Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs The Social Significance of Curse Tablets in the North-Western Provinces of the Roman Empire Thesis How to cite: Mckie, Stuart (2017). The Social Significance of Curse Tablets in the North-Western Provinces of the Roman Empire. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2016 The Author Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000c11b Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk Stuart McKie M.A. B.A. (Hons.) The Social Significance of Curse Tablets in the North-Western Provinces of the Roman Empire Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classical Studies, The Open University Submitted in September 2016 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ 1 Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Figures ................................................................................................................. 5 Table of Tables .................................................................................................................. 7 Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................... 8 1.1: What are Curse Tablets? ....................................................................................... 12 1.2: Development of Ancient Cursing ........................................................................... 13 1.3: Magic and Cursing in Ancient Literature ................................................................ 15 1.4: Modern Publications and Categorisation ............................................................... 20 1.5: Methodology and Theoretical Approach ................................................................ 26 1.5.1: Methodology ................................................................................................... 27 1.5.2: A note on translations ..................................................................................... 34 1.5.3: Theoretical background .................................................................................. 35 1.5.4: Thesis outline .................................................................................................. 40 Chapter 2: Spatial Contexts for Cursing Rituals in the North-Western Provinces ............. 43 2.1: Introduction ........................................................................................................... 43 2.2: Locations for cursing rituals ................................................................................... 47 2.2.1: Bath ................................................................................................................ 47 2.2.2: Mainz .............................................................................................................. 61 2.2.3: Uley ................................................................................................................ 71 2.2.4: Trier ................................................................................................................ 77 2.2.5: Bad Kreuznach ............................................................................................... 85 2.3: Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 89 Chapter 3: Rituals, Gestures and Movements in North-western Cursing. ......................... 93 3.1: Introduction ........................................................................................................... 93 3.2 Obtaining the tablet ................................................................................................ 98 3.3: Written words ...................................................................................................... 100 3.4: Manipulation and mutilation ................................................................................. 109 3.5: Spoken words ..................................................................................................... 113 3.6: Deposition ........................................................................................................... 116 3.7: Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 119 Chapter 4: Motives and Motivations ............................................................................... 121 4.1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 121 4.2: Motives ................................................................................................................ 124 4.2.1: Theft ............................................................................................................. 128 4.2.2: Juridical ........................................................................................................ 135 4.2.3: Love ............................................................................................................. 141 4.2.4: Motives in the north-west .............................................................................. 144 4.3: Motivations .......................................................................................................... 145 4.3.1: Agonistic contexts and risk ........................................................................... 147 4.3.2: Coping mechanisms ..................................................................................... 149 4.3.3: Summary of motivations in previous scholarship .......................................... 150 4.3.4: Magic in anthropology................................................................................... 151 4.3.5: Rumour and gossip ...................................................................................... 156 4.3.6: Was cursing public or private? ...................................................................... 157 4.3.7: Social tension ............................................................................................... 164 4.4: Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 168 Chapter 5: Cursing, Power and Identity ......................................................................... 172 5.1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 172 5.2: Identity and the names on the tablets .................................................................. 175 5.2.1: What is identity? ........................................................................................... 175 5.2.2: What’s in a name? ........................................................................................ 178 5.2.3: Gender ......................................................................................................... 181 5.2.4: Language ..................................................................................................... 183 5.2.5: Legal Status ................................................................................................. 189 5.2.6: Summary ...................................................................................................... 192 5.3: Using Identity ...................................................................................................... 193 5.3.1: Identifying victims ......................................................................................... 193 5.3.2: Identifying petitioners .................................................................................... 200 5.3.3: Summary: cursing and identity ...................................................................... 205 5.4: Cursing and Power ............................................................................................. 206 5.4.1: Power in the anthropology of magic .............................................................. 207 5.4.2: Structures of power in the Roman provinces ................................................ 209 5.4.3: Influence of cursing on social relations ......................................................... 214 5.5: Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 217 Chapter 6: Conclusions ................................................................................................. 220 6.1: Outcomes ........................................................................................................... 221 6.2: Limitations ........................................................................................................... 224 6.3: Scope for Further Study ...................................................................................... 225 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 228 Preface to the Appendices ...........................................................................................