Sagunto Curse Tablet - Lead Replica

Quintula waits in silence as the scribe marks the words on the lead. She doesn't want gold. She doesn't want revenge. She wants Fortunalis. Only for her.

The sheet is shaped like a sole because the ritual requires more than just writing a curse: it must be stepped on. Symbolically crushing the cursed man while uttering formulas designed to subdue his will.

Almost two thousand years ago, someone buried this tablet in Sagunto.

An authentic Roman curse

This piece reproduces a Roman defixio dated around 70 AD, found in Sagunto. Defixiones were lead tablets used in magical rituals to ask for help from infernal deities, usually related to love, revenge, or personal conflicts.

The curse was made by a woman named Quintula against Fortunalis, with the aim of preventing him from having relationships with anyone else.

It reads: “Quintula cum Fortunali sit semel et numquam” ("May Quintula be with Fortunalis only once and forever")

The original piece was associated with a coin bearing the legend Iudea Capta, a symbol of conquest and subjugation, thus reinforcing the idea of Quintula's ritual "capture" of Fortunalis. The coin is not included in the price.

Each tablet is handmade from real lead and accompanied by an explanatory and descriptive sheet that contextualizes the piece and its historical significance.

📌Made by Marco Almansa Fernández, from the Cultural and Historical Reenactment Association Mos Religiosvs.