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EIRENE XLIX, 2013, 123–134

AUDOLLENT’S DEMONS

GYÖRGY NÉMETH(Budapest)

In the corpus of 305 curse tablets published by Auguste Audollent in 1904, there are only 45 items with drawing, which constitutes 15% of all tablets.1 The number of drawings is augmented by three lamellae published in subse-quent articles: a tablet from Hadrumetum, another from Carthage, and a third one from Hammam Lif in the neighbourhood of Carthage.2 A great majority of defi xiones never included drawings. Tablets with drawings were found mostly in Rome (17), Carthage (12 + 1), and Hadrumetum (10 + 1).3 In the time of Audollent, two tablets with drawings were known from Syria (against chario-teers), one from Cyprus, Puteoli, Cirta and Hammam Lif.4

Dating curse tablets is often dubious. The age of certain items cannot be determined more precisely than claiming that they are from the era of the Roman Empire. From the group of dated defi xiones with drawing, 13 are dated to 2nd/3rd century AD, 7 to 3rd century, and 19 to 4th century. No draw-ings are attested in magic before the 2nd century AD.

1 AUDOLLENT 1904 = DTAud. The production of this study was supported by the project OTKA K 81332 (“Ancient magic, parallel researches”) and also by the Zaragoza project “Espacios de penumbra: Cartografi a de la actividad magico-religiosa en el Occidente del Imperio romano” (Ref. FFI 2008–01511/FISO). I examined only those tablets the drawings of which have been preserved in any form, thus their images are not merely known from explanatory descriptions.

2 Hadrumetum: AUDOLLENT 1910, 142; Carthage: AUDOLLENT 1930, 305; Hammam Lif: AUDOLLENT 1910, 137–141.

3 In the corpus of curse tablets found in Rome and erroneously attributed to Sethianism by R. Wünsch (DTAud 140–187), there are 37 items with drawings but Wünsch published the image of only 17 items, and he provided descriptions of the others. Re-examination of the tablets is being processed by G. Bevilacqua and C. Sanchez Natalias.

4 Syria: DTAud 15; 16. Cf. JORDAN 1994, 321–322; Cyprus: DTAud 36; Puteoli: DTAud 208; Cirta: 300; Hammam Lif: AUDOLLENT 1910, 137–141.

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The target of the curse can be established in 41 instances, whereas in 4 cases it remains obscure. An overwhelming majority (32 items) of curse tablets with drawing was produced to manipulate circus races, and with the exception of the two Syrian tablets, all items are from Rome, Carthage, and Hadrumetum. Three lamellae can be linked to amphitheatres: one against gladiators, and two items against venatores.5 Cursing specifi c individuals (where the cause of the curse cannot be established, yet the target people are clearly not charioteers but e.g. servants) are accompanied by drawings in four instances, and twice in love spells of attraction.6

As for patterns of images, drawings can be divided into 26 categories, which may appear singularly or in groups covering the whole lamella.7

Love Spell of At t raction

DTAud 229 was found in a grave in Carthage. The tablet is fragmentary, its in-scription was worn and hardly legible already in the time of Audollent, however, the closing formula (often attested in love spells of attraction) can be clearly read:

iam, iam, cito, cito, facias ex oc die ex ac ora, iam, iam, cito, cito, facias!

“Now, now, quickly, quickly, perform from this day, from this hour, now, now, quickly, quickly, perform!”

According to Audollent’s description, the drawing depicted a demon dressed in tunica, stepping to the right, holding a patera in its right hand and a fl aming lamp fi xed onto a stick in its left. The head had been broken off. Audullent’s drawing contains only the leg stepping right, the left shoulder and the arm.8 Consequently, we cannot establish whether the demon had a human or an animal head.

5 Against gladiators: DTAud 246; against venatores: DTAud 247; 248.

6 Love spell of attraction: DTAud 229; 264.

7 Mercurius and Cerberus, Baitmo Arbitto, standing demon, standing demon with bow, standing demon with whip, standing demon with patera, naked demon with erect phallus, demon sitting on grave, snake head demon, horse head demon, avian head demon, horse, snake, bird/cock, horse head, cock head (?), beast, charioteer with snake, mummy with snake, human head, circus and/or carceres (starting places), altar, sarcophagus, sword or nail, sword or cross, ladder.

