Escape board

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Escape board in Greek, lead lamella, 4th century AD, find from the columbarium of Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome

The Curse tablet or Defixion ( Greek κατάδεσμος katádesmos or κατάδεσις katádesis "binding, binding spell"; Latin Defixio of defigere "baste, pierce" in literary parlance devotio "prayer curse") is one in the ancient common form of damage spell is.

Escape boards are usually inscribed , thin pieces of lead , which should serve the purpose of influencing people or other living beings with magical - ritual means or with the help of a deity in their actions, to prevent their activities and to "bind" them or them to harm mentally or physically for a certain period of time, less often even to kill them. The request was either entrusted to deities of the underworld , who were supposed to carry out the curse , or was already considered to have been implemented through the ritual treatment of the table. For this purpose, the labeled lamellae were often additionally rolled up, folded or pierced with nails. Violations of the medium should be transferred to the cursed person in the sense of a magic analogy .

Most of the specimens were buried in special places such as graves, temples or ponds. The messages should only reach the invoked deities in such a hidden way. Escape boards were often used in legal disputes, but also against competitors in chariot races , in the theater or in business life. Likewise, erotic rivalry, jealousy or an erotically motivated desire for revenge were the cause of the curses; some inscriptions, on the other hand, should attract the desired partner.

Development and dissemination

So far, around 1600 archaeological finds have been published, which are distributed over large parts of the ancient Mediterranean world. Is controversial in research, the question of the origin of this tradition: Some researchers attribute their development to contacts of interacting cultures back to give about religious ideas from the Assyrian - Babylonian culture space on the Hellenistic Greece developmentally interacted. For Mesopotamia , however, there is no direct archaeological evidence of the use of escape boards, which is why only indirect sources can prove the widespread belief in harmful magic: On the one hand, Assyrian magic books from the 1st millennium BC are available. BC, which cite antidotes against curses and enchantments and reflect the fear of these practices. On the other hand, laws and court records document that magic spells were considered a capital crime and were seen as comparable to, for example, intentional homicide. However, due to the geographically concentrated sources, other researchers assume that defixions are practices that originated in the Greek area alone and spread throughout the Greco-Roman world.

About two-thirds of the escape tables found in the Mediterranean region are Greek, and only about 600 are Latin. In combination with other sources, the findings for the Greco-Roman area give a diverse picture of this practice. The earliest escape boards come from the Greek colony of Selinunt in Sicily and are used in the period from the end of the 6th century to the early 5th century BC. Dated. Especially from the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Numerous tablets are known , especially from Attica . A little later, many copies were made in Olbia on the Black Sea. It is controversial whether the escape signs spread only from the Sicilian and Attic area or whether they originated in other regions from older forms of verbal magical practices there. It is also possible that outside of Sicily and Attica, older escape signs have so far only not been archaeologically proven.

From around the 2nd century AD, and especially in late antiquity , escape boards became very popular in the Roman Empire . Older Greek-language finds from Italy come from Greek colonies in southern Italy and Sicily. According to today's knowledge, the oldest Latin- speaking defixio originated in the 2nd century BC. And was found in a Samnite- Roman grave near Pompeii . Latin-language escape signs from pre-Christian times were initially essentially limited to Italy and Hispania . From the early imperial period , the practice of defixio spread increasingly across the provinces of the empire. From the 2nd and 3rd centuries, clear centers formed: with 250 specimens, a large part of the Roman escape signs found so far come from the province of Britain . With over 100 tablets, these finds concentrate on the temple complex of Mercury in today's Uley and on the spring sanctuary of Sulis Minerva in Bath . An unusually high number of them are directed against thieves in the form of “prayers for justice ”. This practice of magic was also widespread in North Africa. In Carthage and the ancient Hadrumetum , escape tablets of competing parties were mainly found during circus games or fights in amphitheaters . Only a few escape boards have survived from Egypt ; the well-known curses often apply to gods and demons of different cults at the same time .

From the 4th century onwards, archaeological evidence declined significantly, parallel to the rise of Christianity . Occasionally, Christian or Jewish curses can also be found later. It is difficult to distinguish them from pagan curses from late antiquity , as these often also included Jewish or Christian elements and names in the magic.

Social and cultural aspects

In research it is controversial in which circles damage spells were used. Some scholars assume that this form of magic was not restricted to the lower classes, since the names of well-known people are often recorded on finds from Greece. Others believe that escape boards were only used in the lower social classes. In Latin defixiones names that consist only of a cognomen often appear ; some also identify the cursed person as a person who is not in possession of Roman citizenship or a slave by directly specifying the social status . For numerous defixiones , competitions between gladiators or charioteers also form the background, which also had a low social position. Nevertheless, names of well-known families from the highest circles, right up to procurators and legates , appear in the escape texts . Apart from erotic curses, men also predominate as targets of curse.

In Classical Athens, magical practices were not punishable; at most, a lawsuit could be initiated because of acebia or - in the case of a death attributed to magical means - the administration of a poisonous or magic potion ( pharmakeía ). In the Roman Empire, on the other hand, escape boards and magical acts were generally prohibited despite their popularity. The Twelve Tables Act already prohibited in the middle of the 5th century BC BC generally “bad chants” ( mala carmina ) as magical practices. Damage magic is mentioned together with harvest robbery and thus placed on the same level as this crime, which was punishable by death. Sulla set up a Capital Crimes and Magic Court under the newly installed courts . In addition, the 81 BC. The "daggermen and poisoning laws" ( lex Cornelia de sicariis et veneficiis ) enacted in the 2nd century BC stipulate that arson, assassination and poisoning ( veneficium ) were punishable as insidious crimes, which according to ancient law also included magic spells. In addition, various Senate resolutions were directed against sorcery and "malicious cult acts" ( mala sacrificia ).

In the imperial era in particular , any form of magic was punishable by law, with varying degrees of severity. Such an approach often served political or ideological purposes such as diversion from political tensions. In some parts of the empire, however, sorcery was widespread with impunity. In Egypt, for example, magicians followed the tradition of the Egyptian priests and in some places also performed temple services. Under Augustus were prophecies and magical papyri content in 13 v. Burned BC. An edict against fortune tellers had already been issued two years earlier, which was to serve as the legal basis for later prosecutions of magical practices. Emperor Tiberius had 130 magicians executed, just as Claudius and Nero also prosecuted the use of magic. In some regions of the empire, on the other hand, escape boards aiming to avenge a crime were set up in large numbers in public places such as shrines (see the section “ Prayers for Justice ”) and sometimes even with the name of the person who cursed them, so it does not appear to have been perceived as illegal. Cursing opponents of litigation, who often aimed at their death and were supposed to harm them personally, on the other hand, seem to have been fundamentally illegal; they were written without naming the author and often deposited in graves.

