Greetings from the desk of Dr Footius Balloonicus.
In ancient times, men played with balls, and
little more detail than this is known.
But there are some accounts in the ancient
literature of games which evoke what we now
call football.
For one, called in the Greek phaininda, and
in the Latin harpastum, is described by the
Greek rhetorician Athenaeus Nokratios as "This
is my favourite game.
Great are the exertion," he says, "and the
fatigue attendant upon contests of ball-playing,
and violent twisting and turning of the neck."
And then he quotes the comic poet Antiphanes:
"Damn it, what a pain in the neck I've got.
He seized the ball and passed it to a teammate,
while dodging another and laughing.
He pushed it out of the way of another.
Another fellow player he raised to his feet.
All the while the crowd resounded with shouts
of 'Out of bounds', 'Too far', 'Right beside
him', 'Over his head', 'On the ground', 'Up
in the air', 'Too short', and 'Pass it back'.