8 Audollent’s drawings are kept in Clermont Ferrand, Archives Départementales du Puy-de-Dôme “19 J art 12”.

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The drawing on the other love spell of attraction uncovered in the Roman cemetery of Hadrumetum is diffi cult to interpret. It looks like two nails or swords piercing into two knots of yarn from underneath in approx. 45° angle. The text of the lamella does not seem to help, either. Apart from voces magicae written in Greek letters, fi ve charaktêres are inscribed on the tablet, followed by the name of the girl, who was probably the target of the spell: Victoria quam peperit Suavulva, “Victoria whom Suavulva bore”. Victoria may well be very popular, since a more loquacious love spell of attraction (DTAud 265) was also cast on her. The mother’s name is probable fi ctitious, since it does not seem very likely that anyone could be called Suavulva (“her own vulva”). There are two nail holes on the tablet, thus the interpretation of the image as two nails is more plausible.

Curses of Obscure Purpose

In the corpus published by Audollent we know four tablets with drawing the purpose of which is obscure. A Greek curse from Puteoli (DTAud 208, today kept in Berlin) requests that Caius Stlaccius Liberalis should become the enemy of Lollia Rufi na and of her entire household. The preserved text lists seven of the servants but the bottom part of the lamella is broken off. The top of the tablet depicts an altar with some inscribed charaktêres which (according to Audollent) are similar to the magic signs of DTAud 198 from Cumae.9

The most puzzling image is that of DTAud 255. A photo of the tablet found in Carthage was published by Cagnat, and its sketch came to light from the bequest of Audollent. The curse (written in Greek) does not reveal its target and Audollent questioned R. Wünsch’s version, who took Laertiades, son of Terentia as the target. A beast stepping left is depicted in the centre of the lamella, to the left of which there is a human head in upright position on the ground. The animal cannot be determined exactly: Audollent himself resembled it to a hippopotamus and to an elephant with raised trunk. However, the body of the animal is striped (or its fur is indicated by parallel lines), and its long, streaky tail bears more resemblance to an elephant trunk than to an animal tail. Its rear legs and the left foreleg is clearly visible, its right forefoot perhaps treads onto the human head. Bristling mane grows out of the back of the creature, forming cockscomb at the neck. An enormous eye and a striped trunk are discernible, yet the profi le of the head is uncertain. The overall stature of the beast is conspicuously slimmer and its legs are thinner and longer than those of a hippo or an elephant. Presumably we can consider it a kind of a chimera deliberately constructed from different parts of various animals. Nothing can be ascertained about the aim of the curse.

9 For a new drawing of this tablet, see JORDAN 2003.

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DTAud 259 was uncovered in the cemetery of Carthage. The recto depicts a cross framed by an arch on its top, and a small dog-like creature is sitting on the left side of the patibulum (and not on the right side, as Audollent claimed). No sign of writing is found on the recto, and the few letters of the verso do not constitute a meaningful text. Conceivably it was not meant to be a curse tablet but rather an amulet. This problem could be clarifi ed by the exact position of the item within the grave but it is not indicated in the publications.

DTAud 260 (from Carthage) contains no writing but fi ve or six charaktêres10 and an avian head demon in the centre of the lamella, wearing a hat (petasos). The beak of the bird is hooked, like that of most birds of prey. The demon holds a trident in his left hand according to Audollent. There are altogether only fi ve drawings depicting a bird, a part of a bird, or an avian head demon. DTAud 232, the drawing of which had been published in CIL VIII 12506, was considered to portray an avian head in line 6 but Audollent’s own drawing made it clear that the supposed beak of the “bird” is a hole in the tablet. Notwithstanding, Audollent adds a remark in line 6: “caput galli”. Perhaps he could not examine the tablet before his book was published. Whenever he could work through autopsy, he added “legi et descripsi”, yet this remark is not present in the entry of DTAud 232. We fi nd the drawing of a cock (at least according to Wünsch) on a badly fragmented Greek tablet from Cyprus, yet the target of the curse cannot be determined (DTAud 36). Anyway, Audollent makes reference to CIL VIII 12511 from Carthage (DTAud 241), which mentions the procedure of binding a cock by reason of similarity magic and requests that a charioteer named Victoricus and his nine horses should suffer likewise. The image of the avian head demon is known only from two other curse tablets already known by Audollent. DTAud 141 is a Roman curse for chariot races from the series linked to Seth by R. Wünsch, depicting two demons chaining up a charioteer. The demon on the right has avian head, though its beak is not hooked but rather similar to that of a sparrow. According to Audollent, the avian head creature may be holding a trident in his hand. The targets of the tablet are called Asterius and Auricinta.

