Le Courroux de Philonicus: une défixion latine de Bétique (La Silla del Papa, Cadix)

A lead curse tablet written in Latin, dating back to the second half of the 1st century BC, was discovered in 2017 in the northwestern necropolis of the original site of Baelo at La Silla del Papa (Tarifa, Cádiz). It was presumably deposited there after the transfer of the town site at the beginning of Augustus' reign. This document features several slaves with Greek names, including a shepherd and a groom, and probably a usurer. It confirms that, in specific spheres such as magic, the Greek language was firmly established in southern Hispania at the end of the republican era, alongside Latin which was increasingly used in written contexts.