Early Greek alchemy, Patronage and Innovation in Late Antiquity provides
an example of the innovative power of ancient scholarly patronage by
looking at a key moment in the creation of the Greek alchemical
tradition. This study analyzes the descriptions of learned magoi in
several texts from the second to the fourth century CE and demonstrates
the ambiguities of this term and its association in polemical and
satirical contexts with flatterer-like figures (kolakes) and client
scholars who exerted undue influence over patrons. The first known
author of alchemical commentaries, Zosimus of Panopolis (ca. 300 CE),
presented himself neither as a magos nor as an alchemist and criticized
rivals for patronage as magoi and demon-worshippers. This study
concludes that alchemical texts were first introduced among other Greek
scholarly traditions when Zosimus annexed Egyptian temple rituals into
the ambit of paideia thanks to the support and venue provided by his
patroness.