Q 01/05

Excavators found a set of bocce balls in a room, later nicknamed the bocciodromo, of which ancient town?

A) Herculaneum

B) Pompeii

C) Ostia Antica

D) Paestum

Answer · why

B) Pompeii

Pompeii preserved the set under volcanic ash, a sign that the Romans had already turned stone-throwing from a test of strength into a game of aim at a...

Q 02/05

Which Roman emperor is said to have owned a prized set of bocce balls made of olive root?

A) Augustus

B) Nero

C) Hadrian

D) Caligula

Answer · why

A) Augustus

Augustus kept his fine olive-root set in the years when Romans were first swapping stone balls for wooden ones.

Q 03/05

Bocce's accessibility to all ages and abilities has made it a popular official sport of which organisation?

A) Invictus Games

B) Deaflympics

C) Special Olympics

D) Commonwealth Games

Answer · why

C) Special Olympics

Special Olympics programmes took to bocce because people of every age and ability can play, and many set up inflatable PVC courts that pack away after...

Q 04/05

Bocce balls are true spheres, unlike the lopsided balls that curve as they roll in which related sport?

A) Pétanque

B) Croquet

C) Lawn bowls

D) Shuffleboard

Answer · why

C) Lawn bowls

Lawn bowls uses balls shaped with a bias so that they swing in an arc, while a bocce ball has no built-in bias and runs straight.

Q 05/05

Boccia, a relative of bocce played with soft leather balls, has been part of which multi-sport event since 1984?

A) Paralympic Games

B) Commonwealth Games

C) Asian Games

D) Pan American Games

Answer · why

A) Paralympic Games

The Paralympic Games added boccia in New York and Stoke Mandeville, and it remains one of only two sports there with no Olympic counterpart, alongside...