eCopy, Inc.


Curse Tablets from Pydna 

Jaime Curbera and David Jordan 

MANTHOS BESIOS, of the 16th Greek Ephoreia of 
Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, has generously 
allowed us to publish here six lead curse tablets that 

he brought to light in 1994-::-97 in his excavations of graves of the 
fourth century B.C. at ancient Pydna, on the Thermaic Gulf; we 
are deeply grateful to him.1 The six, which are housed in the 
Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum, yield 66 names in all, a 
substantial addition to the previously very limited early 
prosopography of Pydna. Three )lave only names, the others 
names followed by phrases that show that the curses were 
meant to affect lawsuits.2 

lWe are also grateful to Anastasios-Ph. Christidis of the Aristotle Univer­
sity of Thessaloiriki for proposing us as editors, to Theqdora Glaraki of the 
Center for the Greek Language there for checking some of our readings, and to 
Miltiadis Hatzopoulos and Argyro Tataki of the Center for Greek ana Roman 
Antiquities, Athens, for encouragement and advice. Faults that remain are ours, 
of course. 

2Special abbreviations: 
Bechtel, Dial. =F. Bechtel, Die griechischen Dialekte I (Berlin 1921) 
Bechtel, HPN = F. Bechtel, Die historischen Personennamen des Griechischen 

bis zur Kaiserzeit (Halle 1917). 
Hoffmann = 0. Hoffmann, Die Makedonen, ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstum 

(Gottingen 1906) - . 
Jordan= D. R. Jordan, "Three Curse Tablets," in D. R. Jordan, H. Montgomery, 

E. Thomassen, edd., The World of Ancient Magic. Papers from the First Inter­
national Samson Eitrem Seminar at the Norwegian Institute at Athens (Papers 
from the Norwegian Inst. at"Athens 4 [Bergen 1999]) 115-124 

NGCT =D. R. Jordan, "New Greek Curse Tablets (1985--2000)," GRBS 41 
(2000) 5-46 

OGS = 0. Masson, Onomastica graeca selecta I-II (Nanterre 1990), III (Geneva 
2000) 

Russu = I. Russu, "Macedonica. Osservazioni sulla lingua e 1' etnologia degli \ 
antichi Macedoni," Ephemeris Daco-romana 8 (1938) 105-232 

Tataki, Ber. =A. B. Tataki, Ancient Beroea. Prosopography and Society (Mde­
r~Jlam 8 [Athens 1988]) 

Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 43 (2002/3) 109-127 
©2003 GRBS 

/ 



110 CURSE TABLETS FROM PYDNA 

1. Pydna, inv. IIY 10501 
No dimensions recorded. IVa. 

We have not seen this tablet and know the text only from 
preliminary excavation notes. · 

Fr. a Fr. b 
1 [__H_]INA 1 ]~IKQN 
2 Nh.:avopo~ 2 ]YKtTTO[ 
3 'EA.A.&v 
4 Eucp&vw~ 

5 p-2]TJ't0~ 

6 N u.:rov ioa~ 
7 EuSuotKo~ 
8 AucrioaJJ.o[~] 
9 "A p7taA.o~ 

10 Llropffi~ 

11 Nau'ta~ 

a 5 e.g. ["Ay]T\'tO~, [K't]f\'to~ 

Tataki, Mac. = A. B. Tataki, Macedonians Abroad (Mde-rfuwra 26 [Athens 
1998]) 

Thum~/Scherer =A. Thumb, A. Sche~er, Handbuch der griechischen Dialekte II 
(Heidel~er~ 1959) .~ 
Fo~ prelinunary accounts of this area of graves see M. Besios . "A vam<O:q:n1 

<no ~op~tO veKpo'ta<peio lluovm;, 1989," To ApxawA.oyllc6-<Epyo a-...ry Mwce8ov{a 
mt Bpmc11 _3 (1989) 155-159, and "NeKpo,;a<peia lluova~,'' 10 (2000) 233-
238. Pydna IS the fourth Macedonian town from which curse tablets have been 
repor~~d. T}:le others ~e Aca~thus (fi~~ examples: E. Trakosopoulou-Salaki­
do~, Ka'taOecrjlot, ano ~TJV AKa';9o, m A.-Ph. Christidis, D. Jordan, edd .. , 
T~wa-o-a mt )layet.a. Ket)leva ana 'ITfV apxato-rTfra [Athens 1997] 153-169: 
With texts of two, I~lustrations of the rest; Jordan no. 3 for a later reading of 
one of tJ::te ~o pubhshed: ~C:,CT ~1-45), Are~husa (or~e: S. Moschonisioti, A.­
Ph. Christidis, !h. _Glaraki, Ka,;aOe<rjlo~ ano 'tT]V Ape9oucra ," in Christidis/ 
J?rdan_ 193-2~0, With text. and photograph: NG_CT 46), Pella (five: one pub­
lished m detail by E. Voutiras, L1wvvo-ocpwvm~ ya)lot. Marital Life and Magic in 
Fourth Century Pella [Amsterdam 1998], with previous bibliogra,r,hy four 
announc~d by I. A~amatis, "H ayopa 'tTJ~ lleA.A.a~,'' To ApxawA.oyllco 'Epyo U"Tf 

Afmce8ovta ICal epaiCTJ 4 [1990]143-154 at 148 n.20, and personal communica­
tion: NGCT 31-35). So far, all the Macedonian examples are of the fourth 
century B.C. 

JAIME CURBERA AND DA VlD JORDAN 111 

Most of the names are banal, but we may note the Greek name 
"Ap1taA.o~ (9), especially frequent in Macedonia, a new 
example of the rare name Eucpavw~ (4),3 and the hapax Llropffi~ 
(or Llropro~) (10). This last is obviously shorten~d, probably from 
Llropffivoa~ and formed like 'A1toA.A.ffi~ (f- 'A1toA.A.ffivw~) or 
fopyffi~ (f- fopyro7ta~).4 The text having no examples of the 
confusion ro H o, a misspelling here of the common Ll&po~ is 
unlikely. 