The closest parallel of the avian head on the Carthaginian lamella (DTAud 260) is a Latin curse tablet from Rome against chariot racers.11

The curse tablet from Hammam Lif is written against a man named Lucius, yet the cluster of letters and charaktêres is hard to decipher.12 Audollent gives a drawing of the letters, yet the demon standing in the middle of the tablet is

10 Charaktêres are signs invented for magical purposes.

11 DTAud 155 and 156 are also against private individuals, yet their iconographic patterns (e.g. the horse head demon) recall the imagery of chariot curses. In G. Bevilacqua’s view, Kardelos (cursed in DTAud 155) was an athlete, see BEVILACQUA 2012, 610.

12 AUDOLLENT 1910, 138–141.

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not presented in his sketch but merely mentioned in the description: “Vers le milieu de la plaque … est dessiné de façon très grossière un bizarre person-nage, sans tronc, tout en tête, bras et jambes. Les bras sont étendus, la main droite tient un fouet, la main gauche peut-être une torche allumée.”13 Thus the image depicts a creature without the trunk of the body, its legs growing out of the head, while it holds a whip and a torch in its hands (Fig. 1). The de-mon’s nose is conspicuously pointed, as it can be seen in the photo image, reminding the viewer of the demon with similar nose in PGM XXXVI col. I (= PREISENDANZ 1974). The name Seth is written multiple times within the im-age on the papyrus and the spell calls the demon Typhon. Audollent also iden-tifi ed the leg-head demon from Hammam Lif as Seth.14

Gladiators and Venatores

The most interesting scene is found on a 2nd – 3rd century lead lamella inscribed on both sides, found in the amphitheatre of Carthage. The drawing (from Audollent’s bequest) shows Mercurius/Hermes wearing winged petasos, his left hand holding a caduceus with two snakes curling upon it. The god is sitting on the belly of a gladiator lying on his back. Behind the back of the deity, Cerberus is depicted at the feet of the corpse, looking to the right with one head, to the left with another, while the third head is not entirely visible, though its ears are ex-posed over the profi le of the two other heads. Mercurius/Hermes is also holding a stick (cauter?) in his right hand to lean against the neck of the dead. As it al-ready occurred to Audollent, the image recalled the words of Tertullian:

Risimus et inter ludicras meridianorum crudelitates Mercurium mortuos cauterio examinantem vidimus.15

“We have made merry amid the ludicrous cruelties of the noonday exhi-bition, at Mercury examining the bodies of the dead with his hot iron.” (transl. by S. Thelwall)

Tertullian is referring to the regular practice taking place in the midday break of the gladiator games, i.e. a gladiator dressed as Mercurius went round poking the fallen with hot iron to see if they are still alive. J. Peyras has argued that

13 AUDOLLENT 1910, 138–139.

14 AUDOLLENT 1910, 139.

15 Apologeticum, 15.

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the drawing does not depict the god but rather the gladiator dressed as the god.16 His claim is weakened by the presence of the three-headed dog, since animals of this sort can be seldom seen in the company of gladiators disguised as gods.

The jumbled Greek text of the tablet does not provide a coherent reading. The name of Hermes can be read in lines 10 and 20, and perhaps a fragment of the binding verb (καταδ[.]) is seen in line 16. In fact, the provenance of the item is the only clue proving that the target person was not a charioteer but a gladiator or a venator, yet the scene evoked by Tertullian obviously refers to gladiators. If the drawing really depicts the deity, then we can note that this is the only portrayal of a genuine Greco-Roman divinity in the examined corpus. All other lamellae employ Egyptian deities (Osiris, Seth) as magical agents. The scene, however, can be closely related to drawings in chariot curses presenting the result of the magical practice: Mercurius is sitting on a dead gladiator and the charioteers are spectacularly tied up by the spell.

