Roman Runaway Tattoos and Prayers

In ancient Rome, some slave owners tried to stop escapes by tattooing warnings like "Stop me! I am a runaway!" directly onto their slaves’ foreheads. The message turned each enslaved person into a walking notice. At a temple of the Greek god of healing, archaeologists have found thousands of inscribed tablets from escaped slaves begging the god to make these forehead tattoos disappear.

Previous Fact Next Fact