Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – Archaeologists excavating a newly uncovered area of the vast Ostiense Necropolis, one of the major burial zones outside Rome, have identified a Roman funerary ritual involving the placement of nails on the deceased’s chest.
The find was made along the historic Via Ostiense, a key road linking Rome to the port of Ostia. This necropolis, one of the largest known from antiquity, developed over centuries and contains a range of burials, from monumental mausoleums and decorated tombs to simpler graves.
The use of nails in burials is well documented in Roman and later periods, and scholars interpret their function in several ways. Generally, their presence symbolizes a completed, irreversible event.
On one level, the nails “fix” the state of death; on another, they serve as part of a magical or superstitious practice. In this context, nails were believed to protect the body from desecration, shield the dead from evil forces, and prevent the deceased from returning to trouble the living.
New findings at the Ostiense Necropolis. Credit: Special Superintendence of Rome
Ancient Beliefs In The Magical Power Of Nails
The perceived magical power of nails has roots in very ancient religious beliefs and in their practical role as objects that “fix” or fasten. In esoteric symbolism, this fixing function could be positive: nails might serve as instruments of atonement, closing off the past and marking a new beginning.
Credit: Special Superintendence of Rome
An example is the ritual known as clavum figendi—the driving of a large nail—performed in Etruscan and Roman contexts on special occasions such as the transition to the New Year. In a similar way, nails could be used to “fix” evil in place, thereby promoting good fortune.
Classical authors also refer to these beliefs. Pliny the Elder, in his Naturalis Historia, attributes to nails the power to combat diseases such as plague, fever, wounds, and epilepsy. According to him, driving a nail into the spot where an epileptic first fell could cure the condition. Nails were also thought capable of averting dangerous natural events, including floods.
Nails could, however, carry negative associations. This is evident in the practice of defixiones, or curse tablets, whose name derives from the Latin “defigere”, meaning “to nail down.”
These tablets, typically made of lead or lead alloys, were inscribed with curses directed to powerful gods and spirits, asking for harm or defeat to befall an enemy. The text was engraved on the metal sheet to “fix” the curse, and in some cases, a nail was physically driven through the tablet to seal and strengthen the spell.
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Overall, nails are a recurring feature in Roman burials. Archaeological evidence suggests they were often used as protective charms against various forms of evil. In some instances, they may have been intended to pin the body to the tomb, symbolically preventing the spirit from rising and thus stopping the restless dead from haunting the living.
Source: Soprintendenza Speciale Roma
Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Staff Writer