The surviving letters of b 2 ]YKITTO[ are incompatible with 
any name that we have found. We are tempted to doubt the 
transcription. 

2. Aypo'tEJlUXto 951, Tomb 187 
Max.pr.H. 0.143, max.pr.W. 0.288. IVa. 

Fig. 1 

The text is in two columns, their letters unusually large for 
curse tablets. Of the tablet the left-hand and possibly the top 
edges seem original; areas are lost at the right of the second 
column, along with a few letters of text, but at the extreme right 
there is a blank space that suggests that there was no third 
column. There is no loss of text at the top or the bottom. 

Col. i Col:-# 

1 N{KuA.A.a 
~ 

7 Eu puv[ --] 

2 IloAEJlOKp(i'tTJ~ & BouA.6va 

3 NtK6A.ao~ 9 L'tp<X'tOVtK[a?] 

4 E>pacrrov o NtdA.A.a~ 10 IIoA. uKacr't[ a?] 

5 'l7t7tt<X~ 11 'A V'tt<ptAa 

6 Eu~ouA.a 12 raA.ecr'ta~ 

3Cf. Eu<pavta (IG VII 1029) interpreted by Dittenberger as a form of Eu­
<paveta (cf KaA.A.[tK]Ata 1124), as his accentuation shows. 
- 4See Bechtel, HPN 526 and 540. Cf also the name KaA.oo~ at Philoponus Diff. 
Ton. 12 Egeroff (= K. Latte, H. Erbse, Lexica ¥_raeca minora [Hildesheim 1965] 
366). The perispomenon accentuation'AnoA.A.oo~ in the papyri and in literary 
texts is probabfy due to the influence of Egyptian and Persian names in -&<;;: see 
R. Kiihiler, F. Blass, Ausfiihrliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache 1.1 
(Hannover 1890) 494. · · 

/ 



112 CURSE TABLETS FROM PYDNA 

13 ~tA.av 

14 Ttf.!OKpatll~ ' 
15 Tappia~ 

7 Eupuv[6a], Eupuv[6f.la], Eupuv[oo~], or Eupuv[of.lo~] 9 Or less likely 
Itpat6vu::[o~] 10 Or less likely lloA.uKacrt[o~] 

Two of the names, IloA£f.!OKpatll~ (2) and '11t1tta~ (5), also 
figure in 4 and 5, respectively, which are directed against groups 
of men appearing in lawsuits. If the two instances qf each name 
are more than mere homonymy, we may wonder whether the 
groups named in 2, 4, and 5 had some common interest. 

Of the six texts presented here, this is the only one to name 
women, and here a woman heads the list, as if the principal 
target of the defigens. Further, we note that while endings and 
therefore genders of the names in 7, 9-10 are lost, feminines in 
-Kacrtll/a· are commoner than masculines in -Kacr-ro~; it is 
therefore likely that in at least 8 and 10 we have women rather 
than men. A main interest of this tablet in any case is 
onomastic. Metronymy is documented as an acceptable civic 
usage in the epigraphy of Macedonia, 5 but here the metronymic 
Bpacrrov o NtKuA.A.a~ (4) has nothing necessarily to do with the 
Macedonian practice: it may imply-only that Bpacrrov is closely 
associated with NiKuA.A.a (1); it is hardly likely to berelatedto 
later magical practice of identifying persons by maternal lineage. 
More interesting are the names BouA.6va -{8}, faA.ecrta~' (12), 
<PtA.av (13), and Tappia~ (15). The first, no doubt to be-related 
to the name BouA.ov6a documented in Thessaly (AEpigr 

c 1924.160 no. 403), is formed like 'Aptcrt6va (AEpigr 1913.11 
no. 8), <PtA.6va~ (IG VII 60.2), shortened forms of some of the 
numerous names beginning in 'Aptcr'tov- and <PtA.ov-. 6 

sA. B. Tataki, "From the Prosopography of Ancient Macedonia: the Metro-
nymics," ApxMaTC 5 (1993) 1453-1471. -

6F. Bechtei,Namenstudien (Halle 1917) 39-41 (=Kleine onomastische Studien 
[Konigstein 1981] 39-41). 

JAIME CURBERA AND DAVID JORDAN 113 

q / 

0 

~ 
0 



114 CURSE TABLETS FROM PYDNA 

fa.A.£cmxc; is documented from at, least Hellenistic times in 
northern Greece (six examples), the Aegean islands (seven), 
Asia Minor (five), Syro-Palestine ttwo), Egypt (five), and 
Cyrene.7 Neither Hoffmann nor Ion Russu took the name into 
consideration as Macedonian, but it may well be, as Theodor 
Bergk, Louis Robert, and Gunther Klaffenbach have already 
noted:8 the examples date in Hellenistic and Roman times and 
occur in Macedonia and in lands with Macedonian settlers. The 
origin of fa.A.ecr'ta.c;, however, is obscure. Bergk (258 n.60) saw a 
Greek name with the stem y&A.a, y&A.a.Kwc; ("wohl gleich­
bedeutend wie ya.Aa.K'tocpayoc;"), but this is morphologically 
hard to accept. Hans Krahe, who knew only one of the 
examples (from Athamania), posited an Illyrian background,9 

but against this is the provenance of the others. It may be 
relevant that the ending -cniic; is frequent in Macedonian and 
North-Greek ethnics10 and that ethnics used as personal names 

