Special module:
Curses
Watch this video to learn about a Latin curse tablet from Roman Britain with Dr. Sarah Brucia Breitenfeld of the University of Pittsburgh.
About the scholar:
Dr. Sarah Brucia Breitenfeld is an Assistant Professor in the Classics department at the University of Pittsburgh. They earned their PhD from the University of Washington in 2022 with their dissertation, “‘Someone Get a Whip!’ Enslaved Women and Violence in Athenian Oratory, Comedy and Curses,” which investigated the connection between gender, enslavement, and violence in Athens in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C.E. As a social and cultural historian, Dr. Breitenfeld is interested in researching narratives that have been systematically erased from our history books: the stories of women, enslaved people, sex laborers, non-citizen residents, and the people at the intersections of these identities. Their current book project, Geographies of Enslavement: Gender, Violence, and Space in Ancient Greece, examines how enslaved women navigated built environments such as Greek households, symposia, brothels, and urban spaces.
Further Reading:
Gager, J. G. Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World. New York, 1992. (Ebook in Pitt’s collection here)
Ogden, D. Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook. Oxford, 2009. (Ebook in Pitt’s collection here)
And, if you want to do more of a deep-dive:
Collingwood, R. G. and Wright, R. P. The Roman Inscriptions of Britain. Vol. 1. Oxford, 1965-.
(Accessible online here)
Russell, P. “VILBIAM (RIB 154): Kidnap or Robbery?” Britannia 37: 363–367, 2006. (Journal in Pitt's collection here)
Tomlin, R. S. O. “The Curse Tablets.” In B. Cunliffe, ed., The Temple of Sulis Minerva at Bath, Volume 2, The Finds from the Sacred Spring, 59–277. Oxford, 1988.
Also check out Dr. Breitenfeld's publication on RIB 154:
Breitenfeld, S. B. “May the Thief Become as Liquid as Water: Persuasion and Power in a Curse Tablet from Roman Bath.” In R. Benefiel & C. Keesling, eds. Inscriptions and the Epigraphic Habit. Brill Studies in Greek and Roman Epigraphy. Leiden, 2023. (Ebook in Pitt’s collection here)
Latin Vocabulary:
Words in bold on DCC Latin Core Vocabulary List
Proper Names:
Minerva, Minervae, f. - Minerva (Roman goddess of wisdom and craft)
Sulis, Sulis, f. - Sulis (Celtic goddess of the thermal springs)
Nouns:
aqua, aquae, f. - water
dēfixiō, dēfixiōnis, f. - curse tablet
plumbum, plumbī, n. - lead; tin
Verbs:
involō, involāre, involāvī, involātum - to steal or seize; to fly at or attack
liquō, liquāre, liquāvī, liquātum - to become liquid; to melt