Between syntax and magic: some peculiarities of nominal syntax in Latin curse tablets

Abstract

The present chapter is devoted to the analysis of syntactic peculiarities found in the corpus of the Latin tabellae defixionum, concerning the use of the names of cursed persons being in nominative or accusative. Interpreting this kind of epigraphic material, strongly related to magical practice, we find not only Vulgar Latin spelling and morphosyntactic features, but also deviations in syntactic structures of the texts, which are combined and interfere with one another. These peculiarities are often caused by specific rules based on the magical character of the texts, and their use during the rituals in cursing practices. The goal is to provide some possible explanations of the deviations of Latin syntax and the strong tendency to use the proper names of cursed persons in nominative, seemingly regardless to the syntactic requirements of the predicate. In the first part basic description, taxonomy and cursing “rules” are provided; in the second part syntax of the curse texts is discussed – the occurrence of nominative and accusative in name lists as well as irregularities caused by Vulgar Latin development. Finally the tendency to isolate proper names, sometimes also in the layout of the tablets caused by “magical” requirements, are discussed.