DTAud 247 is also from the Carthaginian amphitheatre and its target is Gallicus, son of Prima. The inscription, dated to the 3rd century AD and written in a very poor Latin, reveals that the target was a venator fi ghting bears and bulls. The image shows an upright snake head demon looking to the left, holding a fl ash of lightning (?) in its left hand, and (according to Audollent) a spear in its right. (Nothing can be seen on the drawing.) The inscription mentions a certain omnipotent god, yet it does not name the demon. Audollent tentatively interpreted the demon as Seth-Typhon (with a question mark to note his uncertainty), though he supplied no evidence to support it.17

The drawing of DTAud 248 depicts a demon with the head of a donkey or a horse, holding two paterae in its left hand, and (as Audollent claims) fasces in its right.18 The paterae are not visible in Audollent’s drawing, and the oblong object in the right hand is unidentifi able. What is more interesting, however, is the animal head interpreted as that of a donkey. The ears are shorter than those of an ass, bear-ing more resemblance to a fox or a horse. Foxes have not been attested in the tool-kit of sorcerers, as opposed to the considerable number of horse head demons, thus it seems more appropriate to interpret the standing fi gure as a horse head demon.19

The Latin defi xio is meant to harm Ziolus, son of Restuta, an apparitor (civil servant) called Zelica, and Adesicla, son of Victoria at the fi ght on 22 and 23 January. DTAud 249 (a tablet without images) reveals that Ziolus and Adesicla were venatores.

16 PEYRAS 1996.

17 For snake head demons, see NÉMETH 2012.

18 For horse head demons, see NÉMETH 2013.

19 NÉMETH 2013.

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Circus

The most colourful world of iconography is found among chariot curses. Some items contain only one motif, e.g. DTAud 285, the drawing of which, unfortu-nately, has never been published, yet it depicted a horse with its name inscribed (Laureatus).20 The demon in DTAud 145 holds a tabula ansata in its hands, dis-playing fi ve charaktêres. The head and the legs of the demon are not human, the latter resembling those of a rodent, and the former (which Wünsch hypothe-sized either as Typhon’s head or the Gnostic kynokephalos) is similar to that of a rat or a mouse.21 It is holding a palm branch in its mouth. No intelligible text is written on the lamella that could explain the image.

The depiction of more complex scenes is also attested, e.g. a demon sitting on a rock or on a grave,22 standing on a ship.23 However, Roman curse tablets (erroneously attributed to Seth by R. Wünsch) typically add even 4 or 5 supplementary motifs or charaktêres to the central scene.24

In the category of tablets depicting a single fi gure, we have to distinguish items representing a demon,25 items portraying the target (charioteer,26 bound, chained, or attacked by snake;27 horse), and items showing the circus itself with the starting places (carceres) of chariots.28 The latter are indicated by parallel lines and the tiny circles in between probably stand for the chariots. DTAud 233

20 JORDAN 2005. The erroneous reading of Audollent was corrected by D. Jordan.

21 WÜNSCH 1898, 10 and 102.

22 DTAud 292. The image represents the nekydaimon according to R. Gordon, see GORDON 2005, 76.

23 Sitting on a rock: DTAud 292. Demon standing on ship: DTAud 286–291; AUDOLLENT 1910, 142. For the representation, see GORDON 2005, 69.

24 WÜNSCH 1898, 86–94; DTAud 140–187.

25 Sometimes it is diffi cult to decide if a human fi gure with a whip is a demon or a charioteer. The latter can be recognized by their leather breastplates worn at races. Demon fi gures with whip: DTAud 238: two fi gures with whips, DTAud 144: single fi gure with whip, with eight circus starting places underneath. Upright fi gures (possibly demons): DTAud 180; AUDOLLENT 1910, 137–141.

26 DTAud 15; 16: from Apheca (Syria), 3rd century AD.

27 DTAud 181: found in Rome. DTAud 156 contains a similar image but its target is a private individual called Adeudatos and not a charioteer. DTAud 245: found in Carthage. Similar images are found in tablets with complex imagery, e.g. DTAud 155, which is iconographically equivalent with the horse head demon depicted in chariot curses, yet this curse is against a private individual called Kardelos.

28 Image of a circus: DTAud 233; 244. It was found in the Roman cemetery of Carthage (Bir el Djebbana).

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presents the very circus racecourse highlighted by diagonal lines, which may indicate that even the course is bound by the curse.29

