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    S CHAPTER S "DECLINE AND TRANSMISSION Roman Empire and Astrology started to decline by the third century, facing an increasing military threats as wells internal instability in the political ecline ofthe Roman Empirecoincided witha declinein the practice astrology, both due to aloss of learning and literacy in the wake of /oFthe state, and also due to changing intellectual, social, and religious from the rise in popularity of Christianity. From a social gh some astrological motifs appear in the New Testament, about the magi interpreting the Star of Bethlehem as signifying after the frst century CE, mainstream Christianity became stile towards astrology.’ point of contention seems to have been the belief that many the extent to which thiags were fated. This brought astrology into hristian thinkers who associated fatalism with astrology, which orejectfortheologicalreasons” Afe the fist century a number of and church fathers wrote sharp polemics against astrology the two subjects were seen as intertwined. The fourth-century John Chrysostom said “in truth, no doctrine isso depraved and attitudes toward astrology see Hegedus, Early Christianity and Ancient Denzey Lewis, Cosmology and Fate, Tere is also a nice treatment of hove with the Sear of Bethlehem issue the fst four centuries CP in Denzcy, A Horizon” Hepes, Early Christian and Ancient Astrology p23; 1L3-115. ‘bordering on incurable madness as the doctrine of fate and astrology While there were some Gnostic Christian sects that incorporated astrology into their belief systems, many of them were marginalized and eventually stamped out as orthodox Christianity became more clearly defined.* ‘A major turning point came inthe year 313 when the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire. This would ultimately have negative consequences for the practice of astrology, because while Roman rulers had unsuccessfully attempted to impose bans on astrology over the centuries for political reasons, the changing theological climate would prove much more effective in curbing the acceptance of astrology among the general populice. Hegedus explains that “Christian opponents of astrology were as far back as the first century had occasionally imposed bans on for political reasons, these bans were often of a temporary character, o not appear to have been tzribly effective at stemming the tide of the ce of astrology. The new combination of both political and religious against astrology proved to be much more effective. In some ways sm ofthe astrologers, which enjoyed much more popularity when, n was a more dominant philosophy in the Roman Empire, had now me alablity anda relic ofthe past ‘were also changes in the empire itself that led to the decline of gy: Inthe fourth century, the capital of the empire was moved from Rome ple (modern-day Itanbul, Turkey), taking the seat of power primarily motivated by the conviction that astrology posed a significant threat Italy By the end ofthe fourth century, the Roman Empire had been to Chstianity”® Iralf, creating an Eastern Roman Empire ruled from Constantinople, Stricter edicts outlawing the practice of astrology were issued in 357, 409, Roman Empire ruled from Rome. The Western Roman Empire and 425 CE, at first requiring astrologers to burn their books or face exile, lasteep decline t this point. The city of Rome was sacked bya Germanic and then later banishing them altogether Some of the worst persecutions of nas the Visigoths in the year 410, and then the last Western Roman astrologers subsequently occurred under the Emperor Justinian in the sixth Romulus Augustus, was deposed inthe year 476, This ed to the onset ‘century. Justinian sought to purge the empire of heresy, of which astrology was Ages in Europe, as the Western Roman Empire became only a ‘regarded as one ofthe prime examples The sith century historian Procopius of ofits former self According to historian Nicholas Campion: Caesarea provides us with an eyewitness account: do clea that astrology virtually disappeared in Western Europe because they also turned viciously against the astrologers as well. That was why ‘the authorities in charge of cases of theft took to maltreating them; there ‘was no other reason for it After logging many of them on the back, they paraded them on camels through the entire city in disgrace, though they ‘were old men and otherwise completely respectable citizens, having nothing other to charge them with than that they wanted to be experts regarding the stars in a place such as this? Ultimately this was a much different intellectual climate than the one in which Hellenistic astrology had originally emerged and flourished. While earlier * Quoted in Barton, Ancient Actrology p77 ting John Chrysostom, On Fate and Providence, itd in Migne, Patologia Grae, $0756, 88-787 8 “For sdscuison of one Gnostic Chistian sect known as the Peratice that incorporated some astrological themes into thelr theology see DeConick, “From the Bowels of Hell to _Daaco:The Mysteries ofthe Prati” * Heads, Early Christionty and Ancient Astrology, p23. © Teter A Hioryp. 95 Forthe edict of 357 se Sandwell, “Oullawing Magi’ or Otlawing Religion p 114 _Prohopios, The Secret History, 112 37, trans. Kallis, pS collapse in literacy, especially knowledge of Greek, as Germanic ‘with its raral rather than urban focus, combined with war and jn, gradually undermined Roman culture from Britain to north ca, taking in France, Italy and Spain, through the fifth and sixth 8. The disappearance of Roman culture was most extreme in h ~ in Britain ~ and far more gradual around the Mediterranean, en in Italy the ravages cf looting armies extracted a huge cost. The Germanic tribes had their lunar months, lucky days, star lore ‘constellation stories, but horoscopic astrology, with its literary base ematical complexities, was not part of their cuture.* hile the Eastern Roman Empire, which is usually called the Byzantine from about the fifth century forward, continued to thrive and flourish. Ke of the empire maintained control over Egypt through the early } which is important since Egypt had been the focal point for ce of Hellenistic astrology since its inception. While this did stave isappearance of astrology in Egypt for several centuries, the practice on, A History of Wester Astrolegy voll pp. 287-288. nen of astrology still continued to decline and was pushed underground in the Byzantine Empire in general, The Emperos Justinian closed the philosophical schools in Athens by banning the teaching of “pagan” philosophy in the year 4529 CE. The philosophical school in Alexandria appears to have stayed active despite ths, but it was small and somewhat isolated since the population of Egypt in late antiquity had largely become Christian. Inthe summer of $64, the Neoplatonic philosopher Olympiodorus the Younger gave a series of lectures on astrology which formed a commentary on the work of the fourth. century astrologer, Paulus of Alexandria. Around the same time, the astrologer Rhetorius of Egypt compiled the last great work on Hellenistic astrology in the carly sixth or seventh century. gyptstayed under the control ofthe Byzantine Empire wellinto the seventh ‘century and thus the Greek language continued tobe used andunderstood ther, ‘but some major political changes took place towards the end ofthat period, First, the Sassanian Persian Empire invaded Egypt in the year 619, and their forces ‘occupied the country for abouta decade. The