Ancient Games of Football

The Ancient Greeks and Romes are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the use of the feet. The Roman game harpastum is believed to have been adaptd from a Greek team game known as Episkyros or Phaininda, which is mention by a Greek playwright, Antiphanes (388-311 BC) and leter referred to by the Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215 AD). These games appear to have resembled rugby football. The Roman politician Cicero (106-43 BC) describes the case of a man who was killed whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into a barber's shop. Roman ball games already knew the air-filled ball, the follis.

According to FIFA the competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence though this view is disputed by scholars. It occurs namely as an exercise in a military manual forn the third and second centuries BC. Documented evidence of an activity resembling football can be found in the Chinese military manual Zhan Guo Ce compiled between the 3rd century and 1st century BC.