Los riesgos de navegar en el mundo romano y las prácticas mágicas para solventarlos

Abstract

While a superficial review of cross-cultural evidences concludes that the risks of sailing are conceptualized universally, a detailed analysis proves that it is not so. Furthermore, the sense of risk itself is a single an individualized perception, although subordinated to some shared cultural codes. All strategies to reduce perceived risk are valid, even magical practices if understood as a matter of rational choice. The perceived risks of organizing a maritime expedition and the magical practices performed by sailors at the end of the Republic and the Roman Principate were chosen to illustrate these issues