In the 4th century alone, however, twelve imperial edicts are documented, which - increasingly shaped by Christianity - take extreme action against magic. Summarizing magical damage and divination, the late antique Codex Theodosianus (438) and the Codex Iustinianus (529-534) provide for the maximum punishment for such offenses such as crucifixion , burning or execution by wild animals , a punishment that, according to Iulius Paulus, was already in the 3rd century stood on the curse by Defixion.

In accordance with the increasingly repressive legislation, numerous procedures for the use of magic are known, especially in the imperial era; the first documented trial invoked at the beginning of the 2nd century BC. BC still on the Twelve Tables Act as the legal basis. Of ten trials described by Tacitus , half are charges based on magical acts, for example against the governor of the province of Syria , Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso , who was suspected of having killed the pretender Germanicus by magical means together with his wife . An accusation of magic, however, was always only one of several charges that, on its own, would not have warranted conviction. For flimsy reasons, in the middle of the 2nd century, the writer Apuleius was also charged with having brought about his marriage by means of magic, but was acquitted. Particularly among the Christian emperors of the 4th century a real "process hysteria" broke out, of which the historian Ammianus Marcellinus in particular testifies. Successful magical accusations of various kinds - often as a pretext - were followed by exile and execution; Ammianus describes the case of a charioteer who was condemned to death for letting his son learn magic.

shape

Manufacturing and design

Magic doll with puncture points from the sanctuary of Isis and Mater Magna in Mainz

Mostly 3 to 4 mm thick sheets of lead were found. This durable material was much more popular than other writing supports, which is why only ten Roman defixiones made from other materials are known to date . However, the good durability of lead does not explain its preference over other durable materials. On the one hand, lead was a by-product of silver mining, was easy to write on and was used very often in everyday life in ancient times. On the other hand, lead has special properties such as heaviness or cold, is poisonous and has been associated with worthlessness and uselessness, which made it appear suitable as a ritual carrier material for a curse. A table from the 2nd century from Carnuntum refers to this, which is directed against the thief of a vessel: "Just as that lead has weight, so should Eudemus be affected by your anger." To make the tablets, melted lead was applied to a smooth surface poured, driven out to the desired thickness and usually cut into rectangles. As a rule, the lead panels were no larger than 12 × 8 cm. Other specimens are in the form of so-called tabulae ansatae , with triangular handles usually attached to the frame and resembling the votive tablets found in sanctuaries . Much seldom used materials for escape boards are pewter - they come mainly from the British area -, ostraca , shells, gems , papyrus and wax.

A special form are small human-like figures, so-called defixion figurines made of wax, clay, bronze or lead, which should represent the victim of the curse. In order to harm the cursed, defixion figurines were symbolically not only pierced with nails, but also tied up, mutilated or given the name of the addressee. The clay statuettes that were found together with 33 escape panels in the sanctuary of Isis and Mater Magna of the Roman Mogontiacum (Mainz) have punctures on the neck, chest, stomach, hips, eyes, back and anus. More recent finds from an ancient cemetery in Athens, the Kerameikos , attest to the period around 400 BC. BC also a kind of “coffin magic”, in which figures with symbolically connected limbs or lead lamellas bearing the name of the cursed were buried in coffin-like containers.

Language and writing

Most of the escape signs are written in Greek . However, due to the constant addition of new finds - especially from Britain - the number of tablets in Latin is constantly increasing. The texts from Italy are written in different languages. Older curses from Greek settlements in Magna Graecia , in particular, are written in Greek, dating back to the 5th century BC. Can be proven. But even in post-Christian times, especially distinguished Romans occasionally used Greek for curses. Also Etruscan was isolated in earlier times used to curse tablets. Latin-language specimens only appeared in the Roman Empire from the 2nd century onwards and spread rapidly with the expansion of the Roman sphere of influence. While the language of some tablets hardly differs from written Latin , the majority is written in Vulgar Latin . Defixiones are therefore important sources for the reconstruction of the spoken language, the linguistic range and the gradual development of the Romance languages .

The escape signs that have been preserved are written in different fonts. In Roman copies, the Roman capitals , the older Roman cursive and, from the 3rd century on, the younger Roman cursive appear . Based on philological and onomastic criteria, writing is the most important criterion for dating the inscriptions. In order to encrypt the content of the escape text or to increase its effectiveness, the fonts of many escape signs were also changed. Some curses should mentally confuse the cursed person according to their encrypted spelling. For example, some tables are written in mirror writing or reverse the sequence of letters in a word, but without changing the word order, which makes deciphering more difficult if there are no word separations. Other specimens were written in a spiral, from bottom to top or bustrophedon (with alternating lines of writing), have left-hand script or deliberately simulate such a script due to the division of the text, but are written clockwise. Some panels also reproduce a Latin text in Greek script. Some combine these methods. Numerous escape signs were magically charged with magic words, recurring sound combinations or random word formations, which also make reading and translating some escape texts difficult or even impossible. In addition, in Bath, for example, “pseudo-inscriptions” were found which are simply composed of various scratches of no meaning and presumably come from illiterate people .

Creators and templates

The finds from the classical period are written in very different styles and vary greatly in the manuscripts. Research suggests that the early escape boards, which are often just lists of names, were made by private individuals and not by commissioned magicians. Only Plato mentions professional magicians in the Politeia who, for a fee, carried out such magical practices. While numerous specimens dating back to Plato's time are likely to have come from lay hands, the figures found on the Kerameikos from the 5th century already show similarities that suggest the same person as the author of specimens in two different graves. From the time of Hellenism , but especially in Roman times (especially 2nd / 3rd century), a large number of similar specimens and escape types were created, which were made by commissioned magicians or based on the same template. The tendency to adopt elements from oriental cults, to create more and more complex forms and to enrich the curse with countless demons made it necessary to manufacture them by specialized magicians. Occasionally the client, if he could write, only signed the prefabricated board; For example, the cursing text on a tablet from Bath is written in older Roman cursive, but the name of the person who cursed is written in more recent Roman cursive.

At the same time, from the turn of the century, multilingual and syncretistic magical manuals, forms and templates that collected frequently recurring phrases for the escape text and were specifically aimed at laypeople gained acceptance. An important source are entitled Papyri Graecae Magicae combined ( "Greek magical papyri" PGM) papyri that v between the 2nd century. BC and the 5th century AD in Greco-Roman Egypt and should only constitute a small part of the ancient material that was previously available. In addition to home remedies such as advice against nosebleeds and a variety of recipes for love spells , they also contain detailed instructions for the ritual design of escape boards:

"Take [...] a lead tablet and an iron ring, [...] write [...] the name, the magic symbols [...] and [the following]: 'His reason is bound so that he cannot do this and that" [... ]. Prick the magic sign with the pen and complete the binding with the words: 'I bind the XY for the relevant purpose: it should not speak, not resist, not contradict, it should not be able to look at me or speak against it, but should submit to me as long as this ring is buried. I bind his mind and his thinking, his spirit, his actions so that he is incapable of dealing with everyone. ' [...] Then carry it away to the grave of someone who died prematurely, dig four fingers deep, put it in and say: 'Death demon, whoever you are, I'll give you the XY so that it doesn't do this and that.' Then pour it up and go away. You act best when the moon is waning. "

ritual

Escape text

Escape sign with magical symbols (back) and a Greco-Latin inscription of unclear meaning, 3rd – 4th centuries. Century AD

Originally, the tablets were probably only discussed with the names of the cursed and left blank in places that should effectively support the curse or its implementation. An extremely large number of early lead lamellas only bear the name of the victim incised with a stylus , sometimes also a list of several people or simple formulas such as: “I bind xy.” Other panels are provided with stylized drawings to represent the cursed people. These tablets were presumably both described and discussed. From the Classical period onwards, the use of pure lists of names declined, only to be undetectable from the 1st century onwards. Instead, longer escape texts developed, which have frequently recurring ritual formulas and external characteristics and were intended to convey a wish or order to the gods invoked.

In these extended escape texts, formulaic components can be recognized that appear separately or in different combinations:

Prayer formula

With prayer formulas, which can be found from the imperial era , the cursing ( defigens ) appeals to one, sometimes several underworld deities or death demons ( nekydaimon ). These are either denoted as dominus ("lord") or deus ("god"), sometimes also as tyrannus ("king") or by name - such as Hermes , Gaia , Hecate , Persephone , more rarely the Erinyes or earth deities - called and praised by various surnames. Roman escape boards also appeal to the underworld deities ( di inferni ), the Manen , Dis Pater , Pluto , Jupiter , Proserpina or Nemesis . Special Roman escape boards often name foreign deities such as Osiris or call on known gods with unusual surnames in order to increase the power of cursing. The tablets are usually written on one side; In individual cases, the slats take the form of a letter: For example, a lead plaque next to a list of cursed people on the inside bears information about the recipient on the outside: "the names of the enemies to [...] the underworld deities". For this purpose, other copies were provided with seemingly pointless scribbles on the back.

The contact established in this way between the appealed authority and the cursing person can take different forms: In many cases, the curse itself humbly describes itself as a gift or prayer to the deity in question, whose power the victim is handed over. The cursing person turns to a god or demon and asks him for help, as usually happens in the so-called “prayers for justice”. Often, however, the cursing person also instructs the deities or even orders them to carry out his wish, and in some cases reinforces this with threats and ritual formulations. On the other hand, on early tablets with lists of names or a simple binding formula in particular, their authors did not invoke the gods, but instead regarded the magical act - reinforced by nailing the tablet, for example - as having a direct effect.

Tie formula

Often this is followed by the request to turn against the named person, a call for cooperation or a specific curse formula such as "I bind" ( καταδῶ katadō ), "I curse" ( execro ), "I pierce" or "I staple down" ( defigo ). The sender sometimes extends this formula by addressing a deity; in these cases he does not claim to harm the victim himself, even if he mentions himself explicitly, but establishes contact between the cursed and the deity. In this way he linguistically hands over the person to God as the executive organ of his cursing. However, the oldest Greek escape boards in particular reduce the formula so that the invocation of the gods can be completely absent. Research explains these specimens differently from a religious studies point of view: On the one hand, some researchers interpret these concise texts as the short form of a complete curse that would also have the features of a prayer and therefore entrust gods or demons with the performance of the binding spell. On the other hand, the direct binding formula can also be understood in such a way that the curse has a magical effect on the victim through the ritual act of writing or nailing up, without delay and without the support of deities.

If the perpetrator or the victim is not known by name, such as a curse against a thief, the curse is directed against the unknown person, "regardless of whether man or woman, boy or girl" ( si baro si mulier si puer si puella ) . The cursing person, on the other hand, usually remains anonymous and the process secret, which, in addition to the illegality of the action, can be justified, among other things, by the fear that the curse could mistakenly hit the cursing person himself or be rendered ineffective by a counter-spell by the victim. Only when cursing thieves, so-called “prayers for justice”, or cursing in love affairs is the name of the author often mentioned, in the latter case probably so that the deity called does not erroneously arouse love for another person.

A find from the Euboea peninsula from the 4th century BC is typical of this form of binding magic . Chr.

Original text 1 translation

καταγράφω Εἰσιάδα τὴν Α [ὐ] τοκλέας
πρὸς τὸν Έρμῆ τὸν κάτοχον.
κάτεχε αὐτὴ [ν] παρὰ σα [υ] τόν.

I write to Isias, the daughter of the Autoklea, in
front of Hermes Katochus.
Hold her by your side!

Original text 2 translation

καταδεσμεύω Εἰσιάδα πρὸς τὸν Ἑρμῆ
τὸν κάτοχον · [χ] ε͂ρες,
πόδες Εἰσιάδος, σῶμα ὅλον.

I bind Isias before Hermes
Katochus; the hands,
the feet of Isias, the whole body.

Desire and similia similibus formula

Curses of this form usually contain the crime to be punished as well as the punishment to which the deity may inflict the person. The hoped-for or required consequences of the curse range from momentary or permanent damage, impairment of bodily functions and illness to death, which, however, occurs rather rarely, especially with Greek curses, and is clearly inferior to the pure binding magic. Sometimes the person who curses also establishes a connection between a victim and an object, such as a sacrificial animal, or the storage location whose properties it should assume ( similia similibus formula). Features of the described material, such as the coldness or worthlessness of lead, are used as well as an opposing spelling, which is supposed to make the words or thoughts of the target person useless. Often the curse is directed specifically against the body parts and organs or the mental abilities of the victim, especially often against the limbs, tongue, stomach and intestines or mind and memory. For example, an escape table from Uley asks the deity not to eat, drink, sit or lie around a thief in revenge until the crime has been atoned for. Some curses limit the mentioned punishment in this way, others are understood as insoluble. This is how an escape sign from the 4th century directed against an Athenian is formulated: “I do not bind and I do not loose .” ( Καταδῶ καὶ οὐκ ἀναλύσω. ).

Also without the possibility of cancellation, a plaque found in the Isis and Mater Magna sanctuary in Mainz and intended for the god Attis curses a certain liberal to die in full consciousness in an older Roman italic:

Original text inside Translation inside

Bone sancte Atthis Tyran-
ne adsi (s), advenias Liberali
iratus. Per omnia te rogo,
domine, per tuum Castorem,
Pollucem, per cistas penetra-
les, des ei malam mentem,
malum exitum, quandius
vita vixerit, ut omni cor-
pore videat se emori prae-
ter oculos

Good, holy Att (h) is, Lord,
help, come to Liberalis
angry. With everything I ask you,
Lord, with your Castor (and)
Pollux , with the boxes of the
sanctuary, give him evil sense,
evil death, as long as he
has lived life, so that he
should see with his whole body that he is dies out of
sight

Original text outside Translation outside

neque se possit redimere
nulla pecunia nullaque re
neque abs te neque ab ullo deo
nisi ut exitum malum.
Hoc praesta, rogo te per ma-
iestatem tuam.

and that he cannot free himself (buy himself out)
with any money or thing,
neither from you nor from any god,
except an evil end.
Grant this, I ask of
your majesty.

Ritual manipulation

A tablet rolled around a chicken bone, Mainz, end of the 1st century to the beginning of the 2nd century AD.

After the escape text had been drawn up, the escape tablet was also rolled up, folded or pierced with nails, on the one hand to reinforce the secret character of the defixion and to keep the illegal act hidden. But just as the name or drawings noted on it were regarded as representations of the cursed person himself, on the other hand the cursed person - symbolically represented by the tablet - should be "bound" or injured by this ritual treatment and its so-called sympathetic effect.

Some specimens, such as a tablet from the Magna Mater sanctuary in Mainz , were also wrapped around chicken bones to enhance their effect. The sacrifice of an animal is not an integral part of the ritual, but it occurs very occasionally in the escape texts: For example, according to a Latin defixio , tearing out and piercing the tongue of a rooster should cause the cursed to fall silent. In addition, the Greek magic papyri from Egypt recommend - mainly for defixions with an erotic background - to add objects related to the cursed to the escape table. For example, a jug found on a burial site in Mautern contained remains of charcoal and human hair next to the tablet.

Local peculiarities can be identified: Hardly any boarded or folded escape boards were found in the British area; rather, they should have their effect due to the special landfilling. Therefore, some researchers suspect that the escape boards were first publicly displayed before they were sunk or buried in springs.

Filing

Roman lead lamella DT 139, find from a burial site on the Via Latina , 1st century AD

In order to hand over the described escape boards to the designated underworld deities, they were mostly hidden underground in the Mediterranean region, for example in graves, coffins or urns, whereby the burial sites of those who died early or violently were considered to be particularly effective. Often the curses explicitly put the victim in connection with the place where the escape tablet was deposited, as for example a Roman example from the 1st century from a grave find shows: A certain Rhodine is cursed on this tablet, "like the dead who is buried here, can neither speak nor speak ”, to be dead for a Marcus Licinius Faustus and to neither speak nor speak.

Rivers, springs and sanctuaries were also considered - especially in Britain - to be suitable for storing tablets. In North Africa, Rome and the eastern provinces in particular, curses related to chariot races were placed in the circus or amphitheatres, with particularly dangerous places such as turning points being preferred. A number of escape tablets were found in the Trier amphitheater . Only a few escape signs were deposited directly in the houses of their victims and are available from archaeological excavations as so-called “wall finds”; others were loosely hidden inside a building, such as a lead plaque found in Groß-Gerau against a certain Priscilla who allegedly disdained marriage with the cursing man.

application areas

The well-known curse lamellas reveal recurring motifs for cursing, which provide a rough overview of the archaeological findings:

Process defixion

The group of escape boards with a legal background includes some of the oldest examples. At the same time, with 67 Greek-language finds, most of the small tablets known today from the area settled by Greeks or opened up through trade relations fall into this category; Process defixions have been demonstrated above all in Attica, but also in Sicily, Spain and today's southern Russia. From the 5th and 4th centuries BC In particular in Attica, legal disputes were a common motive to bind the opposing party with magical means. The escape boards known from this region show that the curse was not only directed against the named prosecutors and the opposing lawyers, but also against possible witnesses and the judges as well as listeners and observers who could have had a negative impact on the course of the trial. Therefore, in some cases, the process definition takes the form of long lists. Often the curse aimed to curse the tongue of the prosecutor and his lawyer and thus his linguistic abilities; other specimens were intended to irritate their minds so that the cause of the charge would be forgotten. Although the Latin process defixion obviously decreased in popularity compared to the Greek one , escape boards of this group can also be found in the Roman sphere of influence and here especially in the provinces like North Africa - but less often in Rome itself.

The typical form of a process defixion is represented by an Attic specimen from the late 5th or early 4th century, which curses the tongue and mind of a legal opponent and his lawyers:

Original text translation

[...] Θερσίλοχος, Οἰνό [φιλος,] Φιλώτιος καὶ εἴ τ [ι] alpha- ς
λλος Φερενίκωι σύνδικ [ος, πρ] ὸς τὸν Έρμῆν τὸγ Χθόν [ι] -
ον καὶ Έκάτην Χθονίαν καταδεδέσθω · Φερενίκο [υ] κα [ὶ ψυ] -
χὴν καὶ νο [ῦ] ν καὶ γλῶτταν καὶ βο [υ] λὰς καὶ [τ] ὰ πράττει καὶ
ὰτὰ περὶ ἐμο [ῦαῖ] β 'ωτω [υ] ὶἅετντωτωτωτω λκτ
ὶατω λετω ὶλτὐτ στωτω λλτω --λτωτετωτω λτἅτ στωτω λτττατωτω ύλτκτ στωτω λτωτ 'ἐκε [ί] νο [υ] βο [υ] λεύο [υ] σιν καὶ
πράττο [υ] σιν. [...]

[…] It should be bound Thersilochus, Oino [philos], Philotios and whoever else is
a lawyer on the side of Pherenikos, with Hermes, the underground,
and Hecate, the underground. Soul,
mind, tongue and plans of Pherenikos and what he
does and plans in relation to me,
everything may be reluctant to him and to those who plan and
act with him. [...]

Attic lists of names of the cursed often contain well-known personalities such as speakers or politicians, which is why some researchers concluded that escape boards were also drawn up for political reasons. However, since the political life of classical Athens was closely connected with the Attic litigation, it is difficult to distinguish such a group from the litigation curses.

Defixion against competitors

Lead escape plaque against circus teams, the charioteers and their horses, 4th century AD, Via Appia, Rome

Escape boards against competitors in trade and commerce mostly date from the Classical or Hellenistic period. They are often directed against simple workshops and restaurants and the workforce or the limbs and body parts of their owners, but less often against specialized branches of industry. In many cases, however, the determination of the motive for economic purposes is not clear: Some curses of the economic livelihood are only part of the curse that strives for the general destruction of the victim. With some specimens, the specification of the occupation only serves to identify the victim more precisely.

In North Africa in particular, numerous escape boards from the late imperial era were found that tried to bind opponents in chariot races or circus games. The curse was aimed at the participants, athletes, drivers or members of competing teams in races in order to inhibit their strength, speed and will to win; Sometimes the curse is directed only against the horses, as evidenced by a lamella from Carthage, which calls on a demon of the dead to immobilize 28 horses, or a specimen from Hadrumetum shows 60 horses with their seven charioteers being cursed on it. Another Latin escape text from this region curses a driver and dedicates his team of four , who were supposed to overthrow a violently killed grave demon while driving, three times to the underworld demons. Six other tablets against venatores , written in Greek, aim to make the wild animals fighting against them invulnerable and to bind the gladiators themselves in order to become easy prey for the animals. In Greece, too, a total of 26 binding spells with a sporting background, including against wrestlers and runners, were found from the time as a Roman province.

With four specimens, escape panels from the 5th to the 2nd century BC BC, which arose from competition in theater performances, the smallest group of finds. They turn against the Choregos , the Chorodidaskalos responsible for the rehearsals or the actors themselves.

Love defixion

Separation magic from Pella, Macedonia, grave find east of the agora, 380–250 BC Chr.

Defixions of love came from the 4th century BC. And remained common until the 3rd century AD; the majority of them come from a later period than the finds in other categories. Within the group, a distinction is made between separation spells on the one hand and spells to attract the desired partner on the other.

Separation spells come mainly from the Classical or Hellenistic period. You are supposed to ban a competitor. This form of magic can be found in Greek, Latin and Etruscan languages. So far, 13 Greek copies have been published, mainly from the mainland. For example, a woman on a lead lamella from the Macedonian Pella , which was found in a cemetery right next to a skeleton and dates from between 380 and 250 BC, requests BC, because a man named Dionysophon should abandon his planned marriage and not marry another woman in the future.

An Attic panel from the 4th century BC indicates a similar purpose. Towards:

Original text translation

Άρι [σ] τοκύδη καὶ τὰς φανο [υ] μένας
αὐτῶι γυναῖκας.
μήποτ 'αὐτὸν γῆμαι ἄλλην γυναῖ [κα] μηδὲ παῖδα.

[I bind (?)] Aristokydes and the women
one will see with him.
Don't let him marry another woman or girl!

Escape boards, which served to attract the desired partner ( philtrokatádesmos "love curse "), should often prevent the named person from sexual contact with others or curse their body parts or functions until the wish is fulfilled. This form probably developed from the 2nd century AD in Syria and North Africa; There are 23 published tablets in Greek. Most point to a man as the author. Faraone suspected that the tablets made by men were primarily intended for erotic purposes or were intended to secure a financially profitable marriage, while the few curses induced by women were more aimed at attraction and love. Other researchers suggest that the majority of these curses written by women are due to economic interests of prostitutes .

Comparable is the escape plaque from Groß-Gerau that was discovered as a wall find and wishing a certain Priscilla death because she had married another man. Formally, the board takes the form of a "prayer for justice":

Original text inside Translation inside

Deum maxsime Atthis Tyranne
totumque duodeca theum, comme-
do deabus iniurium fas ut me vindic-
(e) tis a Priscil (l) a caranti (filia) quae nuberi er (r) a-
vit. Pe [r] matrem deum vestrae,
[v] indicate sacra pater [na or -ni].
P [ri] scil (l) [a]
pere [at]

Greatest of all gods, Atthis, Lord,
totality of the twelve gods (of the pantheon)! I hand over
my unjust fate to the goddesses that you
may avenge me on Priscilla, daughter of Carantus, who made the great mistake
of marrying. With your great mother of gods,
avenge the secrets of old age (or: the secrets of Paternus).
Priscilla
shall perish!

Original text outside Translation outside

per matrem deum intra dies c (?) cito,
vindicate numen vestrum magnum
a Priscilla quae detegit sacra, Priscillam
(n) usqu (a) m, nullam numero, nu (p) -
sit gentem tremente Priscilla
quam
er (r) ante

By the great mother of gods, your great divinity will soon,
within a hundred (?) Days,
avenge Priscilla, who betrays my secrets! Prism
cilla I consider to be absolutely null and void. She
married someone for no good (?) Because Priscilla is (as) lustful
as she is
crazy.

Prayers for justice

Apart from the traditional forms, inscriptions have also been found which - more so than is the case with conventional defixions - take the form of a prayer. Examples come from Asia Minor and especially from Roman Britain. In contrast to escape boards, some copies of these “prayers for justice ” were publicly displayed in temples to publicize the crime and to inform the perpetrator of the threatened punishment; others, on the other hand, are likely to have been treated like normal escape signs and deposited in a hidden place.

Almost all of the 250 known British tablets are said to punish a thief, which is why they are referred to in research as "prayers for justice" and "prayer for revenge". While escape boards are usually commissioned to underworld powers to harm an opponent and rarely have a specific reason, prayers for justice bring injustice suffered before deities, who are consistently represented as superior authorities. The author hands over the dispute or cause, the guilty party or the stolen property to the gods in order to induce them to investigate the crime in question, to prosecute and punish the perpetrator or to bring back the stolen property. Through the divine punishment in the form of illness, accident or death, the perpetrator should be compelled to make a public confession, to return the object or to repay it. In some cases the author dedicates the stolen property to the invoked deity as a reward or vows to donate some of its value to her, according to a 3rd or 4th century plaque from Kelvedon, Essex :

Original text translation

quicumque res Vareni in-
volaverit si mulier si mascel
sangu (i) no suo solvat -
erit et pecunie quam exesuerit
Mercurio dona et Virtuti s [emis].

Whoever
stole Varenus' possessions, man or woman,
let him pay with his own blood. Half of
the money he will repay will be donated
to Mercurius and Virtus .

If the stolen goods are mentioned on the boards, it is often clothing, jewelry and cash, but also vessels, tools and animals. Capital crimes, on the other hand, are not mentioned in the “prayers for justice” received - they may have had a greater chance that the official bodies would take up the crime and solve it.

reception

The Greek term katadesmós was first mentioned by Plato in Greek literature . In the Politeia he describes "beggar priests and fortune tellers" who claim that "they (are) in possession of a power which is obtained from the gods through sacrifices and magic spells". These can be commissioned to harm an enemy "by using certain magic spells and spells to induce the gods, as they say, to be of service to them." In Plato's nomoi , "images made of wax" are also mentioned that are used to curse People are attached to doors, graves or crossroads.

In the Latin prose literature Pliny the Elder reports in his Naturalis historia that the fear of curses is widespread. In his Annales, Tacitus also attributes leaden escape tablets with the name of the victim and other magical objects on the walls of an accommodation of Germanicus to the effect of having caused his sudden illness and later unexplained death on a journey to the east of the empire. Similarly, Apuleius describes in his novel Metamorphoses "inscribed metal plates" ( lamminae litteratae ) in the possession of the Thessalian witch Pamphile, which are provided with magical symbols. The revised version of the defense speech of Apuleius ( De magia ) from his magic trial in AD 158/159, in which he was acquitted of the accusation of marriage to a rich widow, provides information on the social attitude towards magical practices To have created magic.

