Abstract
Some Roman rituals with political value ware provided with the power of a curse whose mechanics was similar to that of Greek defixiones. Those who injured a plebeian tribune were consecrated to the gods or to the gods of the dead. The consecratio of a man was sometimes enacted when the blood of a citizen or the tears of a parent were poured. Blood was particularly efficacious in unleashing a curse on the person responsible for something wrong and offensive to the gods and the Roman people.