This is the weirdest thing I’ve seen all week. Over at Christie’s, there’s a 20-sided die for sale — that dates back to the 2nd century A.D. (It’s pictured above.) These days, of course, the 20-side die is best known as a central element in any game of Dungeons and Dragons; it’s the original generator of randomness in geek culture. But what in hell were the Romans doing with these things?

As it turns out, nobody knows. From the auction writeup notes:

Several polyhedra in various materials with similar symbols are known from the Roman period. Modern scholarship has not yet established the game for which these dice were used.