Late Antiquity and Outlawed Magic

In the late antiquity people were certainly extremely superstitious. In my local web analytics company I read a lot of books that were written by outstanding writers of that time. I am talking not only about the great minds like Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, Apuleius and the like. They define superstition as fear of the gods that leads to the need to resort to magical rites and taboos, the consultation of professional sorcerers and witches, charms and spells, and unintelligible language in prayers addressed to the gods. Highly educated people of that time took for granted other magical practices, such as hurting someone by the evil eye. They also believed in daemons that serve as agents or links between gods and human beings and are responsible for many supernatural events in human life that are commonly attributed to divine intervention. Some daemons are good, some are evil, but even the good ones, in moments of anger, can do harmful acts. There was this usual hostility and animosity towards magic.

Great mind of that time were also convinced of the powers of certain herbs or roots as revealed to humanity by the gods. They argued that the divine powers in their concern for the welfare of humanity wish for humanity to discover the secrets of nature. For example, in their wisdom the gods sought to bring humans gradually closer to their status; which certainly many magical traditions seek. Thus, by acquiring knowledge one can aspire to gain knowledge even from the gods. Yet, even the author of Natural History Pliny, the Elder thought negatively of magic. He wrote that the claims of the professional magicians were either exaggerated or simply false. And those sorcerers who had written down their spells and recipes despised and hated humanity. Arts of the magicians of Rome were linked with the emperor Nero, whom Pliny claims had studied magic with the best teachers and had access to the best books, but was unable to do anything extraordinary.

Overall, attitude towards magic was extremely hostile in Roman empire. Practicing magic was outlawed under Roman law. It was very easy for a philosopher to be accused of magical practices. A consensus was established quite early in Roman history for the banning of anything viewed as harmful acts of magic. The Laws of the Twelve Tablets for example expressly forbid anyone from enticing his neighbors’ crops into his fields by magic. Actual trials for alleged violation of these laws were held in Rome many times. It is also recorded that Chaldean astrologers were expelled from Rome in 139 BC - on the grounds that they were magicians. In 33 BC astrologers and magicians are explicitly mentioned as having been driven from Rome. Twenty years later, Augustus ordered all books on the magical arts to be burned. In 16 CE magicians and astrologers were expelled from Italy, and this was reinstated by edicts of emperors Vespasian in 69 CE and Domitian in 89 CE. The emperor Constantine I in the 4th century CE issued a ruling to cover all charges of magic. In it he distinguished between helpful charms, not punishable, and antagonistic spells. In these cases Roman authorities specifically decided what forms of magic were acceptable and which were not. Those that were not acceptable were termed “magic”; those that were acceptable were usually defined as traditions of the state or practices of the state’s religions.