1. Introduction Magic is a way to communicate with the supernatural as well as to understand the world. Greek magic, even though it did not differ from religion in its objectives, is defined in a contradictory way as regards its social role and the means of action. There are four distinctive types of magic: protective, aggressive, magic that seeks dominance and power, and prophetic, which correspond with the declarations of religion: protection, cure, harm to enemies, success and knowledge. However, magic practices expressed individualistic goals, contrary to the religious rituals, which took place within a city. Furthermore, the compulsion upon the deity to assist the magus was overemphasised and the magus did not have faithful believers but clients. The concept of magic is not firm: its practice is a deviating behaviour. Society determines each time what magic is, according to the desire of a certain group to impose its own religious perception and to condemn all the others. The texts of the ancient Greek literature define magic as a religion based on lies and deceit, which threatens social cohesion. Thus, the accusations of magic are equally important as the practices themselves for understanding this phenomenon.1
2. Magic in Asia Minor Asia Minor was the centre from where the art of magic of the historical period was propagated into the Greek world. Greek magic had been influenced by Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian and Persian practices since the Late Archaic period. Earlier stages cannot be identified: the mythological ‘witches’ in Homer (Medea, Circe) and the smiths-magicians (Hephestus, Daktyls, Telchines) maintain a fundamentally divine or semidivine character. The ‘magical’ practices of cure in Odyssey, where the wound of Odysseus heals thanks to an incantation (magic song), have not been differentiated yet from medicine. Even the practice of necromancy in the same work is not a deviation from the devout religious behaviour, although it constituted the basic magical practice in the historical period.2 The term 'magus' appears for the first time in a passage of Heraclitus (500 BC) with its contemporary meaning.3 The priests of Zoroastrism, the official religion of the Achaemenid Empire were also called Magi. The term was introduced in Asia Minor with the arrival of the Persians in 546 BC and in Greece by the notorious magus Ostanes, who accompanied Xerxes I in 480 BC.4 In the middle of the 5th cent. BC the term had acquired its final connotation.5 This was determined by alleged power of the Persian magi to resurrect the dead, a notion which correlated them with the Greek perceptions of the , who were able to ensure the communication between gods, the living and the dead. The development of the term was partly influenced by the habit of the Persian priests to hiss, a practice identified with mystical rituals in Greece.6 Quite often, the terms 'goetes' (sorcerer) and 'goetia' are used, which are connected with lamentation and reveal the relation between magic and death.7
3. Archaeological evidence The archaeological evidence mainly consists of curse tablets and kolossoi (voodoo dolls), which were associated with 'black', aggressive magic, and phylacteries, which were associated with 'white', protective magic. The curse tablets (defixiones) were 'inscribed pieces of lead, usually in the form of thin sheets, intended to influence, by supernatural means, the actions or welfare of persons or animals against their will'.8 Other materials were also used, but rarely. Their existence is dated back to the 8th cent. BC: in the Iliad it is recounted that Proetus, the king of Corinth, sent Bellerophon to Lycia with a folded tablet inscribed with deadly signs.9 The Asia Minor curse tablets are mainly judicial and prayers for justice, where the intended objective is the binding of the mouth of the litigant, so that they will fail to defend their case in court. Later on, we