Venus Throw

The Venus Throw was the name given to the highest possible roll in tali, an ancient Roman gambling game played with four dice shaped from the astragalus or knucklebone of a sheep or goat, each die marked so that it could land on one of four sides, numbered one, three, four and six. A Venus Throw occurred when all four dice landed on different faces, producing a combined value of fourteen and representing the best of the thirty five possible combinations the dice could produce. Players cast the dice either directly from the hand or shaken out of a small dice cup known as a fritillus. Beyond its value in the game itself, rolling a Venus Throw carried a social significance beyond the score: it could be used to select the arbiter bibendi, or master of the revels, at a Roman dinner party or drinking occasion. The worst possible roll, called the Vulture or Dog throw, was the opposite outcome, in which all four dice landed showing a one.