"Spells and herbs, spirits and gods, curses and blessings, prophecies and oracles, they were all the domain of the magic and crafts of the magician for the people living in the ancient and late antique Mediterranean (1st-7th centuries CE). The people who practiced magic were among the most persecuted communities in the Roman Empire and have often been presented as living on the margin and under secrecy, despised by the cultural elites and politicians of the Roman Empire."
"Moreover, magic in the Greco-Roman context also meant a system of values that the magicians and their believers subscribed to, claiming to access something otherworldly. To be a brilliant magician meant to insightfully exploit one's psychological feelings and offer magic as a spiritual shelter to people who sought love and hate, who desired and wished for more than they already owned, and this was something Alexander of Abunoteichos (105-170) was really good at."
Magic was pervasive across the Greco-Roman Mediterranean from the 1st to 7th centuries CE, encompassing spells, herbs, spirits, gods, curses, blessings, prophecies, and oracles. Practitioners of magic endured persecution and social contempt but maintained deep involvement in local personal life and enjoyed laity popularity and economic benefit. Magicians claimed mediation between people and gods, cultivating credibility through practices that produced effective psychological or material results. Magic formed a value system among practitioners and believers, offering spiritual shelter and exploiting psychological needs for love, hate, desire, and ambition. Alexander of Abunoteichos exemplified such skill and fame, bolstered by an Egyptian apprenticeship that enhanced perceived reliability.
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