find curse tablets from Antioch intending to influence the performance of horses and charioteers in the races.10 Prayers for justice are concerned with cases of theft or unfair accusation. These differ from the other types as they were exposed in public view and aimed at the intervention of the deity to whom the person that harmed the victim or the stolen objects were dedicated, so that the deity would rectify the injustice and not to punish the culprit. Thirteen curse tablets of that type were found in the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore in Cnidus (2nd cent. BC). In addition, one Asia Minor bronze curse tablet (between 100 BC and 200 AD) had been pierced to be hung on a visible place in a temple.11
The prayers for justice are related with the confession stelae of Lydia and Phrygia (2nd-3rd cent. AD), which were dedicated to sanctuaries and the devotees admit their guilt for a crime and praise the divine power for their fair punishment.12 Before guilt is admitted, the deity is asked with prayers to reveal the name of the culprit. Judicial tablet curses come from an unknown city in the valley of Meander (2nd cent. BC) and from Claudiopolis in Bithynia (3rd/4th cent. AD). A judicial curse tablet in Istanbul is probably of Asia Minor provenance (3rd /4th cent. AD). It was said that rhetor Libanius (314-392/3 AD) had also been a victim of binding spells.13
There is scanty evidence on love magic in Asia Minor. A confession inscription from Maeonia (156/7 AD) is about Tatia, who was accused of having placed a curse on her son-in-law by giving him an erotic potion. The man lost his mind. After these accusations of witchcraft, Tatia 'set up a sceptre' in the temple of Men, Anaeitis and Artemis, which means that she invoked a conditional self-curse to be punished if she had lied about her innocence. The woman did not escape divine punishment, neither her son who had a serious accident. The relatives, who were worried about the curse, turned to the gods and dedicated the stele. On another curse tablet from Cnidus a woman dedicated to Demeter those who had accused her of binding spells on her husband.14
The kolossoi (ritual dolls) made of bronze, clay or wax, often pierced with nails or with some parts and the head twisted backwards, are exceptionally rare in Asia Minor: a bronze figure from Smyrna has the head deliberately twisted backwards. An inscription, probably from Sardis, which obviously refers to the epidemic of 165 AD cites that the oracle of Apollo in Claros issued a prophecy according to which the city should import a statue of Artemis Ephesian and organise processions and sacrifices to honour the goddess, who would save the city from the plague, release the spells and would melt with her torches the wax effigies, 'marks of the practices of a magus'. This oracle demanded a rebound statue of a kneeling Ares to be set up in front of a statue of a standing Dike for the protection of the city of Syedra from pirate raids (1st cent. BC), a practice which is related with the sympathetic magic of the kolossoi.15 In order for the curse tablets to be more effective they were placed where the supernatural forces were stronger, mainly in graves. The dead act as messengers to the underworld demons, but also act as an instrument or 'assistant' of the magus. On two curse tablets from Phrygia, which were found in a vase containing bones, the magus has written the names of his enemies and invoked the 'untimely dead', i.e. those who had died too soon and had become ghosts, wandering around the grave, until the completion of their circle of life which was untimely interrupted. In other cases this role was undertaken by the dead who had suffered a violent death.16 Several curse tablets have been discovered in burials of young people or children. In Asia Minor the dead were protected by the magi, who placed inscriptions in the graves to avert violation and curse potential offenders.17 In the Roman period, curse tablets were also left in wells, as people believed that underground waters communicated with the Underworld, but also on the thresholds or the walls of houses. When Germanicus, the adopted son of the emperor Tiberius, died in Antioch in (19 AD), curse tablets with his name were discovered hidden in the walls of his house. Their efficiency was reinforced by mummified flesh of corpses and ashes spilt with blood.18
