The Roman Baths are the only natural thermal baths in the UK and maintain a temperature of 46° all year round. In ancient times, people could not explain the phenomenon of hot springs, so the ancient Romans identified the springs as a "holy place" as soon as they arrived here. And, because the ancient Romans found that hot springs were therapeutic for many diseases, they believed that this was given by the goddess Sullis Minerva.
In fact, before the roman occupation of this area, the Roman baths may have been a place of worship for people. Although there is no specific date, we can guess that the ancient Romans may have discovered The Great Bath soon after arriving in England in 42 AD and occupied it for about 300 years.
Early in the morning, Tallulah conducted an in-depth interview with Zosia Matyjaszkiewicz, a staff member of the Roman Baths Museum, during the time period when he was granted exclusive access, about the Holy Springs of Rome and the museum's precious artifact, the Roman Curse Tablet.
Tallulah 图源：Classics by Tallulah
"The large bath is a landmark of this famous heritage resort, and the grandeur of the springs and the elegance of the architecture are unforgettable. The steam coming out of the big bath made me feel like I was stepping into a painting. The Roman Baths Museum, which preserves several baths, saunas and various ancient Roman fitness facilities, offers a wonderful and comprehensive picture of the origins of modern spas. However, the great bath is not the protagonist of our discussion today, what I want to know is the mysterious Roman curse in the holy spring. ”
Today, let's follow Tallulah to learn about the story of the "Roman Curse Film".
Source: Classics by Tallulah
Worship of the Holy Spring
The sacred spring is located in the middle of the complex of baths, the site is basically two separate parts, one side is the shrine, the other side is the bath, the holy spring is the bridge connecting. In Roman times, the ancient Romans built magnificent shrines next to hot springs to enshrine Sulis Minerva, a goddess with healing powers. Sullis is believed to be the name of the Celtic goddess of the English Iron Age, and after the Romans came here, they were combined with the Roman goddess Minerva.
Sacred Spring
In the past, people threw various objects as offerings into sacred springs to worship the goddess. Offerings include personal belongings, jewelry, dishes for offerings, and more than 12,000 Roman coins. Some of the offerings were particularly special, they were cursed flakes, where people wrote their cursed words on lead or tin sheets and then rolled them up and tossed them into the spring, where they believed that the soul of the goddess stayed.
Lead vessels as tributes Pewter vessels
Zosia explains that there is a joke in the archaeological community that the word "religious ritual" can sometimes be ridiculous. When one cannot determine the purpose of something, or understand why something exists, it may be seen as a "sense of ritual" or "religious act" in worship.
There are about 130 incantation plates inscribed with The name of Sullis Minerva in the Roman baths, and there are many sacrificial objects inscribed with her name in the temple, and even the jars and pans are engraved with the letters D S M, meaning Dear Sulis Minerva, indicating that they all follow the goddess religiously and are willing to dedicate their lives to Sullis Minerva.
The iron plates found in the holy springs were also used by the ancient Romans for worship
Zosia says that what makes one more eager to explore about this act of worship is that before the Romans, the image of the goddess was here, and we don't have any written historical records about the arrival of the Romans, only oral descriptions and stories circulating, so what we learn about the goddess Sullis is how we know what the worshippers are doing and who the god they worship is. Thankfully, the Romans still worship Sullis, which not only shows their respect for her existence, but also gives us a tentative glimpse into the history of ancient Rome.
Bronze head of Sullis Minerva
Flakes full of curses
"These are things I've never seen before, so it's hard for me to imagine what they're going to look like. Luckily, Zosia showed me and introduced me to some of the curse films. They are all made of lead or tin, but there are also mixtures of lead and tin, and due to their high practicality, the ancient Romans carved and wrote on their surfaces. In addition, lead or tin flakes do not melt in water like paper, so using something that does not melt can ensure that the message to the goddess is meaningful. ”
Roman curse tablets
The ancient Romans communicated with the goddess Sullis by carving what they wanted to say on a thin sheet and throwing it into the water. Water is like an extreme space through which you can communicate with another world, like a "fax machine". Zosia mentions a detail that when the ancient Romans first carved on a curse tablet, the text was very prominent, a bright silver. Now, where the metal is corroded, it looks darker and harder to recognize. So, with such obvious transcripts, it's clear that they don't want others to see what's written on the flakes, especially if you're writing someone's name and someone is right next to you, so they'll roll up or fold the flakes up and throw them into the water.
