Jactus Dice Game Rules
Jactus is a dice game for 2-4 players. A game typically takes 15-30 minutes, and the recommended age is 8+.
Rules for Jactus: A playable reconstruction of Roman dice play, with the Venus throw, the dog throw and tokens in the pot.
About the game
Jactus is Latin and simply means throw. The Romans played dice everywhere, from taverns to legion camps, but their complete rules were never preserved. The rules below are a modern reconstruction: a playable game built on what we know about Roman dice, named throws and gaming pieces. Not historical fact, but historical atmosphere.
Setup
Jactus is played with five dice and tokens, and suits two to four players. Each player starts with five tokens (coins, chips or pebbles, very much in the Roman spirit), and everyone puts two tokens in the pot before the game begins.
How to play
On your turn you roll all five dice in one throw, and the throw settles with the pot:
- Five of a kind: you win the whole pot, and the round is over.
- Four of a kind: take two tokens from the pot.
- Three of a kind: take one token.
- Five different values (the Venus throw): take one token. The Romans considered the throw where every die differed the most beautiful of all.
- Three or more ones (the dog throw): pay one token to the pot. The dog was the Roman throw of misfortune.
- Anything else: nothing happens.
Winning
The round ends when the pot is empty, or immediately when someone rolls five of a kind. The player with the most tokens wins. If the pot empties without a winning throw, count up; ties share the victory, much as the Romans shared most other things.
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