or from the fatigues
and toils of protracted war. Indeed, one conjecture is, that
gaming was invented by the Lydians when under the pressure of a
great famine; to divert themselves from their sufferings they
contrived dice, balls, tables, &. This seems, however, rather a
bad joke. The afflicted Job asks — `Can a man fill his belly with
the east wind?' And we can imagine that plenty of tobacco to
smoke and `chaw' would mitigate the pangs of starvation to an
army in the field, as has been seriously suggested; but you might
just as well present a soldier with a stone instead of bread, as
invite him to amuse himself with dice, or anything else, to
assuage the pangs of hunger.
Be that as it may, time soon matured this instrument of
recreation into an engine of destruction; and the intended
palliative of care and labour has proved the fostering nurse of
innumerable evils. This diminutive cube has usurped a tyranny
over mankind for more than two thousand
years,
and continues at this day to rule the world with despotic sway —
levelling all distinctions of fortune in an instant by the
fiat of its single turn.
The use of dice was probably brought into this island by
the Romans, if not before known; it became more frequent in the
times of our Saxon ancestry, and has prevailed with almost
unimpaired vigour from those days to our own.
The Astragalos of the Greeks and Talus of
the Romans were, as before stated, nothing but the knuckle-bones
of sheep and goats, numbered, and used for gaming, being tossed
up in the air and caught on the back of the hand. Two persons
played together at this game, using four bones, which they threw
up into the air or emptied out of a dice-box (fritillus),
observing the numbers of the opposite sides. The numbers on the
four sides of the four bones admitted of thirty-five different
combinations. The lowest throw of all was four aces; but the
value of the throw was not in all cases the sum of the four
numbers turned up. The highest in value was that called
Venus, in which the numbers cast up were all different;
the sum of them being only fourteen. It was by obtaining this
throw, hence called basilicus, that `the King of
the Feast' was appointed by the Romans.
Certain other throws were called by particular names, taken from
the gods, heroes, kings, courtesans, animals; altogether there
were sixty-four such names. Thus, the throw consisting of two
aces and two treys, making eight, was denominated
Stesichorus. When the object was simply to throw the
highest number, the game was called
pleistobolinda, a
Greek word of that meaning. When a person threw the
tali,
he often invoked either a god or his mistress.
Dice were also made of ivory, bone, or some close-grained
wood, especially privet ligustris tesseris utilissima,
Plin. H. N.). They were numbered as at present.
Arsacides, King of the Parthians, presented Demetrius
Nicator, among other presents, with golden dice — it is said, in
contempt for his frivolous propensity to play — in
exprobationem puerilis levitatis.'[58]
[58] Justini Hist., lib. xxxviii. 9. 9.
Dice are also mentioned in the New Testament, where occurs
the word cubeía (Eph. iv. 14),
(`the only word for "gambling'' used in the Bible'), a word in
very common use, among Paul's kith and kin, for `cube,' `dice,'
`dicery,' and it occurs
frequently in the
Talmud and Midrash. The Mishna declares unfit either as `judge
or witness,' `a
cubeía-player,
a usurer, a pigeon-flier (betting-man), a vendor of illegal
(seventh-year) produce, and a slave.' A mitigating clause —
proposed by one of the weightiest legal authorities, to the
effect that the gambler and his kin should only be disqualified
`if they have but that one profession' — is distinctly negatived
by the majority, and the rule remains absolute. The classical
word for the gambler or dice-player,
cubeutes, appears aramaized in the same
sources into something like
kubiustis, as the following
curious instances may show: When the Angel, after having
wrestled with Jacob all night, asks him to let him go, `for the
dawn has risen' (A. V., `the day breaketh'), Jacob is made to
reply to him, `Art thou, then, a thief or a
kubiustis,
that thou art afraid of the day?' To which the Angel replies,
`No, I am not; but it is my turn to-day, and for the first time,
to sing the Angelic Hymn of Praise in Heaven: let me go.' In
another Tadmudical passage an early biblical critic is discussing
certain arithmetical difficulties in the Pentateuch. Thus he
finds the number of Levites (in Numbers) to differ,
when summed up from the single items, from that given in
the total. Worse than that, he finds that all the gold and
silver contributed to the sanctuary is not accounted for, and,
clinching his argument, he cries, `Is, then, your master Moses a
thief or a
kubiustis? Or could he not make up his
accounts properly?' The critic is then informed of a certain
difference between `sacred' and other coins; and he further gets
a lesson in the matter of Levites and Firstborn, which silences
him. Again, the Talmud decides that, if a man have bought a
slave who turns out to be a thief or a
kubiustis, — which
has here been erroneously explained to mean a `manstealer,' — he
has no redress. He must keep him, as he bought him, or send him
away; for he has bought him with all his vices.
