So, I was thinking about the rise of Magic in the 5th Astral Era, and I was wondering ... is that a misnomer?

We know that White Magic, Black Magic and the Scholarly Arts were all discovered in the 5th astral era ... but Summoning seems to date back to the Allagan Empire.

But if Summoning was around then - in addition to all the 'magic' in the Crystal Tower and the Binding Coil - not to mention the Rivenroad and the Lunar Transmitter and the guy who sealed Odin in a crystal - then how was magic only discovered in 5th Astral and not 3rd Astral when the Allagans were around.

Is all of the Allagan magic just sufficiently advanced technology? And if so then where does that put PC summoners?

It's been confounding me for a little bit ... because there's a lot of stuff we recognise as magic in The Crystal Tower particularly (Scylla mostly) but the Allagans shouldn't have really had ... magic ...

Anyway, what's the deal with this?