The curse tablets in the hippodrome were usually placed at the most difficult points of the course, at the starting or the finishing lines, with the intention to cause an accident when the chariot passed. A feature typical of the later curse tablets is the use of 'barbaric names', phonemes, mainly vowels, or words which reflect Phoenician, Hebrew, Assyrian and Egyptian languages and correspond with the mystical names of deities and demons. Several such names are to be found in the judicial curse tablets from Claudiopolis and Constantinople. Sometimes they were laid out in geometric designs, e.g. triangle or rhomb. The 'characters', symbols which resemble elaborate letters of the alphabet, played a similar role. The barbaric names and characters, not only are a language that the demons understand so that they are forced to assist the magus, but they also created the perfect evocative atmosphere for client.19 The phylacteries (or amulets) are objects with symbols or inscriptions intended to protect against the influence of black magic and the evil eye, whereas they also turned against demons represented by various illnesses (epilepsy, gout, headache, tumours). They are usually silver or gold sheets rolled up and put in bronze cylinders as pendants, a practice of Egyptian and Phoenician origin. An amulet of this type comes from Pisidian Antioch (3rd cent. AD); despite its dedication to Christ and the Saints, it is a text of magic syncretism.20 A phylactery from Amisus (1st cent. BC or 1st cent. AD) invokes a demon in the name of Moses to protect Rufina from a curse, send it to whoever wants to harm her and make the woman immune to poisons, like the 'king of the kings', Mithradates VI, famous for his immunity.21 The characters/letters and the magic names are also found on phylacteries.22 Seven characters, in combination with two vowels each of them, were inscribed on a wall in the theatre of Miletus, while the accompanying inscriptions supplicate God’s and the archangels’ protection for the city.23 The characters occur as well in a curious magical tool from Pergamon, which consists of a triangular bronze sheet covered with representations of female deities (Dione, Phoebe, Nychie) and barbaric names, a traverse nail and a dish inscribed with the zodiac symbols and characters. There are also references to other divine names, while the whole creation is completed with rings and bronze sheets with magic symbols and characters.24 Moreover, a gold phylactery from Ephesus (2nd/3rd cent. AD) bears 153 vowels in triangular arrangement (climax).25 The Homeric verses were also considered to be protective. Alexander of Tralles writes that if a verse of Iliad is inscribed on a gold sheet when the Moon is in a specific position, it will cure gout.26 A distinctive group are the 'cognitive phylacteries', particularly widespread in Syria, which are rings and cylinder seals with a combination of prayers to deities and protective demons.27 The 'Ephesian letters' had a very important role in protective magic. The Ephesian letters were six unintelligible barbaric names inscribed on the statue of Artemis Ephesian: askion, kataskion, lix, tetrax, damnameneus, aisia. It is alleged that Croesus survived the fire because he recited them. They were also used as victorious phylacteries, giving victory at games.28 The principal deity of black magic in Asia Minor is Hecate and secondarily Hermes and the Egyptian god Seth. The deities for protection were mainly Artemis Ephesian, Moses, Jao (the god of the Jews), Jesus, the angels and archangels. The syncretism between Hellenism, Judaism and Egyptian religion is particularly evident in the magic texts and objects from Late Hellenistic period onwards.29 4. Faith in magic According to Pliny (1st cent. AD) the majority of his contemporaries believed in magic.30 Faith in curse tablets is also revealed by the works of Artemidorus of Daldis.31 Likewise, the effectiveness of phylacteries could convince even a scientific mind like Galen (2nd cent. AD).32 In the 4th cent. AD Gregory the Theologian was teaching that the believers did not need phylacteries and incantations, which proves their widespread use among the Christians.33 According to the 36th rule of the Council of Laodicea it was forbidden for the clergymen to practise magic, clairvoyance, astrology and prepare phylacteries.34 5. Magi in Asia Minor According to Heraclitus, the magi of his time were actually experts in the occult, who travelled around and offered their services upon payment. This way of performing magic explains the dissemination of basically similar practices (curse tablets, incantations, kolossoi, phylacteries) in the entire ancient world. Several satiric representations of foreign, wandering magi occur in Lucian’s work (2nd cent. AD), who performed witchcraft and magic tricks which impressed the ignorant (showing the moon in a room, causing an earthquake, lightning etc).35 The magi of the Roman period were initiated in a way similar to the initiation of other divine men, like Apollonius of Tyana, who was selected by Asclepius himself to be an apprentice for four years in his sanctuary in Aegae in Cilicia. Cyprian, a magus who adopted Christianity and was canonised, had been initiated to many mysteries, as those of Cybele in Phrygia.36 The physician Thessalus of Tralles, scientist and magus, mentions his apprenticeship with an Egyptian priest in Thebes, who brought him in contact with Asclepius by using magic.37
There is a close resemblance in practices between the magi and the shamans of the Archaic period, who are occasionally identified with them, such as Aristeas of Proconnesus, Orpheus or Pythagoras and the miracle-workers of the Early Christian period, like Alexander of Abonuteichos, who was initially a magus, Apollonius of Tyana, who was accused in the Roman courts for magic but was acquitted, and Simon Magus, who was confronted by apostle Peter and was finally defeated by him. Even Jesus was accused of magic, in the same way as the miracle-workers.38 In the range between magic and philosophy the movement of Theurgy arose from Neoplatonism in the 2nd cent. AD. It was a higher kindof magic which intended, via complicated rituals (spiritual gatherings, tricks which made the statues smile and walk etc), the elevation of the spirit of the theurgoi to the divine sphere and the eschatological salvation. In the 4th cent. AD, due to the support of Emperor Iulianus (361-363), theurgy became one of the stronger strongholds of the old religion against the thriving christianity.39 A great practitioner from Asia Minor was Maximus of Ephesus, teacher of Iulianus, whom he introduced to theurgy and occultism. Maximus animated the statue of Hecate in the temple in Ephesus, making her laugh and lighting the torches she was holding. Emperor Valens ordered his decapitation in 371 AD because he had played a leading role in a spiritual gathering of the people of Antioch who wanted to learn who would succeed the emperor.40 Since Christian thought condemned pagan religion as the worship of demons, magic practices and prophesy in particular were 'demonised'.41 Acceptance of Christianity implied condemnation of magic, as it is testified by the episode of the burning of magic books by the Jewish exorcists who were proselytised by the apostle Paul in Ephesus.42 Nevertheless, there is uninterrupted continuity until the 6th cent. AD in the use of curse tablets and various types of phylacteries, while the Christian symbols are considered powerful magic objects, especially the cross and the relics of the saints.43 Until the end of the 7th cent. AD there is evidence for a widespread popularity of magic, even among the Christian clergymen and officers.44