7NOR1HERN GREECE: Dodona (one): A. I. Antoniou, Llmowv1]. J:vpf3o}.ry 'Hnt:z­
pmTfiJv cr-rl]v avOliCOOOJ1.1]0"1] IC'nO"Jl.cX't"WV -rov 'lepov -rij~ LIWOWV1]~ (Athens 1991) 
100 (end ffia, spelled fo:A.icrw<;); Athamania (one): Diod. 33.22.1, etc. (ca 140a, 
transmitted fo:A.o:icrtTJ<;); Beroea (four): Tataki, Ber. 342 (IIa), 341, 343 (Ia_JP), 
340 (II-IIIP). AEGEAN ISLANDS: Delos (one): !.Delos 1416 B 118 (157(6a); Rhodes 
(six): IC XII.1 1273 = SEG 30.1134, etc. (IIa?), M. Segre and G. Pugliese­
Carratelli, "Tituli Camirenses," ASAtene N.S. 11-13 (1949-51) 89.2 (79-81P}, 
I.Lindos 386b.59, 90 (27a), 383 (27-lOa), 420.b.29 (23P}; M. Nilsson, Tibres 
amphoriques de Lindos (Copenhagen 1909} -81, 407, no. 14P = IC XII.l 1273. 
ASIA MINOR: Pergamum (one): !.Pergamon 566.6 (II-Ia); Attalid kingdom! (one): 
!.Magnesia 87.2 (159-138a); Xanthos (one): TAM II 383 (hell.?}; Stratoniceia 
(two): l.Stratonik. 268.3, 10, 685.13 (imp.). SYRO-PALESTINE: Sidon (one): .SEC 
23.367 = M.-Th. Couilloud, Les monuments funeratr.es de Rhenee (EAD 22 
[Paris 1974]) 314 (IIa); Judaea (one): Jos. AJ 14.424 (Ia, transmitted fo:A.icrTI]<;). 
EGYPT (five): ProsPtol 5068 (226/Sa), 1870 (beg. IIa), Syll.3 585.136 (beg. IIa), 
Ael. VH 1.30 (hell.), BCU VII 1637.3 (liP, spelled fo:J.itou). CYRENE (one): SEC 
9.104.3 (III-IIa). For a doubtful case (a sculetor To:A.ecrtT]<; 'AptEJ.nOropou) see E. 
Loewy, Inschriften griechischer Bildhauer (Leipzig 18~5) 299, CIBM IV 900, S. 
Dow, "A Family ofSculptors from Tyre," Hesperza 10 (1941} 351-360 at 357. 

BTh .. Bergk, "Die Liste der delphischen Gastfreunde," Philologus 42 (1884). 
228-265 at 258; L. Robert, Villes a'Asie Mineure2 (Paris 1962) 249; G. Klaffen­
bach, Die Grabstelen der einstigen Sammlung Roma in Zakynthos (AbhBerlin 
1964.2) 10; cf also Tataki, Ber. 412. 

9 Lexikon altillyrischer Personennamen (Heidelberg 1929} 52. _ 
IOSee e.g. W. Dittenberger on IC IX.1 689 and F. Papazoglou on ·JC X.2.2 36 

(with bibliography). 

JAIME CURBERA AND DAVID JORDAN 115 

are not rare in these regions: cf 'Opecr'ta.c;, ilEUKEO"'ta.c;, 'Apu~~a.c; 
(ethnic of Epirote "Apu~~a. according to OSteph. Byz.), perhaps 
At)lva.'ioc; (Hoffmann 147; Bechtel, HPN 530), and AuyKcopha.c; 
(see below)P 
. <I>tA.av is the local form of a name *<I>tA.<Xcov (cf 'EA.A.av [1.a.3], 
'I&v [IG IX.2 517.71, Crannon]); it does not seem to be attested 
elsewhereP 

Ta.ppia.c; is documented at Ps.-Plut. 339B6 and 10 for a 
Macedonian at Susa with Alexander in 324 B.c. Modern editors 
give it the spelling ('A)'ta.ppia.c;, which we find for Macedonians 
in Diodorus (19.36.2) and Curtius (5.2.5, etc.).13 Long ago, how­
ever, the reading Ei)'tuxl.c; T(£ppiou Ma.KE'ta. at P. Tebt. III 815 
(Tataki, Mac. 316, no. 59) confirmed the soundness of the text 
of the pseudo-Plutarchean passage (see Russu 217). Our tablet 
now provides the third example of this Maq~donian name. 

3. Ma.Kpuyia.A.oc; '96, Aypo'tE)lUXto 480 
H. 0.04, W. 0.04. IVa. 

1 ~t[6]yvTJ'toc; 

2 E>EU'tl)loc; 
3 na.u pa'ta.c; 

4 Ku~~u~·[-] 
5 ~[- - - -] / 

Fig. 2 

11Note that unlike other "Macedonian" names ( 'AJ.Luvto:<;, <PtA.roto:<;, cf. E. 
Nachmanson, Laute und Formen der magnetischen Inschriften [Uppsal_a 1903] 
33}, fo:A.ecrto:<; does not k~ep its -a<; outside Macedonia and non.::loruc lands 
but rather appears as fo:AEcrTI]<;. 

I2For the suffix -aoov/-o:v see e.g. P. Chantraine, La formation des noms en 
grec ancien (Paris 1933) 162-164, and 0. Masson, "Notes d'anthroponymie 
grecque et asianique 4," BN 13 (1962) 85-91 (= OCS I 31-37). 

13The change, first suggested by W. Nachstadt, De Plutarchi declamationibus 
quae sunt "De Alexandrz fortuna" (Berlin 1895) 35-36, and later independently 
by Hoffmann ill 1906 (203-204), is included in Nachstadt's Teubneriana of 
Plutarch's Moralia II (Leipzig 1935): 107.4 ('A)to:ppio:<; and 7-8 &A.A.' 
'Atappia<; (aAA.a To:ppio:<; coda.). 'Ato:ppio:<; has subsequently ~een accepted by 
editors and by historians (e.g. H. Berve, Das Alexanderrezch auf prosopo­
graphischer Grundlage II [Munich 1926] 90-91 no. 178). 



116 CURSE TABLETS FROM PYDNA 

II au pat a~ is new. It is formed on the stem of n(lu po~ 
"small," with the same suffix as in Meyata~ (SGDI 2094.41, 
Delphi). The name in 4 is severely dp.maged, but it was no 
doubt formed on the stem of KuA.A.6~ "club-foofed, bandy­
legged" (L. Robert, Noms indigenes dans l' Asie mineure greco­
romaine [Paris 1963] 253-254) or KUOo~ "renown" (Bechtel, 
HPN 269-270). 

