Polymnia. Studi di Archeologia n.10

This paper’s aim is to provide an overview of a crucial problem in the study of late antiquity, that is the dialectic between monotheistic traditions and the various polytheisms of the ancient world. This problem is tackled with the aid of some methodological tools made available thanks to recent anthropological research which helps frame the specificity of the christian monotheism and its ways of dealing with and absorbing some ritual traditions of late antiquity. The cursory analysis of ancient sources, namely concerning what modern scholarship classifies as ‘magic’, shows the fruitfulness of such approach.