' ▁En com ium ▁of ▁Helen . ▁In ▁Soph oc les ' ▁play , ▁for ▁example , ▁the ▁character ▁O ed ip us ▁der og ator ily ▁refers ▁to ▁the ▁se er ▁T ires ius ▁as ▁a ▁mag os — in ▁this ▁context ▁meaning ▁something ▁a kin ▁to ▁' qu ack ' ▁or ▁' char lat an ' — reflect ing ▁how ▁this ▁ep ith et ▁was ▁no ▁longer ▁reserved ▁only ▁for ▁Pers ians . ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁first ▁century ▁B CE , ▁the ▁Greek ▁concept ▁of ▁the ▁mag os ▁was ▁adopted ▁into ▁Latin ▁and ▁used ▁by ▁a ▁number ▁of ▁ancient ▁Roman ▁writers ▁as ▁mag us ▁and ▁mag ia . ▁The ▁earliest ▁known ▁Latin ▁use ▁of ▁the ▁term ▁was ▁in ▁Vir g il ' s ▁E c log ue , ▁written ▁around ▁ 4 0 ▁B CE , ▁which ▁makes ▁reference ▁to ▁magic is … ▁sac ris ▁( mag ic ▁r ites ). ▁The ▁Rom ans ▁already ▁had ▁other ▁terms ▁for ▁the ▁negative ▁use ▁of ▁super natural ▁powers , ▁such ▁as ▁ven ef icus ▁and ▁s aga . ▁The ▁Roman ▁use ▁of ▁the ▁term ▁was ▁similar ▁to ▁that ▁of ▁the ▁Gree ks , ▁but ▁placed ▁greater ▁emphas is ▁on ▁the ▁jud icial ▁application ▁of ▁it . ▁Within ▁the ▁Roman ▁Empire , ▁laws ▁would ▁be ▁introduced ▁criminal ising ▁things ▁regarded ▁as ▁magic . ▁In ▁ancient ▁Roman ▁society , ▁magic ▁was ▁associated ▁with ▁soci eties ▁to ▁the ▁east ▁of ▁the ▁emp ire ; ▁the ▁first ▁century ▁CE ▁writer ▁Pl iny ▁the ▁E lder ▁for ▁instance