Encore sur la « marelle ronde » : cent ans après Carl Blümlein

For a long time, the significance of the many “wheel patterns” carved in the marbled floors of ancient Roman buildings remained enigmatic. A century ago the interpretation as a game of round “three men’s morris” was launched, an idea that was widely accepted immediately. In the meantime, “round three men’s morris” or “round smaller merels” is often considered the only board game from antiquity whose rules are known, or, given the large number of existing wheel patterns, the most popular board game of the Romans. Recently, several authors have questioned this interpretation. The article aims to provide further arguments for the conclusion, that, indeed, “round three men’s morris” is an invention of archaeologists.