Magic As A Distinctive Category In Roman Thought

One of the difficulties of describing and interpreting almost any aspect of Roman culture is that of preserving a proper balance between overemphasizing what is peculiarly Roman and overstating the degree to which Roman culture had been hellenized. ¹ It is altogether too easy in this matter to take too extreme a stance: to adopt either the position that Roman institutions and literature are the products of native Roman genius or that Rome is little more than an extension of the Greek world. To make due allowance for what is distinctively Roman is a difficult business, since Greek influences were at work in Rome from its earliest beginnings and the resulting amalgam is hard to separate. So it is with magic.