Ostomachion, also known as
loculus Archimedius (Archimedes' box in
Latin) and also as
syntomachion, is a mathematical treatise attributed to
Archimedes. This work has survived fragmentarily in an
Arabic version and
in a copy of the original
ancient Greek text made in
Byzantine times. The word Ostomachion has as its roots in the
Greek Ὀστομάχιον, which means "bone-fight", from ὀστέον (
osteon), "bone" and μάχη (
mache), "fight, battle, combat". Note that the manuscripts refer to the word as "
Stomachion", an apparent corruption of the original Greek.
Ausonius gives us the correct name "Ostomachion" (
quod Graeci ostomachion vocavere, "which the Greeks called ostomachion"). The Ostomachion which he describes was a puzzle similar to
tangrams and was played perhaps by several persons with pieces made of bone. It is not known which is older, Archimedes' geometrical investigation of the figure, or the game.
Victorinus,
Bassus Ennodius and
Lucretius have talked about the game too.