6. Legislation
The only ancient testimony of legislation concerning magic in Asia Minor is an inscription from Teos (480 BC), which refers to the punishment of individuals who prepared 'poisons' against the people of Teos.45 The Roman legislation was much stricter and more explicit: from the 5th cent. BC the condemned magic practices against the crops of the farmers of Rome, while Sulla prohibited by law the magic practices which caused death and poisoning. The case of the philosopher and writer Apouliius (c. 135-170 AD), who was almost condemned for magic because he married a rich widow is indicative of the situation in the Early Christian period.46 Paulus the lawyer (early 3rd cent. AD) expressed the opinion that the professional magi should be burnt, while those who resorted to magic should be killed or exiled. The legislation became stricter after the predominance of Christianity. In 319 and 321 AD Constantine the Great prohibited divination, aggressive and erotic magic, but he permitted therapeutic magic and the magic which controlled the weather. Constantios II prohibited all the practices which were related with the old religion (divination, astrology, prophecy and magic). Eusebius of Caesarea in 335 AD refers to the use of curse tablets as clearly illegal. In 359 AD the Roman state executed those who were arrested to dig graves in order to perform magic rituals.47 In 371 AD a real chase was organised in Antioch, which resulted in the execution of Maximus of Ephesus. Finally, in 389 AD a decree issued by Theodosios I defined the denunciation of those who were involved in magic practices.48 |
1. Recent theoretical studies related with magic in Antiquity: Versnel, H.S., “Some Reflections on the Relationship Magic- Religion”, Numen 38 (1991), pp. 177-197; Garcia-Teijeiro, M., “Religion and Magic”, Kernos 6 (1993), pp. 123-138; Graf, F., Magic in the Ancient World (Berkeley 1997). 2. In the Homeric texts the concept of the professional magus does not exist. See also Eitrem, S., “La magie comme motif litteraire”, SO 21 (1941), pp. 39-83. Cure: Hom. Od. i203. Incantations: Furley, W.D., “Besprechung und Behandlung: Zur Form und Funktion von επωιδαί in der griechischen Zaubermedizin ", in Most, G.W. - Petersman, H. - Ritter, A.M. (eds.), Philanthropia kai eusebeia. Festschrift für Albrecht Dihle zum 70. Geburtstag (Göttingen 1994), pp. 80-104. Necromancy: Hom., Od. ia. 3. Her., Phil., pas. 12 b, 14 a D-K, in Klem. Al., Protr. 22. There is still a debate whether Klemes quotes the passage in the original or he modernises it according to the linguistic rules of his era (3rd cent. AD). Cf. Papatheophanes, M., “Heraclitus of Ephesus, the Magi and the Achaemenids”, Iranica Antiqua 20 (1985), pp. 101-107. For the history of the term “magus” cf. Nock, A.D., “Paul and the Magus”, in Foakes-Jackson, F.J. - Lake, K. (eds.), The Beginnings of Christianity (London 1920), pp. 164-188, and recently Bremer, J., “The Birth of the Term “Magic””, ZPE 126 (1999), pp. 1-12. 4. The magi as Persians: Hdt. 1.101. Ritual responsibilities: Hdt. 1.107-108, 120, 128, 132, 140, 7.19, 37, 43, 113, 191; Xanth., FGrHist 765 F 31-32; Pseudo-Plato, Alcibiades 1.122A; Xen., ΚΠ 4.5.14, 7.5.57. Ostanes: Bidez, J. - Cumont, F., Les Mages héllenisés. Sous-titre, Zoroastre, Ostanès et Hystaspe d'après la tradition grecque Ι (Paris 1938), pp. 167-212, and II, pp. 267-356. Cf. De Jong, A., Traditions of the Magi. Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin Literature (Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 133, Leiden — New York — Koln 1997). 