The Curses in the Sacred Spring
In the hot spring at Bath, Romans threw in small lead sheets asking a goddess to punish whoever had stolen their cloak, their gloves or their money.
What was reported
The Roman Baths in Bath were built around a hot spring sacred to the goddess Sulis Minerva. During excavations of the spring in 1979 and 1980, archaeologists found about 130 small sheets of lead and pewter, rolled up and thrown into the water.
Most are curses written by ordinary people of Roman Britain asking the goddess to punish thieves. One asks that whoever stole a cloak should lose their mind and eyes; another lists suspects by name. Some are written backwards or in a scrambled code.
Explanations offered
Curse tablets were common across the Roman world. The Bath tablets are the largest group found in Britain and give a rare glimpse of what ordinary people worried about. They're on display in the Roman Baths museum, and UNESCO has listed them as an important world record.
- When
- 2nd to 4th centuries; found in 1979–1980
- Where
- Roman Baths, Bath, Somerset, England
- Witnesses
- Archaeologists
- Status
- Confirmed
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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