There are numerous literary sources, especially on curses for legal reasons: In Aristophanes ' The Wasps, for example, a famous speaker named Thucydides fell victim to a binding charm during a trial. Cicero mentions a lawyer who suddenly forgot his case, lost the case and later blamed sorcery. According to his Orationes , the orator Libanios had temporarily lost his ability to speak, write or read until a mutilated chameleon, whose mouth had been closed with one of its front legs, was found in his premises and removed.

Some components and ancient ideas were found in the magical manuscripts of the Middle Ages , especially through the collections of the Greek magic papyri . In ancient tradition, these instructions were used to harm personal enemies, often also opponents of litigation, to paralyze their ability to speak and think or to bind their tongue. In addition, Christian lead lamellas increasingly acted as protection of the house against all evils, with the invocation of Christ, the Trinity or spirits replacing the ancient appeal to the underworld deities or being syncretistically mixed with pagan formulas .

Furthermore, the ancient magic of binding lives on in Christian legends of saints as the epitome of pagan superstition. St. Euthymius of Melitene is credited with healing a sick monk by pulling a pewter tablet with characters - the work of a pagan magician - from his body. Sophronius of Jerusalem describes in his writings about the martyrs Cyrus and John of Alexandria that the saints under the threshold of a paralyzed man had the cause of the paralysis, probably a small escape tablet, removed and thus the effect of a curse, whereupon its author perished immediately. According to Sophronius, the two saints also appeared in a dream to another paralyzed man named Theophilus and asked him to buy the fishermen's next catch in the port of Alexandria. At the behest of the saints, Theophilus had a box found under the muzzle broken open to find a magic doll in the form of a bronze statuette, whose hands and feet were pierced with nails. After the removal of the nails, the paralyzed man was cured.

See also

Editions and Corpora

The editions are given in brackets with the abbreviations used in research.

  • Auguste Audollent: Defixionum tabellae quotquot innotuerunt tam in Graecis, Orientis quam in totius Occidentis partibus praeter Atticas in corpore Inscriptionum Atticarum editas. Paris 1904. (online) [DT]
  • David R. Jordan: New Greek Curse Tablets (1985-2000) . In: Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies 41, 2001, pp. 5-46. (online) ( Memento from September 5, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) [NGCT]
  • David R. Jordan: A Survey of Greek Defixiones not included in the Special Corpora . In: Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies. 26, 1985, pp. 151-197. [SGD]
  • Amina Kropp (Ed. / Translator): Defixiones. A current corpus of Latin escape tables . Speyer 2008, ISBN 978-3-939526-02-5 (Latin-German edition of the 382 previously known and legible Latin escape signs; offers exact philological transcription, information on dating, location, archaeological context, index of the respective secondary literature) [ DFX]
  • Karl Preisendanz (Ed. / Translator): Papyri Graecae Magicae. The Greek magic papyri. Teubner. (with Greek texts and German translation) [PGM]
  • Richard Wünsch : Appendix inscriptionum Atticarum: Defixionum tabellae in Attica regione repertae. Inscriptiones Atticae aetatis Romanae. Inscriptiones Graecae 3, 3rd Berlin 1897 [DTA].

literature

  • Amina Kropp: Magical use of language in vulgar Latin escape tables (defixiones) . Narr, Tübingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-8233-6436-8 (with a corpus of all Latin escape signs on CD-ROM; review )
  • Kai Brodersen , Amina Kropp (Ed.): Escape panels. New finds and new interpretations of the ancient magic of damage . Verlag Antike, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-938032-04-9 .
  • Kai Brodersen: Letters to the Underworld. Religious communication on Greek escape boards . In: Kai Brodersen (Ed.): Prayer. and curse, sign and dream. Aspects of religious communication in antiquity (= ancient culture and history 1). Lit-Verlag, Münster u. a. 2001, ISBN 3-8258-5352-7 , pp. 57-68.
  • Esther Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk Among the Ancient Greeks . Oxford University Press, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-927778-0 .
  • Christopher A. Faraone , Dirk Obbink (Eds.): Magika Hiera. Ancient Greek Magic and Religion . Oxford University Press, New York 1991, ISBN 0-19-504450-9 .
  • John G. Gager: Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World . Oxford 1992, ISBN 0-19-506226-4 .
  • György Németh: Supplementum Audollentianum (= Hungarian Polis Studies. Number 20). University of Debrecen, Zaragoza / Budapest / Debrecen 2013, ISBN 978-963-473-620-2 (with numerous photos and drawings of escape boards).
  • Bernd-Christian Otto: Magic. Reception and discourse history analyzes from antiquity to modern times (= attempts at religious history and preliminary work . Volume 57). de Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-025420-4 .
  • Karl Preisendanz: Escape board (Defixion) . In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity . Volume 8, 1972, ISBN 3-7772-7218-3 , Sp. 1-29.
  • Jan Tremel: Magica Agonistica. Escape boards in ancient sport (= Nikephoros supplements No. 10), Olms, Hildesheim 2004, ISBN 3-615-00294-6 . (with a compilation of 100 escape signs including translations from the field of sport)
  • Daniela Urbanová: Latin Curse Tablets of the Roman Empire (= Innsbruck contributions to cultural studies. New episode, volume 17). Institute for Languages ​​and Literatures of the University of Innsbruck, Department of Linguistics, Innsbruck 2018, ISBN 978-3-85124-245-4 (not evaluated).
  • Hendrik S. Versnel : Curse and Prayer - Magical Manipulation versus Religious Pleading? Religious-historical and hermeneutical considerations on ancient escape boards (= Hans-Lietzmann-Vorlesungen 10). de Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 2009, ISBN 978-3-11-022635-5 .