5. Soph., ΟΤ 387-389; Eur., Ic. 1110, ΙΤ 1338, Or. 1497; Hipp. Hier. Nous., ch. 2. Tsantsanoglou, K., "The First Columns of the Derveni Papyrus and their Religious Significance", in Laks, A. — Most, G. (eds.), Studies on the Derveni Papyrus (Oxford 1997), pp. 9-22. The term ‘mageia’ appears in Helen by Gorgias (late 5th cent. BC) and then in the Hellenistic period: Theocr. 9.15.7; Arstl., pas. 36 Rose. According to Photius, see entry “magi”, it appears for the first time in Attic drama. 6. Resurrection of the dead: Theopomp. Hist., FGrHist 115 F 64; According to Kingsley, P., "Greeks, Shamans and Magi", Studia Iranica 23 (1994), pp.187-198, the Greeks considered the Persians de facto practitioners of the magical art because they were able to control the weather and intervene to death. Silent prayers: Van der Horst, P.W., "Silent Prayer in Antiquity", Numen 41 (1994), pp. 1-25. 7. Burkert, W., "Γόης: Zum griechischen Shamanismus", RhM 105 (1962), pp. 36-55. Other frequent terms are ‘pharmacos’, ‘pharmaceus’ and ‘pharmaces’ (preparing magical potions and poisons), ‘psychagogos’ (leader of the psyche’ and ‘risotomos’ (collector of herbs for preparing potions). 8. Jordan, D.R., "A Survey of Greek Defixiones not included in the Special Corpora", GRBS 26 (1985), pp. 151-197 (from which the definition is quoted); Gager, J.G. (ed.), Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World (Oxford - New York 1992). The term ‘katadesmos’ occurs on sheets since 500 BC and in Plat., Pol. 364, as well as in later texts (e.g. Orph., Lith. 588; Orph., Lith. Kerygm. 20.19 [Halleu-Schamp]). In certain texts of the Roman period the terms ‘desmos’ and ‘desmion’ are used with the same connotation: Hiamvl., Myst. 3.27.3. 9. Hom., Il. ΣΤ 168. It is also likely that the letter ordered to kill Bellerophon: Ogden, D., "Binding Spells: Curse Tablets and Voodoo Dolls in the Greek and Roman Worlds", in Ankarloo, B. - Clark, S. (ed.), The Athlone History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe 2. Greco-Roman World (Philadelphia 1999), p. 10. 10. Definition of the categories: Faraone, C.A., "The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells", in Faraone, C. — Obbink, D. (eds.), Magika Hiera, Ancient Greek Magic and Religion (New York - Oxford 1991), pp. 3-32. Judicial prayers: Versnel, V.S., "Beyond cursing. The Appeal to Justice in Judicial Prayers", in Faraone, C. — Obbink, D. (eds.), Magika Hiera, Ancient Greek Magic and Religion (New York - Oxford 1991), pp. 60-106. Judicial curse tablets: Faraone, C.A., "Curses and Social Control in the law courts of classical Athens", Dike. Rivista di storia del diritto greco ed ellenistico 2 (1999), pp. 99-121. Curse tablets for the hippodrome in Antioch: Seyrig, H., "Notes archeologiques 4: Amulette et sortileges d'Antioche", Berytus 2 (1935), pp. 48-50 (9 horse effigies with inscriptions of the horses’ names or the horses’ names and the names of their riders). 11. Curse tablets from Cnidus: Audollent, A., Defixionorum tabellae quotquot innotuerunt tam in graecis Orientis quam in totius Occidentis partibus praeter atticas in Corpore inscriptionum atticarum editas (Paris 1904), no. 1-13. Asia Minor curse tablet with holes: Dunant, C., "Sus aux voleurs! Une tablette en bronze à inscription grecque du Musée de Genève", MH 35 (1978), pp. 241-244. 12. See Petzl, G., "Die Beichtinschriften Westkleinasiens", EA 22 (1994), the whole volume. 13. Upper valley of the Meander: Dörner, F.K., "Eine neue Fluchtafel", JÖAIBeibl. 32 (1940), pp. 63-72. Claudiopolis: Cormack, M.R., "A Tabella Defixionis in the University of Reading, England", HTR 44 (1951), pp. 25-34. Istanbul Museum: Moreaux, P., Une défixion judiciaire a Musée d'Istanbul, Mémoires de l’Académie Royale de Belgique. Classe des Lettres 54,2 (Bruxelles 1960);. Libanius: Liban., Orat. 1, 247-250. 14. Tatia: TAM 5.1, no. 318. To set up the scepter is a practice typical of the confession texts: cf. Naour, C., "Nouvelles inscriptions du moyen Hermos", EA 2 (1983), pp. 107-122. Curse tablet from Cnidus: Audollent, A., Defixionorum tabellae quotquot innotuerunt tam in graecis Orientis quam in totius Occidentis partibus praeter atticas in Corpore inscriptionum atticarum editas (Paris 1904), no. 4. 