«War is the father and king of all.» – Heraclitus

The most sophisticated board game the Greeks invented to sharpen their minds was Petteia (Lantruculi in Latin). It is among the oldest board games in ancient Greece and is considered by many to be the ancestor of modern chess. Whether we accept this claim or not, it is a clever game whose origins are lost in the mists of time.

There are many references to Petteia in ancient sources, such as in Homer’s Odyssey, and it is not by chance that many celebrated historians consider it one of the main Homeric board games.

As a strategy game, it was highly respected, as it was ideal for practicing mind sharpness. The legendary Greek philosopher Plato once said that mastering the game of Petteia was equal to learning mathematics and geometry. Besides being a fun game and an educational tool, it was also used to predict the future, as documented on an ancient Greek amphora. More specifically, in a finding dating back to 450 BC, Achilles and Ajax are portrayed playing Petteia and trying to guess the outcome of the Trojan War.

It was such a high-valued strategy board game that the Romans embraced it almost immediately, becoming passionate players and further enriching its game’s mechanics by adding an additional piece of greater importance to the rest, the one called the Leader. This version of the game, a Petteia with a Leader piece, was named Lactus Latruncularum or simply Lantruculi.