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I haven't seen this one before: the Roman army invented hopscotch as a kind of fitness training? This same article is repeated in multiple links.
Hopscotch?
Any truth or is this one of those "railroad to chariot" legends?
Richard Campbell
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Sounds plausable.... :?
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Titus Flavius Germanus
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And here I thought Hop Scotch* was invented in Glasgow. Went out of favor as too many participants would , after a time, fall and break the bottles in each of the squares.
* Actually Hop't Scots slang for Hopped up Scots due to the tradition of drinking a dram from each bottle as the player successfully navigated the series of squares.
By Act of Parliament in 1747, right after the Jacobite Rising ended in 1746 Hop't Scots in a little known and rare addendum to The Act, was banned along with the Pipes, Tartans, and Bearing Arms. It was seen, believe it or not, as a disguised form of Highland Dancing akin to the famous sword dance... ".. and those forms of dance and high stepping with kicks and arms held in a menacing and a manner offensive to God and King do so as to train men to wield Targe and Claidheamh mòr, shall be banned outright so as not to be seen in glen or byrnie, rick or farmstead nor anywhere within the borders about, nor beyond, city, township, countryside, mountain or valley, be it done upon pain of death by hanging..." well, you get the point.
It would make sense that the Scots would have adapted yet another Roman tradition (claiming it as their own of course) such as the playing of bagpipes, commercial sheep production and the wearing of what we now know as "plaid"...
Hibernicus
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A great way to avoid thrown pila sticking out of the ground and dead bodies? Apparently this medical study shows the clear benefits of such training in sports:
The effect of plyometric training on distance running performance
Quote:Previous research has reported that plyometric training improves running economy (RE) and ultimately distance-running performance, although the exact mechanism by which this occurs remains unclear.
This link states there's an hopscotch diagram in the Forum in Rome?
http://www.recess.ufl.edu/transcripts/2003/0501.shtml , and this one in Pompeii
http://missourifolkloresociety.truman.e ... games.html
And then there's this book:
http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/794501
Quote:Timgad was on the very edge of the Roman Empire, and every stone bears witness to an intense, exhilarating lifestyle, like the traces left by games of hopscotch or marbles
TARBICvS/Jim Bowers
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