ABSTRACT
Magicians in the Roman world did not enjoy complete freedom of action. There were three forms of constraint that the community imposed on them: there was the danger of being prosecuted for magic-working under the law; then there were the police actions that the authorities might take at any given time to eliminate magic-workers from their midst, either executing them or expelling them; finally, there were spontaneous actions on the part of the populace to drive out a known or suspected magician who was felt to be a threat to the well-being of the community. It is the two latter forms of action that are likely to have posed a greater threat to magic-workers than the danger of prosecution under the law. The dangers that magic-workers faced from prosecution under the law are not, however, to be discounted. It was unquestionably an instrument that could be used against them. The account that follows will encompass restrictions on being a magician not only in Rome itself, but also in the provinces of the Roman Empire and will cover the period from the Late Roman Republic to the time of Constantine.
