A Toddler Presents A Dispensable Duodecahedron Generating Interest In The Empire Of Rome

Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 23434 – 1199

Here’s The Haps:

There is something that is indescribably fun about a toddler with a new word. Now, on occasion, they will pick up a new word that you really don’t want them saying but the best thing to do at that point is to ignore it and be real low-key because if they know they will get attention of any kind, they will go on and on. But, if you have a little math whiz who loves to know the names of shapes then of course you know that when he finds a new one he’ll have to know what it is and walk around the house with a Dollar Store candle holder saying, “I’ve got a duodecahedron.”

Duodecahedron and dodecahedron are the same although the latter spelling is more common. It consists of twelve sides, each in the shape of a pentagon. Fine. A nice short entry and I’m done, except…
“There goes Grampa Cottontail
Down another bunny trail…”

The problem came up when I went looking for a picture of one. I came across this:

A dodecahedron from the Roman Empire sometime between the Second and Fourth Century. Anywhere from an inch-and-a-half to four-and-a-half inches in size, they are not found all over the empire but mainly on the European frontiers, including modern-day France, Belgium, and Switzerland. Nobody knows what they were for. The Romans are a pretty well-documented society that left a lot of texts and were written about pretty extensively. For it to be said that nobody knows what something was for is kind of astounding.

On a site called History Defined, which is a veritable goldmine (or minefield) of rabbit trails and time sucks if history interests you at all, I discovered an article entitled What Was the Purpose of a Roman Dodecahedron? They covered a number of ideas from a device for studying coins to decorative items to, of all things, some sort of surveying equipment which this article called the most likely. I think it is the least likely. This was a society that built precision aqueducts, tilted exactly 0.1% to carry water over 30 miles. They built roads and buildings that have lasted 2 millennia. And their methods for surveying are documented.

But in my view most of this silliness is dispensible. These items were probably not documented because they were very likely unimportant. But then the thought did come to me that they probably were some commonplace toy that children used. They can’t really be dice because all the markings are the same but I am thinking perhaps they made up games as they went along, putting them down in a circle and throwing them and seeing whose they could knock out. Thus the broken knobs shown in the picture. Then one kid got mad at another and threw one at his buddy and like pine cone wars, BB gun wars, rock wars and stick fighting it went on until some mom came out and said, “You kids quit that! It’s only funny until somebody loses an eye!” And you know…It could have happened that way.

And speaking of toys, let us always remember what the good book says…Huh? Oh, not The Good Book, just the Book of Herb:

Some people are like Slinkies, not really good for much but bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.

The Book of Herb