Department Colloquium: Katharina Volk (Department of Classics, Columbia University) "Pythagoreanism, Magic, Child Sacrifice (and Other Pastimes of Late Republican Roman Senators)"

Speaker: Katharina Volk, Classics Professor, Columbia University

Title: Pythagoreanism, Magic, Child Sacrifice (and Other Pastimes of Late Republican Roman Senators)

Abstract: This talk shines light on a little-known chapter of late Republican intellectual history, showing that at a time when Cicero and Varro produced their pioneering works on philosophy, oratory, the Latin language, Roman antiquities, and many other scholarly topics, some of their fellow senators investigated more arcane subjects or even took active roles in magical and divinatory practices. Focusing on Nigidius Figulus, "Pythagorean and magician" (Jerome), with cameo appearances by Appius Claudius Caecus and Publius Vatinius, the talk discusses such un-Roman activities as astrology, Etruscan brontology, divination by child medium, necromancy, and human sacrifice.

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