ABSTRACT
Lotions, potions, spells, curses and charms for love and desire had a long history in the Graeco-Roman world. The extant material and literary evidence for these passionate practices is abundant and widespread. As a proportion of extant curse tablets alone, those dealing with spcoç account for one-quarter of the total tablets published. 1 The evidence for both fourth-century Syria and Palestine, however, is limited to hagiographical accounts and an Aramaic amulet. The lack of material evidence is somewhat puzzling, given both the popularity of the amatory practices across the Mediterranean as well as the claim that the aphrodisiac-type curse, for instance, emerges in North Africa and Syria in the second century CE and is evident through to the fourth century CE. 2 Nevertheless the material which we do have does allow for some speculation to be made on love practices involving the supernatural in the fourth century.
