The riddle of the Roman dodecahedron

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Roman dodecahedrons also have a "knob" decoration on each of the pentagon vertices, and the pentagonal faces in most cases have round holes. More than 200 years after these mysterious objects were first discovered, scientists are not one step closer to solving the mystery of their origin and function.

The Roman dodecahedron dates from the 2nd or 3rd century AD and has a size ranging from 4 to 11 cm. Today, more than a hundred such artifacts have been found in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Hungary.

The big mystery is exactly what purpose the Roman dodecahedrons were created for. Unfortunately, there are no documents on this score since the time of their creation, so the purpose of these artifacts has not yet been established. Nevertheless, over the centuries, many theories and assumptions have been put forward in an attempt to explain their functions: candlesticks (wax was found inside one copy), and dice, geodetic instruments, devices for determining the optimal sowing time of winter crops, calibration tools water pipes, elements of an army standard, decorations for a wand or scepter, toys for tossing and pole-catching, or simply geometric sculptures. Among these assumptions, some are indeed noteworthy.

One of the most widely accepted theories is that the Roman dodecahedron was used as a measuring device, specifically as a rangefinder on the battlefield. According to this hypothesis, the dodecahedron was used to calculate the trajectories of projectiles. This could explain the presence of different hole diameters on the pentagonal faces. According to another similar theory, dodecahedrons were used as geodesic and leveling devices. However, none of these theories have been supported by any evidence, nor have they provided comprehensive explanations of how dodecahedrons might have been used for these purposes.

More interesting is the hypothesis that dodecahedrons served as astronomical measuring instruments, with the help of which the optimal sowing period of winter crops was determined. According to G. M. C. Wagemans, “The dodecahedron was an astronomical measuring device that measured the angle of incidence of sunlight and thus accurately determined one particular day in the spring and one particular day in the fall. The days thus defined seemed to be of great importance to agriculture. Nevertheless, opponents of this theory note that the use of dodecahedrons as measuring instruments of any kind seems impossible due to their lack of any standardization, since the objects found had different sizes and designs.

Another unproven theory argues that dodecahedrons are religious paraphernalia that were once used in cult rites by the druids of Britain and Caledonia. Again, there are no written sources or archaeological finds to support this theory. Or maybe this strange object was just a toy or play accessory for legionnaires during the military campaign? According to some sources, they were the main subjects of a game similar to the modern ball game, in which these artifacts were used as targets when players threw stones in an attempt to hit them into holes in the dodecahedrons.

Another find made only added to the mystery of the whole story about the purpose of these items. Some time ago, Benno Artmann discovered a Roman icosahedron (twenty-hedron), which was not given due attention and, misclassifying it as a dodecahedron, was thrown into storage in a museum basement. This find raises the question of how many other geometric shapes - such as icosahedrons, hexagons, octagons - are we still to find in those spaces that were once called the great Roman Empire?

Despite the fact that many questions remained unanswered, one thing is clear - the Roman dodecahedrons were objects that were highly valued by their owners. This is evidenced by the fact that some of them were found among treasures, among coins and other valuable items. We may never know the true purpose of the Roman dodecahedron, but it’s better to hope that new archaeological finds will be able to open the veil of secrecy and give us the key to solving this ancient mystery.

Author: Federico Cataldo, source: ancient-origins.net

Translation: Sergey Firov, source