This course will offer an open-minded, comparative and multidisciplinary approach to a wide range of topics concerning magic and astrological traditions, the early formation of figures of witches, the gendering of magic, rituals, and cults of Late Antiquity, studied through a variety of sources, primarily textual, but with an occasional comparative look to material culture, such as iconography. We will start by examining the formation of the concept of Late Antiquity, and we will proceed to discuss the social and cultural uses of categories such as magic, cult, ritual, and religion, with their relevant traditions, discussed already by an author such as Cicero (d. 43 BCE) and at the school of Iamblichus (d. 325 CE). The process through which several and competing approaches to the domains of magic and ritual practices emerged, clashed, and merged in the Late Antique period across the Mediterranean basin, will be discussed critically. Topics of interest include the nature of magic and its relationship to religion, science, society, and culture; ritual practices; Mediterranean cults; practitioners of magic; women and the gendering of magic; magical language; magical objects; ancient figures of witches; astrology; alchemy; cosmology and the supernatural. As we examine these topics we will make sense of the techniques and devices used by the practitioners of magic or in the relation to cults and rituals as well as the ends to which the supernatural was employed in the Late Antique world.

Students will develop their knowledge of the complex world of Late Antique magic, cultic, and ritual theories and practices, and will learn how to relate those phenomena to the peculiar cultures, societies, identities of the Late Antique European and Mediterranean world. Particular attention will be placed to discussing critically and openly about causes, contexts, and outcomes. Students will develop skills in thinking, speaking, and writing critically about complex historical phenomena, through the examination of textual and non-textual primary sources and the evaluation of diverse interpretations of sources, events, and ideas.

ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS AND EXAMINATION POLICY
You cannot make-up a major exam (midterm or final) without the permission of the Dean’s Office. The Dean’s Office will grant such permission only when the absence was caused by a serious impediment, such as a documented illness, hospitalization or death in the immediate family (in which you must attend the funeral) or other situations of similar gravity. Absences due to other meaningful conflicts, such as job interviews, family celebrations, travel difficulties, student misunderstandings or personal convenience, will not be excused. Students who will be absent from a major exam must notify the Dean’s Office prior to that exam. Absences from class due to the observance of a religious holiday will normally be excused. Individual students who will have to miss class to observe a religious holiday should notify the instructor by the end of the Add/Drop period to make prior arrangements for making up any work that will be missed. The final exam period runs until ____________

Letter grades and corresponding percentages for this class:

94 – 100 points = A

90 – 93.99 pts = A-

87 – 89.99 = B+

83 – 86.99 = B

80 – 82.99 = B-

77 – 79.99 = C+

70 – 76.99 = C

60 – 69.99 = D

59.99 – 0 = F 

All readings except Janowitz’s book are available on Moodle

COURSE SCHEDULE

 Week 1

M         Course Intro: Late Antiquity: Peliminary Concepts

ü  Hervé Inglebert, “Introduction: Late Antique Conceptions of Late Antiquity”, in The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity, ed. by Scott Fitzgerald Johnson

W         Late Antiquity: An Age of Change

ü  Peter Brown, The Making of Late Antiquity, pp. 81-101 (“From the Heavens to the Desert”)

Week 2

M         Ancient Magic, Terminology, and Daemonology

ü  Georg Luck, Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds, pp. 33-59, 207-220, and 493-518 

W         The Invention of Paganism

ü  Doug Lee, Pagans and Christians in Late Antiquity, pp. 1-9, and pp. 116-137

Week 3

M         Curses, Mysteries, and Symbolism

Read one of these two essays:

ü  Alexander Rumble and Roger Beck, The Religion of the Mithras Cult in the Roman Empire: Mysteries of the Unconquered Sun, pp. 67-87 (“The Mithraic Mysteries as Symbol System: I. Introduction and Comparisons”)

ü  Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World, ed. by John G. Gager, pp. 3-29 ("Introduction")

