Love and magic : a social study of Roman erotic defixiones
Date
1996
Authors
Ripat, Pauline
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Abstract
The purpose of this thesis is to analyse a collection of forty-six erotic defixiones (curse tablets) found to date in Italy and the western provinces of the Roman Empire for the information they contain concerning affective relationships in Roman society. Though the nature of Roman conjugal and de facto unions has attracted much recent scholarly attention, and while ancient magic in general, and defixiones in particular, have also captured the interest of many scholars, the erotic defixiones of the Roman west have thus far gone largely untapped as evidence to further the understanding of Roman affective relationships, particularly those of the non-elite. The present work seeks to begin to fill this void.
Chapter One summarises the major trends of scholarship to date concerning both the study of ancient magical practices and Roman conjugal relationships. It opens with a discussion of the problems of defining "magic" as opposed to "religion" or "science" in the context of Graeco-Roman society, and ancient attitudes towards the idea of magical practice. The second half of the chapter analyses the image of Roman marriage and de facto unions presented by the legal sources and the elite ideology of marriage; modern attempts to deduce the realities of conjugal relations from other source evidence are summarised.
Chapter Two describes and analyses the western erotic curse tablets, the material of the study. Topics discussed include trends in chronological and geographical distribution, trends in the desired effect of the tablets, formulaic wording, and the gender ratios of practitioners and victims. The tablets are also placed within the greater context of ancient cursing tradition and ancient defixio usage in general.
Chapter Three examines the social significance of the tablets. A discussion of ancient attitudes towards passionate and romantic love precedes the main argument that the tablets represent difficulties which may have been commonly encountered by males and females respectively in the course of their affective relationships. The evidence of the erotic curse tablets suggests that males may have experienced difficulty and a period of powerlessness at the inception of relationships, while females may have had little real ability to maintain pre-existing relationships in the event of infidelity on the part of the males.
An inventory of the forty-six tablets follows the main text, and includes a text, a translation wherever possible, and a bibliography for each tablet, in addition to the location of its discovery, its date, and a general description of its appearance.