Curse Tablets of the Roman Period from the Athenian Agora

by David R. Jordan

Hesperia, Volume 91, Issue 1
Page(s): 133-210
Stable URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/850808
Year: 2022
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ABSTRACT:

This article presents 30 curse tablets from underground bodies of water in the Athenian Agora. These include 22 tablets from a well by the Civic Offices concerning slaves (a manumission, the prosecution of runaways), unpaid loans, and foreigners. Tablets from other wells include curses against athletes and thieves, a "ritual diabole" to bring harm to an enemy, and the first known curse tablet in Athens addressed to the Nymphs. Three previously published texts (reread with a stereoscopic microscope) are presented again; the majority are published here for the first time.