Description
Book SynopsisThis study is the first to assemble the evidence for the existence of sorcerors and sorceresses in the ancient world. Compelling and revealing in the breadth of evidence employed this will be an essential resource.
Trade Review'Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World is the fruit of prodigious reading and profound scholarship, yet never bogs down to its own accumulation of facts.' - Los Angeles Times
'An outstanding book that combines impressive scholarship with clarity and accessibility, and belongs at once in the collection of specialists and on undergraduate reading lists, perhaps even as a prescribed textbook.' - Classical Review
'This is a detailed and well-presented account of the development of the concept of magic in the Greek world and a thorough discussion of the activities of those who claimed to be ... magicians.' - JACT Review
'A reliable and comprehensive review of all the well-known sources.' - Book Reviews
'Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World is the fruit of prodigious reading and profound scholarship, yet never bogs down to its own accumulation of facts.' - Los Angeles Times
'An outstanding book that combines impressive scholarship with clarity and accessibility, and belongs at once in the collection of specialists and on undergraduate reading lists, perhaps even as a prescribed textbook.' - Classical Review
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1 The formation and nature of the Greek concept of magic 2 Sorcerers in the fifth and fourth centuries BC 3 Sorceresses in the Athens of the fifth and fourth centuries BC 4 Sorcerers in the Greek world of the Hellenistic period (300–1BC) 5 Magic as a distinctive category in Roman thought 6 Constraints on magicians in the Late Roman Republic and under the Empire 7 Sorcerers and sorceresses in Rome in the Middle and Late Republic and under the Early Empire 8 Witches and magicians in the provinces of the Roman Empire until the time of Constantine 9 Constraints on magicians under a Christian Empire 10 Sorcerers and sorceresses from Constantine to the end of the seventh century AD