4. MaKpuyiaA.o~ 95, AypotEtf..lllXtOV 480 
H. 0.046, W. 0.084. IVa. 

Col. i Ci:ol. ii 
1 Euinna~ 5 'Af..l{>VtQlp 

vacat 6 KA.€avopo~ 
2 l:t.taAKa[~] 7 Mt.KaAtvo~ 
3 KaA.A.ia~ 8 ['A]yTJcria~ 
4 IloA£f..lOKpatTJ~ 9 ' , Kat av n~ 

10 liA.A.o~ '~ 'n£p £-
11 ' K£l.VOU 

Fig. 3 

7 ~or~ 8 vel [Kl:11cria<; 10 AAAOL:IIEPE tab.;~: V directly above II 

The overall structure, again a list of names with no verb of 
cursing but with a generalizing phrase at the end, is common on 
curse tablets, especially in the fourth century, as examples from 
Attica, Lesbos, and Epizephyrian Locri show.14 Here the final 
phrase refers to the allies of a single person (hdvou), the 

14AUICA {a selection): DTWii 21: names (nom.) + £vavtia autiin c:[t]vat 
ana. vta; 35: names (nom.)+ 1t<lVtE<; OO"Ot EJlOt E~9pcd1 [£]\11avtianpatt01)0"t]; 38: 
names+ x:al. to<; &A.A.o<; navta<; h6crot O"Uv[~yojpotaM6[1<;]; Agora XXVIII C 1 
(p.56): names (nom. + gen., headed by Mevex:patTt<;) + x:al. navt_a<;. tou<; 
crwm6pou<; tou<; Mevex:patou<;; J. Trump£, "Fluchtafel und Rachermppe," 
AthMitt 73 {1958) 94-102 (Ceramicus): names (nom.) + x:al. e tt<; &XA.o<; JlEt' 
£x:£vrotv ~uv3tx:6<; EO"tt £ Jlclptu<; (lead box containing doll inscribed MvTtcricrtpa­
to<;, whose name occurs in but does not head the list). LESBOS: J. B. Curbera and 
D. R. Jordan,."Curse Tablets from MJtilene," Phoenix 51 (1998) 31-41, no. 1: 

'fl ',, \ , , " , names (nom.) + x:at ocrot JlEAA e ot[crt nept amrov ep11v 11 no[11v]; no. 2: names. 
(nom.) + x:al. &A.A.o<; 11 tt<; J.LEt' a[u]trov; no. 3: men's names {nom.)+ x:&A.A.o<; 11 
£crn J.LEt' autrov (NGCT 48-50). Locru: D. R. Jordan, "Three Texts from Lokrol 
Epize_phyrioi," ZPE 130 (2000) 95-103, no. 3: names (nom.) + oi &A.A.ot avtav­
ta~[ejvte<;, x:al. E~ tt<; avta[vt]~[t] (or avta[vt]~[<;]) aJ.LtV (NGCT 83). 

JAIME CURBERA AND DAVID JORDAN 117 

0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 m 

I I I I I I 

Fig. 2: Tablet 3 

0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 .0.04 0.05 m 

I I I I I I / 

Fig. 3: Tablet 4 



118 CURSE TABLETS FROM PYDNA 

principal victim, evidently the Euumo~ whose name appears at 
the top of Col. i; the blank spa~e just below the name, if 
deliberate, is presumably meant to distingui~h him from the 
others. -

The lettering of AAAOL~IIEPE (10) suggests that the scribe 
first intended 7tEp EKEivou, with Thessalian 7tEp "on behalf of" 
(Bechtel, Dial. 200; Thumb /Scherer 75) and then corrected the 
local form to the Kaine {)1t£p. (The implied verb would be A.£rrtt, 
J.!ap'tUpftO"llt or such, the purpose being to affect some legal 
action.) Thessalian features were ind~ed ali·eady documented in 
Macedonia 15 and are even likelier to be found in border cities 
such as Pydna, and the influence of the Kaine was already at 
work when the tablet was written. This latter we see in the 
conditional &v (= Ea..v, 10), which, especially in the phrase &v 
't\4;, is a Kaine vulgarism, "beim Volke sehr beliebt. "16 

The names in the list offer nothing unexpectedY 'AJ.lUV'tcop (5) 
is a Greek name typically Macedonian, and Lt'taAKa~ (2) a 
Thracian name18 already documented in Amphipolis in Eastern 
Macedonia (IG II2 8078 = Tataki, Mac. 61, no. 119). 

lSSee A. Panayotou, 'TA.roo-atx:£~ 1tapa'tl]pf]an~ ae Max:eoovtx:£~ E1ttypacp£~," 
ApxMaiC 4 (1986) 413-429 at 418-419, and M. Hatzopoulos, Cultes .et rites de 
p~ssage en Mac~doine (MeA.e-r~J.J.am 19 [Athens 1994]) 121-122. For other 
~ds of The_ss~an-M~c~~onian cultural simil~rities, see H~tzop<;>ulos, "Thes­
salie et Macedome: affinites et convergences," m La Thessalte. Qumze annees de 
recherches archeologiques II (Athens 1994) 249-254, and Hatzopoulos and L. 
Loukofoulou, Recherches sur les marches orientales des_ 'Femenides II (MeA. e-.~-
J.J.am 1.2 [Athens 1996]) 230 n.1, 268. -

16A. Deissmann at P. Meyer, Griechische Texte aus Agypten (Berliil 1916) 
178 n.6. 

17Wff hesitantly. prin! ~hx:aA.'ivo~, a name akin to JltKKO~, JltKp6~, etc.; cf 
Mtx:aA.~vl] _at Pantil<apawn. B. Latyschev, IosPE IV 253, read this name as 
Mt_x:A.atvl] m 1901, but A. Wilhelm, Beitriige zur griechischen Inschriftenkunde 
(VIenna 1909) 220 n.217 (cf Bechtel, HPN 485) corrected the reading. L. 
Zgusta, Die Personennamen griechischer Stiidte der nordlichen Schwarz­
meerkuste ,(Pra~e 1955)_ 298 §1083, adduced Hsch. JltK:A.a:~ · atya~. to explain 
Latyschev s readmg, which V. V. Struve reproduced in 1965 in CIRB 284. 

