Apopudobalia
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Apopudobalia (Ancient Greek: ἀποπουδοβαλία; ἀπο- + ποδός + ball + -ία) is a fictional sport that was the subject of a famous fictitious entry in Der neue Pauly Enzyklopaedie der Antike, edited by H. Cancik and H. Schneider, vol. 1 (Stuttgart, 1996, ISBN 3-476-01470-3), which gives a description of an ancient Greco-Roman sport that anticipates modern soccer.[1][2] The article goes on to cite suitably sparse documentation for the nonexistent sport (this includes a Festschrift to one M. Sammer), and to assert that a Roman form of the game enjoyed a certain popularity amongst the Roman legions, and consequently spread throughout the Empire as far afield as Britain, "where the game enjoyed a revival in the 19th century."[1] It also notes that the game was frowned upon by some early Christian writers, such as Tertullian.
In reality, the ancient Romans did play a game resembling rugby called harpastum.
Refernces
[edit]- ^ a b Marzullo, Benedetto (1997). "Apopudobalia (Der neue Pauly I 895)". Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica (in Italian). 55 (1): 159–162. doi:10.2307/20547386. ISSN 0033-4987.
- ^ Baker, Richard Anthony (2013). Many a true word. London: Headline. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-7553-6515-9.
External links
[edit]- A facsimile of the article, accompanied by a mock review by two classical scholars and another piece in which Wolfgang Hübner discusses the review.