Some curse pieces are on display
Zosia shows three pieces of curses of different shapes and sizes.
The first is a typical curse piece, a thin piece of lead that has been stretched out, and small scratches on the surface can still be seen in the light. Zosia describes it as a very classic curse piece, because the text indicates that it is about a theft of a hated cloak — there are 7 cases of cloak theft in the museum's 130 curse films, so it is clear that this must be a fairly frequent occurrence. Most curse films document the theft of everyday objects, without any violence, without any examples of robbery, and without anyone complaining about something really serious.
The first Roman curse film on display by Zosia
Tallulah felt revenge was a key theme. The ancient Romans wanted revenge through the lost object. Zosia has her own theory: "Actually many people don't want to get their belongings back, but the implication behind the curse tablets is that Minerva will make the thief pay the price of the lost item." Someone even wrote the mantra "May he and his family not eat day and sleep at night." The spells are eerie.
Each person wrote the mantra in a style that was "formatted" and always contained sentences such as "Whether a man or a woman, a slave or a free man", using the same sentence to attach the curse to a ritualistic repetition.
Zosia shows that the first piece of the curse was unfolded by bass's administrator, and a ripple-like crease can be seen at its unfolding. The curse tablets unfolded when they were first excavated, because without unfolding them, it would be impossible to read what was inscribed on them.
The second piece of curse shown by Zosia is still rolled up and looks like a piece of metal. But when she turned it over, she could see where it was folded. The reason why this piece is not unfolded is because its material is very "brittle", and during the unfolding process, the fragments may spread out and become incomplete. Because it's folded, we can't know what's written inside. Of course, X-rays cannot be used on them, since they are lead sheets. Hopefully, one day we'll find a technology that will allow us to read what's inside.
The second Roman curse film on display by Zosia
When Zosia showed the last piece of curse piece, she affectionately called it the "Spotted Curse Piece". This piece of curse is a list of names, which should be arranged from top to bottom according to the degree of curse. The Cursers may have asked Minerva to punish all of them, or it could have been one of them, we don't know, so it could be a list of "suspects." By retaliating against the bad guys in this way, Minerva seems to play some sort of detective or police officer's role in enforcing justice, investigating cases for them and settling them on their behalf.
Are curse tablets really useful?
"Do curse tablets really work? What happens after the cursed person throws the curse piece into the spring? Will you thank Minerva or return the items? Tallulah raised his own confusion.
In fact, most of them don't have any comforting follow-up, only vicious vengeful curses.
It is understood that people wrote incantations to Sullis Minerva at this site, asking the goddess to avenge the crimes of thieves. It is likely that the thief will begin to gradually feel guilty or worried, and then the stolen object will soon reappear in the temple. For people with stolen items, writing curse films is also a way to vent their emotions. Think of it this way: we also encounter trouble, angry or upset things in real life, and there are also times when we don't want to tell others or complain loudly. Carving a curse into a small piece of metal and throwing it into a holy fountain is nothing more than a quiet way of catharsis, making one feel like one has done something and that life can go on.
Other pieces of curse on display in the Roman Baths Museum
The connection of cursed tablets to modern life
"Is there anything in modern life that we do that is similar to or different from this act of cursing?"
Zosia cleverly associates curse films with social platforms: complaining about people you hate on social media, labeling them as spitting, and @SulisMinerva. For example, your train is late in the morning, and you post on social media to express your anger and add a corresponding topic. The train will still be late, but it's a process of releasing emotions and venting them to people willing to listen. So, whether it's a Roman curse or a social platform, sometimes it's just a psychotherapeutic process that expresses your emotions. But what is obvious is that most of the curse films are more scathing and mean, and the words of revenge are much more serious!!