Ancient carved rant unearthed
By NEIL SYSON
December 01, 2006
Seething ... Roman's cloak was stolen
AN ancient curse placed by a seething Roman on the thief who stole his cloak has been unearthed by archaeologists.
The thin lead tablet — inscribed in the second or third century AD — calls on the god Magalus to track down and kill the culprit within nine days.
It goes on to list 18 or 19 suspects for the crime. The curse — issued in the name of Servandus — was found by teams carrying out Leicester’s biggest-ever dig.
Massive ... Roman dig in the city of Leicester
Experts are thrilled as they previously knew the names of just three Roman locals.
Richard Buckley, of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services, said: “We think curses were used by the poor or slaves, because they were often to do with objects of very little value.
“Sometimes they might even have commissioned a professional curse-writer.”
Some of the historic finds will go on display tomorrow at the city’s Jewry Wall Museum.
But only images of the curse will be shown, as the tablet is in the care of experts in Oxford.
The Curse
TO THE GOD MAGALUS,
I GIVE THE WRONGDOER
WHO STOLE THE CLOAK
OF SERVANDUS, THAT HE
DESTROY HIM BEFORE
THE NINTH DAY, THE
PERSON WHO
STOLE THE CLOAK.
thesun.co.uk
By NEIL SYSON
December 01, 2006
Seething ... Roman's cloak was stolen
AN ancient curse placed by a seething Roman on the thief who stole his cloak has been unearthed by archaeologists.
The thin lead tablet — inscribed in the second or third century AD — calls on the god Magalus to track down and kill the culprit within nine days.
It goes on to list 18 or 19 suspects for the crime. The curse — issued in the name of Servandus — was found by teams carrying out Leicester’s biggest-ever dig.
Massive ... Roman dig in the city of Leicester
Experts are thrilled as they previously knew the names of just three Roman locals.
Richard Buckley, of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services, said: “We think curses were used by the poor or slaves, because they were often to do with objects of very little value.
“Sometimes they might even have commissioned a professional curse-writer.”
Some of the historic finds will go on display tomorrow at the city’s Jewry Wall Museum.
But only images of the curse will be shown, as the tablet is in the care of experts in Oxford.
The Curse
TO THE GOD MAGALUS,
I GIVE THE WRONGDOER
WHO STOLE THE CLOAK
OF SERVANDUS, THAT HE
DESTROY HIM BEFORE
THE NINTH DAY, THE
PERSON WHO
STOLE THE CLOAK.
thesun.co.uk