Talk:Tabula (game)

SUGGESTION
I propose this should be merged into and placed within the Backgammon wiki. thanks  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.4.165.110 (talk) 07:00, 20 December 2016 (UTC)

Comments
Can someone explain why Zeno could not have moved one of the pieces on XX to XXII with the 2, and the one on XVI to XXII using the 6 and one of those on XIX to XXIV using the 5, leaving blots or single pieces on IX, XIX, XX, XXIII and XIV? I don't see how it is possible that he could have left eight blots no matter how hard he tried, even though I have seen this in other books. I think we are perpetuating misinformation somehow. 216.55.206.86 (talk) 01:44, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

Yes, the picture is wrong. The journal article cited in the article (Austin, Roland G. "Zeno's Game of τάβλη", The Journal of Hellenic Studies 54:2, 1934. pp 202-205) has a different picture; namely, no singleton on 16 (instead an extra piece is stacked on 6). Someone should fix the picture. I don't really know how to do wikipedia uploads. As shown the roll described does NOT produce 8 singletons; however, if the pieces are correctly shown (as in the journal article cited) then 8 singletons do result. The current picture is wrong. In summary, another red dot needs to be added to position 6 and the red dot on position 16 needs to be erased. Piledhighandeep (talk) 07:43, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Ok, I have fixed it. Piledhighandeep (talk) 19:24, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

Relationship to Backgammon
The lede states that Tabula "is generally thought to be the direct ancestor of modern backgammon." This is not borne out by the evidence. The earliest reference to backgammon dates to about 1646, centuries after Zeno. Backgammon was one of a family of games then played on tables boards. Whether it was a new tables game or derived from an earlier game with a different name is not yet clear. It would be accurate to say something like "Tabula may be ancestral to modern backgammon" but we need to find a source. Bermicourt (talk) 22:26, 11 November 2021 (UTC)