HARPASTUM OR KILLER HANDBALL

As you all know, modern handball was invented by Max Heiser in Germany but there is a set of ancient activities and sports that have inspired its appearance.

In this case, we will speak about Harpastum, which was practiced in ancient Rome as part of the legionnaires training. It consisted on taking a ball to the other side of the court and make it touch a piece of rope, nevertheless, the rules are not completely clear because they have never been recorded. What we know is one of the main rules: players were allowed to be as violent as necessary, always avoiding killing the opponents because, by the way, killing was fortunately forbidden.

So, you had better play handball rather than harpastum unless you want to visit heaven prematurely.