I love stuff like this - anyone who thinks our ancient ancestors didn't curse or hex their enemies should read this article. A number of lead curse tablets have been found during excavations of Roman settlements, and one was recently cleaned up and put on display at the Johns Hopkins Archaeology Museum. Early tablets were pretty simple, with inscriptions like "Go die, Tacitus!" or "May the penis of Marius shrivel and wither!" but some of the later ones became fairly complex. The curse tablet at Johns Hopkins goes into a lot of detail, calling up on Proserpina for the unpleasant of a slave called Plotius. There's no indication as to what Plotius might have done to torque someone off, but it's clear they want him to die painfully. It's a fascinating look at what may be one of the earliest documented written bits of bad juju around. For those of you who are fans of the HBO series Rome, which aired a couple of years ago, there is a wonderful scene in which the character of Servilia uses a curse tablet to send negative magic out to Julius Caesar - and it's very interesting to compare Servilia's curse to the one leveled upon the slave Plotius on the Johns Hopkins tablet. Interested in more about Roman Paganism? Be sure to read: Roman Deities Religio Romana Roman Pagan Festivals Follow Pagan/Wiccan on Twitter or Join Me On Facebook.