Byzantine Empire regained control ‘of Egypt in 629, but then in 639 the armies of the rapidly expanding Islamic Empire invaded Egypt and captured Alexandria in 642, This marked the end of seven centuries of Roman control over Egypt, which had begun in the year 30 BCE with Octavian’s annexation. At ths point it was not simply a change in intellectual or theological tides that was causing astrology to fill out of favor; a new culture with a new language and theology was now in contol of what was essentially the homeland of Hellenistic astrology. For all intents and purposes, thismarked the end of the Hellenistic astrological tradition. Transmission to Other Cultures Starting as early a the second century CE, texts on Hellenistic astrology began ‘to be transmitted to other cultures outside of the Roman Empire; they were subsequently translated, adapted to suit their host cultures, and then expanded due to the introduction of additional techniques. ‘The three most significant transmissions of Hellenistic astrology were to India, Persia, and eventually to the medieval Islamic Empire. ‘Transmission to India Trade between the Roman Empire and India increase after the fist century BCE, when sailors learned how to use the monsoon winds in order to make & direct trip between Egypt and the western shores of India? Groups of Greeks 7 ora dscusion about trade between Rome/-gypt and India see McLaughlin, Rome and ‘he Datant Eat pp. 23-60, and Young, Rome's Faster Trade pp. 27-32, Romans setled in Indi, wth some of them adopting the language and as ofthe local population. twas under these citcumstances that a Greek /on Hellenistic astrology was transmitted to India sometime around the ond century CE, where it was translated into Sanskrit. This text, known as Yavanajataka i thought to ave played amajorrolein shaping the traditions that subsequently developed in India over the past two thousand primary researcher who pioneered work in this area was David For his doctoral dissertation, Pingree edited translated, and wrote a con the Yavanajatakx.® ‘The main purpose of his dissertation was the astrological doctines contained in the Yavanajataka with those astrologers from the Hellenistic tradition. Pingree argued that many techniques of the Indian tradition of horoscopic astrology were largely from Hellenistic astrology and that the Vavanajataka was the principal ofthis transmission. This was done by showing that the Yavanajaiaka was Indian text oft kind on natal astrology and that it formed the bass ater tracitions of astrology in India. He argued that the Yavanajataka, | means “Horoscopy of the Greoks? was actually a Sanskit translation of astrological text that was probably written in the first century CE in “Egypt, and that the vast majority of doctrines contained in the text trace ack either directly or indirectly to western sources. g to Pingree, the Greek original of the Yavanajataka was translated inthe year 149 or 150 CE by a Greek inthe Indian city of Ujain, was Yavanesvara, who hadadopted Indian socialandreligiouscustoms.*The as then turned into an instructional poem in the year 269 or 270 CE Indianized Greek known as Sphujidhvaja, and itis this versified ‘of the text that survived into the present time. The Yauwnajataka then sequently influenced many later Indian astrologers, as Pingree demonstrated through comparisons with other Sanskrit texts astrology that was imperted into India from Egypt was merged with us forms of astrology that had already been developed there, which the twenty-seven or twenty-eight sign lunar “zodiac” known as the There were also probably some preexisting forms of astral omens polled his ciel editon ofthe Ynunajaak a a two-volume set in 1978. volume contains the Sanskr text itself alongwith 3 ritel apparatus and brief 3 the second volume contains his English translation along with his commentary. Yavanajataks m overview se Pingre, From Astral Omens pp 31-38. Yananajataka, vol. 1 pp. 5-51 Pingte, From Asial Omens, p34. in India that were derived from earlier Mesopotamian sources" The Indians subsequently made this form of astrology their own, and ithas flourished there for nearly two thousand years, with many new developments and innovations that aro unique tothe Indian tradition. ‘As Pingree pointed out, the strongest evidence that Indian astrology was influenced by the Hellenistic tradition is that many of the technical terms inthe carly Indian tradition, and even today, are simply transliterations of Greek terms into Sanskrit. In Greek, these words have a range of concrete and abstract ‘meanings, but in Sanskrit the words just become technical terms that hae litle ‘or no meaning outside oftheir usage in astrology. That isto say, most ofthese ‘ranslerated terms don't actually mean anything in Sanskrit outside of their technical usage, but in Greek the terms have actual semantic connections with ‘other words outside astrology, thus showing ther origin in the Greek language. For example, in the Yavanajtak, the Greek word foran angular house or place, kentroy is transliterated as kendra in Sanskrit. The Greek term fora succedent |house,epanaphora, becomes panaphara in Sanskrit. The Greek term for acadent place, apotlina, simply becomes apoklima. In other instances, the Greek term for a void of course Moon, kenodromia, becomes kemadruma in Sanskrit ‘The teem for an applying aspect, sunaphe, becomes swnapha.” The ten-degree segments ofthe eclipticknown as decans or dekanosin Greekbecome drekanas.* In the vast majority of cases, the actual technical application of the astrological concepts that are described by these transliterated Sanskrit terms are still very similar, ifnot identical, to the Hellenistic application of the same concepts. While many technical modifications and adaptations had already ‘been made to the Indian system by the time of the composition of the verified version of the Yavanajataka by Sphujidhvaja, the overwhelming emphasis of this early Indian astrological tradition is still remarkably similar to what was being practiced in the early Hellenistic tradition of astrology. Asa result of this, the Yavanajataka can be a useful source for understanding some facets of the practice of Hellenistic astrology although it must be used with caution. © Pingre, From Astral Omens pp. 31-33. See Pingree, From Astral Omens to Astrolgy, pp. 4-35, fora concise summary ofthis argument. For a more detailed weatment of the terms used inthe Indian texts and thelr derivation from Greek words, see Pngzee's extensive commentary in Yavunaytak, ol. 2 pp. 195-418. * Piogee, Yavansjatak, 1:53, ' Pingre,Yanansitaks 10:2 * ingre, Yara, 10: 1 ° Piogee, Yasanaaiak, 3:1 ‘many ofthe similarities, there are also some noticeable differences n the doctrines contained in the Yavanajataka and those that we have jon of in the Hellenistic sources. Some of these diferences simply om the fact that some elements of the indigenous forms of astrology the nakshatras were synthesized with the Hellenistic techniques, thus g something reminiscent of bat not necessarify the same as the original that fed into it In other instances, some ofthe differences may resalt tation degrees in the Hellenistic and Indian sources could be explained single number dropping out of the manuscript ofthe original Greek text, o ter being exalted at “1S” degrees of Cancer in the Hellenistic tradition 5" degrees of Cancer in the Indian tradition.” In other areas, such. doctrine, there are major differences between the traditions, and cleat where these