Games Italians Play: The History of Bocce

 You can think of modern bowling as a distant cousin of bocce. In England, they have "bowls", a lawn version of the game using a flattened ball which is rolled like a wheel (bocce balls are always spherical). The Latin word bottia (ball) is the root of the Italian word boccia or Bocce. Latin also used the word boulles (balls), hence the name bowls for the British form of the game, and in France the game of Boules. The name pétanque is also used in Provence in the South of France. The word pétanque is derived from a Southern dialect of French meaning "two feet planted", describing the position of feet before tossing the ball. Italian balls are solid and made of wood or a composite and sometimes metal. French boules are made of hollow metal.

During a game a ball is either rolled or tossed underhanded down a long lane with the aim of coming to rest near a smaller target ball called a pallin0 or boccino (in France it's called the cochonnet  or "piglet"). Some form of bocce is played in more countries than any other ball game, with the exception of soccer. Still, Romans are the ones who spread the popularity of the game throughout the Roman Empire, which during this period encompassed vast areas of Europe, Asia and North Africa. Many people, such as Galileo and DaVinci played bocce during the Renaissance--seeing its benefits to mind and body--and others such as Emperors, Admirals, Generals, poets, sculptors, and scientists all played the game. Bocce was also exported to many countries around the world by Italian migrants and still is popular their descendants with bocce courts and clubs throughout the world. 

 Bocce in its current form was played in 264 BC during Rome's Punic Wars against Carthage. Teams of 2, 4, 6 or 8 men were formed. Soldiers threw a small stone "leader" and threw it first. Then larger stones would be thrown at the "leader" and the stone coming closest to it would score. The game relaxed troops and gambling was a pressure release, taking their mind off the stress of war. Men played in teams, honing their military strategic thinking as they played. 

 No one really knows how old Bocce is. There were stone balls found in Turkey that date to 9000 BC. Some say Bocce came from Egypt about 5200 B.C., but others say that Greece was its birthplace around 600 BC. When you really think about the simplest game a child can play--tossing a stone--you might think of Bocce as the very first game man ever played. Even the child's game of Marbles is based on Bocce.