Magic in the Greco-Roman world
In 13 BCE, the Roman emperor Augustus ordered the burning of 2,000 magical scrolls. This act of destruction highlights a central tension in the ancient world: how to distinguish between acceptable religious practice and forbidden magic. Authors William Swatos and Peter Kivisto define magic as any attempt to control the environment or self by means that are untested or untestable. Such definitions often rely on social evaluation rather than objective criteria. Robert Parker notes that magic differs from religion merely because society views it negatively, like weeds differ from flowers. While religious rites aim for lofty goals like salvation and occur openly for the community, magic is often secretive and conducted for paying clients. It seeks power through manipulation rather than supplication of deities. Some mainstream religious rites even set out to constrain gods, blurring the line further. The concept evolved into a coherent tradition where magicians fused varying non-traditional elements of Greco-Roman religious practice. This fusing reached its peak during the third to fifth centuries CE within the Roman Empire.
Book X of the Odyssey describes an encounter between Odysseus and Circe on the island of Aeaea. Circe uses a wand against Odysseus and his men while he defends himself with a secret herb called moly. Hermes reveals this herb to him as the god of the golden wand. Three requisites crucial to later magical literature appear here: a mysterious tool endowed with special powers, a rare magical herb, and a divine figure revealing the secret act. Pliny in Natural History XXV, 10, 12 states his belief that the origin of botany was closely aligned with what he saw as the practice of magic. He notes that Medea and Circe were early investigators of plants. Orpheus is credited by Pliny as the first writer on the subject of botany. In this story, Circe appears as a beautiful woman who changes companions into swine. This suggests magic was associated with practices going against the natural order or wise forces. Circe represents a power from the Titans conquered by younger Olympian gods like Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.
The sixth century BCE gives rise to scattered references of magoi at work in Greece. Among the most famous figures are Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Empedocles. Orpheus lived in Thrace a generation before Homer yet appears on fifth-century ceramics in Greek costume. Aeschylus describes him as one who haled all things by the rapture of his voice. His descent to the underworld to bring back Eurydice stands as his most famous deed. These deeds are not usually condemned, suggesting some forms of magic were acceptable. The term applied to separate him from ill-reputed magicians is theios aner or divine man. Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570, 495 BCE) possessed attributed magical powers recorded in Aristotle's days. He was seen at the same hour in two cities. A white eagle permitted him to stroke it. A river greeted him with the words hail, Pythagoras. He predicted that a dead man would be found on a ship entering a harbor. Empedocles (c. 490, 430 BCE) could heal the sick, rejuvenate the old, influence weather, and summon the dead. E.R. Dodds argued in his 1951 book The Greeks and the Irrational that Empedocles combined poet, magus, teacher, and scientist roles.
The language of the magical papyri reflects various levels of literary skill but generally uses standard Greek closer to spoken language than poetry. Many terms borrow from mystery cults; thus magical formulas are sometimes called teletai meaning celebration of mysteries. Iao for Yahweh, Sabaoth, and Adonai appear quite frequently within these texts. A Charm of Solomon that produces a trance exists in PGM IV.850, 929 though its religious content remains pagan. Various versions of the Eighth Book of Moses appear in PGM XIII.1, 343 followed by a Tenth Hidden Book of Moses in 734, 1077. These texts often read like recipes: take the eyes of a bat. Appropriate gestures accompany ingredients at certain points in the ritual. Different gestures produce various effects. A magical ritual done correctly can guarantee revealing dreams or interpreting them. Some spells allow one to send out daemons to harm enemies or break up marriages. The texts present more Graeco-Egyptian rather than Graeco-Roman beliefs according to Betz. They combine several religions including Egyptian, Greek, and Jewish elements into a syncretic whole.