W         Superstition, Magic, and Forbidden Beliefs

Read one of the following:

ü  John T.  McNeill, Medieval Handbooks of Penance, pp. 23-43 (The Penitentials), and pp. 419-421 (An Eight Century List of Superstition)

ü  William Klingshirn, "Isidore of Seville's Taxonomy of Magicians and Diviners", Traditio, pp. 59-90

 Week 4

M         Women and the Gendering of Magic

ü  Kimberly Stratton, Naming the Witch, pp. 71-105 (Women, Sex, and Magic in Roman Rhetoric and Ideology) 

W         Roman Witches

ü  Pauline Ripat, "Roman Women, Wise Women, and Witches", Phoenix (2016): 104-128

--- February 11 (Fri) Make-Up Class: Survival of Pagan Magic

ü  Luck, Arcana Mundi, pp. 457-474

 Week 5

M         Divination

ü  Luck, Arcana Mundi, pp. 285-287; 308-315; 328-330 (Cicero, text 82); 341-345 (Lucan, text 90); 345-347 (St. Paul, Text 91); 366-368 (Eunapius, Text 101)

W         Classical Traditions and Their Legacy

ü  Derek Collins, Magic in the Ancient Greek World, pp. 132-165 (Magic in Greek and Roman Law)

--- February 18 (Fri) Make-Up Class: Reflections on a "Clash of Cultures"

ü  Jaclyn Maxwell, “Paganism and Christianization”, in The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity, ed. by Scott Fitzgerald Johnson 

Week 6

M         Ritual Efficacy in Late Antiquity

ü  Naomi Janowitz, Icons of Power, Ch. 1

W         The Languages of Magic

ü  Naomi Janowitz, Icons of Power, Ch. 2

ü  Stanley J. Tambiah, “The Magical Power of Words”, Man, 2 (1968): 175-208

Week 7

M         The Use of Letters and Names in Rituals

ü  Naomi Janowitz, Icons of Power, Ch. 3 and 4

W         Late Antique Cosmologies

ü  Naomi Janowitz, Icons of Power, Ch. 5

Week 8   Take-Home Midterm Exam, Due on 10 March, 11:59PM

M        Magic Practices and Theories

ü  TV documentary screening

W         Jewish Magic: The Book of Secrets or Sefer HaRazim

ü  Naomi Janowitz, Icons of Power, Ch. 6

Week 9

M      Alchemy 

ü  Naomi Janowitz, Icons of Power, Ch. 7

W      Magic Traditions Between Egypt and Rome

ü  Attilio Mastrocinque, “Septimius Severus and Egyptian Magical Books”, Bandue 11 (2018-2019): 301-307

ü  David Frankfurter, “Native Egyptian Religion in Its Roman Guise”, Numen 43 (1996): 303-315.

Week 10 

M         Alien Sorcerers

ü  Ogden (Ed.), Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts, pp. 33-60

W         Magic and The Rivals of Jesus

ü  Ogden (Ed.), Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts, pp. 61-77

Week 11

M         Roman Witches in Literature and Art

ü  Elizabeth Ann Pollard, “Witch-Crafting in Roman Literature and Art: New Thoughts on an Old Image”, Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft 3 (2): 119-155

W         Discussing The Witches of Latin Tradition

ü  Daniel Ogden (Ed.), Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds, pp. 115-140

Week 12

M         Psychoactive Substances 

ü  Luck, Arcana Mundi, pp. 479-490

W         Medical Practices and Magic in Byzantium

ü  Gary Vikan, "Art, Medicine, and Magic in Early Byzantium”, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Vol. 38 (1984), pp. 65-86

Week 13

Paper: Due on 22 April, 11:59PM

M        No Class

W        Sorcery from Constantine to the 7th Century

ü  Matthew W. Dickie, Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World, pp. 273-281; 287-299; 304-321

Week 14

M         No Class

W         Conclusions and Review for Final Exam