WEBVTT - How Did Curse Tablets Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here there's an inscription attached

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<v Speaker 1>to the wall of a tomb in the ancient Italian

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<v Speaker 1>city of Pompeii. That's not honoring the deceased, far from it.

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<v Speaker 1>It reads, in translation, stranger, stay a short while, if

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<v Speaker 1>it is not too troublesome, and learn what to avoid.

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<v Speaker 1>This man, who I hoped was a friend of mine,

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<v Speaker 1>brought prosecutors to me and instigated proceedings. I am grateful

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<v Speaker 1>to the gods and my innocence. I am free from

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<v Speaker 1>all trouble. He who deceived us, may he not receive

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<v Speaker 1>the household, gods nor the underworld. This perhaps petty piece

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<v Speaker 1>of archaeological graffiti is known as a cursed tablet. It

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<v Speaker 1>was written by an ex friend of the deceased and

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<v Speaker 1>put on display for the whole city to read after

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<v Speaker 1>his death. Though it might seem strange today, writing cursed

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<v Speaker 1>tablets was a common practice in ancient Roman Greece. But

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<v Speaker 1>what was the purpose of these objects, aside from the

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<v Speaker 1>obvious and who was writing them? Today we're talking all

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<v Speaker 1>things cursed tablets. A cursed tablets essentially did what the

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<v Speaker 1>name implies they were objects, usually from ancient Greece and Rome,

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<v Speaker 1>upon which somebody wrote a curse. For the article, this

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on how Stuff Works. Spoke with Dr

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<v Speaker 1>Stuart McKee, a scholar of Roman history at Durham University

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<v Speaker 1>in the UK. He said, the standard definition is that

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<v Speaker 1>their intention is to influence by supernatural means people and

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<v Speaker 1>animals against their will. This definition was originally put forth

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<v Speaker 1>by the late David Jordan's, former director of the Canadian Institute.

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<v Speaker 1>In Greece. All sorts of objects, from shards of pottery

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<v Speaker 1>to scraps of papyrus to graves could be turned into

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<v Speaker 1>cursed tablets. McKee said There's one really cool one that

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<v Speaker 1>was written on a lamp, but the most common curse

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<v Speaker 1>tablets by far were written on thin scraps of lead.

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<v Speaker 1>A lead is a byproduct of silver mining, which was

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<v Speaker 1>a major source of wealth in ancient Greece and Rome,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly in the Greek city state of Athens. This means

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<v Speaker 1>that there was a lot of extra lead lying around

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<v Speaker 1>at the time. The ancient Romans frequently used it as

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<v Speaker 1>a cosmetic or to line their drinking vessels and pipes,

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<v Speaker 1>which we know today to be a kind of curse

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<v Speaker 1>in itself, as blood poisoning is no joke, but they

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<v Speaker 1>also used it to inscribe messages, especially ones to the gods.

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<v Speaker 1>A Scholars think that the choice of lead as a

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<v Speaker 1>writing material was part practical a lead is soft and

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<v Speaker 1>therefore easy to scratch marks into, but also part aesthetic

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<v Speaker 1>has to works also spoke with Dr Britta Ager, a

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<v Speaker 1>classicist at Arizona State University. She said, you get the

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<v Speaker 1>sort of silvery fluid looking line against the oxidized surface

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<v Speaker 1>of the metal. It just looks magical. Cursed tablets had

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<v Speaker 1>bursts of popularity across Greek and Roman history, but when

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<v Speaker 1>they were fashionable, they were ubiquitous across social classes and situations.

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<v Speaker 1>Wealthy politicians would sometimes curse their political rivals or the

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<v Speaker 1>opposing party in a legal battle. Working class folks would

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<v Speaker 1>curse thieves, murderers, their crushes, or the chariot racing team

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<v Speaker 1>that they wanted to lose. There are records of enslaved

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<v Speaker 1>people using curses. The wealthy and educated could, of course

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<v Speaker 1>hand right their own curses if they so chose, but

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<v Speaker 1>many folks may have relied on a third party for

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<v Speaker 1>their cursing needs. Ager said, if you weren't literate enough

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<v Speaker 1>to write one of these, you could go to a

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<v Speaker 1>professional who would do it for you. These local magicians

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<v Speaker 1>acted kind of like contract attorneys, drafting up cursed templates

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<v Speaker 1>for their clients and letting them fill in the blanks.

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<v Speaker 1>Archaeologists have even found cursed tablets where the name of

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<v Speaker 1>the person being cursed was slightly too long to fit

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<v Speaker 1>in the blank. The letters had to be smooshed together

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<v Speaker 1>as a result. And of course, where there are curses,

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<v Speaker 1>there are counter curses. McKee described it as a sort

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<v Speaker 1>of magical arms race. Amulets to ward off curses like

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<v Speaker 1>the Evil Eye were and still are popular in many

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<v Speaker 1>parts of the world. Some cursed tablets detailed protective measures

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<v Speaker 1>in case the cursed person discovered the spell and decided

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<v Speaker 1>to retaliate, and other cursed tablets even included clauses to

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<v Speaker 1>ensure that the curse circumvented popular protective measures. So when

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<v Speaker 1>did cursed tablets go out of fashion for good? The

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<v Speaker 1>answer depends on how you look at it. By the

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<v Speaker 1>fourth century, cursed tablets in the Roman Empire were becoming scarce.

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<v Speaker 1>The answer depends on how you look at it. By

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<v Speaker 1>the fourth century CE, cursed tablets in the Roman Empire

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<v Speaker 1>were becoming scarce, McKee said. In some of the later

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<v Speaker 1>Roman law codes from Constantine onward, you do sti to

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<v Speaker 1>get much more heavy policing of religious options, and also,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, culture changes. However, the basic human feelings powerlessness, frustration, jealousy,

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<v Speaker 1>and anger that drove people to write cursed tablets never

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<v Speaker 1>went away. Take for example, Twitter, which some would argue

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<v Speaker 1>is absolutely cursed. Back in British, Twitter users took their

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<v Speaker 1>political frustrations to the Internet in the immediate aftermath of

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<v Speaker 1>the Panama Papers reveal. For several days, the hashtag curse

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<v Speaker 1>David Cameron was trending, attached to messages like this one

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<v Speaker 1>from user mr Tickle three, may every sock you wear

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<v Speaker 1>be slightly rotated just enough for it to be uncomfortable.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether or not those Twitter users actually believed they were

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<v Speaker 1>going to curse the then British Prime Minister, the message

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<v Speaker 1>was clear this person had done harm and they wanted justice,

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<v Speaker 1>be it divine or online. M In that sense, some

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<v Speaker 1>key and Ager say, regardless of religious belief, we all

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<v Speaker 1>still use curses, McKee said, it's only a short step

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<v Speaker 1>from spreading malicious gossip about someone to writing a curse.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article ancient folks didn't

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<v Speaker 1>have Twitter, But Boy did they have curse tablets on

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<v Speaker 1>how stuff works dot Com written by Joanna Thompson. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of iHeart Radio in partnership with how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang

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<v Speaker 1>and Ramsey Young. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit

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