Archeologists have made a ‘remarkable’ discovery (Image: SAVO via Pen News)
Excavations at the former Porte Madeleine hospital in Orléans, , have revealed dozens of male burials dating back to the era.
In several graves, curse tablets known as defixio have been found, calling upon gods to punish various wrongdoers, identified by name.
Officials said that 22 have been found so far, and they were spread across 11 burials.
The artefacts are rare, with these latest finds boosting the number of defixio found in France by 50%.
The Romans had deities assigned to different aspects of existence. These included their king, Jupiter, and the god of war, Mars.
There was also Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry, and Cloacina was the goddess of sewers.
So far, only two of the tablets have been deciphered.
One, in the extinct Gallic language, asks Mars for the “bewitchment” of multiple people and their accomplices “who accomplished the unfortunate and unjust feat”.
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A tablet with Gallic-language text (Image: SAVO via Pen News)
Another, scribed in Latin, calls upon Mercury – the Roman messenger god of financial gain and commerce – to denounce two thieves, Sgaurillus and Gnossius, and ensure that they return their plunder.
The object are very thin sheets of lead, and are either rolled or folded.
The land that makes up the modern day France was then known as Gaul. It became part of the vast empire after being concequered by Julius Caesar between 58 and 50BCE.
Orléans was then known as Cenabum.
Project managers Caroline Millereux and Julien Courtois sdescribed the discovery as “remarkable”.
They added: “The tablets were often written by individuals seeking justice or to exert spells on enemies or rivals, or even to protect personal objects.”
“The objective was to raise supernatural aid in order to bind someone under the control of the person who laid the curse.
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The discoveries were made on the site of a former hospital (Image: Credit: SAVO via Pen News)
“The authors of these tablets were usually anonymous individuals seeking magical or divine help, but in some cases their names are mentioned.
“It is common for the authors to be private individuals – often commoners, sometimes slaves or traders – and for the inscription to be addressed to deities or spirits.”
It is thought that the deceased in the graves were “intercessors”, relaying the curse for somebody else.
The former hospital on the site was built in 1675, and only closed in 2015.
But the burials themselves date from the end of the first century AD, up to the middle of the third century AD.
So far, 76 ancient graves have been excavated, all belonging to men, and all lined up in a row with no cremations. The dead were between the ages of 20 and 50.
Ms Millereux and Mr Courtois said: “It’s a reflection of the mentality of the people of Orléans – that they believed in this magic, that of the defixio.”