Hippolytus of Rome, that controversial early Church Father, wrote a Refutation of All Heresies, arguing that the heretics were continuators of the ancient and false pagan philosophies; so he began with controverting the philosophies. Between refuting astrology and Zoroastrianism, he devotes an extensive section to the conjuring tricks of the Magi, from faked divinations to making the dead appear. This pamphlet is an extensive commentary on the section, prefaced with a consideration of the sources, composition and purpose of the section, and its relation to the natural science and natural magic of antiquity.