ISD. Detschew, Die thrakischen Sprachreste (Vienna 1957) 450-452. 

JAIME CURBERA AND DAVID JORDAN 

5. MaKpuyiaA.o~ '94, Aypo'tEJ.laxw 480 
H. 0.034, Max.pr.W. 0.177. IVa. 

Col. i 
1 Ilaucravia~, 'l1t1tta~, AuyKcopha(~), 

2 LtJ.lJ.lta~, Tpoxa~, Kpa'tEUa~, AtoA.o~, 

3 fE.J.la~, 'AJ.lllPUYKa~, Opcotouo~, 
4 AtJ.lva'io~. 8E61tpo1to~. 'Apu~~a~. 
5 <I>iA.t7t7tO~, M£vuA.A.o~, "Acravopo~, 

6 <l>tA.rovtxo~, K 'tOAEJ.!J.la(~), A6Kpo~, 
7 "AAKtJ.lO~, 'AJ.lUV'ta~. Kat oq:t~ LlJ.lJ.ltat 

Col. ii 

119 

8 Kat Tp6xm { cruv} Kat Kpa.'tEUat Kat Ilaucraviat cruvotK?[~.] 
9 Ka'taypc:icpco 'tCx~ y[A.]rot:ma~ EKEtVCOV 1taV'tCOV avopO?[v.] 

6 K'tOAEJlJlav tab. 7 O?~tc; or O<?"?~tc; tab. 

The structure, names plus a repeated reference to the princi­
pals, is basically that of 4,-except that her,~ we have a secon~ 
statement of cursing at the end.19 Here the words cruvOtKo[~] 
and y[A.]rocrcra~ (8, 9) reveal'the purpose of the curse: to affect 
the outcome of a lawsuit by silencing those who are supporting 
Simmias, Trochas, Crateuas, and Pausanias (7-8), evidently the 
main litigants, whose names appear in th~ first two lines of the 
list. It is somewhat awkward that the second reference to the 
principals should OI!J.it two of the names in line 1. The writer 
seems to have been-inattentive, in any case: he began the second 
reference in the order of line 2 and then, as { cruv} suggests, 
almost forgot to name the other principals; perhaps ,his 
omission of the names Hippias and Lyncoritas is only another 
sign of his inattention. AuyKcophq, (1) and K'toAEJ.lJ.la (6), if 
genitives, would be exceptional as the only patronymics in the 

19To this last the ,Phrase 'to~ Oil (cpiA[o~], cf L. Dubois, Bull.epigr. 1990, 863) 
px:£A.o miv'ta~ yl.oaa~ x:a'taypa<po in SEG 39.1020, an early fifth-century 
curse tablet from Selinus, may be compared, whatever its syntax (NGCT 66). 



120 CURSE TABLETS FROM PYDNA 

list. In two cases, AuyKropi-ta (1) and KtoAEJlf.lCX (6), the final - ~ 
is missing, a phenomenon familiar in Northern Greek inscrip-
tions. 20 " " 

Among the names the moststriking feature is the frequency of 
the ending -a<;P an indication of their "eolo-dorien" charac­
ter.22 Most interesting, linguistically, is the shift 1t't- --7 K't- in 

KtOAEf.lf.lCX(<;) (6), clearly a form of IhoA.Ef.lf.lCX<; (cf. SEC 
36.626.25). This shift is rare in Greek but not unp?ralleled: 
KwA£f.lat<; (CPR I 224.28 (231/2P); cf. the opposite shift (K't --7 

n't) in 1t'toiva (~ K'toiva) (SGDI 4264{ Rhodian Peraia, imp.). 
The text is onomastically rich. Most names are known in the 

region and several are typically Macedonian.23 Tp6xa<; (2, 8) 
was so far documented only in Boeotia/4 where names in 'tpox­
are frequent.25 The names AuyKropi'ta<; (1), f£_!la<; (3), and Oprot­
<5uo<; (3) are new. Of these f£ 11a<; is too damaged for anything 
more than speculation.26 More can be said of the other three. 

The formation of AuYKropha<; is transparent. Just as the ethnic 
AuKropint<; presupposes a place-name AuKropna, AuyKropha<; 
presupposes a *A uyKroptta, which is not documented in our 
sources but should derive from A uKyo<; + o p o <;: cf. the similar 

20A. Leukart, Die friihgriechischen Nomina auf -tas und -as (SBWien 558 
[1994]) 42-45. . 

21Not -ii~: see 0. Masson, "Gentinations expressives dans l'anthroponymie 
grecque," BSL 81 (1986) 217-229 at 225 (= OGS II 557) n\-33. 

22So J. N. Kalleris, Les anciens Macedoniens I (Athens 1954) 292. 
23"AA.Kt~o~ (7), 'A~uvta.~ (7), "Ao-a.vopo~ (5), Kpa.teua.~ (2), At~va.to~ (4), 

Ila.uo-a.via.~ (1), TitoA.i~~a.~ (6, spelled Kt-), l:t~~ia.~ (2-),·<I>iA.t1t1tO~ (5). The name 
'ApuJ3J3a.c; (4) is common also in Epirus: cf Hoffmann 177, 0. Masson, "Quelques 
anthroponymes rares chez ThUC}'dide," 1/Jz:Ha<;; xapzv. Miscellanea ·di studi 
classici in onore di Eugenio Manni IV (Rome 1980) 1479-1488 at 1487-1488 (= 
OGS I 329-330). For a good discussion of the frequency of Kpa.teua.~ in Aeolic 
lands (Thessaly, Boeotia) and Macedonia seeK. J. Rigsby, "Two Inscriptions 
from Mysia," Hermes 117 (1989) 246-250 at 248 n.13. . . 

24D. Rousset, "Les Doriens de la metropole. Nouveaux documents epigra~ 
phiques et prosopographie," BCH 114 (1990) 445-472 at 454 n.34. 