variations came from. They may simply represent ts inthe Indian tradition that had already taken place prior to the lofthe Yavanajataka. fs work on the Yavanajateka as recently come under criticism by a [Bill M. Mak, who has questioned the basis of Pingree'sdatingofthe las some other details surounding its characterization While Mak es thatthe presence of Greek loanvords indicates some Hellenistic ‘on the Indian tradition, he argues that the extent to which indigenous such as karma, Ayurveda, and references to Hindu deities have ted into the text should not be overlooked, as it implies thata more and unique synthesis of the traditions had taken place by the time the -was composed, He also rejects Pingree’s reading of the last chapter, Yavanesvara and Sphujidhvaja two separate individuals instead the Yavanajataka represents an original text that was composed individual sometime between the first and seventh centuries CE, sarily based on an oxiginal Greok prose text. Nonetheless, he Acterizes the Yavanajataka as an amalgamation of Greek and Indian doctrines, thus acknowledging that some sort of transmission took gh the details surrounding it may not be as clear or as clean as it seemed, and there is much additional research that needs to be done. on ofthe Sonar well which ssa tobe exaltedat 10" Avesinthe Yavenajitaka, the 19° Aries ofthe Hellenistic tation, Date and Natur of Sphujidhvap’s Yowanajtaka reconsidered” and Mak, “The of Sphujlvaje's Yananajtataciticall ditod with notes” Interestingly, asa result ofthis transmission, Indian astrology today is often ‘much more similar to the early forms of Hellenistic astrology than modern ‘western astrology is to Hellenistic astrology. The reason for this is that the astrological tradition in India has been relatively continuous for the past two thousand years, and they have had a relatively long and unbroken tradition since the second century CE, with onlya moderate amount of change dueto the influx of other traditions and the development of new doctrines. On the other hand, in the west there have been several major transmissions of astrology from one language to another, and one culture to another as well asalong period between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries when the practice of astrology largely died out altogether, Each time western astrology was transmitted to another language or to a new culture it was changed in some way. As a result ofthis, ‘there are a number of things that western astrologers can learn from the Indian tradition as we recover and revive the practice of Hellenistic astrology. ‘Transmission to Persia In the third century CE,anewempire emerged in Persia, which is usually called the Sassanian Empire by historians. The Persian kings Ardashir I and his son ‘Ships reigned in succession from 222 through267 CE. Accordingto the tenth century Arab bibliographer, Ibn al-Nadim, the Sassanian Empire began sending ‘envoys to India, China, and Rome to collect scientific texts around this time.” ‘tes during this period that the work of the Hellenistic astrologer, Dorotheus ‘of Sidon, was transmitted, as well as some portions of the Anthology of Vettius ‘Valens. Both were stbsequenty translated from Greek into the Middle Persian language, Pahlavi. ‘Annatal chart dating to the year 381 CE seems to have been inserted into ‘what survives ofthe third book of Dorotheus at some point after he wrote itia the frst century CE.” According to al-Nadim, the text of Dorotheus was edited or expanded during the reign of the Persian king Khusro Andshirwin, who railed from $31-S78 CE Pingree believed that it was during this perio, in the sixth century, that a program of textual revision took place, which resulted ina number ofalterations and interpolations inthe Persian translations ofboth Dorotheus and Valens:* ‘These texts of Dorotheus, Valens, and a few others formed the basis ofthe 2 Dodge The Pris ofl Nady, p S75, 2 Phage, “Classical and Byzantine Asrology;”Pingee Prom Astra Omens, p47. ® Dorotheus, Carman 3, 1527-68. Lodge the Fria ofal-Nadn,p $75; Pings, From Astral Onens pS. % Bungie, From Astral Omens p49. tice of astrology in Persia, which evidently flourished during the Sassanian| although litle ofthis tradition survives due to the destruction of texts sed during the initial ise ofthe Islamic Empirein the seventh century. sion to the Islamic Empire ‘slamic calendar begins in the year 622 with the fight of Muhammad ‘Mecca to Medina, and the subsequent establishment of his political and authority there, After this point the Islamic Empire began expanding first across the Arabian Peninsula, and then across the entire Middle tually by the mid-seventh century, the Islamic Empire gained control ranging as far estas northern India tas far west as north Africa and istofthe Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal). appears that it wasnt until about the middle of the eighth century that gy began to flourish in the Islamic Empire. This took place after the of a dynasty of rulers known as the Abbasid, which inaugurated a of Islamic history known as the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasids were yen towards learning and scholarship, and had a particular interest in In the mid-eighth century, they wished to move the capital of the| re from Damascus to Baghdad; they convened a group of astrologers and) 0 select an auspicious electional chart forthe founding ofthe new they did” Baghdad was established in 762 it became the new Alexandeia, and gram of translating scientific texts from other cultures began. Some of texts that were translated into Arabic were astrological texts.”| ‘was translated into Arabic twice, first around the year 775, and| n around $00, although both times the translation was based on the fi (Middle Persian) version and not upon the original Greek text.” The ivesion of portions of Viens’ Anthology was translated into Arabiein the] ghth or early ninth century: Rhetorius’ Compendim was also probably} xl into Arabic around this time as well, as Pingree argued that it was by Theophilus of Edessa between 765 and 770, and then passed to in the Abbasid court in Baghdad, the astrologer Mashialla. in Gta, Greek Though, Arabic Ctr, pp. 108-110. Men, A History of Horscope Atrolgy, pp. 103-4; Gatas, Grek Though, Arabi 33. detailed discussion see Gas, Grerk Thought Arabi Culture From Astal Omens p-4 Mashialltis (2) Arabic Translation of Dorotheus” "Aellenstic Astrological Table 667. From Alexandria to Baghdad t Byzantium? enema etna Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos was also translated into Arabic, and it became the subject of several commentaries and paraphrases starting in the eighth and ninth centuries.