The Probert Encyclopaedia of Recreation

GAMES

Games is a name of certain sports or amusements carried on under regular rules and methods, as with cards or dice, billiards, tennis, etc. Among the ancients there were public games or sports, exhibited on solemn occasions, in which various kinds of contests were introduced. The Grecian games were national festivals attended by spectators and competitors from all parts of Greece, the chief being the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian. They consisted of chariot races, running, wrestling, and boxing matches, etc, and to be victorious in one of these contests was esteemed one of the highest honours of a Greek citizen. The Roman games (ludi) were held chiefly at the festivals of the gods. They might, however, be exhibited by private persons to please the people, as the combats of gladiators, theatrical representations, combats of wild beasts in the amphitheatre, etc.
Research Games