Romans Wore Little Wangs For Luck, Proper

By Warren Hamilton Category: Superstitions & Lore 19th June 2026

You'd think the Romans were all marble statues and toga etiquette, but no - they were walking about with little phallus pendants doing the job of modern talisman. The word 'fascinum' covers the idea: a phallic object thought to ward off envy, curses and general spite. People wore them, hung them in houses, and even fastened them to animals. Sounds mental, but it was serious business then.

Archaeologists have found these things in bronze and terracotta, sometimes alarmingly realistic, sometimes stylised like someone took a piss at modern jewellery design. They put them on children's necks, on soldiers' kit, on horse harnesses. There are also phallic wind-chimes - called tintinnabula - you could peg on a wall to jangle away evil as if noise itself was a garlic clove.

The logic? The Romans worried about invidia - envy that could harm you - and believed a bold bit of bawdy would send that jealousy packing. If someone's eyes were twitching with envy, nothing says 'bugger off' like a brass knob swinging at their face. You imagine an army bloke on campaign having his helmet dangled with a tiny willy. Proper morale booster, innit?

There's ancient texts and plenty of Pompeii graffiti that back it up, so this isn't me making it up for a laugh. Priapus, the garden god with the unfortunate branding, and other folk-figures played into it too. Ritual and humour rubbed shoulders; sometimes the crude stuff was the safest magic you could buy.

I once told a mate this and he asked if modern people do it. Well, not so much in public, but the gesture survives: the mano fico, fingers in a particular formation, and loads of Mediterranean houses still have little oddments over the door. Superstition evolves - Rome's answer to bad vibes was indecent, noisy and oddly effective. Makes you feel better about your own lucky rubbish in the drawer, doesn't it? At least your charm doesn't clang at 3 a.m.