25Cf J. and L. Robert, Bull.epigr. 1961, 340, and Tpox- in LGPN III.B. 
26Should it be read fep~a.~ and related to Cermus (CIL III 3054, Dalmatia) 

and Germullus (IG XIV 11.30, Dalmatian?; P. Vind. Worp 24.1)? 

JAIME CURBERA AND DAVID JORDAN 121 

place-names 'AKpropeta (~ (iJCpo<; + opo<;}, 'AV£f.lc0p£ta (~ 
UVEf.lO<; + opo<;), or AuKrop£ta <~ AUKO<; + opo<;)P *AuyKropEta 
is probably to be identified with the montes Lyncon ( op11 
AuyKrov }, an area between Epirus, Macedonia, and Thessaly, 
rich in woods and water and mentioned by Livy (32.13.3) in his 
account of the Second Macedonian War.28 Our AuyKrop{'ta<; is 
the first (though indirect) epigraphical documentation of this 
area. As we have noted above, local ethnics as personal names 

are well known in Macedonia. 
'A!lllPUYKa<; reminds us of 'Af.lapuyKEU<;, an Elean king in 

Homer (Il. 23.630, cf. 2.622, 4.517). Curiously enough, a tra­
dition recorded by Pausanias (5.1.11) made Amarynceus the 
son of "Pyttius, who moved to Elis from Thessaly. This may 
support the relationship with the 'A!lllPUYKa<; of Pydna. Also 
AtoA.o<;, the name of the Thessalian who became the eponym of 
the Aeolians, may be another link with Thessaly. The form 
'A!lllPUYKEU<; with 1l on the tablet instead: of the Homeric a, 
however, causes difficulty. Was the nameoftheHomeric king 
originally*' A1111 puyKEU<; and then "hellenized," as if derived 

from af.lapucrcrro, af.lapuy~, etc.? Non liquet. 
Oprot<5uo<; puzzles. If it is Greek, its second element may be 

related to the stem ofLakonian ~d<5u(t)o<;, Attic i<5uio<;/i<5uo<; 
"surveillant" and of the Epirote FEiDu<; (SGDI 1346).29 The first 
part of the name (and especially the origin of the sound noted 
as ro) is not easy to explain, though. Oprot<5uo<;, in any case, may 
be related to "Opot<5o<;, the name of the king of the Epirote 

27See F. Bolte, "Lykoreia," RE 13 (1927) 2382~ The form AuyKropita.~·( ~ 
*AuyKoopeta.) of our tablet may be an itacist spelling of *AuyKropeita.~ (cf. 
AuKropett'll~ in Steph. Byz., but AuKropitTJ~ at Paus. 4.34.9) or may not: cf 
Ma.provit11~ ~ Ma.poovew, documented at a time when the spelling t for et is 
unlikely (IG J3 259.iv.5, 260.vi.19, 264.i.26, etc.). See also W. Dittenberger, 
"Ethnika und Verwandtes 2," Hermes 41 (1906) 161-219 at 189 n.2. 

2BJ. Briscoe, A Commentary on Livy, Books XXXI-XXXIII (Oxford 1973) 
189-190; N. Hammond, Epirus (Oxford 1976) 280-281. 

·. 29Note that the name Beiauo~ at SGDI 2113.5 is to be read as BeiGu~ (see FD 
III.3 385). 



122 CURSE TABLETS FROM PYDNA 

Parauaei at Thuc. 2.80.6. As the ending -uo<; is documented for 
Epirote names,3° an Epirote or Illyrian "origin cannot be ex­
cluded. 

6. MaKpuyiaA.o<;, Aypo-cef.HXXto 480, North of Tomb 224 Fig. 5 
Max.pr. H. 0.056, W. 0.100. IVa. 

Col. i Col. ii 
1 Ka-caoecrcrfleum -ca<; yA.rocrcra<; 
2 Xropo'ttflO, 7 K<Xt et'n<; &A.A.o<; 

3 ~tovucrio, Afl~cOKO, 18 I 

'Ct fl<Xtvf't<Xt 

4 'AptO"O"'CtffiVO<;, 9 £x8po<; 
5 llpro-coxapeo<;, 10 [Jl ]it ouvacrcrero ' <XV-

6 'Afluv-cixo, 
11 [-c]~A.eye[t]v flflo[e - - -] 

1 Ka'taOecr,.u:uro 3 ~or~= 'A!l(a)~roKo? 'A!l~(o)roKo? 4 'Aptcr'tirovo~ 
10 ouvacr9ro 

This is the most discursive of all the texts, beginning with a 
verb of cursing, continuing with a list of names, and ending with 
a generalizingdause. The victims of the curse being the men's 
tongues and their ability to "speak against" the defigens, the 
purpose of the tablet is again to affect a lawsuit. Ka-caOecrfleuro, 
denominative of Ka-caOecrflo<;, has so far occurred only twice 
elsewhere on curse tablets,31 both ofthe fourtff century and one 
also having the adjective ex8p6<; as here. New is the descdption 
of the defixi as fl<XtVOfl£Vot {et n<; &A.A.o<; 'tlJl.<Xivnat). Is this 

30f£vuo~ (son of Neoptolemus: Proxenus FGrHist 703 F 2), <l>O:n:uo~ (general of 
the Chaones: Thuc. 2.80.5). See Hammond (supra n.28) 501 n.l. . · 

31 Jordan no. 1, B 1-2 Ka'taOEOlJ.EUOl a(v)'ttOtKOV 11i/rovt Kat fpavtKOV ( cf. A 
11-13 avn/Ka'taOecrlJ.EUro (hapax) 'tO~ ei p'9/6~ [sic]) (Attica, early IVa); V. Ch. 
Petrakos, Ot emypacpeq rov ilpronov (Btf3A.to(}fprTJ 't'l]q ev A(}~vatq ApxawA.oyua)q 
Eratpeiaq 170) no. 745a (NGCT 23, I¥?). . 