The term defixio derives from the Latin verb meaning literally to pin down but also delivering someone to powers of the underworld. Victims names were written on thin sheets of lead along with varying formulas or symbols. Then tablets were buried in or near tombs, execution places, or battlefields to give spirits power over victims. Sometimes curse tablets were transfixed with nails believed to add magical potency. Amulets served as common protections against curses and the evil eye seen as very real by most inhabitants. Many thousands of carved gems found clearly had magical rather than ornamental function. Amulets made of organic material such as beetles were widespread due to fear of other magic types. They were often mixtures of formulas from Babylonian, Egyptian, and Greek elements worn for protection. Magical tools were just as important as spells repeated for each ritual. A magician's kit dating from the third century was discovered in Pergamon in Anatolia. It consisted of a bronze table base covered with symbols, a decorated dish, large bronze nail inscribed with letters, two rings, and three black polished stones inscribed with supernatural power names.
Magical operations largely fall into two categories: theurgy defined as high magic and goetia as low magic. Theurgy glorifies magic practiced usually by respectable priest-like figures associated with rituals. In typical theurgical rites contact with divinity occurs through soul ascending to heaven where divinity is perceived. Or divinity descends to earth appearing to the theurgist in vision or dream. Plotinus (205, 270) claimed theurgy attempts to bring all things in universe into sympathy connecting man via forces flowing through them. Goetia connotes low specious or fraudulent mageia similar to charm meaning both magic and power to sexually attract. Philosophers adopted the term theurgia to distinguish themselves from lower-class practitioners called góes sorcerers wizards. Roman law forbade enticing neighbors crops into own fields by magic. An actual trial for alleged violation occurred before Spurius Albinus in 157 BCE. Cornelius Hispanus expelled Chaldean astrologers from Rome in 139 BCE on grounds they were magicians. Astrologers and magicians explicitly driven from Rome in 33 BCE. Augustus ordered books on magical arts burned twenty years later.
Jesus of Nazareth was a typical miracle-worker viewed from outsider perspective. He exorcised daemons healed sick made prophecies raised dead. As Christianity grew seen as threat to established traditions Jesus accused of being magic users. Christian texts like Gospels told life story full of features common to divinely touched figures: divine origin miraculous birth facing powerful daemon Satan. Gospel of Matthew claims Jesus taken to Egypt as infant used by hostile sources to explain knowledge of magic. One rabbinical story says he came back tattooed with spells. Morton Smith argued in book Jesus the Magician that Gospels speak descent of spirit while pagans speak possession by daemon explaining similar phenomena. Simon Magus mentioned in canonical Acts 8:9ff deeply impressed by apostle Peter cures asked apostles sell special gift so practice it too. Justin Martyr claimed Simon was magus of Samaria whose followers committed blasphemy worshiping him as God. Apollonius of Tyana emerged between 217 and 238 Flavius Philostratus wrote Life of Apollonius unreliable novelistic source. Philostratus protégé empress Julia Domna mother emperor Caracalla who owned memoirs alleged disciple Damis.
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Common questions
What did Roman emperor Augustus do to magical scrolls in 13 BCE?
Roman emperor Augustus ordered the burning of 2,000 magical scrolls in 13 BCE. This act highlights the tension between acceptable religious practice and forbidden magic in the ancient world.
Who are the famous magoi figures from sixth century BCE Greece mentioned in the script?
The most famous magoi figures from sixth century BCE Greece include Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Empedocles. These individuals possessed attributed magical powers such as healing the sick, influencing weather, or summoning the dead.
How does the text define the difference between theurgy and goetia in Greco-Roman magic?
Theurgy is defined as high magic practiced by respectable priest-like figures that seeks contact with divinity through soul ascending to heaven. Goetia connotes low specious or fraudulent mageia similar to charm meaning both magic and power to sexually attract.
What specific items were found inside a third century magician's kit discovered in Pergamon?
A magician's kit dating from the third century was discovered in Pergamon in Anatolia containing a bronze table base covered with symbols, a decorated dish, large bronze nail inscribed with letters, two rings, and three black polished stones inscribed with supernatural power names.
Why did Roman law forbid certain types of magic involving crops and neighbors?
Roman law forbade enticing neighbor's crops into own fields by magic because it violated social boundaries regarding property and community relations. An actual trial for alleged violation occurred before Spurius Albinus in 157 BCE.
All sources
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