Abstrakt
Not only the weapons made of iron and wood could harm. In the ancient world a magic was believed to be also very harmful as a kind of poison (Plato).
One of the possible ways to harm someone by so called "black magic" was the usage of curse tablets (Latin defixiones or Greek katadesmoi). Plenty of these tablets were found in Britain in Roman temples and hoards along to votive objects.
I would like to present the typology of these tablets and connection between them and other votive objects (coins, miniature pots or weapons). Among the sites I will speak especially about three with the highest number of tablets found- Bath, West Hill and controversial, but very interesting Piercebridge.
All three sites were excavated in the 70'. The complete arrange of finds from the river going through the last-mentioned site will be published in 2020.
About 150 tablets were found there. However, it is not sure if all these tablets are curses or not.
From Bath it has been registered 130 tablets. This site relates to the temple of Sulis Minerva, Sacred spring and a bath complex.
The tablets were found mainly in the Spring. Great number of Roman coins (12 595) as well as Celtic coins (18) are known from the complex.
West Hill is a temple complex dedicated to the god Mercury in Gloucestershire. The number of tablets is high: 140.
Only 14 of them were published yet, the publication of the other 73 tablets bearing the readable text is in preparation by R. Tomlin.
The miniature pots were found in this site. From all published texts (and some unpublished) I will take the object of the curse and correlate it to the finds from the site.
It is possible because most of the British curses are so called "prayers for justice". That means that someone did something against the author of the curse tablet.
Usually these "someone" were thieves and the stolen objects are listed on the curse tablet. It will show if the "prayer for justice" worked as votive itself (tablet made of lead) or needed some other object as a payment for the help of a god.