HUM 493 / REL 493 - Intermediate Latin
Course Notes - Week 2
Cambridge Course
The photo on page 27 is of the "Vilbia curse tablet", made of lead alloy, found in the sacred spring (also shown in the collection on page 19). The letters of each word have been written in the reverse order.
The original inscription reads :
(I)VQ IHIM MAIBLIV TIVALO
(V)NI CIS TAVQIL (OD)(O)MOC AVQA
(A)LLE ATVM IVQ MAE TINA
(RO)V IS ANNIVLEV SVEREPV
SXE SVNAIREV SVNIREV
ES SILATSVG(V)A SVNAITI
MOC SVNAINIMSVTAC
(A)LLINAMREG ANIVOI
The letters in brackets are unclear, damaged, or omitted
Words are sometimes split between two lines - this was common with inscriptions of that time
reversing the letters of each word gives :
QVI MIHI VILBIAM INVOLAVIT
SIC LIQVAT COMO(DO) AQVA
ELLA MVTA QUI EAM VORAVIT
SI VELVINNA EXSVPEREVS
VERIANVS SEVERINVS A(V)GVSTALIS COMITIANVS
CATVSMINIANVS GERMANILLA IOVINA
The interpretation is still debatable; LIQVAT is probably LIQVESCAT; COMDO stand for QUO MODO; ELLA should be ILLA.
A possible translation is :
May he who has stolen Vilbia from me dissolve like water
May she who has devoured her be struck dumb,
whether it be Velvinna, or Exsupereus, or Verianus, or Augustalis,
or Comitianus, or Catusminianus, or Germanilla, or Iovina
Evidently Vilbia got around quite a bit.
Other theories are that "Vilbia" is a misspelling of "fībula" (brooch), as some of the persons cursed are female and some male; another theory is that Vilbia was a slave-girl who had been stolen
Another curse tablet found in the sacred spring at Aquae Sulis involved the theft of a hoodie :
Docilianus, son of Brucerus, to the most holy goddess Sulis, I curse him who has stolen my hooded cloak, whether man or woman, whether slave or free, that (Sulis) inflict death upon and not allow him sleep nor children now or in the future, until he has brought my hooded cloak to the temple of her divinity
Another curse tablet found at Bath cursed just about everyone :
"utrum vir, utrum mulier, utrum puer, utrum puella, utrum servus, utrum līber"
Other "dēfīxiōnēs" (curse tablets) found in Britain include :
TRETIA(M) MARIA(M) DEFICO ET
ILLEVS VITA(M) ET ME(N)TEM ET MEMORIAM (E)T IOCINE
RA PULMONES INTERMIX
TA . . SCI NO(N) POSSIT LOQVI
(QVAE) SICRETA SI(N)T
I curse Tretia Maria, her life, and mind, and memory, and liver, lungs mixed up together. Thus may she be unable to speak what is hidden.
and :
DONATVR DEO IOVI
OPTIMO MAXIMO VT
EXICAT PER MENTEM PER
MEMORIAM PER INTVS
PER INTESTINVM PER COR
(P)ER MEDVLLAS PER VENAS . .
SI MASCEL SI
FEMINA QVI (SQ)VIS
INVOLAVIT DENARIOS CANI
DIGNI VT IN CORPORE
SVO IN BREVI TEMPO(OR)E
PARIAT DONATVR
DEO DECIMA PARS
(This tablet) is given to the great god Jove (Jupiter Optimus Maximus) so that he may smite through the mind, through the memory, through the insides, through the guts, through the heart, through the bone marrow, through the veins, whatever man or woman has stolen the money of Canus Dignus. Let him restore the money quickly in person. A tenth of the money is offered to the god.
The curse tablet illustrated on page 42 was found in Tunisia (Africa). The meaning of the words in the illustration is not understood - some have suggested that they are the names of chariot horses to be cursed. The reverse side also has an inscription which has been deciphered as
I charge you, demon, whoever you are, and demand of you, from this day, from this hour, from this minute, that you torture the horses of the Greens and the Whites, and that you kill and crash their drivers Clarus and Felix and Primulus and Romanus, and leave them without life. I charge you by the god of the sea, who set you free at the right time, and by the god of the air
The Greens and the Whites were two of the Teams who drove in chariot races - evidently someone was betting on one of the other teams.
Back to this Week's Assignment
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