15. Kolossos from Smyrna: Haynes, D.L.E., "A Group of East Greek Bronzes", JHS 72 (1952), p. 75, no. 9, pl. ΙIc. Inscriptions from Sardis: Graf, F., "An Oracle against Pestilence from a Western Anatolian Town", ZPE 92 (1992), pp. 267-279. Inscription of Syedra: Sokolowski, F., "Sur l'oracle de Claros destiné à la ville de Syedra", BCH 92 (1966), pp. 519-522. Cf. Faraone, C., "Binding and Burying the forces of evil: the defensive use of voodoo dolls in Ancient Greece", ClassAnt 10 (1991), pp. 165-205. 16. Phrygian defixiones: Legrand, E. - Chamonard, J., "Inscriptions de Phrygie I", BCH 17 (1893), p. 250 ff. Curse tablets in graves of children: Jordan, D.R., "New Archaeological Evidence for the Practice of Magic in Classical Greece", in Πρακτικά 12ου Διεθνούς Συνεδρίου Κλασικής Αρχαιολογίας, Αθήνα 1983 4 (Athens 1988), pp. 273-277. Dead of a violent death: Johnston, S.I., Restless Dead: Encounters between the living and the Dead in Ancient Greece (Berkeley 1999). Curse tablets were also placed on the icons of the martyr saints: Neilus of Ankara, Epist. 205. 17. Strubbe, J.H.M., ΑΡΑΙ ΕΠΙΤΥΜΒΙΑΙ. Imprecations against Deprecators of the Grave in the Greek Epitaphs from Asia Minor (Kl.Ins. 52, Bonn1997). The flesh and bones of the dead were necessary ingredients for the Greek magi: Apul., Apolog. 3.17; Lucan., Pharsalia 6.438-830. 18. Tac., Ann. 2.69; Dio Cas. 57.18. 19. Barbaric names: Iamvl., Myst. 7.5; Luc., Hetair. D 4.6. Cf. Versnel, H.S., "Die Poetik der Zaubersprüche", in Schabert, T. - Brague, R. (eds.), Die Macht des Wortes (Munich 1997), pp. 233-297. The role of vowels in magic: Ruelle, C.-E., "Le chant des sept voyelles grecques", REG 2 (1889), pp. 38-44 and 393-395. Similar practices occur in the magical art throughout the world: Tambiah, S.J., "The Magical Power of Words", Man 3 (1968), pp. 175-208. 20. Robinson, D.M., "A Magical Inscription from Pisidian Antioch", Hesperia 22 (1953), pp. 172-174. 21. Wunsch, R., "Deisidaimoniaka", ARW 12 (1909), pp. 24-32, no. 4. 22. Two probably Asia Minor examples: see Keil, X., "Ein rätselhaftes Amulett", JÖAI 32 (1940), pp. 79-84 (4th cent. AD); Kotansky, R., Greek Magical Amulets. The inscribed gold, silver, copper and bronze lamellae. Part I. Published Texts of Known Provenance (Papyrologica Coloniensia XX/1, Opladen 1994), pp. 167-168, no. 33 (3rd cent. AD, Colonia Archelais). The second one bears a complete Hebrew inscription. 23. Gager, J.G. (ed..), Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World (Oxford - New York 1992), pp. 10-11. 24. Wunsch, R., Antikes Zaubergerät aus Pergamon (Jahrbuch des Kaiserlich Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. Ergänzungsheft VI, Berlin 1905). A similar tool was found In Apamea in Syria: Donnay, G., "Instrument divinatoire d'époque romaine", in Balty, J. (ed.), Fouilles d’Apamée de Syrie (Bruxelles 1984), pp. 203-210. 25. Kotansky, R., Greek Magical Amulets. The inscribed gold, silver, copper and bronze lamellae. Part I. Published Texts of Known Provenance (Papyrologica Coloniensia XX/1, Opladen 1994), pp. 202-205, no. 37. 26. Alexander of Tralleis ΙΙ, p. 581 (Puschmann). This is the verse Β 95 from the Iliad. The same practice is known from the Egyptian Magical Papyri: Bentz, B.D., The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells IV (Chicago 19922), col. 2145-2150. 27. Cf. mainly Bonner, C., Studies in Magical Amulets chieftly Graeco-Egyptian (Ann Arbor 1950). An example from Chalcedon (2nd cent. AD) with depiction of Chnoubis, a daemon with a lion head in a reptile body: Philipp, H., Mira et Magica: Gemmen in Aegyptischen Museum der Staatlichen Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Mainz 1986), no. 127, pl. 32. 28. Suid., see entry «Εφέσια γράμματα». 