Web links

Commons : Escape boards  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Escape table  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Remarks

  1. ↑ The use of the noun defixio can only be proven from the 6th century AD. Preisendanz: Escape board (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 1, on the ancient variety of names s. Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), p. 38.
  2. ↑ a b Eidinow: Oracle, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 141.
  3. ↑ For the individual research positions and further literature, see Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), pp. 43-45.
  4. ^ Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), p. 29, for the different figures on Latin defixions, see. P. 37.
  5. ^ Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), p. 45.
  6. ↑ Kiernan: British Escape Boards and "Prayers for Justice" as public magic and votive rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 101.
  7. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. 8, Col. 13 ff., On the historical development in the Roman Empire s. Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008) p. 45 f.
  8. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. 8, Col. 26.
  9. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. 8, Col. 2, 8 f.
  10. ^ Lambert, Defining magical spells and particularly defixiones of Roman Antiquity: a personal opinion. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 76.
  11. ^ Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), p. 57 f.
  12. ^ Faraone, Ancient Greek Curse Tablets .
  13. ↑ Twelve Tables Act, Frg. VIII 1a (Pliny, Naturalis Historia , XXVIII, 18), Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008) p. 47.
  14. ^ Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), p. 48 with references and further literature. Fritz Graf also spoke about the Roman ban on harmful spells : closeness to God and harmful spells. Magic in Greco-Roman antiquity. CH Beck, Munich 1996, pp. 41-78.
  15. ↑ a b Lambert, Defining magical spells and particularly defixiones of Roman Antiquity: a personal opinion. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 75.
  16. ↑ Markus Scholz : Damn thief - petty crime in the mirror of escape tablets. In: Marcus Reuter , Romina Schiavone (Ed.): Dangerous plaster. Crime in the Roman Empire (= Xanten reports . Volume 21). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2011, ISBN 978-3-8053-4393-0 , pp. 89-105, here p. 94.
  17. ↑ Markus Scholz: He should be silent! - Escape tablets against opponents. In: Marcus Reuter, Romina Schiavone (Ed.): Dangerous plaster. Crime in the Roman Empire (= Xanten reports. Volume 21). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2011, ISBN 978-3-8053-4393-0 , pp. 300-316, here p. 303.
  18. ↑ Iulius Paulus, sententiae receptae , 5, 23, 15, quoted from: Preisendanz: Fluchtafel (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Bd. 8, Col. 11, on Roman legislation against harmful magic s. Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), pp. 46-50.
  19. ↑ For the sources s. Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), p. 50.
  20. ↑ Detlef Liebs, criminal trials for sorcery. Magic and Political Calculus in Roman History. In: Ulrich Manthe , Jürgen von Ungern-Sternberg (ed.): Great processes of Roman antiquity , pp. 146–158.
  21. ^ Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), p. 51.
  22. ^ Ammianus Marcellinus, Res gestae , XXVI, 3, 3.
  23. ↑ Kropp (2008) p. 80.
  24. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. 8, Col. 18 f., On the ritual-specific semantics of lead s. Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), pp. 80-82.
  25. ↑ AE 1929, 228 ; Kropp: "Defigo Eudemum: necetis eum": Communication patterns in the texts of ancient magic rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 86; see. also Egger, A Escape Table from Carnuntum. In: The Roman Limes in Austria , No. 16, 1926, pp. 117–156; see also similia similibus formula.
  26. ↑ Tomlin, Instructions for Reading Escape Signs. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 16.
  27. ^ Curse Tablets from Roman Britain .
  28. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. 8, Col. 3; on the use of wax, see Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 7.
  29. ↑ Witteyer, Hidden Wishes. Finds of ancient magic damage from Mogontiacum-Mainz. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. Pp. 41-50.
  30. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. 8, Col. 4 f.
  31. ↑ Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 286.
  32. ↑ z. B. Audollent, Defixionum tabellae , 198; on this tablet from the 2nd / 3rd In the 17th century AD, a certain Vitruvius Felix from Cumae curses his wife for infidelity.
  33. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 18 f.
  34. ^ Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), p. 255 f., For the linguistic analysis of Vulgar Latin escape signs, see Pp. 253-299.
  35. ↑ On the problem of dating see Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), p. 245.
  36. ↑ For magic words and symbols s. Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), pp. 140-142.
  37. ↑ Tomlin, Instructions for Reading Escape Signs. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 23 ff.
  38. ^ Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 4.
  39. ↑ Tomlin, Instructions for Reading Escape Signs. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 24.
  40. ↑ Betz, Magic an Mystery in the Greek Magical Papyri. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 246.
  41. ↑ Reading and translation modified from Preisendanz, Papyri Graecae Magicae , V, 305 ff., Quoted from: Kropp: "Defigo Eudemum: necetis eum": Communication patterns in the texts of ancient magic rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 82, for magical templates see p. also Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), pp. 55-57, 75-77.
  42. ^ Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 4 f.
  43. ↑ Faraone distinguishes between four different formulas, namely prayer formula , direct binding formula , wish formula and similia similibus formula , Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 5; however, the latter two types are often treated as a unit; for a more differentiated linguistic analysis s. Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), pp. 144-179.
  44. ↑ Kropp: "Defigo Eudemum: necetis eum": Communication patterns in the texts of ancient magic rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 90 ff., Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 6 ff.
  45. ^ Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 6.
  46. ↑ “inimicorum nomina ad […] infernos”, Audollent, Defixionum tabellae , 96a, quoted from: Preisendanz: Fluchtafel (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 7 f.
  47. ↑ Kropp: "Defigo Eudemum: necetis eum": Communication patterns in the texts of ancient magic rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 92.
  48. ↑ Kropp: "Defigo Eudemum: necetis eum": Communication patterns in the texts of ancient magic rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 91; Versnel, Beyond Cursing: The Appeal to Justice in Judical Prayers. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 61; For such a ritual formulation for the exercise of coercion, Kropp mentions the so-called ἐγὼ ε Zwμί formula, whereby the cursing person identifies himself in a kind of role play with a significant deity in order to gain power over the invoked numinous powers.
  49. ↑ For "god-integrating" and "godless" formulas s. Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), pp. 193-214.
  50. ↑ Kropp: "Defigo Eudemum: necetis eum": Communication patterns in the texts of ancient magic rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 93 ff.
  51. ^ Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 5.
  52. ↑ Kropp: "Defigo Eudemum: necetis eum": Communication patterns in the texts of ancient magic rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 94 ff.
  53. ^ Tomlin, The inscribed lead tablets: an interim report. In: Woodward, Leach, The Uley Shrines. Excavation of a ritual complex on West Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire , Oxford 1993, p. 130, no. 75, quoted from: Tomlin, Instructions for Reading Fluchtafeln. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 28.
  54. ↑ a b Scholz, Kropp: "Priscilla, the traitor". An escape board with prayer of vengeance from Groß-Gerau. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 38.
