It’s an ancient game loved for its simplicity, friendly competition, and openness to all. It has been documented in a painting found inside an Egyptian tomb dating to 5200 B.C., though it may have been around before that. The game appears to have spread from Egypt to Palestine and Asia Minor, where it was picked up by the Greeks then passed to the Romans, who embraced it.

In modern times, it is played around the world but is most associated with Italians, who brought it with them to the United States when they came in waves more than a century ago. It’s bocce, plural for boccia, which in Italian means ball.