The monograph published by Salvatore Costanza and Amphilochios Papathomas aims to analyse the phenomenon of Greek mantic practices—a field in which the authors have previously carried out significant research[1]—from a plurality of perspectives encompassing its social meaning, ideological implications, socio-economic dimensions, and the most relevant notions of religious life emerging from the documentation. As the authors themselves indicate in the title of the volume and in the Premessa, although the corpus under examination consists predominantly of papyri, inscriptions and literary sources are also included, thereby reinforcing the scope and scholarly rigour of the study.
With regard to the internal organisation of the monograph, it should be noted that each of the ten chapters following the introduction is divided into at least six sections, with some chapters comprising up to fourteen subsections. This meticulous visual presentation of the topics addressed constitutes one of the book’s main strengths, as it facilitates swift consultation oriented towards the reader’s specific interests. As can be seen from the Sommario, the volume is structured around thematic units and does not follow a chronological or geographical ordering of the materials examined.
Following a brief Premessa, the authors provide an introduction in which they clearly and concisely set out definitions, classifications, and the social significance of divination, together with a general overview of the development of the study of mantike in Antiquity. In the first chapter, entitled “La mantica come espressione di crisi, collettore di risposte socialmente orientate” and structured into six sections, divination is examined in relation to moments of crisis in the ancient and Byzantine periods. Costanza and Papathomas also analyse the tendency of ancient authors to trace mantic skills back to figures such as Pythagoras or Orpheus, and they emphasise both the adaptability of divination to each historical moment and specific context, as well as the mantis–client relationship and its consequences for the outcome of the transmitted message.
The second chapter, “Metodi divinatori attestati dalla documentazione e dalle fonti letterarie”, is divided into four sections and ten subsections. In this chapter, the authors offer an overview of the documentary diversity of ancient and medieval sources that provide evidence for the study of mantike, focusing on papyrological sources for hieroscopy, palmomancy, Homeromancy, and ceraunomancy (with references also to literary sources), on inscriptions for astragalomancy and ornithomancy, and on manuscripts for omoplatomancy, cheiromancy, elaiomancy, and alloiomancy in the medieval period.
In the third chapter, entitled “Distinzione di status sociale nella prassi divinatoria” and organised into two brief parts, the authors highlight social distinctions among different mantic practices and the individuals involved in them. To this end, they draw on a range of testimonies by ancient authors such as Isocrates, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Plutarch. Particularly noteworthy in this chapter is the inclusion of translations of some of the Greek texts cited (Isoc. Or.16, Aeginet. 5-7 on pp. 58–59; X. An. 5.6.28–29 on p. 61), which facilitates the reader’s understanding of the arguments presented and exemplified; more such translations in the volume would have further enhanced its accessibility for scholars interested in ancient and medieval divination who are not specialists in the Greek language.
The fourth chapter, “Profilo sociale dei professionisti della divinazione: evidenze mitiche e storiche”, organised into six sections, is devoted to the social status of individuals who practised divination professionally, as evidenced by both mythical texts (featuring figures such as Calchas, Teiresias, and Melampus) and historical sources (notably the dynasty of the Iamidae of Olympia), with the hieroskopoi occupying the highest rank. In this chapter, Costanza and Papathomas also examine the status of women—both mythical figures such as Cassandra and the nymphs, and historical ones such as the Pythia of Delphi and other anonymous female diviners (a topic treated in greater detail in Chapter 6)—as well as bisexual figures as professionals of divination (Teiresias on the mythical level, and the Enarei of Scythia and the eunuchs associated with the cult of Cybele on the historical level). The chapter concludes with two sections devoted to the families of manteis, the transmission of mantic skills, and the training pathways leading to the specialised practice of divination, thereby providing the reader with a comprehensive picture of who practised divination and how individuals came to engage in this activity.
The central figure involved in the practice of mantike shifts in the fifth chapter, the most extensive chapter of the volume. Entitled “Categorie di fruitori in base allo statuto sociale o professionale” and structured into eight sections and six subsections, this chapter examines the varied profiles of the clientele who turned to professional diviners: urban clients such as slaves, farmers, and hunters; users of military rank (ranging from anonymous individuals to Leonidas at Thermopylae and Alexander the Great during his Asian campaigns); as well as wealthy individuals and seafarers, among other groups. All of them sought guidance or information, for instance regarding expectations about their future financial situation, their health, prospects in athletic competitions, or safety in travel. Particularly noteworthy in this chapter is the quantity and diversity of testimonies employed to illustrate each of the categories analysed.
Returning to a topic previously addressed more succinctly, the sixth chapter, entitled “Presenza femminile e categorie etiche nei pronostici” focuses on the presence of women among the clientele of professional diviners—among whom consultation of the hieroskopoi is absent from the preserved sources—as well as on the themes that prompted their inquiries. Particularly prominent among these are issues related to marriage, censure, or violence inflicted upon them. The chapter also addresses references to erotic parts of the human body in such testimonies, as well as purity and binary opposition as fundamental criteria in Greek divination.
