Journal for the Study of Judaism 52 (2021) 1–25 Journal for the Study of Judaism brill.com/jsj Hippocratic Diagnosis, Solomonic Therapy, Roman Amulets: Epilepsy, Exorcism, and the Diffusion of a Jewish Tradition in the Roman World Michael Zellmann-Rohrer | orcid: 0000-0002-5200-8480 University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany
[email protected] Abstract Two contrasting portraits of exorcism in the Roman period for patients with symptoms consistent with epilepsy, drawn by Josephus (A.J. 8.45–47) and Lucian (Philops. §16), illustrate a substantial albeit contested diffusion of that ancient technique from the Jewish tradition to a wider Mediterranean public. The process is reflected in a simi- larly complex traditional background and textual composition of a group of inscribed Greek amulets for epilepsy. A sidelight on attitudes towards the practice of exorcism, on its way to wider popularity, and the conception of epilepsy is cast by these amu- lets, which have not yet been studied as a group. Their texts witness the application of precise Greek medical terminology, yet to an end, and in a compositional company, that authors in the Hippocratic tradition would have rejected. More generally, the arti- facts offer a cross-section of amuletic practice and its diversity in the Roman and late ancient periods. Keywords epilepsy – exorcism – amulets – medicine The healing exorcism,1 the adjuration of a demon or personified illness to stop its maleficent activities, more particularly via an oath in the name of a 1 A fundamental survey is Thraede, “Exorzismus”; of the vast literature some recent works may be mentioned: Sorensen, Possession and Exorcism; Twelftree, Jesus the Exorcist; Leicht, © Michael Zellmann-Rohrer, 2021 | doi:10.1163/15700631-BJA10033 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0Downloaded license.