TROCHUS
TROCHUS
When one associates games and exercise with the Ancient Greeks, the focus tends to fall on arguably the most influential physical activities, the Olympic sports. Yet, not all impactful exercises resided in the glory of the games, but in the everyday lives of young men and children.
In antiquity, a popular pastime was “τροχός,” “trochos,” which corresponds to modern day hoop-trundling or hoop-rolling. Its popularity would quickly spread to Italy where the Romans would call it “trochus” or simply “the Greek hoop.” The game is named after the hoop used, the “τροχός,” which was commonly made of bronze, recycled wheels, and wood. Due to this, there are currently no preserved τροχός from antiquity available
for analysis. Thus, our information on the sport is incomplete but supported by Latin authors such as Horace, Ovid, Martial, and Antyllus. The sizes of the hoops varied, potentially with the players aging from children to adult, with the general rule that the hoop should be chest-height. Τροχός involved the player hitting the hoop with a wooden stick or hook, also referred to as the key, called the “elatēr” or “rhabdos.” Commonly, the goal was to drive the hoop with the stick and keep it rolling the longest of all the players. There were many versions of trochos that included performing tricks while trundling such as jumping through the hoop and maneuvering it around poles. Since trochos took up a lot of physical space to play, ancient Greeks and Romans would commonly play in the gymnasium, palaestra, and the Roman Campus Martius. On a similar note, some authors recall there being a series of bells attached to the hoops to warn oncoming passerbys.
Aside from pure entertainment, trochos was viewed as an impressive and effective workout as it exercised the whole body and demonstrated enviable skills for military combat. Despite this, trochos was never
Winter 2021· Torch: U.S. · INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR JENNY SHERIDAN MOSS
INTERVIEW WITH PROFESSOR JENNY SHERIDAN MOSS · Winter 2021· Torch: U.S.
Winter 2021· Torch: U.S. · ANCIENT GAMES & EXERCISES: TROCHUS
Engraved gems depicting two youths trundling hoops with hooked elaters. Currently found in the Stosch Collection in Berlin.
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