1. Latrunculi is played on a 12-by-8 square with 96 squares.

2. Each player selects 12 BEADs the colour of their choice.

3. BEADs are placed on the row of 12 squares closest to the player.

4. Each player selects an additional BEAD of a different colour, the King BEAD. This BEAD starts on the seventh square from the left of their second row.

5. Players decide who starts by rolling a die.

1. In turns, each player moves 1 BEAD through any number of empty play spaces, either horizontally or vertically.

2. BEADs can only move onto empty play squares and cannot jump over other BEADs.

3. A BEAD is alligatus (blocked) when it is surrounded on 2 sides (left and right, or top and bottom) by their opponent’s BEADs. A straight and uninterrupted row of BEADs can also be alligatus.

4. An alligatus BEAD cannot move and should be turned upside down.

5. A player can protect their BEADs that are alligatus by surrounding one of the BEADs surrounding their alligatus BEAD.

6. During the next turn, a player who has put their opponent in alligatus, can capture the surrounded BEADs and remove them from the board.

7. A capture can only occur if the BEADs are still holding the position on either side of the alligatus BEAD and are not also alligatus.

8. If a player moves their BEAD between 2 of their opponent's BEADs the BEAD is alligatus.

9. A BEAD in the corner can be captured when two BEADs are placed across the corner.

10. The King BEAD can move like a regular BEAD and can also jump over any number of BEADs of the same colour in a straight line (horizontally or vertically) to an empty play space. These moves can also be chained. BEADs that are jumped over are not captured.

11. A King BEAD can only be captured if it is surrounded on 4 sides.

12. Captured BEADs are removed from the board.

1. To win the game, a player needs to capture all their opponent’s BEADs.

2. A player can also win by surrounding their opponent’s King BEAD on 4 sides.

1. Ludus latrunculorum, latrunculi, or also known as latrones was a 2-player strategy board game commonly played throughout the Roman Empire.

2. It has some similarities chess or draughts, but is generally accepted to be a game of military tactics. Because of the paucity of sources, reconstruction of the game's rules and basic structure is difficult, and therefore there are multiple interpretations of the available evidence and the game we play today.