® At the same time, other texts from Persia and India were translated into Arabic, resulting in a new synthesis ofthe different astrological traditions, The locus of activity centered around Baghdad, and the primary language of ‘most astrological texts shifted from Greek to Arabic. Later Transmission and Traditions ‘While astrology flourished under the Islamic Empire in the eighth and ninth centusies, its popularity inthe Arabie speaking world appears to have declined afer the tenth century due to shifting theological and political trends. After a Tong lul, there was eventually a resurgence of interest in astrology in the Byzansine Empire from the tenth and eleventh centuries forward. The majority ofthe Greek texts on Hellenistic astrology that survived into modern times were preserved in Constantinople and other Byzantine cities in the centuries after the decline of Rome, where Greek continued to be the common language. Although ‘many texts were copied and preserved, there does not appear to have been much innovation in the astrological doctrines during this time; instead, some of the ‘main changes that tookplace werethe result ofmedieval Arabic astrological works that were translated into Greek by the Byzantine astrologers and compiler." Inthe twelfth century, the Second Crusade had the unintended sie effect of reintroducing astrology to Europe when the Northern European Crusaders ‘began conquering Muslim lands in Spain, diseovering huge libraries of Arabic scientific texts there, Scholars from all around Europe began flocking to Spain and translating texts from Arabic into Latin. Many Arabic astrological texts from the Early Medieval Period (eighth and ninth centuries) were translated © Sula A History of Arabic Atronomy,p. 67; Hellen, “Ptolemy’s Doctrine ofthe Tes” ps Salsa notes that “as so00 asthe religious texts began to be standardized and codicd from te tenth century onward, there were systematic religious tacks on atology”in the Islamic world Saliba, A History of Arabic Astronomy, p56. This period also saw the decline of Abbusid power ‘there may have also een a brief resurgence around the year 77S dae to a student of “Theopliluenamed Stephane moving from Baghdad to Constantinople and bringing anumbe: ‘oftertewith him (Pingee, Hom Astral Omens pp 64-65) although Pingrec' identification of ‘Stephanushas been disputed See Papathanassos,"Stephanasof hens” and Pspathanasiow “Stephanoe of Alexandela” Forte resurgence of interest in astrology in the Byzantine empPe fiom the tenth century forward se Pingre, From Astral Ons p66, ™ Fora discutsion of ome ofthe Aribc texts that were translated se Pngres, From Atal Omens pp. 63-77; Burnet, “Astrological Translations n Byzantium? Fora general teatnent ofasteclgy in the Byzantine Empire see Magdaling Orthos des astologues. ‘and by the end of the twelfth century, the knowledge and practice gy had been fully revived in Europe after a hiatus of several centuries astrology that was reintroduced into Europe a this time was the type ‘developed in the eighth and ninth centuries, based on a synthesis of rom the earlier Hellenistic, Persian, and Indian traditions. This was of Hellenistic astrology itself, ut instead a revival ofthe modified n of astrology that had developed in the subsequent period his revival of astrology took place within the context of an overall ning of science and learning in Europe from the twelth eentury onward. were established in Europe during this time, and chairs for astrology fed. Astrology was heavily intgrated into medicine, and many doctors background in astrology foruse asa diagnostic tool. After the invention press in the late fifteenth century, many ofthe Latin translations astrological texts produced in the twelfth century were published and s more widely circulated. ‘The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman ren 1483 led to an influx of many previously unknown Greok texts into as scholars fled the dying Byzantine Empire. This helped to ensure the ead practice and acceptance of astrology duringthe Renaissance, whichis is partially characterized by the “rebirth” of classical wisdom. Some astrological texts such as Ptolemy and Manilius became available his time, but for the most partthe type of astrology that was practiced by the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was based on the medieval that had occurred inthe eighth and twelfth centuries. he seventeenth century the prectice and perception of astrology started in Europe due toa variety f social, political, and scientific reasons.” ‘the cosmology that Ptclemy had outlined in his astronomical ‘works inthe Second century was suddenly disproven through ‘uick succession of astronomical discoveries by figures such as Kepler, and Galileo. The lst great flourishing f astrology occurred seth William Lilly and his contemporaries. Lilly published the first guage textbook on astrolegy in 1647." ‘This was not enough to decline of astrology, however, and by the end of the century the ad fallen into disfavor and obscurity. "4 low point in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, astrology tobe revived again in the west inthe late nineteenth and carly twentieth “The ist half ofthe twentieth century saw the birth of what we know as ean aaent vestnet ofthe dene of sty he nly oder psd in cy which includes cations for much of the iteratreon the topic oA Hider wo pS modem astrology. Figures such as Alan Leo in early twentieth-century England ‘weresuccesfalin both popularizing astrology and simplifying the techniques. At the sime time, due to his involvement in the Theosophical Society, the subject ‘became associated with the burgeoning New Age movement. From the 1930, onward, astrologers such as Dane Rudhyar made efforts to reconceptualze astrology within the context of depth psyehology and character analysis, which -werelargely successfil gaining popularity rom the 1960sthrough tothe 1980s. At this point, westem astrology became focused primarily on character analysis nd peychological introspection; there was an emphasis on innovation and creativity, the introduction of many new techniques and celestial bodies, and in some instances a deliberate attempt to reject some ofthe few remaining techniques ind concepts that had survived from the etle traditions.” ‘The Rediscovery of Hellenistic Astrology ‘The rediscovery and revival of Hellenistic astrology in the astrological ‘community today is the result of two separate but related factors. The first is the work carried out in the academic community over the course of the past ‘century by philologists, classcists, and historians who recovered, edited, and published many ofthe surviving texts ofthe ancient astrological trations The second is a more recent movement in the astrological community that has only ‘taken place in the past two or three decades to revive the practice ofthe ancient traditions of astrology. ‘The Recovery by the Academic Community Large numbers of astrological manuscripts stil seep in the braves. ~Bouché-Leclereq, writingin 1899." “The groundwork forthe revival of Hellenistic astrology was laid over the course of the past century by scholars working within the academic community who focused a large part of their workon the investigation ofthe history of astrology. ‘The most important efforts in ths area, at last forthe purposes of our present study, were initiated by a group of scholars in Europe towards the end ofthe nineteenth century. They undertook to collect and catalogue al of the existing oe + tueatment ofthe istoryofastrology from the twelfth century thro tosmedern times see Campion, A History of Wester Astrology, vol2, and Holden, A Hs? af Howscopic Astrology pp 134 “© Bouché-Leclere LAstrolagi grecque, trans. Lester Nes pp. wi-vis “Quantité mann astrologiques dorment encore dans les bibliothéques” cipts on astrology that were written in Greek during the Hellenistic, {and Byzantine periods, This aroject, which wasinitallyled by a Belgian pamed Franz, Cumont, took over fifty years to complete. It entailed ngall ofthe major European Kbrares for ancient texts and manuscripts bbeen copied and preserved over the centuries since their original on. This project resulted in the publication of a massive twelve- ‘compendium called the Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graccorum ue of the Codices ofthe Greek Astrologers), more commonly known, the CAG." massive compendium, published in twelve volumes between 1898 and primarily a catalog ofall ofthe existing Greek astrological manuscripts ‘holdings around Europe. The CAG also contains many extended sand fragments from hundreds of the texts that were found during the ‘compiling the catalog. Each of these excerpts was carefully sifted examined, and edited by diligent philologists in order to produce ons of many of the mot significant surviving Greek astrological sntiqity.