Roman Curses Appear on Ancient Tablet

Greetings, ATS!

So here's an interesting find. Apparently an ancient tablet discovered in England three years ago contains curses meant for several people.

An ancient Roman lead scroll unearthed in England three years ago has turned out to be a curse intended to cause misfortune to more than a dozen people, according to new research.
Found in East Farleigh, U.K., in the filling of a 3rd to 4th Century AD building that may have originally been a temple, the scroll was made of a 2.3- by 3.9-inch inscribed lead tablet.
Popular in the Greek and Roman world, these sorts of "black magic" curses called upon gods to torment specific victims.
Rolled up to conceal their inscriptions, the tablets were either nailed to the wall of a temple or buried in places considered to be close to the underworld, such as graves, springs or wells.

Here's the fascinating part. The scientists studying the tablet actually found the names of the intended recipients of the curse.

He deciphered the Latin names Sacratus, Constitutus, Memorianus, Constant[...] and the Celtic names (Atr)ectus and Atidenus. Eight other names are incomplete.

Although the curse is unknown (because the tablet is incomplete), I wonder what happened to the people named above. No way to know, but wouldn't that be a find!

I love these types of stories, because they offer a human connection to the past. Its very easy to imagine yourself living during this time, perhaps saving your money to have a curse laid on an enemy....or trying to ignore the curse laid upon you. Anyway, since I love reading these things, I figured my friends at ATS might be interested as well.

Enjoy!
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cool find!
i could use one of those in this day and age to pester a few 'undesirables'
ha ha ha !!!
lead you say eh? me thinx the curse may come back to the 'curser' in the form of lead poisoning!
now a days you just write your curse on some virgin parchment in the light of the full moon,with all the hate in your heart. write it in blood,burn it,put the ashes in a spider web and roll it in a ball.
spit on it with contempt,and bury it in front of the house of the 'cursee' on the last day of the waning moon.
that simple!!!
thanx for the post!

CAn I just say that those names seem sus.

its funny when i read the title i was thinking someone found these curses on an ipad 1

reply to post by reficul


Simple? Isn't it easier to flatten the persons tires?

reply to post by smyleegrl

Great find, smyleegrl! Ancient Curses, Ancient Gods, it is all so exciting. Curses follow family lines you know, according to those who know. Bears more research. S&F.

reply to post by rickymouse

technically,yes.
magikaly,no!
slashing tires will get you arrested for vadelism,mischief,destruction of property.
plus,that 'curse' only lasts til the tires get fixed.
the magik curse may only get you in trouble for trespassing!
and that curse will go on and on!

DISCLAIMER: do not attempt to curse anyone unless you are fully aware of the reprocussions!
good magik comes back to you 3 fold.
bad magik comes back to you 10 fold.
heed the warning!

I was expecting more along the lines of Utinam barbari spatium proprium tuum invadant! or Sic? Quomodonam se habet hodiernis diebus imperium tuum, salse bracate?