Final answer:
The Greeks did not originally use the term 'magus' to refer to unreliable Persian fortune-tellers. The term referred to respected Persian priests and wise men, and the association with deceitful magic came later due to Roman prejudices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that the Greeks used the word magus to refer to unreliable Persian fortune-tellers is false. In ancient times, the term magus was a Persian word for a priest or wise man, and this is how it was originally understood by the Greeks and Romans. Rather than seeing them merely as fortune-tellers, these magi were respected for their knowledge and skills. It was only later that the term became associated with magic and, by extension, with the idea of deception or the practice of 'bad' magic by unRoman outsiders from the East. The Romans did have a tendency to view magic and practitioners of magic suspiciously, often labeling it as foreign and unRoman, which may be the origin of any confused assumptions about the term 'magus' referring exclusively to unreliable practitioners.