Spring is in the air, daffodils are in bloom, the new dig season at the Roman fort of Vindolanda has just begun and they’ve already found a phallus. It is very small and made of jet who inky blackness . It is pierced through the testicles so it could be worn as a pendant. The through hole is small, so the cord or chain it hung from was thin and likely broke. This was a fascinus, a talisman shaped like a penis and testes believed to have apotropaic powers to protect against the evil eye cast by the envious. Phalluses were worn as good luck charms to ward off curses and misfortune, or carved onto bridges, doorways, quarries and even quern stones. As a symbol of vitality and strength, the phallus served as personal protection for the wearer of an amulet, a guardian of wealth for businesses (quarry, mills) when carved onto wall and a defense against trespassers in transitional spaces like doorways and bridges. Amulets were often worn by children (as their parents’ most precious and vulnerable treasures, children were considered at particular risk from curses) and soldiers, whose profession put them in constant danger far from hearth and home. Graffiti and carvings of phalluses were common in military camps, and with at least 59 examples, Vindolanda boasts the most phalluses in any form of any site on Hadrian’s Wall. Phalluses have been found at Vindolanda as both graffiti and reliefs carved on walls, at entrances, on milestones, on latrines and command officers’ headquarters. The charm was discovered in the northeastern quadrant of the fort between the military barracks and the eastern moat just outside the stone walls. This is the last area inside the walls of the fort that is still covered with grass and is believed to have been densely populated with soldiers, military staff and animals. It was unearthed from the remains of a 4th century wall.