29. Hecate: Johnston, S.I., Hekate Soteira: a Study of Hekate 's Roles in the Chaldaean Oracles and Related Literature (Atlanta 1990). Seth: Wunsch,R., Sethianische Verfluchtungstafeln aus Rom (Leipzig 1898). Moses: Gager, J.G., Moses in Graeco-Roman Paganism (Nashville 1972). Jao, angels and Hebrew daemons: Plin., HN 30.11; Orig. Against Celsus 4.33 ff. 30. Plin.., HN 28.3.10-11, 28.4.19, 30.1.1-2. 31. Artem., Oneir. 1.77: dreaming of wool bands means magic and binding spells. 32. Luck, G., "Witches and Sorcerers in Classical Literature", in Ankarloo, B. — Clark, S. (ed.), The Athlone History of Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, 2. Greco-Roman World (London 1999), p. 204. 33. Migne, A., Patrologia Graeca, 36, 381 A. 34. Schwartz, E. (ed.), Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum ΙΙ (Leipzig 1914-1927). The phylacteries were very popular among the Christians, judging by their great number in the Early Byzantine Period: Russell, J., "The Archaeological Context of Magic in Early Byzantine Period", in Maguire, H. (ed.), Byzantine Magic (Washington D.C. 1995), pp. 35-50. 35. Luc., Pseudopr., Philops., Men., Etair. D. 4.286. The works which reveal the fraud of the magi were also popular: Dickie, M.W., "Varia Magica", Tyche 14 (1999), pp. 70-72. 36. Luc., Philops. 34-36. Apollonius: Philostr., Appol. 6.1.9-11. Cyprianus: Pseudo-Cyprianus, Apologia 3; Graf, F., "The Magician's Initiation", Helios 21 (1994), pp. 161-177. 37. Festugière, A.-J., "L'expérience religieuse du médecin Thessalos", Revue Biblique 48 (1939), pp. 45-77. 38. Celsus considered the miracles of Jesus as the works of a vicious and evil daemon: Orig., Against Celsus 1.71. Accusations against miracle doers: Kolenkow, A.B., "A Problem of Power: How Miracle Doers Counter Charges of Magic in the Hellenistic World", Society of Biblical Literature 1976, Seminar Papers, pp. 105-110. 39. Cf. the recent study by Van Liefferinge, C., La Théurgie des Oracles Chaldaïques à Proclus (Supplement Kernos 9, Liege 1999). The most eminent representative of the movement in the East, the Syrian Iamvlychos, made a radical distinction between magic and theurgy. 40. Eunap., Soph.Vit. (1849), pp. 473-475. 41. Martroye, F., "La répression de la magie et le culte des Gentils au IVe siècle", Revue historique de droit français et étranger, Ser. IV 18 (1930), pp. 669-701. 42. Acts 19.19. 43. Cross and magic: Alex. Tral. 1.15.44, Puschmann, T. (ed.) (Wien 1878) 1, p. 567. Relics and black magic: Ioul., Gal. 339Ε. Worship of saints and magic: Βακαλούδη, Α., «Αποτροπαϊκά φυλακτά της Πρώτης Βυζαντινής Περιόδου: η λειτουργία των απεικονίσεων και των επωδών. Ο ρόλος των Χριστιανών Αγίων», Βυζαντινά 19 (1998), pp. 207-224. 44. Cf. the case of the administrator of Suria Anatolius (578-582 AD): Bidez, J. - Parmentier, L., The Ecclesiastic History of Evagrius and the Scholia, vol. 18 (London 1898), pp. 212-213. Also, the case of bishop Sophronius in the records of the meeting of Ephesus: Peterson, E., Frühkirche, Judentum und Gnosis (Freiburg 1959), pp. 222-245. 45. Latte, K., Heiliges Recht: Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der sakralen Rechtformen in Griechenland (Tübingen 1920), p. 17 ff. The ‘pharmaca’ (drugs) can be either poisons in the usual sense or magical potions, as the definition of the word ‘pharmacon’ is twofold, meaning both drug and potion: Plat., Pol. 1, 364 Γ. 46. Twelve Tablets: Apul., Apolog. 47; Plin., HN 28.17-18. Sulla’s law (lex Cornelia de sicariis et veneficis): Digest 48.8. Paul: Sententiae 5.23.15-18, in Baviera, Ι., Fontes Iuri Romani Anteiustiniani 2 (Firenze 1940), p. 401. Apuleus: Abt, A., Die Apologie des Apuleus von Madaura unt die antike Zauberei: Beiträge zur Erläuterung der Schrift de magia (Giessen 1908). 47. Ammian. Marc. 19.12.14. 48. Ioan., Chrys. Υπόμνημα εις τας πράξεις των Αποστόλων, Ομιλίαι ΑΗ'; Lith. 73-74; Eus., Const. 13; Ammian. Marc., Res Gest. 19.12.14 ; Theod.Cod. 9.16.11. |