Magi i antikens Rom : En undersökning av förbannelsetavlor

Sammanfattning: The practice of magic was common in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds. Curse tablets, astrology, divination and demonology were all common practices within the Ancient religions, but whether or not we can draw a distinct line between magic and religion in regards to ancient practices is a much more complicated and much discussed question. This study will be concerned with curse tablets in Latin from the Roman world. The time period will be focused on the second to the fourth centuries A.D. The ancient curse tablets can be divided into five categories, depending on what subject they are dealing with. These categories are: litigation curses, competition curses, trade curses, erotic curses and prayers for justice. This study will be looking at ways to define the modern concept of magic and set up a number of criteria that will be applied to different types of curse tablets in order to investigate if or to what degree curse tablets can be said to be dealing with magic. It will also investigate if certain categories of curse tablets can be said to be more magical than others. The study shows that all categories except prayers for justice relates well with the modern criteria for magic.