* a “ctitcal edition” ofa text is a time-consuming process which gathering together all ofthe extant manuscripts and printed editions f,and then comparing the diferences and variations in the manuscript with the final result being the reconstruction ofthe archetype of the manuscript, or at least something as close to the original as possible. these critical editions are not translations ofthe original works, but edited and printed editions of the texts themselves in their original ‘with the introduction and footnotes by the editors usually witten, B, which was the standard sctolarly language that anyone studying the Science or classics would be expected to know: Thus, although much sive compendium of astrological material has been available in print beginning of the twentieth century, it lay neglected, unknown, and iby the astrological community for the majority ofthe century. Partially due to the challenges involved in studying the ancient texts languages, but also due to lack of interest in older forms of in general. G project began at a time when astrology was just coming out Coilicam Astrologoram Graccoruny Camo el Cramer gave an eacellont overview ofthe twelve volumes ofthe CCAG in his appeared upon its completcn in 1954, Ths was also the same year that his otk, Astrology in Ronson Law and Pits, was published, and also, sal, the year oF death, See Cramer, "Review ofCatalogus Codicam Aseologorum Graecoran” of its decline during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Prior to the preserved. This approach is summed up quite succinctly by Bouché- revival of astrology in the twentieth century it was only kept alive inthe west famous statementin the preface to his 1899 book LAstrologie Grecque in the form of popular almanacs, and few serious astrological texts were written Astrology): “one does not waste his time who studies how others have {in this period. For all intents and purposes, astrology as a serious subject of theirs" study had nearly died out asa result of disuse and disrepute. It was under these times the editors ofthe astrological texts and other scholars who work. cultural circumstances that the editors of the CCAG began compiling their go so far as to express their disgust with the astrological content of compendium. They were studying the traditions and transmission ofan obsolete ts: In some cases it seems like they are simply paying lip service to the system with the expectation that it would shed some light on the religious sc community by punctuating their reports on the technical content of belief ofthe ancient peoples who practiced it, as wellas their cultural customs, ‘with statements expressing their expected distaste fori, in onder to their scientific methods, and other such concerns. In 1913, the historian Lynn sistance themselves from it and thus maintain credibility inthe eyes ‘Thorndike attempted to demonstrate how astrological texts were relevant to lous peers.” The need for academics to justify their historical ‘modem historians, and how they could be used to shed light on the cultures in huof ancient occult or divinatory practices seems to have lessened with which they were written, Thorndike intended to show ns of scholars to some extent, although the aims oftheir studies very different than those of practicing astrologers. that an astrological treatise may also give us a picture of past society and scholars have also actively defended the study of astrology in thus contribute to the content of history. The point is that in trying to a. One prominent exampleis Otto Neugebauer in hisbriefbut infamous predict the future the astrologers really depict their own civilization. Their titled The Study of Wreiched Subjects, in which he sarcastically, scopeis as broad as are human life and human interests-* toa critic, defending the efforts ofthe scholars who were involved in on ofthe CCAG: He then attempted to provide an analysis of life in the Roman Empire in the fourth century by tallying up and comparing all ofthe references to diferent alllabored to recover countless wretched collections of astrological types of occupations and states of being that are mentioned in the work ofthe 5 from European libraries, and they succeeded in giving us an astrologer Firmicas Maternns.' A similar approach was enthusiastically taken | up by Franz Cumont in his 1936 work L’Egypte des astrologues (The Egypt of Re rain ees beers lye aan arin the Astrologers), in which he attempted to sketch out a picture of the social RR ya Castaic gin as circumstances in Hellenistic and Roman Egypt based on statements made by ear Ihave sed Lester Nes tandaton of ts sentence om his forthcoming the astrologers in their delineations. ‘Thus, for the most part, these scholars were not interested in the actual emenateriitaas Ls caus Gas wet Sa el astrological content ofthe texts themselves, because they did not consider the (requ. Boe Lecler seems to ave fancied himvcf as something a8 4 textstobe ofanyinherent practical value ortohold ny veracity inthe techniques swell scholar, peppering his commentary onthe technical concepts with eee Ps such as this statement ater discussing the theory undedying the exalstions © erik, ‘A Roman Astrologer aa Historical Source” p. 416 ma)“ reason was rota shpat” (CAs regu. 192 + ‘thernike points out tha this approach can be problematic because it not alwayslear es). Swerdlow fondly calls EAstologie grecqu “the most amusing book ever writen whether o nota specific authori actualy adapting the genera strologial principles and BY" Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination, el. Sweedlow, p13). Foe 8 OTe applying them to present societal conditions, of they are simply copying the delineation ‘ofthis tendency towards disparaging astrology im academic teats that are of much earlier author that are ot necessary representative ofthe exture i which the lobe discussing how twas usedinancientimes, see Beck, A Brief isoryof Ancient current authori writing. He ay that this needs to be judged on a casebycase bai based One reviewer of Beck's book Katharina Volk, noted tht Besk came fas sounding fon intemal evidence, and concludes that Ficus himself was nota “mere copys.” at times, which ce lice abit of an understatement, although pechaps not jureutent understanding ofthe degree to whieh cus di in fact draw diet on exer to Bouché Leclercq Sc Volk, "Review ofA Bri intory of Ancient Atraogy tutor in mich fis delineation materi whic st diferent than Thorndike take 99 ! Daryn Lehoux put more bluntly in his review, saying This woul be very Femi oae nde to hat etn une conceals tipper li fet Bock wuld pricing hate hk saology ly See Lox, *SeeCumont Ege dsasrlogs. Bf try of nent aly by Roger Back? insight into the dally life, religion and superstition, and astronomical iethods and cosmogonic ideas of generations of men who had to live -without the higher blessings of our own scientific era" He concludes with a statement that the goal of these