Regarding the translation `sleight' in the A.V., this
seems a correct enough rendering of the term as far as the
sense of the passage goes, and comes very near the many
ancient translations — `nequitia,' `versutia,' `inanis labor,'
`vana et inepta (?) subtilitas,' &., of the Fathers. Luther has
`Schalkheit,' — a word the meaning of which at his time differed
considerably from our acceptation of the term. The Thesaurus
takes Paul's cubeía
(s.v.)
more literally, to mean `in alea
hominum, i. e., in certis illis casibus quibus jactantur
homines.'[59]
[59] E. Deutseh in the Athenæum of Sept. 28, 1867.
The ancient tali, marked and thrown as above described,
were also used in divination, just as dice are at the
present day; and doubtless the interpretations were the same
among the ancients — for all superstitions are handed down from
generation to generation with wondrous fidelity. The procedure
is curious enough, termed `the art of telling fortunes by dice.'
Three dice are taken and well shaken in the box with the
left hand, and then cast out on a board or table on which a
circle is previously drawn with chalk; and the following are the
supposed predictions of the throws: —
Three, a pleasing surprise; four, a
disagreeable one; five, a stranger who will prove a
friend; six, loss of property; seven, undeserved
scandal; eight, merited reproach; nine, a wedding;
ten, a christening, at which some important event will
occur; eleven, a death that concerns you; twelve, a
letter speedily; thirteen, tears and sighs;
fourteen, beware that you are not drawn into some trouble
or plot by a secret enemy; fifteen, immediate
pros
perity and happiness;
sixteen, a
pleasant journey;
seventeen, you will either be on the
water, or have dealings with those belonging to it, to your
advantage;
eighteen, a great profit, rise in life, or some
desirable good will happen almost immediately, for the answers to
the dice are said to be fulfilled within nine days. To throw the
same number twice at one trial shows news from abroad, be the
number what it may. If the dice roll over the circle, the number
thrown goes for nothing, but the occurrence shows sharp words
impending; and if they fall on the floor it is
blows. In
throwing the dice if one remain on the top of the other, `it is a
present of which you must take care,' namely, `a little stranger'
at hand.
Two singular facts throw light on the kind of dice used
some 100 and 150 years ago. In an old cribbage card-box,
curiously ornamented, supposed to have been made by an amateur in
the reign of Queen Anne, and now in my possession, I found a die
with one end fashioned to a point, evidently for the purpose of
spinning — similar to the modern teetotum. With the same
lot at the sale where it was bought, was a pack of cards made of
ivory, about an inch and a half in length
and
one inch in width — in other respects exactly like the cards of
the period.
Again, it is stated that in taking up the floors of the
Middle Temple Hall, about the year 1764, nearly 100 pairs of dice
were found, which had dropped, on different occasions, through
the chinks or joints of the boards. They were very small, at
least one-third less that those now in use. Certainly the
benchers of those times did not keep the floor of their
magnificent hall in a very decent condition.
A curious fact relating to dice may here be pointed out.
Each of the six sides of a die is so dotted or numbered that the
top and bottom of every die (taken together) make 7; for if the
top or uppermost side is 5, the bottom or opposite side will be
2; and the same holds through every face; therefore, let the
number of dice be what it may, their top and bottom faces, added
together, must be equal to the number of dice multiplied by 7.
In throwing three dice, if 2, 3, and 4 are thrown, making 9,
their corresponding bottom faces will be 5, 4, and 3, making 12,
which together are 21 — equal to the three dice multiplied by 7.
