Pente Grammai — literally “five lines” — is an ancient Greek race game mentioned by writers from Alcaeus to Sophocles and depicted on Greek vases (most famously Achilles and Ajax at their game). The exact rules did not survive, so this is a plausible reconstruction: race your five pieces along the lines and bear them all off before your opponent.
The board
The board is five parallel lines (with later versions adding a divided grid). Each player has five pieces. The central line is the sacred line (“the sacred line” was a Greek proverb for a last resort — “to move the piece from the sacred line” meant making a desperate final play).
Movement and the throw
You roll knucklebones (astragaloi), which land on values of 1, 3, 4, or 6 — the four stable faces of an ankle bone. Move one piece the thrown number of spaces along its track toward the far end. A piece that moves past the last space bears off the board.
Capturing
Land exactly on a space occupied by a single opposing piece and you capture it — the captured piece is sent all the way back to its start. This is the heart of the game: a well-placed capture near the finish undoes most of an opponent’s progress.
The sacred line and safe squares
- A piece on the sacred (central) line is safe — it cannot be captured there, and cannot capture from there. It still moves forward like any other piece.
- A piece on its own starting square is likewise immune to capture.
Winning
The first player to bear off all five pieces wins. Because only one piece moves per throw, tempo is everything — every roll is a choice about which piece to advance, which to keep safe, and which capture to set up.
Strategy
- Use the sacred line as a shield. Park a vulnerable piece on the center line to deny a capture, then release it when the coast is clear.
- Threaten captures, don’t just race. Position pieces so a common throw (3 or 4) lands on an opponent — forcing them to play defensively.
- Mind exact-landing captures. You can only capture by landing exactly; keep your leaders a non-obvious distance from enemy pieces.
- Bear off from the back. Advance the piece nearest home when a capture isn’t available, so you are always converting throws into finished pieces.