scholars is simply “the recovery and study of texts as they ar, regardless of our own tastes and prejucices”” This was the general philosophy underlying the recovery of the texts ofthe ancient astrological traditions by those inthe academic community cover the course ofthe past century. Numerous critical editions and works on astrological scholarship were published by scholarssuchas Franz Cumont, Franz Boll, A. E. Housman, Frank Egleston Robbins, Emilie Boer, Stefan Weinstock, Otto Neugebauer, G. P, Goold, David Pingree, Wolfgang Hubner, and many ‘others, Collectively, these academics have made great strides in reconstructing the history of ancient astrology. Itis interesting to note that these two parallel movements, the study of the history of astrology by academics; and the revival of the actual practice of astrology by astrologers, were occurring almost simultaneously, although neither of these movements seem to have crossed paths or influenced one anotberto any great extent during the majority ofthe twentieth century. For the ‘most part, the astrological community remained unaware of and uninterested in the industrious activities ofthe scholars and the great advancements that were ‘occusting in the understanding of the history and origins of astrology, while the academics seldom took notice of the practice of astrology in the modem ‘world or consulted with astrologersin order to discusstheir findings. Thus, until ‘very recently, the astrological community has remained largely ignorant of the _geat lourishing of astrological scholarship that has occurred over the course of the past century along withthe important historical, theoretical, and practical implications that it has on their own field, “The Revival of Traditional Astrology “Modern astrology, as it was practiced daring much of the twentieth century— and as it is practiced even today by the majority of western astrologers in the early twenty ist century—is not necessarily the result of linear development and refinement ofthe subject over the centuries which culminated in the form that itisin today Thisis one of he great myths surrounding modem asteologics! practice, Rather, modern western astrology is largely the result of a handfal of S Neogsbauer "The Study of Wretched Subjects p11. © Ibid. * ex the bibliography at the end ofthis book for works by some ofthese authors, astrologers who inherited afew fragments ofthe astrological tradition hen created a new system around it which was then infused with their own ous ethical, and theoretical speculations. Although recognizable in some of sictechnical principles, in many ways this system is quite different than the traditions of astrology that were practiced in the past, both technically inits conceptual and philosophical approach. This discrepancy between the modern and ancient traditions of astrology apparent to some western astrologers starting inthe 1980s, who began and publish works on the older traditions of astrology. In the States, this intial line of incuiry frst came forth withthe publication of llet’s The Lost Ke to Prediction: The Arabic Parts in Astrology (1980), /was primarily based on his reading ofthe thirteenth-century astrologer Bonatti In 1982, the American Federation of Astrologers published -Noonan’s book, Classical Scientific Astrology, which was largely based on and Renaissance techniques. That same year, the astrologer, linguist, prian of astrology, James Herschel Holden, published a paper in the merican Federation of Astologers Journal of Research titled “Ancient Division” In this paper, Holden, who read Greek and Latin, was astrologer in modem times to point out that the original method of division in the Hellenistic tradition was whole sign houses, or the ‘sign- system as he called it Later in the same decade, Holden published an translation of Abs ‘Ali al-Khayyat’s Book of Natvities, a ninth century gical text from the Arabic tradition which had been translated into Latin lide Ages." In the United Kingdom, the traditional revival began with cofinterest in the practice of interrogational astrology, as wells the ‘and reprinting ofthe ealiest English language manual on astrology, Lilly’ mid-seventeenth century work, Christian Astrology:s ‘the United States, a group of astrologers met at the 1992. United ogy Conference in Washington D.C, and formulated a plan to start a tion project for ancient astrological texts. The translation project became D as Project Hindsight, and it was primarily led by Robert Schmidt, ‘Hand, and Robert Zoller, The three began producing translations of 2 Fetal over of he een histny ofthis morement see Campion, “Tbe Honal Revival in Modern Astrology: A Preliminary History.” a al The Lot yo Preto: The Ara arts Atel. nsbegnent pitas kw el he rican Ay A Lat eyo Pd *Ancent House Divo” Aaya of ete a Hen. Evin Campion, "The Tradoral Reale el by Geficy Cornel inthe Mito the 2005 reprint of Appleby, Hovary Astrology. i me a ‘Greek and Latin texts which were sold to astrologers on a subscription basi Schmidt's primary focus was translations of the Greek texts, Zoller focused fon translating the Latin texts, while Hand edited and made contributions to both series. There was much excitement in the astrological community during the ealy phases of Project Hindsight in the mid-1990s, and the effort was ‘completely funded by the astrological community through sales of translations, seminars, and donations. ‘Acore group of about thirty-two translations of Greekand Latin astrological texts ‘rom the Hellenistic and Medieval period were produced between 1993 and 1998. The first Hellenistic text published was a translation of the [Introduction of Paulus of Alexandria, Other translations of astrologers such as ‘Vetus Valens, Claudius Ptolemy, Anonymous of 379, Hephaestio of Thebes, Rhetorius ofEgypt, and others followed over the next few years. However, these ‘were enly intended to be preliminary translations, which would later be revised and published in a final series once the translators had a better grasp on the subject mater, since many of the concepts and techniques were very foreign from a modem perspective. The translator and editor of each volume both ‘wrotean introduction tothe text, and provided commentary in the footnotes, ‘hich documented the development oftheir thinking on the subject matter as they learned more during the process of producing each translation. ‘Unfortunately, Project Hindsight fragmented duringtihe course ofthe 1990s. “Zollerleft in 1994 due to creative differences, and pursued his own translations ‘ofthe medieval texts outside ofthe project. Hand and Schmit worked together productively for several years, but in 1998, Hand left the project and formed the Archive forthe Retrieval of Historic Astrological Texts (ARHAT), which published translations of Hellenistic and medieval astrological texts. Although Project Hindsight continued under Robert Schmid, now focusing exclusively on the Greek material, Schmidt's output slowed considerably after Hand lef. {In 1999, Schmidt published a partial translation of the Greek version of Ab Mashar’ treatise On Solar Revolutions, and in 2001 a preliminary translation cof book seven of Valens’ Anthology appeared. Meanwhile, Hand commissioned Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum to do a new translation of Paulus of Alexandria’ Introdaction along with Olympiodorus’ Commentary, which she completed and published through ARHAT in 2001. InMay of 2001, an associate of Project Hindsight named Alan White gave an impromptu lecture on Hellenistic astrology at the Northwest Astrological Conference in Seattle; it generated such interest that it eventually led to the subject being integrated into the curriculum of Kepler College, anewly opened school for astrological studies. During the winter of 2001-2002, the astrologe* tra George studied with White and Schmidt in person and developed a ‘on Hellenistic astrology: She began teaching it at Kepler in 2002 using ook of translations of Hellenistic texts that had been prepared by ‘Thus, for the first time in centuries, astrologers were being instructed istic astrology based on some of the earliest surviving texts of the on. The present author was one o'the students who was fortunate enough the course starting in late 20C4; in the summer of 2005 I moved to nd to study at Project Hindsight for two years. 