No More Horsing Around - The Impact of Magic in Ancient Roman Chariot Racing

Past and ongoing research concerning horses in antiquity is particularly concerned with their military and economic capabilities as well as their symbolic associations with wealth and status. This paper aims to add a new dimension to this scholarship by considering horses and magic. This will shed fresh light on the significance of horses in magical practices through discussion of their importance and popularity in Ancient Roman culture, especially chariot racing. By analysing a range of literary and material evidence for horses as targets and/or victims of magical practices, the paper seeks to provide better understanding of the connection between horses and magic in the Roman world. In the process, it will also explore how evidence for certain magical practices attributes a considerable degree of agency to animals as well as humans. For example, curse tablets and mosaics featuring named racing horses are examined alongside the writings of Livy, Martial, Lucian and Pliny the Elder. By considering this body of evidence in a new way that applies ideas from post-humanist approaches to horses and magic, a more holistic view of the complex and changing attitudes towards horses and magic in the ancient world can be fostered.

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