us alludes to
it:--"_Quid enim est sors? Idem propemodum quod_ micare, _quod talos
jacere, quod tesseras; quibus in rebus temeritas et casus, non ratio et
consilium valent._" So common was it, that it became the basis of an
admirable proverb, to denote the honesty of a person:--"_Dignus est
quicum in tenebris mices_": "So trustworthy, that one may play _Mora_
with him in the dark." At one period they carried their love of it so
far, that they used to settle by _micatio_ the sales of merchandise and
meat in the Forum, until Apronius, prefect of the city, prohibited the
practice in the following terms, as appears by an old inscription, which
is particularly interesting as containing an admirable pun: "_Sub exagio
potius pecora vendere quam digitis concludentibus tradere_": "Sell your
sheep by the balance, and do not bargain or deceive" (_tradere_ having
both these meanings) "by opening and shutting your fingers at _Mora_."

One of the various kinds of the old Roman game of _Pila_ still survives
under the modern name of _Pallone_. It is played between two sides, each
numbering from five to eight persons. Each of the players is armed with
a _bracciale_, or gantlet of wood, covering the hand and extending
nearly up to the elbow, with which a heavy ball is beaten backwards and
forwards, high into the air, from one side to the other. The object of
the game is to keep the ball in constant flight, and whoever suffers it
to fall dead within his bounds loses. It may, however, be struck in its
rebound, though the best strokes are before it touches the ground. The
_bracciali_ are hollow tubes of wood, thickly studded outside with
pointed bosses, projecting an inch and a half, and having inside, across
the end, a transverse bar, which is grasped by the hand, so as to render
them manageable to the wearer. The balls, which are of the size of a
large cricket-ball, are made of leather, and are so heavy, that, when
well played, they are capable of breaking the arm, unless properly
received on the _bracciale_. They are inflated with air, which is pumped
into them with a long syringe, through a small aperture closed by a
valve inside. The game is played on an oblong figure, marked out on the
ground, or designated by the wall around the sunken platform on which it
is played; across the centre is drawn a transverse line, dividing
equally the two sides. Whenever a ball either falls outside the lateral
boundary or is not struck over the central