2008, Schmidt relessed the first volume of his planned thirty-volume ranslation series of Hellenistic texts, which included all of the fragments work of definitions by Antiochus of Athens together with his atempt uct the original doctrines underlying the text. No further volumes of 0m series have appeared since. In the meantime, the astrologer and James Holden had been working on a series of translations of Greek astrological texts since the 1950s, and in the decade before he passed 2013, these texts were published through the American Federation of ‘his series included transitions of Rhetorius, Porphyry, Serapio, and Firmicus Maternas. In 2010, a classics scholar named Mark Riley lly released a fll translation of Valens’ Anthology online, marking the thatthe entire text had been translated into English. More recently, in Eduardo Gramaglia and Benjamin Dykes produced a translation of the ok of Hephaestio of Thebes’ Apatlesmatika, which contains some ofthe lon inceptional astrology. These translations were complemented translations of other astrologeal texts by academics over the years, bins’ translation of Ptolemy in 1940, Bramis translation of Firmicus e's translation ofthe Arabic version of Dorotheus in 1976, and on of Manilis in 1977. y while this account mainly focuses on developments in the Speaking world, it should be roted that other important work and nshave been carried outin otherlanguagesin recent decades, especially h astrologers and scholars suchas Giuseppe Bezza and some of his For example, Bezza publisheda commentary on Ptolemy in 1990, an, BY of Hellenistic and medieval works titled Arcana Mundtin 1995, anda on of Paulus of Alexandria in 2000, to name a few contributions. i Se «efforts, the majorry of the most important texts from the ‘astrological tradition are now available again for astrologers to stud lagtages Ths allows vo reine and ecnstrc sly ponte doctrines of western astrology, and inthe past ten years Hellenistic ‘has come tobe practiced once again by contemporary astrologers CHAPTER 6 PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES IN HELLENISTIC ASTROLOGY astrology was developed and practiced during a very diverse period : number of different philosophical and religious schools flourished, et ofthe many way in which these diferent schools interacted astrology into their approaches is beyond the scope of this Lill highlight some specific philosophical issues and debates that to astrologers during the Greco-Roman period, since many of tinue to be relevant to astrologers today. Iwill begin by looking at of divination before lookirg at issues such as fate and causal Divination, and Signs “Mesopotamian tradition, astrology was originally conceptualized r Jin fact, astrology was just one of many different forms of anclent world. Broadly speaking, divination s the interpretation 4s conveying symbolically significant information about Past, present, or future. Typically, itis understood as the attempt ‘information from the divine, and especially to predict the future, by the arrangement of randomly determined objects at the moment of overview see Lawrence “Hellenistic Astrology? phrases Cicero (On Ditation, 2: 13-155 26) in saying that “the Stoics 2% the foreeling of events that come about by chance” Hankinson, 1d Divination,” p. 153. In the same article he quotes Sextus Empccus s 1: 132) as defining divination as “the science which observes and Within this context, the Mesopotamian astrologers appear to have orginally ‘viewed the planets anlstarsas being capable of sending messages to humankind fiom the gods about events that would occur, but these planets and stars were not necessarily seen as the cause of those events Just asa clock is capable of indicating that itis nine in the morning without actually being the cause ot reason that itis nine in the morning, the planets were similaly thought to be capable of giving signs for fature events without necessarily being the reason that those events occur. As Rochberg explains inher discussion of astrological comensin Mesopotamian tradition: toindicate that there is something about the native’s marriage that will cor hidden as wel, Thistype of symbolic reasoning lies at the heart ny ofthe interpretive techniques in Hellenistic astrology, and in this way em partially represents a paticularly elaborate approach to divination.’ the conceptual premise underlying the approach to astrological that seems to have been formalized in the Hellenistic period was that the alignment of the planets at the moment that something ill describe both its quality and its future. "Ths idea had already been “The relationship between xthe phenomenon and y the predicted event has given rise to much discussion, the consensus being that the relationship is not causal, but more of the order of simple association or correlation, “The omen statement would be interpreted therefore, not as x causes y, but rather, if, (expect als) y in the Mesopotamian tradition by the fifth century BCE with the n of natal astrology and the concept of the birth chast, but in the tradition it was expancled to include many other types of beginnings general heading of inceptional astrology. technical term that was used to refer to this type of astrology was _ which means “inception” “beginning,” or “commencement” The |premise underlying differen texts on inceptional astrology is that if one ‘moment that something began, then one can predict its outcome. ne context, we also find another extremely important technical term ‘The Mesopotamian view that celestial phenomena could act as signs of future events was eventually passed on to the Hellenistic tradition. While the interpretations became more complex due to the explosion of new techniques that were introduced, the general principle was still the same: astronomical tly used in the astrological texts: the term apotelesma, which means alignments were interpreted as having symbolic importance in a person’ life “result” or “completion.” Astrologers would sometimes use this Pr loge For eximple, the Midheaven or tenth house ina chart became associated with ‘one's eccupation and reputation because it coincides with the highest and most visible part of the sky. This is opposite to the fourth house, which represents one’s home, living situation, and private life sine the fourth house coincides withthe part ofthe chart that is under the earth and thus inthe most hidden ika, which meanssomething lke “Inquiry into Outcomes” part ofthe cosmos from the perspective ofthe observer. Hence the part ofthe Aogether, these two terms reveal an important underlying principle hart ihat 1s the mail Vaile GF pronsiaent become