Thursday 9 August 2012

Matthew W. Dickie: Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World

A review of Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World by Matthew W. Dickie (ISBN 0-415-24982-1), originally published in the JACT 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 (or who were thought to be) magicians or sorcerers (and sorceresses). D. has an excellent grasp of the evidence for magical practices over a considerable period (from Homer through to the end of the seventh century AD) and discusses the difficulties and dangers of reading modern concepts of magic into the ancient evidence, something made the more difficult because so many modern approaches are grounded in what has been learned from the ancient world. He deals thoroughly with the evidence from the earliest period, arguing that it is only towards the end of the fifth century that it can be reliably assumed that descriptions of magical acts fit closely enough with the modern concepts. The chapter on the nature of the Greek understanding of magic is complemented by another on magic as a distinctive category in Roman thought. D. discusses the evidence for magic in the context of the Hellenisation of Roman culture during the late Republic, though the limited range of archaeological evidence (of, for example, curse tablets) prevents certainty until the Augustan period. The literary evidence is more definite, though D. assesses fully the issues of change in the concept of magic during the process of transfer from one culture to another.

Chapters 2, 3 & 4 deal with magicians of various sorts in the Greek world in the classical and Hellenistic periods. The final chapters look at the activities of similar figures in the context of Rome and the Empire through to the end of the seventh century AD. Throughout there is an emphasis on the teasing out of the different strands of belief and prejudice encountered in the ancient texts. A good deal of the (literary) evidence is found in polemical contexts; this is perhaps particularly true of Christian writers.

The book is written throughout in a clear and informative style, and introduces the evidence accessibly. This subject is hardly central to the main curriculum in schools, but does form an important element in understanding the attitude of emperors and others to potential threats against their persons. The growth of Christianity was also affected by the attitudes of the elite and the common people towards non-standard religious practices, so this book provides valuable background for anyone interested in the development of religion during the crucial early years of the Church, and does cover Jewish culture from the time of Acts onwards. There are full notes, a bibliography and a detailed index.

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