JAIME CURBERA AND DAVID JORDAN 123 

s 
lt) 
0 
0 

'<1' 
0 
0 \() .... 
r:<) Q) 
0 -0 ~ 
N 

E-< 
0 U) 0 
,.., -~ 
q ~ 
0 

0 
0 
0 

~ 

s 
lt) 
0 
0 

~ 
0 
ci 

It') 

r:<) .... 
0 Q) 

ci -..0 
Ctj 

N E-< 
0 
ci ..;,; 
,.., -~ 0 
0 ~ 

0 
0 
0 

/ 



124 CURSE TABLETS FROM PYDNA 

merely a formulaic phrase <or does it here have specific 
applicability?32 

"' 

For the long vowel resulting from contractions and compensa­
tory lengthenings the writer uses o, a spelling documented in 
Macedonia down to the time of Alexander.33 We find con­
traction of EE spelled Et in av['t]tA.eyE[t]v, how~ver. Localisms 
such as the doubling of /s/ before consonants34 and Koine (or 
Ionic) forms (d) are found side by side. 

The most remarkable of the names are A~;L(a)~ roKo~ (3), a 
Thracian ·name already document~d in Macedonia,35 and 
Xropo'ttJlO~ (2), a hapax though of clear formation: cf IG VII 
2718.4 Xrop6qnA.o~, SGDI 2659.2 flhtJ.LO~ (Acarnania), etc. 
'AJ.Luvnxo~ (6) has an ending well documented in both Boeotia 
and Macedonia.36 

Most fourth-century curse tablets. come from Attica. When 
contemporary examples appear elsewhere it is worth asking, 
therefore, whether they show non-Attic regionalisms in their 
formulae; the six from Pydna do not, unless the verb "rage," · 

32May J.lCltVOJ.lat here have a specifically political sense, "riot," "rage," and 
be used of oi &r!J.lotucoi? Cf Thgn. 313-314 £v J.l.Ev J.lCltvOJ.lEVot<; J.lUAa J.lCltVoJ.lat, 
ev OE oucaiot<; I 1tUV1:00V av9pol1troV ElJ.lt OtKat6tato<;; Ps.-Xen. Ath.Pol. 1.9 oi 
XPf!O'tOt ... OUK eacroucrt J.lCllVOJ.lEVOt<; &v9pol1tot<; j3ouAEUEtV oUOE AE"(Etv OUOE 
EKKA11<1tU~EtV; Aeschin. 3.211 J.lClVel.<; 0 OTtJ.lO<;. see in general R. Renehan, Greek 
Lexicographical Notes (Gottingen 1975) 231, Greek t:exicographical Notes, 
Second Series (Gottingen 1982) 97. Were the defixi here seen as litigious 
rabble? Unfortunately, their names do not tell us much of their socifll status 
(see n.41 infra). · 

33C. Brixhe, A. Panayotou, "L'atticisation de la Macedoine," Verbum 11 
(1988) 245-260 at 252. ' 

34See J. Mendez Dosuna, Los dialectos dorios del Noroeste (Salamanca 1985) 
373-383. 

35G. Lefebvre, P. Perdrizet, Les graffites grecs du Memnonion d'Abydos 
[Nancy /Paris/Strasbourg 1919) 102, and C. Saatsoglou-Paliadeli, Ta bn­
-raqna JlVTIJ.LEia cbro -riJ J.LeraATI -rovJ.Lf3a rij~ Bepy{va~ (Thessaloniki 1984) 227. 
L. Gounaropoulou and M. B. Hatzopoulos, Emyparpe~ ~Ca-rro MaiCeOov{a~ I 
(Athens 1998) 424, cite an unpublished example from Leukopetra. 

360. Masson, "Sur le nom de Bilistiche, favorite de Ptolemee II," Studia in 
honorem Iiro Kajanto (Arctos Suppl. 2 [1985]) 109-112 at 112 (= OGS II 467-
470 at 470). 

JAIME CURBERA AND DAVID JORDAN 125 

which is new here among fourth-century curse texts, is to be 
considered such. So far, there is too little evidence to tell 
whether the formulae of curses from outside Attica show Attic 
influence or whether they are part of a widespread Koine. In 
this regard Ka'taOEO"JlEUro, the opening verb of 6, invites at­
tention: the only two other instances on curse tablets are from 
Attica and from the border-town OropusP and the noun, K a 't a­
OEO"JlO~, from which it comes is itself from Ka'taO&, the opening 
verb par excellence on fourth-century curse tablets in Attica. 
There it occurs in enough non-Attic dialect forms to raise the 
question whether some of the professionals who inscribed the 
ta~lets there were foreigners ~who brought their local curse 

) . 

formulae with them,38 but so far, as a main verb it is virtually 
unattested, in any form, on tablets elsewhere.39 Ka'taypacpro 
(5.9), while relatively rare in fourth-century Attica, occurs, 
perhaps significantly, on another, contemporary, Macedonian 
curse tablet, from Arethusa.40 

_ 

In con<;:lusion, these six texts, as we see, throw new light on 
different features of this corner of Macedonia. Except for 
K'toAEJlJl<X(~), the language presents nothing unexpected for a 
fourth-century Macedonian town near the Thessalian border. 
Besides local forms (a, nep for nep{), it shows the pressure of 

37Supra n.31. The tablet fr_9m Oropus has nothing obviously non-Attic, i.e. no 
obvious influence from theBoeotians who controllea the town from time to time 
in the fourth century: 

38For discussion see D. R. Jordan, "Towards the Text of a Curse Tablet from 
the Kerameikos," inCh. Kritsas, A. Matthaiou, and V. Mitsopoulou, edd., 
:EvJ.LnOCJlOV ei~ J.LViiJ.LTIV TOV Adolf Wilhelm (forthcoming). We may think of 
Adeimantus' famous allusion to the wandering priests who sold katadesmoi ill · 
Attica (Plato Resp. 364B-c). 

39Exceptions are a tablet from Macedonian Acanthus, with KataOEt (Jordan 
3: NGC144, late IVa) and two later examples from Lilybaeum, with KCltaOero 
and KataOtOTIJ.lt (SEG 47.1442-1443: NGCT 78-79, late 11¥). 

