Icosahedral (20-sided) quartz crystal die, Roman 1st-3rd centuries AD, collection of The Musée du Louvre.
The Louvre account tells us that it is 1cm high, rock crystal – “en cristal de roche” – and Roman empire period.
Each face has a Latin letter on it, and also the corresponding Roman numeral. The ten lateral faces bear the letters A to K, and the numerals 1 to 10. Â The upper five triangles bear the letters L to P and the numbers 11 to 15. Â The lower five triangles bear the letters Q to V, and the numbers 16-20.
This item is by no means unique. Â A considerable number of polyhedral dice have been recovered from all over the Roman empire. Â The majority are inscribed with Greek or Latin numbers or letters.
One unique example was an icosahedron – 20 sided dice – found in Egypt, which had the name of a different Egyptian god on each side.
What were these things used for?  Obviously they were intended to be thrown, and to give a random result. But what then?
One often-heard explanation is that they were used in conjunction with divination handbooks. Â There is a 2nd/3rd century Greek oracle book, the Homeromanteion, preserved in three papyri, which refers to throwing lots to obtain a number, which can be used to look up ready-prepared oracle questions and answers.
