Bøger af Attilio Mastrocinque

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.

Why did the Romans worship a Persian god? This book presents a new reading of the Mithraic iconography taking into account that the cult had a prophecy. It is likely that the Mithraic reliefs alluded to it and the scenes in the upper panels depict the Golden Age which was the final result of many apocalyptic, prophetic texts including the 4th Eclogue of Virgil. The Avesta, the Vedas, and Herodotus associate Mithras with the morning star and the dawn and this god was the mediator between darkness and light. Additionally, Mithras was a protector of rulers and, similar to Apollo, arbiter and mediator between opposite elements, and saviour of humankind. For these reasons he was ideal to become the god of Augustus and the Roman emperors.

La domus del Mitreo a Tarquinia presenta i risultati della ricerca archeologica a Tarquinia dal 2016 al 2018. Lo scavo di un grande complesso ha fornito documentazione della Tarquinia romana tra il III secolo a.C. e la tarda antichità. Chiodi votivi inscritti in latino e una fontana con un serbatoio d'acqua nascosto nelle sue pareti sono caratteristiche originali di questo edificio, da cui è venuta alla luce anche una statua di Mitra. I risultati mostrano due fasi principali: una nel II secolo a.C. e un'altra in età augustea. Anche le fasi finali sono importanti: nel IV secolo si verificò un crollo e l'area fu rialzata e livellata quasi ovunque e infine abbandonata nel VII secolo.La domus del Mitreo a Tarquinia presents the results of archaeological research in Tarquinia from 2016 to 2018. The excavation of a large complex provided us with rich documentation of Roman Tarquinia between the 3rd century BCE and Late Antiquity. Votive nails inscribed in Latin and a fountain with a water reservoir concealed in its walls are original features of this building, from which a statue of Mithras also came to light. The results show two main phases: one in the 2nd century BCE and another in the Augustan Age. The final phases are also important: in the 4th century a collapse occurred and the area was raised and flattened almost everywhere and finally abandoned in the 7th century.