Review by for Magic in the Roman World: Pagans, Jews and Christians Rating:
The latest work by Naomi Janowitz of UC Davis and Hebrew University is a fast-paced and well-organized treatment of “magic” in the first three centuries. “Magic”, as Janowitz shows, was at this time very much defined by those who were hoping to discredit a ritual or practice of another party, and was in most cases merely an adjective of disparagement used by the competition. To those using it, magic wasn’t magic at all, rather magic was power and efficacy steeped in ritual. Discussions include Greco-Roman, Christian, and Jewish concepts of magic, theories on daemons and angels, cursing and binding spells, practices of divination and deification, and a focus on the gender bias against women in the practice of magic throughout the period. I found the book a breath of fresh air, and an enormous step forward, not least of which in the portions dealing with women’s issues, which should prove a major contribution to women’s studies in late antiquity. But also the bibliography alone is worth noting as it is extensive and reveals the wide range of sources brought to the topic, and is alone worth the price of the text. The book is not long and can be easily read, even by a newcomer to the topic, in one or two sittings.
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(out of 1 reviews)
Review by for Magic in the Roman World: Pagans, Jews and Christians
Rating:
The latest work by Naomi Janowitz of UC Davis and Hebrew University is a fast-paced and well-organized treatment of “magic” in the first three centuries. “Magic”, as Janowitz shows, was at this time very much defined by those who were hoping to discredit a ritual or practice of another party, and was in most cases merely an adjective of disparagement used by the competition. To those using it, magic wasn’t magic at all, rather magic was power and efficacy steeped in ritual. Discussions include Greco-Roman, Christian, and Jewish concepts of magic, theories on daemons and angels, cursing and binding spells, practices of divination and deification, and a focus on the gender bias against women in the practice of magic throughout the period.
I found the book a breath of fresh air, and an enormous step forward, not least of which in the portions dealing with women’s issues, which should prove a major contribution to women’s studies in late antiquity. But also the bibliography alone is worth noting as it is extensive and reveals the wide range of sources brought to the topic, and is alone worth the price of the text. The book is not long and can be easily read, even by a newcomer to the topic, in one or two sittings.