Witchcraft # People have been accused of practicing witchcraft as early as Egyptian and Roman times. Early Christians persecuted many innocent people who rejected their beliefs for sorcery; as wizards, warlocks or witches. The first recorded victim was Hypatia, a Greek mathematician, astronomer, inventor, and philosopher in Egypt, then a part of the Eastern Roman Empire. She was the head of the Neoplatonic school at Alexandria, where she taught philosophy and astronomy.