An international team of scholars from different academic disciplines address some of the most important issues, texts, and objects in the study of ancient magic. The volume is divided into three primary sections. The first part offers new approaches to some of the major theoretical and methodological questions in the study of ancient magic. Most importantly, the authors offer a defense of the term "magic" as a scholarly rubric in the study of antiquity. The contributors to the second part provide novel interpretations of some of the most significant defixiones, amulets, recipes and rituals from the ancient world. The essays also engage with questions of gender, materiality, visuality, and scribal practice. The final section examines the transmission of magical practice, both in antiquity and in later periods. Accordingly, the chapters in this final section allow scholars to approach the study of magic over the longue durée. By placing into dialogue the interests, concerns, and methods of scholars from diverse academic fields, this volume provides an interdisciplinary perspective to the study of premodern magic.

Attilio Mastrocinque is full professor at the University of Verona and coordinator of the international doctorate in Arts and Archaeology (Ghent-Verona). Joseph E. Sanzo is associate professor at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. His research focuses on late antique Mediterranean ritual practices. Marianna Scapini is a tutor in Abingdon College, Oxford. Her research focuses on the divulgation and dissemination of Greek, Roman and Modern Italian history and culture by teaching and educational publishing.