40AmCA: DTWu 160; DTAud 47,69?; E. Ziebarth, "Neue Verfluchungstafeln 
aus Attika, Boiotien und Euboia," SBBerl (1934) 1020-1050, no. 26 (evKata­
ypacpro ). ARETHusA: supra n.2. The verb also occurs on the tablet from Oropus 
that has KataOEcrJ.lEuro (supra n.31); cf Kataypacpro on the Theban DT Aud 84. 

/ 



126 CURSE TABLETS FROM PYDNA 

the Attic-Ionic Koine (the condition(\~s &v and d, the pronoun 
bce1vo~). Signs of Koine, however, appear here within judiciary 
curse formulae that are documented throughout the Greek 
world, and we may wonder to what extent they reflect here the 
spoken language of Pydna. Of the names that the six texts add 
to the prosopography of the town, many are well known as 
Greek and characteristic of Macedonia;41 others suggest a pop­
ulation with names also influenced by Thrace (A).l(a)OroKo~, 
LttaJ.xa~) and perhaps also Epirus ( 'Apu~~a~?, AuyKropita~? 
Oprotouo~?) and Thessaly (AtoA.o~?, ,'AJ.lllPUYKa~?). 

Appendix: Index of Names (• =new) 

['A]Yilcria~ (4.8) (or [K}tTJcria~) raA.Ecr'ta~ (2.12) 
A'toio~ (5.2) . fe J.la~ (5.3) 
"AA.KtJ.lO~ (5.7) Lh["6]yvTJ'tO~ (3.1) 
AJ.l(a)OcoKo~ (6.3) llwvumo~ (6.3) 
• 'AJ.lTJp"uyKa~ (5.3) •~leo pro~ (1.a.1 0) 
'AJ.lUV'ta~ (5.7) 'EA.A.av (1.a.3) 
'AJ.luvnx.o~ (6.6) Ml3ouA.a (2.6) 
'A11uvtcop(4.5) Eu8uotKo~ (t.a.7) 
'AvncpiA.a (2.11) Eui1t1ra~ (4.1) 
'Aptcrticov (6.4) ('Aptcrcrticov Eupuv[-], fern., (2.7) 

tab.) Eucpavw~ (t.a.4) 
"Ap1taA.o~ (1.a;9) E>e61tpo1to~ (5.4) 
'Apul3!3a~ (5.4) E>eunJ.lo~ (3.2} 
"Acravopo~ (5.5) E>pacrcov (2.4), son of 
•BouA.Ova (2.8) NiKuA.A.a 

41 'A!.t:uvta~, 'AJ.l.uvnxo~, 'AJ.l.{>Vtrop, "Ap1taA.o~, "Am:ivBpo~, f-aAEcrta~, Kpa­
teua~, AtJ.l.vaio~, Ilaucravia~, IltOAEJ.l.J.l.a~ (see 0. Masson, "Quanctle nom 
IltoAEJ.l.Uto~ etait ala mode," ZPE 98 [1993] 157-167 at 160--161 [= OGS III 
149-159 at 152-153]), :EtJ.l.J.l.ta~, Tappia~, and <l>iAt7t7tO~: on these names see the 
indices of Hoffmann, Russu, and Hatzopoulos/Loukopoulou (supra n.15). 
Because some of these, 'AJ.l.UVta~, Ilaucravia~, IltoAEJ.l.atO~, <l>iA-nmo~, were 
frequent among the Macedonian nobility, it might once have been tempting to 
suppose, following Hoffmann, that their bearers on our tablets belonged to 
prominent fourth-century Macedonian families. As the epigraphical material 
Irom Macedonia increases, however, the wide diffusion of these names becomes 
more and more evident. For lack of patron~cs or any further such details on 
our tablets, any such identification would hardly be more than specUlative. 

JAIME CURBERA AND DAVID JORDAN 

'l1t1tta~ (2.5, 5.1) 
KaA.A.ia~ (4.3) 
KA.Eavopo~ (4.6) 
Kpateua~ (5.2, 5.8) 
[K];rtcria~ (4.8) (or ['A]Yilcria~) 
•KtoAEJ.lJ.la(~) (5.6) 
•KuA.A.tcr[- -] (3.4) 
A[-::] (3.5) 
AtJ.lvato~ (5.4) 
A6Kpo~ (5.6) 
•AuyKcopita(~) (5.1) 
AucriOTJJ.lO[~] (1.a.8) 
MEVUAAO~ (5.5) 
• M tKaA.lvo~ (4.7) 
Nauta~ (t.a.11) 
NiKavopo~ (1.a.2) 
NtK6A.ao~ (2.3) 
NiKuA.A.a (2.1, 2.4), mother of 

E>pacrcov 
NtKcovioa~ (1.a.6) 

•OpcotOuo~ (5.3) 
•Tiaupata~ (3.3) 
Tiaucravia~ (5.1) 
TioAEJ.lOKpatTJ~ (2.2, 4.4) 
TioA.uKacrt[a?] (2.10) 
Tipcotox,apTJ~ (6.5) 
LtJ.lJ.lta~ (5.2, 5.7) 
LttaA.Ka[~] (4.2) 
LtpatoviK[a?] (2.9) 
Tappia~ (2.15) 
TtJ.lOKpatTJ~ (2.14) 
Tp6x,a~ (5.2, 5.8) 
•ci>tA.av (2.13) 
Cl>tAt1t1tO~ (5.5) 
ci>tA.rovtx,o~ (5.6) 
•XcoponJ.lo~ (6.2) 
[l-2]TJ'tO~ (1.a.5) 
[ 3-4 ]tva (1.a.1) 
(- -)VtKCOV (1.b.1) 
+ -juKtt't9[-] (1.b.2) 

127 

January, 2003 Inscriptiones Graecae 
Berlin-Brandenb. Akad. 
Unter den Linden 8 
D-10117 Berlin, Germany 
curbera@bbaw .de 

American School 
54 Souidias St. 
GR-10676 Athens 
Greece 
jordan@hol.gr · 

/