The human fi gure standing on a ship, looking to the right, holding a lamp fi xed onto a candelabrum in its left hand and an urn in its right is undoubtedly a demon (Fig. 2). It is surprising that Tremel (referring to Wünsch) interprets the fi gure as a cock-head hybrid, though its robust chin30 and human nose do not make it similar to a cock.31 The upper body of the demon is naked, it is wearing only a thin belt, a short loin-cloth (subligaculum), and a helmet decorated with plumes on its head. The belt, the loin-cloth, and the helmet remind the viewer of the dress of gladia-tors. Its name is clearly legible on its chest: Baitmo Arbitto, which is considered to be of Egyptian origin by R. Gordon.32 The iconographic model of a fi gure standing on a ship without a mast can be traced back to Isis Pelagia, who was also depicted in Roman coinage.33 According to R. Gordon, the ship stands for the unstoppable power of fate but we can also think of it as a means of transport between our world and the otherworld, similar to the vessel of Charon. If the object in its left hand is really an urn, then Baitmo is probably the nekydaimon from the grave where the lamella was buried, who was addressed with the following words in DTAud 286: Adiuro te demon quicunque es et demando tibi…

Among complex representations, DTAud 167 is especially interesting: in the top left corner it depicts an Osiris-sarcophagus with a head on it (perhaps Osiris). The peculiar object was identifi ed by Richard Gordon by reason of the image painted after line 942 in PGM VII.34 There is a horse head demon in the middle of the tablet, holding a circular object (a wheel?) in his hands, whereas two ladders are depicted in the top right corner. Behind the front frame of a chariot chassis, two heads appear around the demon (one on each side), which can be identifi ed as paredroi standing beside the demon, as it is suggest-ed by DTAud 155, 20–23. Three human fi gures can be seen at the bottom of the tablet.35 There is a headless fi gure in the middle, wearing the typical leather

29 TREMEL 2004, 48.

30 Audollent interpreted the protruding chin as beard, DTAud 286, p. 398.

31 TREMEL 2004, 45. The human head is especially conspicuous in the drawing of DTAud 291, see GORDON 2005, 70.

32 Seven similar depictions have been attested, each of them representing slight variations in the name of the demon (DTAud 286: Antmo Araitto; DTAud 289: Antmo Araito; DTAud 291: Aitmo Arpitto; without name: DTAud 287; DTAud 288; DTAud 290). The name Baitmo Arbitto is attested on the latest tablet, see AUDOLLENT 1910, 137–141.

33 GORDON 2005, 71–72.

34 GORDON 2002, 101.

35 An exhaustive description how to win and to employ a paredros is discussed in PGM I, 1–196.

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breastplate of charioteers.36 The other two fi gures are binding the charioteer with chains. The one on the left has human head (though the face is not visible). He may represent the person composing or ordering the curse. The fi gure on the right, being portrayed with an avian head, is obviously a demon. If the per-son on the left is indeed the customer, then this lamella depicts the cursing one, the cursed one, and the demon in action.37

The drawing of DTAud 159a contains an Osiris-sarcophagus in the top-left corner, the horse head demon in the middle, and four bound charioteers at the bottom part with their names revealed (with one exception): Artemios, Euthymis, and Eugenios. The fi gures are wearing the characteristic leather breastplate and cap of charioteers, and their hands and feet are tightly bound. On the other side of the tablet, the Osiris sarcophagus is positioned in the top left corner, two ladders can be seen on the right side, and there is a horse head demon holding a circular object in the middle. Two human heads are visible at the feet of the demon from behind the chassis of the chariot (?). The inscription of DTAud 162 refers to the heads as sacred paredroi (companions of the demon) standing on the left and on the right. Three tightly bound charioteers are de-picted at the bottom centre of the tablet. Consequently, the drawing represents the fulfi lment of the curse.38

Drawings of demons, of other beings, and of objects were organic parts of curse tablets and not mere fi gural appendices or illustrations. This claim is con-fi rmed by the fact that the fi gures were fi rst sketched onto Roman curse tablets published by Wünsch and the text of the defi xio was inscribed afterwards.39 Osiris is not only addressed but his sarcophagus is also often depicted presum-ably with the image of his head. Inscribed charaktêres are often addressed as sacred charaktêres in the texts.40

The most common motifs of complex images included the human head (11 instances), the Osiris-sarcophagus, the mummy attacked by a snake and the horse head demon (6 occurrences each), and a naked demon with erect phallus (4 times).41 A snake can appear on the tablets on its own (without a mummy, attested twice).

Elements of drawings can by divided into four categories.

36 The curse compels the demon to make the charioteers headless (akephaloi).

37 WÜNSCH 1898, 40.

38 BEVILACQUA 2012, 603–606.

39 BEVILACQUA 2012, 602.

40 DTAud 156, 38–39.

41 Representations of demons with erect phallus: DTAud 148; 149; 300; NÉMETH 2013, 16.

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1) Gods and demons: Mercurius and Cerberus, Baitmo Arbitto, standing demon, standing demon with a bow, standing demon with a whip, standing demon with patera, naked demon with erect phallus, demon sitting on grave, snake head demon, horse head demon, avian head demon.

