Magi (; singular magus ; from Latin magus) denotes followers of Zoroastrianism or Zoroaster. The earliest known use of the word Magi is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Persian texts, pre-dating the Hellenistic period, refer to a Magus as a Zurvanic, and presumably Zoroastrian, priest. Pervasive throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia until late antiquity and beyond, magos, "magician", was influenced by (and eventually displaced) Greek goes (goes), the older word for a practitioner of magic, to include astrology, alchemy and other forms of esoteric knowledge.
The oldest surviving Greek reference to the magi - from Greek magos (magos, plural: magoi) - might be from 6th century BCE Heraclitus (apud Clemens Protrepticus 12), who curses the magi for their "impious" rites and rituals. A description of the rituals that Heraclitus refers to has not survived, and there is nothing to suggest that Heraclitus was referring to foreigners. Better preserved are the descriptions of the mid-5th century BCE Herodotus, who in his portrayal of the Iranian expatriates living in Asia minor uses the term "magi" in two different senses. In the first sense (Histories 1.101), Herodotus speaks of the magi as one of the tribes/peoples (ethnous) of the Medes. In another sense (1.132), Herodotus uses the term "magi" to generically refer to a "sacerdotal caste", but "whose ethnic origin is never again so much as mentioned." According to Robert Charles Zaehner, in other accounts, "we hear of Magi not only in Persia, Parthia, Bactria, Chorasmia, Aria, Media, and among the Sakas, but also in non-Iranian lands like Samaria, Ethiopia, and Egypt. Their influence was also widespread throughout Asia Minor. It is, therefore, quite likely that the sacerdotal caste of the Magi was distinct from the Median tribe of the same name." Other Greek sources from before the Hellenistic period include the gentleman-soldier Xenophon, who had first-hand experience at the Persian Achaemenid court. In his early 4th century BCE Cyropaedia, Xenophon depicts the magians as authorities for all religious matters (8.3.11), and imagines the magians to be responsible for the education of the emperor-to-be.

Q: Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
A: oldest surviving Greek reference to the magi - from Greek magos (magos, plural: magoi) - might be from 6th century BCE Heraclitus

Q: What else was known
A: who curses the magi for their "impious" rites and rituals.
What stood out in this article
Other Greek sources from before the Hellenistic period include the gentleman-soldier Xenophon, Better preserved are the descriptions of the mid-5th century BCE Herodotus, Better preserved are the descriptions of the mid-5th century BCE Herodotus, Herodotus uses the term "magi" to generically refer to a "sacerdotal caste", but "whose ethnic origin is never again so much as mentioned. Herodotus, who in his portrayal of the Iranian expatriates living in Asia minor uses the term "magi" in two different senses.
Herodotus, who in his portrayal of the Iranian expatriates living in Asia minor uses the term "magi" in two different senses.