ancientart:

Lead curse (defixio). Roman Britain, 1st-4th century AD. Found in Telegraph Street, Moorgate, London.

The dark side of life in Roman Britain

The wishing of ill-health, or worse, on a person is typical of many Roman curses.

This example from Roman London, scratched on a fragment of lead sheet, reads:

‘I curse Tretia Maria and her life and mind and memory and liver and lungs mixed up together, and her words, thoughts and memory; thus may she be unable to speak what things are concealed, nor be able…’.

Curses were sometimes rolled up, hidden under floors or in wall cavities, or nailed up. After this example had been inscribed it was pierced by seven holes driven through from the back of the sheet, a procedure perhaps intended to increase the power of the curse. (x)

Courtesy & currently located at the British Museum, London. Photo taken by Marie-Lan Nguyen.