Roman curses discovered on ancient tablet:
The tablet after it was unrolled. (Roger Tomlin)
An ancient Roman lead scroll unearthed in England three years ago has turned out to be a curse intended to cause misfortune to more than a dozen people, according to new research.
Found in East Farleigh, U.K., in the filling of a 3rd to 4th Century AD building that may have originally been a temple, the scroll was made of a 2.3- by 3.9-inch inscribed lead tablet.
Popular in the Greek and Roman world, these sorts of “black magic” curses called upon gods to torment specific victims.
Overall, more than 200 curse tablets have been found in Britain. The largest collection was found in the thermal spring at Bath — about 100 tablets — and are displayed in the Roman Baths Museum.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/08/22/roman-curses-discovered-on-ancient-tablet/?intcmp=features#ixzz24HZmBmhK
John Featherstone
Marshall Foster- World History Institute
Jennifer Featherstone