2) Animals and their body parts: horse, snake, bird/cock, horse head, cock head (?), beast.

3) Human fi gures, mostly targets and their body parts: charioteer with snake, mummy with snake, human head.

4) Buildings and objects: circus and/or starting places, altar, sarcophagus, sword or nail, sword or cross, ladder.42

All the above representations visualize communication between our world and the otherworld manifestly or fi guratively.

Bibliography

AUDOLLENT, A. 1904, Defi xionum tabellae quotquot innotuerunt tam in Graecis Orientis, quam in totius Occidentis partibus propter Atticas, in Corpore Inscriptionum Atticarum editas, Paris (= DTAud).

AUDOLLENT, A. 1910, “Deux nouvelles defi xiones de Tunisie”, Bulletin archéo-logique du Comité des travaux historiques, pp. 137–148.

AUDOLLENT, A. 1930, “Note sur une plaquette magique de Carthage”, Bulletin archéologique du Comité des travaux historiques, 303–309.

BEVILACQUA, G. 2012, “IX, 44–45. Sethianorum tabellae”, in: R. FRIGGERI – M. G. GRANINO CECERE – G. L. GREGORI (eds.), Terme di Diocleziano. La collezione epigrafi ca, Roma, pp. 602–610.

GORDON, R. 2002, “Shaping the Text: Innovation and Authority in Graeco-Egyptian Malign Magic”, in: H. F. J. HORSTMANSHOFF et al. (eds.), Kykeon, Leiden – Boston – Köln, pp. 69–111.

GORDON, R. 2005, “Competence and ‘Felicity Conditions’ in two Sets of North African Curse-Tablets (DTAud nos. 275–85; 286–98)”, MHNH. Revista Internacional de Investigación sobre Magia y Astrología Antiguas, 5, pp. 61–86.

JORDAN, D. R. 1994, “Magica Graeca Parvula”, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 100, pp. 321–326.

JORDAN, D. R. 2003, “Remedium amoris: a Curse from Cumae”, Mnemosyne, 56, No.6, pp. 666–679.

JORDAN, D. R. 2005, “Three Notes”, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 152, pp. 155–156.

42 For an interpretation of the ladder, see WÜNSCH 1898, 99–100, considering it an instrument of torture.

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NÉMETH, Gy. 2012, “The Snake-headed Demon”, MHNH. Revista Internacional de Investigación sobre Magia y Astrología Antiguas, 12, pp. 139–156.

NÉMETH, Gy. 2013, “The Horse-head Demon”, Sylloge Epigraphica Barcinonensis, 11, pp. 7–27.

PEYRAS, J. 1996, “Un procès en réhabilitation. Hermès – Mercure dans l’amphithéâtre de Carthage”, Dialogues d’Histoire Ancienne, 22, No. 2, pp. 127–141.

PREISENDANZ, K. 1974, Papyri Graecae Magicae, Stuttgart (= PGM).TREMEL, J. 2004, Magica agonistica. Fluchtafeln im antiken Sport, Hildesheim

(Nikephoros Beihefte, 10).WÜNSCH, R. 1898, Sethianische Verfl uchungstafeln aus Rom, Leipzig.

Summary

This paper examines the drawings of demons and other fi gures inscribed on curse tablets that were published by A. Audollent. Some of these drawings are published in early editions; others are kept in Audollent’s manuscript archive. In the production of Roman curse tablets, the drawing of fi gures preceded the in-scription of the curse itself, which represents the organic unity of drawings and defi xiones. The fi gures can be classifi ed into four major categories: gods and demons; people (e.g. charioteers); animals; and buildings and other objects.

Keywords: curse tablet; defi xio; horse-head demon; snake-head demon; Mercurius; chariot race; gladiators; venatio

GYÖRGY NÉMETH, Department of Ancient History, ELTE University Budapest, H-1088 Budapest, Múzeum krt. 6–8., nemeth.gyorgy@btk.elte.hu.

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Fig. 2. Baitmo Arbitto from Hadrumentum, drawing of the author after BCTH 1910, Pl. XXIX.

Fig. 1. A demon of the curse tablet from Hammam Lif, drawing of the author after BCTH 1910, Pl. XXVIII.