Apopudobalia

Apopudobalia (a fictional sport) is the subject of a famous fictitious entry (a mild or humorous hoax in a reference work). Although no such sport actually existed, the German-language Der neue Pauly. Enzyklopaedie der Antike, edited by H. Cancik and H. Schneider, vol. 1 gives a description of it as an ancient Greco-Roman sport that anticipates modern football (soccer). The article goes on to cite suitably sparse documentation for the non-existent sport, and to assert that a Roman form of the game enjoyed a certain popularity amongst the Roman legions, and consequently spread throughout the Empire as far afield as Britain, "where the game enjoyed a revival in the 19th century." (It also notes that the game was frowned upon by some early Christian writers, such as Tertullian.)

The ancient Romans did play a form of football called harpastum.