Publication details
Vznik a vývoj konceptu magie v římském světě
| Title in English | Origin and Evolution of the Category Magic in the Roman World |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Religio : revue pro religionistiku |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Philosophy and religion |
| Keywords | magic; definition of magic; polis religion; magos; superstitio; Romanness |
| Description | This article maps the process leading to the reception and acculturation of the reflected category of magic by the Romans. This process commenced at the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, at the time of an increasingly intensive contact of the Roman world with neighboring cultures, and was finalized by the establishment of the Roman Empire at the end of the 1st century BCE. It is argued here that the Romans took over this category from the Greeks and started to use it, after necessary adaptations, to very similar purposes as the Greeks did: as a contrasting and antithetical category to Romanitas (Romanness) helping to define the acceptability of certain behaviors and ideas deemed to represent the core of civilizing efforts of (mainly) Roman political and cultural elites. |
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