Sylloge of Defixiones from the Roman West. Volume II

A comprehensive collection of curse tablets from the fourth century BCE to the fifth century CE

von Celia Sánchez Natalías

506 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

Defixiones, also known as curse tablets, are one of the most revealing sources for ancient magico-religious practices. Born of rancour, anger, desire, love, envy, or just out of desperation, curse tablets were a strategy for obtaining 'individual justice' for those who could not accomplish their purposes through the available means, due to a lack of knowledge, power or legal/economical resources. In this volume, the reader will find a detailed catalogue that discusses 535 curse tablets written in Latin and a wide range of local languages. The catalogue is preceded by a full introduction in which the main features of these inscriptions are discussed together with leading scholarship. Such a detailed yet global study of these texts sheds light on various aspects of curses that vary on a regional basis, thus showing how this magico-religious technology was not only adopted but also adapted in new and creative ways by the local populations throughout the Roman West.

• Reihe: International
• Themen: Gesellschaft und Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie und Anthropologie Anthropologie
• ISBN: 9781407359328
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 29.04.2022
• Größe: 297 x 210 mm
• Verlag: British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd