The windowless rooms open upon a court or well, the bottom of which is a score or so of feet beneath the surface of the earth, thus providing the troglodytes with light and air] The Carthaginians were confirmed gamblers, and enormous sums were frequently wagered on the outcome of a chariot-race. This, as might have been expected, gave rise to the bitterest jealousy between the adherents of the various factions and to demonstrations of hostility toward a charioteer who was a favorite in the betting. Many curious exemplifications of this spiteful spirit may be seen on the _tabulæ execrationis_ which have been discovered at Carthage. These, as the name implies, were tablets, usually thin sheets of lead, on which were scratched execrations or curses directed against those to whom the authors wished evil. In order that they might speedily gain the attention of the gods of the underworld to whom they were addressed, they were either tied by leathern thongs to the gravestones in the cemeteries, or dropped down the funnel with which each grave was provided so that libations could reach the ashes of the dead. Of the thousands of such tablets, dealing with matters of love, lust, war, politics, and sport, which have been found in the cemeteries of Carthage, one of the most interesting, as it is one of the most venomous, runs, in part, as follows: I invoke Thee, by the Great Names, to bind fast every limb and every nerve of Biktorikos, whom Earth, the Mother of every living soul, brought forth, the Charioteer of the Blues, and his horses which he is about to drive.... Bind fast their legs that they may not be able to start or to bound or to run. Blind their eyes that they may not see. Rack their hearts and their souls that they may not breathe.... Bind fast the legs and hands and head and heart of Biktorikos, Charioteer of the Blues, to-morrow, and his horses which he is about to drive.... Again I adjure Thee by the God of Heaven above Who sitteth upon the Cherubim, Who divided the Earth and severed the Sea, Iao, Abrico, Arbathiao, Sabao, Adonai, to bind fast Biktorikos, Charioteer of the Blues, and the horses which he is about to drive ... to-morrow in the Circus. Now! Now! Quickly! Quickly! As a really polished and comprehensive example of high-class cursing, I don’t know of anything which can compare with that effort unless it is the outburst of the exasperated golfer, who, after spending ten strokes in a sand-bunker, damned “everything over a minute old and an inch high.”