Magic in the Roman World: Pagans, Jews and Christians (Religion in the First Christian Centuries)

160 Pages·2001·0.74 MB·English

by  Naomi Janowitz

MAGIC IN THE
ROMAN WORLD
This volume demonstrates that the word “magic” was widely
employed in late antique texts as part of polemical attacks on
enemies – but at the simplest level it was merely a term used for
other people’s rituals.
The study begins by analysing Jewish, Christian and Greco-
Roman uses of the term in the first three centuries CE. The author
then turns to a series of in-depth examples of “magical” practice –
exorcisms, love rites, alchemy and the transformation of humans
into divine beings – examining how such rituals were thought to
work. The book ends with an exploration of issues of gender and
magic, looking at the reasons behind the over-representation of
women on charges of using magic.
Janowitz’s lively and accessible work illuminates the fact that
activities denounced as magical were integral to late antique religious
practice, and shows that they must be understood from the perspec-
tive of those who employed them.
Naomi Janowitz is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the
University of California-Davis. She is the author of Poetics of Ascent
(1989) and numerous articles on the religions of late antiquity.
RELIGION IN THE FIRST
CHRISTIAN CENTURIES
Edited by Deborah Sawyer and John Sawyer,
Lancaster University
The aim of the books in this series is to survey particular themes
in the history of religion across the different religions of antiquity
and to set up comparisons and contrasts, resonances and discon-
tinuities, and thus reach a profounder understanding of the religious
experience in the ancient world.
Also available in this series:
WOMEN AND RELIGION IN THE FIRST
CHRISTIAN CENTURIES
Deborah F. Sawyer
THE CRUCIBLE OF CHRISTIAN MORALITY
J. Ian H. McDonald
SACRED LANGUAGES AND SACRED TEXTS
John Sawyer
DEATH, BURIAL AND REBIRTH IN THE
RELIGIONS OF ANTIQUITY
Jon Davies
TEACHERS AND TEXTS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD:
PHILOSOPHERS, JEWS AND CHRISTIANS
H. Gregory Snyder
HOLINESS: RABBINIC JUDAISM AND THE
GRAECO-ROMAN WORLD
Hannah K. Harrington
MAGIC IN THE
ROMAN WORLD
Pagans, Jews and Christians
Naomi Janowitz
London and New York
First published 2001
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor &Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.
© 2001 Naomi Janowitz
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Janowitz, Naomi
Magic in the Roman World; pagans, Jews, and Christians/Naomi Janowitz.
p. cm. – (Religion in the first Christian centuries)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Magic, Ancient. 2. Rites and ceremonies–History. I. Title. II. Series.
BF1591.J36 2001
133.4309015–dc21
ISBN 0–415–20207–8 (pbk)
ISBN 0–415–20206–X (hbk)
ISBN 0-203-45764-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-76588-5 (Glassbook Format)
For Rebecca

CONTENTS
Preface ix
List of abbreviations x
Introduction 1
1 Greco-Roman, Christian and Jewish concepts
of “magic” 9
Pliny’s critique of the magi 13
The church fathers’ views of magic 16
Rabbinic classification of magic 20
2 Daimons and angels and the world of exorcism 27
The rise of angelology and daimonology 28
Daimons, possession and exorcism 36
3 Ancient rites for gaining lovers 47
4 Using natural forces for divine goals: Maria the
Jewess and early alchemy 59
5 Divine power, human hands: becoming
gods in the first centuries 70
The emergence of deification techniques 72
Deification techniques in early Christian texts 78
Ascent techniques routinized 80
vii
CONTENTS
6 “Even the decent women practice witchcraft”:
magic and gender in late antiquity 86
Concluding note: the legacy of the first centuries 97
Notes 101
Bibliography 117
Indexes 129
viii
PREFACE
When I was asked to write a book on magic in the first three
centuries I was not sure how to proceed, since, as the reader will
discover, this in my view is not a coherent topic. The result before
you, a short introduction to a bewildering topic, could be called
“The Artifice of Magic.” It begins with a review of the workman-
ship that went into ancient notions of “magic,” and includes some
comments on modern artifice as well. In the subsequent chapters I
ask the reader to explore a variety of once-maligned rituals without
using the word “magic.” Readers may wish to read the more
technical discussion of some of these rituals included in my book
Icons of Power: The Pragmatics of Late Antique Ritual, forthcoming
from Penn State Press.
Numerous teachers and students have helped me think over
ancient texts and modern methods, far too many to name. In
particular the students in my graduate seminar at Hebrew
University read and commented on various drafts and their
enthusiasm was critical to finishing the project.
Additional guidance came from the participants and audiences at
the symposium “Magic and Witchcraft in the Ancient, Medieval
and Renaissance Worlds” at the UCLA Center for the Study of
Women and at conferences in Israel organized by Moshe Idel,
Ithamar Gruenwald, Yuval Harrari and Michael Mach.
I want especially to thank John Sawyer, editor for the series The
First Christian Centuries, and Richard Stoneman at Routledge for
many good suggestions and for their patience. Technical questions
were answered by Tal Ilan, Brian Schmidt, and David Olster.
Editorial help came from Patricia Stuckey, Devorah Schoenfeld and
Andrew Lazarus. University of California Davis Research Grants
supported the work.
ix