ABSTRACT

While the conversion of Constantine to Christianity and the subsequent triumph of that faith over its pagan competitors, whether monotheistic or polytheistic, may in some ways have made life more difficult for magicians, it certainly did not lead to their disappearance. Magic-working now came under attack on two fronts: it was prosecuted both by the civil authorities and by the Church, sometimes acting in concert. On the secular front, the imperial authorities periodically tried to tighten up legislation against magic-working, but this was hardly part of a concerted policy to clamp down on magicians and seers.