A Brief History of Bocce

Throwing balls at a target is the oldest game known to mankind. Over the ages, bocce has evolved from a crude sport played with round rocks, coconuts, or the skulls of vanquished administrators to today's game played on artfully crafted courts with composite or metal balls. Bocce also has had many names — including lawn bowling, nine pins, skittles, and pentaque — and has been played by many different sets of rules.

The word bocce (also spelled bocci and boccie) stems from the vulgar Latin "bottia,” meaning “ boss.” Some authorities claim it originated in Egypt about 5200 B.C.; others, that the game was started in Greece during the sixth century B.C. The most reliable sources agree that bocce, as we know it today, was played between battles during Rome's Punic Wars against Carthage (264-146 B.C.). Soldiers selected a small stone (called a "leader") and threw it first. Then larger stones would be thrown at the "leader," and the stone coming closest to it would score. The game provided exercise and relaxation for the soldiers. Teams were composed of two, four, six, or eight men, and the score would range from 16 to 24 points per game.

In time, bocce was played everywhere, from the churches and castles to the city streets. People from all walks of life could play the game—young and old, men and women—and more than once in medieval Italy bocce grew so popular that it was threatened with prohibition. In 1319, Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV outlawed the game because he thought that it interfered with archery practice and other sports of a more military nature. Years later the prohibition was lifted when the Medical Faculty at Montpelier, France declared that bocce was the best exercise to prevent rheumatism.

In the form of bowls, bocce thrived in Elizabethan England, where the Queen herself was an avid fan. Legend has it that Sir Frances Drake refused to set out to defend England against the Spanish Armada until completing a game of bocce. “First we finish the game,” he proclaimed, ‘’t hen we’ll deal with the Armada!"

It was Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) who, when not busy unifying and nationalizing Italy, popularized the sport. In 1896, the first Bocce Olympiad was held in Athens, Greece, and bocce has been a part of international sports ever since. The popularity of bocce in America has been on the rise since it swept California in the late 1980s. Today, there are more than 25,000,000 bocce enthusiasts in the United States.