  55. ↑ Kropp: "Defigo Eudemum: necetis eum": Communication patterns in the texts of ancient magic rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 88.
  56. ↑ Audollent, Defixionum tabellae , 92, quoted from: Lambert, Defining magical spells and particularly defixiones of Roman Antiquity: a personal opinion. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 77.
  57. ↑ L. Robert: Collection Froehner , Vol. 1, Paris 1936, No. 13, German slightly varied after the English translation and translation by Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 3.
  58. ^ Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 8.
  59. ↑ Kropp: "Defigo Eudemum: necetis eum": Communication patterns in the texts of ancient magic rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 92 f.
  60. ^ Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 7.
  61. ^ Tomlin, The inscribed lead tablets: an interim report. In: Woodward, Leach, The Uley Shrines. Excavation of a ritual complex on West Hill, Uley, Gloucestershire , no. 72, cf. Curse Tablets from Roman Britain .
  62. ^ Wilhelm 121, Deissmann, LO 4 259, quoted from: Preisendanz: Fluchtafel (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 6.
  63. ↑ Reading and translation slightly varied according to Blänsdorf, "Guter, Heiliger Atthis". An escape plaque from the Isis and Mater Magna sanctuary in Mainz (inv. No. 201 B 36). In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 53 f.
  64. ↑ The final consonant, which has failed in Vulgar Latin, is added to Blänsdorf's reading.
  65. ↑ Elsewhere (p. 58) Blänsdorf reads for lines 7-10: […] qui [i] ndicis | vita vixerit, et omni corpore | videat se emori cra [s] | per oculos […].
  66. ^ Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), p. 87.
  67. ^ Curse Tablets from Roman Britain .
  68. ↑ Tomlin, Instructions for Reading Escape Signs. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 17 f.
  69. ↑ Kiernan, British Escape Boards and "Prayers for Justice" as Public Magic and Votive Rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 101 f .; differently Versnel, Beyond Cursing: The Appeal to Justice in Judical Prayers. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 90.
  70. ↑ Kropp: "Defigo Eudemum: necetis eum": Communication patterns in the texts of ancient magic rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 101 f.
  71. ↑ Audollent, Defixionum tabellae , 139: "Quomodo mortuus qui istic sepultus est nec loqui nec sermonari potest, sic Rhodine apud Marcum Licinium Faustum mortua sit nec loqui nec sermonare possit."
  72. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 5 f., Curse Tablets from Roman Britain .
  73. ^ Religio Romana. Paths to the gods in ancient Trier. Exhibition catalog Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier 1996, cat.-no. 51a-c ( publications of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier 12).
  74. ↑ Classification according to Audollent, Defixionum tabellae , in iudicariae et in inimicos conscriptae , in fures, calumniatores et maledicos conversae , amatoriae , in agitatores et venatores immissae and causa defixionis obscura ; Classification according to Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 10, in commercial curses , curses against athletes or similar kinds of public performers , amatory curses and judicial curses .
  75. ↑ Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 166.
  76. ↑ Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. S. 173 ff., Preisendanz: Fluchtafel (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 9 f.
  77. ↑ The curse of the tongue does not necessarily indicate belonging to this group, Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 170 f.
  78. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 22. On the Latin process defixions, see also Markus Scholz: He should fall silent! - Escape tablets against opponents. In: Marcus Reuter, Romina Schiavone (Ed.): Dangerous plaster. Crime in the Roman Empire. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2011, ISBN 978-3-8053-4393-0 , pp. 300-316.
  79. ↑ custom, Defixionum tabellae , 107, German after English and reading at Faraone The agonistic context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 15.
  80. ↑ z. B. Preisendanz in Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 9.
  81. ^ Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 16 f.
  82. ↑ Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 192.
  83. ↑ Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 203 f.
  84. ↑ Audollent, Defixionum tabellae , 233 or 284.
  85. ↑ Audollent, Defixionum tabellae , 295, Preisendanz: Fluchtafel (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 23 f.
  86. ↑ Audollent, Defixionum tabellae , 246-247, 249-250.
  87. ^ Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 12 f.
  88. ↑ Jordan: A Survey of Greek Katadesmoi Not Included in the Special Corpora. 91, Wünsch, Defixionum tabellae , 33, 34 and 45.
  89. ↑ Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 156 ff.
  90. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 21 f.
  91. ↑ Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 206 f.
  92. ↑ Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 452 f.
  93. ↑ Jordan: A Survey of Greek Katadesmoi Not Included in the Special Corpora. 31.
  94. ↑ Wünsch, Defixionum tabellae , 78, German slightly varied after the English translation and reading by Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 14.
  95. ^ A b Faraone, The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 15 f.
  96. ↑ Faraone, Obbink: Ancient Greek Love Magic , Harvard 1999, pp. 27, 83, 132.
  97. ^ Dickie: Who Practiced Love-Magic in Classical Antiquity and in the Late Roman World? In: The Classical Quarterly. 50 (2), pp. 563-583, quoted from: Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 208 f.
  98. ↑ Reading and translation slightly varied according to Scholz / Kropp: "Priscilla, die Verräterin". An escape board with prayer of vengeance from Groß-Gerau. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 34 f .; for classification as “prayer for justice” s. P. 40.
  99. ↑ For this discussion s. Versnel, Beyond Cursing: The Appeal to Justice in Judical Prayers. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 80 f.
  100. ↑ Versnel, Beyond Cursing: The Appeal to Justice in Judicial Prayers. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. Pp. 60-106.
  101. ↑ Versnel: Beyond Cursing: The Appeal to Justice in Judical Prayers. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 79 ff.
  102. ↑ Journal of Roman Studies 48, 1958, 150, No. 3; Reading and translation according to Kiernan: British escape boards and "Prayers for Justice" as public magic and votive rituals. In: Brodersen, Kropp: Escape boards. P. 10d; s. also Versnel: Beyond Cursing: The Appeal to Justice in Judical Prayers. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 84.
  103. ↑ Markus Scholz: Damn thief - petty crime in the mirror of escape tablets. In: Marcus Reuter, Romina Schiavone (Ed.): Dangerous plaster. Crime in the Roman Empire. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2011, ISBN 978-3-8053-4393-0 , pp. 89–105, here pp. 89–91 (on the stolen property) and p. 95 (on capital crimes).
  104. ↑ Further mentions can be found in the Papyri Graecae magicae and indirectly in a passage ascribed to the speaker Dinarchus in the Lexicon of Valerius Harpokration , Eidinow: Oracles, Curses, and Risk among the Ancient Greeks. P. 141.
  105. ↑ Plato, Politeia 364c.
  106. ^ Plato: Nomoi. 933a-b.
  107. ↑ Pliny the Elder Ä .: Naturalis historia. 28, 4, 19.
  108. ^ Tacitus, Annales , 2:69.
  109. ↑ Apuleius, Metamorphoses , 3, 17.
  110. ↑ On the literary reception of magic in general, see Kropp: Magical use of language. (2008), pp. 58-66.
  111. ↑ Aristophanes, The Wasps , 946-48.
  112. ^ Cicero: Brutus. 217 and The Orator. 128-129.
  113. ↑ Libanios: Orationes. I 245-249.
  114. ↑ Preisendanz: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 26 ff.
  115. ↑ Passages with proof in the price endance: Escape table (Defixion). In: Real Lexicon for Antiquity and Christianity. Vol. VIII, Col. 25.
  116. ^ Sophronius: Narratio Miraculorum Sanctorum Cyri et Joannis (= PG 87, 3, 3625).
  117. ↑ Sophronius: Narratio Miraculorum Sanctorum Cyri et Joannis (= PG 87, 3, 3541), cf. also Faraone: The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells. In: Faraone, Obbink: Magika Hiera. P. 9.
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on August 9, 2008 in this version .