In a world where the supernatural was considered an everyday reality, the practice of magic was a source of deep anxiety and a subject for legal action. Both Greeks and Romans had laws that targeted what they considered to be harmful magic, or "black magic." This could include everything from casting a curse to creating love potions or using spells to harm a neighbor's crops. This episode casts a spellbinding look at the prosecution of magic in the ancient world. In Athens, magicians could be tried for impiety. In Rome, the Twelve Tables contained laws against charming away crops, and later laws under the empire made divination and astrology capital crimes if they could be interpreted as treasonous. We explore real accounts of magic trials, which often involved accusations of poisoning and other dark deeds. The laws against magic reveal the fears and superstitions that lay just beneath the surface of these rational societies. They show how the legal system was used to police the boundaries between acceptable religious ritual and dangerous, illicit supernatural practices. This is a journey into the dark and mysterious side of classical law.