The popular image of a wizard in the western world today is an old man in a robe chanting in Latin to fling fire and lighting and the like. How was it seen in the past? What did ancient, and not so ancient, peoples think of when they thought of magic? How did it function, what were it's rules, and how was it viewed?
Edit:I don't need an answer for every possible culture. If people could just answer these questions for whichever culture they have the best knowledge of, I'd really appreciate it!
What is "ancient culture?" What is "ancient, and not so ancient?" You will need to be a bit more specific, here. If you mean the ancient Greco-Roman world, roughly 1000 BCE to 500 CE and spanning geography from the Black Sea to Cadiz, from Germany to the pre-Sahara, then it is a gigantic topic to say the least. We can give you anecdotes in place and time, but any comprehensive answer to this question would require books--multiple books!