In the seventh chapter, “Eredità della mantica e rapporti con la prassi sociale in Egitto e nel Vicino Oriente”, the authors examine the ways in which Egyptian and Mesopotamian esoteric traditions influenced Greek mantike. Particular attention is paid to Semitic hieroscopy, as well as to bilingualism and the plurality of styles present in materials related to divination, especially from Late Antiquity. In the final eight pages of the chapter, the authors analyse Eastern influences on divination in the Byzantine period on the basis of testimonies by Psellos, alongside sections devoted to the ‘Turkish’ book of omoplatomancy, the ‘Persian’ book of palmomancy, geomancy derived from the Arabic tradition, and the Epistula ad regem Ptolomeum. This chapter thus offers an essential comparative study for understanding the practice of divination in Greco-Roman culture through multiple channels.
Continuing with the perceptible changes in the practice—rather than in the original conceptual framework—of Greek divination, the eighth chapter, “Metamorfismo della mantica e adattamento alla cristianizzazione della società del Mediterraneo”, addresses the ways in which divinatory practice was redefined from the fourth century CE onwards, within a context decisively shaped by the Christianisation of the Empire. Costanza and Papathomas focus in particular on transformations observable in propitiatory invocations—well attested in the practice of palmomancy and cleromancy and, more fragmentarily, in cheiromancy—as well as on adaptations and metamorphoses in the stylistic composition of divinatory treatises.
Of particular relevance for the study of authorship is the ninth chapter, entitled “Pseudoepigrafie e auctores ficti in prospettiva sociologica” in which the authors examine examples of the use of fictitious authors in ancient and medieval mantic treatises with the intention of ennobling the texts. Significant examples include a certain Eudemos in P. Ross. Georg. I 21 l. 71 and P. Gen. Inv. 161, fr. 4 l. 1, as well as references to Melampus and Phemonoe in minor divinatory works. Particular mention should be made of the spurious attribution to Pythagoras of the Sortes Astrampsychi and the divination table preserved in Laur. 28, 14.
The tenth chapter, entitled “Metamorfismo della mantica e adattamento nelle altre religioni monoteistiche e in gruppi minoritari”, is devoted to the analysis of certain aspects of Greco-Roman mantike that are closely connected with Jewish divination (such as the use of Psalms as sortes) and Islamic divinatory practices (geomancy, omoplatomancy, chiromancy, physiognomics, oneiromancy, palmistry, and the ninth-century Arabic translation of Artemidorus of Daldis’ Oneirocritica). The chapter also considers other groups, including the Copts (a Coptic papyrus with sortes) and the Manichaeans. Together with another chapter focused on a comparative study, the authors of the volume ensure that the reader understands Greek divination not as an idea or practice to be studied in isolation, but in constant dialogue with the diverse testimonies through which it is transmitted.
The volume concludes with concise final remarks in which the authors emphasise that the analysis of the materials presented allows for the delineation of a relatively well-defined social profile of the clientele of mantike, with particular attention to groups belonging to the marginal urban population of the Imperial period. The evidence examined further shows that the practice of traditional divination was not excluded following the consolidation of Christianity as the dominant religion of the Empire, but rather underwent various processes of adaptation and reformulation in accordance with the new religious framework.
Special note should be made of the high quality of the bibliographical apparatus accompanying the study. The extensive list of references at the end of the volume adds undeniable scholarly value to the work, while also facilitating consultation through the clear distinction between abbreviations, primary sources, and modern authors. This careful presentation and organisation of the material further enhances the book’s usefulness as a reference tool for the study of Greek mantic practices in antiquity and the medieval period.
A final aspect worthy of mention, both for its evident usefulness to the reader and for the additional scholarly value it confers on a publication of this level, is the inclusion of concluding indexes. In this case, they are arranged in three sections: Index rerum notabiliorum, Index fontium (itself subdivided into auctores vetustiores, auctores iuris, inscriptiones, papyri, and manuscripti Medii Aeui), and Index nominum. One may note, however, the absence of specific references to the defixiones mentioned in some chapters, whose inclusion would have further enhanced this research tool. In any event, the scope and careful compilation of the indexes allow for efficient access to the relevant material and highlight the richness, diversity, and density of the sources, themes, and individuals examined throughout the volume
For all these reasons, Costanza’s and Papathomas’ book stands as a major scholarly contribution to the study of such a specialised body of material as divinatory treatises. With considerable methodological rigour, the authors bring together papyrological, epigraphic, and literary evidence within an integrated framework that enables a nuanced understanding of divinatory practice across different contexts and purposes. The volume thus offers a further demonstration of the need not to dissociate different types of sources when aiming at a comprehensive analysis of a specific aspect of antiquity.
Notes
[1] E. g., S. Costanza, La divinazione greco-romana. Dizionario delle mantiche: metodi, testi e protagonisti (Forum, 2009); S. Costanza and A. Papathomas, “P. Ross. Georg. I 21: riedizione e commento del più esteso manuali di ieroscopia” (Archiv für Papyrusforschung, 67(1), 50-84, 2021); A. Papathomas, “Eine neue palmomantische Schrift der späteren Römerzeit: Unbekannte Fassung aus dem Melampus-Traktat?” (Paramone, Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebeite, 16, 18-46, 2004).