syesboUcally sbcociated in astrological practice: the alignment of the cosmos at the inception, with the natives public life, while the part of the chart that i the most hidden ) of something is connected to its outcome (apotelesma).? While the ‘becomes associated with one's private lie. Or, to draw a specific example ‘between these two terms is the most explicit within the context of from the Hellenistic texts, Rhetorius tells us that when one of the planets that astrology, at one point Ptolemy refers to the birth of an individual represents marriage is hidden under the beams ofthe Sun in a person’ cha, the native’ marriage will take place in secret. “Thus, because the planet that represents marriage in the chart was visibly obscured and could not be seen with the naked eye at the moment of the native’ bith, it was symbolically to the predicted outcome of a specific astrological omen, whether ent in a person’ birth chart or an indication in an inceptional term became so closely connected with astrology that some such as Manetho, Ptolemy, and Hephaestio titled their astrological The Moment of Astrology for more about the dvinatory astare of tology Pints oat that whe the manuscript tradition of Ptolemy’ Tetabblo somtimes the Apoteesmatiain some manuscripts itis called Sumperacmatik, fom the which means “nishing” “end” or “onclusion’ This probably confirms interprets the signe given by the gods to men.” (p. 138) Se also Stuck "A World Full of “outcome” isthe correct tassation of apotelema, Ptolemy, Ttrabible, trans Signe” Rochberg, The Heavenly Writing .S8. between katarht andl apoteleima was fet pointed out by Scunid inthe + Rlsesoris, Compendia, 48 (CCAG 1, p. 161: 28-29). Pp asa katarché, which implies that even the moment of birth was viewed a8 sort ofinception as well In this way, the “if x then y” formula that was implicit in the earlier ‘Mesopotamian tradition of astrological omens became formalized into the basic conceptual premise underlying the practice of Hellenistic astrology: the ppotertiaity of anything can be studied by examining its symbolic moment of ‘origin. Thus, Hellenistic astrology was partially developed asa type of divination that took its omens from the alignment of the cosmos at the moment of the symbolic inception of whatever it was the astrologer wanted to study. An Astrology of Causes ‘At some point during the Hellenistic period, a new conceptualization of astrology emerged, in which some astrologers began to view the planets as, being the causes of future events, ether directly or indirectly. Although the history underlying this development is dificult to ascertain, we know that this conceptualization reached its most elaborate and influential form in the work of the second. century astrologer, Claudius Ptolemy. 1h Ptolemy’ work, the planets were seen as capable of influencing events ‘and people on Earth because they were viewed as being productive of diferent elemental powers inthe sublunar realm, drawing on Aristotle's four primary qualities of hot, cold, wet, and dry? Itwas through the effects ofthese general qualities that all of the individual significations of the planets eventually ‘manifested in the world.” For example, Mars was understood as exerting & ppower that manifested in an exceedingly hot and dry quality in the sublunar ‘world, and this was thought to result in specific effects in humans, such as anges co brashness, especially when Mars was having a prominent influence on the natalchart. On the other hand, the power of Saturn was conceptualized as being * Ptulemy,Teabiblos, 3, 2:3. * The powers ofthe planets are given in Ptolemy, Tetrabiblo 1, 4.1 will outline cach ofthe ‘qualies that Ptolemy gives forthe planets ltr in the chapter onthe signs ofthe zodiac “Theresa detailed analysis ofthe philosophy and cosmology undedying Ptolemy's astrology {in Fee, "Ptolemy in Philosophical Contest pp. 153-173. See esp. pp. 161-2 or the planets " Beke makes an important pont that even though Ptolemy conceptualized the planets & hnaving these effect inthe sublnar word that dd not necessary mean that he planet ts ‘wasthought tobe composed ofthose elements: “These powers however arenot the eset sharacteristics ofthe planets, as aetherel bodies. Rather, they are the effects caused by th planes which ae experienced inthe sublunary realm. Ptolemy distinguishes between the “undelying nature ofa planet andits power in Tetrabiblo 1.2” Feke, "Ptolemy in Phlosophicl Contest” p. 161, This sa subtle but important distinction in terms of Ptolemy's ove ‘umalogy and we wil se how i was conceptualized more clealy ater on in a quot fo Tambichs inthe section on Ptolemy's asi nature ofthe planes. ively cold and dry, and thus became associated with qualities such as jshness and depression. In each case, the specific sgnifications associated ofthe planets are byproducts of the general influence of the planets envionment and temperament ofthe native. So, for example, ifsomeone bom ata time in which Mars was prominent i the sky, Ptolemy might say person would be inclined towards aggression or impetuousness duc to ‘effect of Mars on his temperament. If Satuen was activated by transit person's life, they might experience a period ol health or depression the excessively cooling influence of Saturn. Ptolemy's model, astrology is essentially an extension of physics, because 5 studying the effects or influences of the planets upon the lives of duals, and in this context the term apotelesma takes on the meaning of trologial “effect” which emanates from the planets, rather than just an that i indicated, Part of Ptolemy's goal here appears to have been to astrology as a natural science rather than a form of divination, to putt on amore sound footing according to the scientific perspective day. "There is some evidence thit parts of Ptolemy's work were written in onseto specific critiques of astrology that had been penned by earlier skeptics Cicero, and thus part of Ptolemy’s program may have been to counter those criticisms by presenting a more natural take on astrology" runclearto what extent Ptolemy was ether innovating or drawing on tradition that already conceptualized astrology inthis way. In some here we have the ability to compare how Ptolemy explains the for certain astrological doctrines versus how some earlier astrologers dthe same doctrines, we cansee that he had a tendency to emphasize turalistic rationale for basic concepts and to ignore or downplay other symbolic rationales. For example, Ptolemy explains the doctrine of which divides the planets into diurnal and nocturnal factions, as being mined by the qualities of heat or moisture associated with each of the ® However, according to Porphyry’ Introduction, the rationale for the ent ofthe planets to each sect has to do with the fact that the daytime do not set under the beams of the Sun very frequently, while the mal planets disappear or become obscured by the beams ofthe Sun more ® Elsewhere, Ptolemy explains the rationale forthe assignment ofthe “Astology: Arguments Pro an. Contra fora discussion ofsome ofthe parallels Ptolemy's work nd err skeptics critiques ofatrlogy. sly, Tetnabbls 1,7. The doctenecfsect willbe dscarsed in more deta late inthe om the planets. Phy, dntroduction, 4, drawing on ancarir lost workby Antiochus planets to their signs of exaltation largely by invoking the different levels of heat and moisture associated with each ofthe seasons that coincide with those zodiacal sgas.* But again, in Porphyry’s Introduction, the primary rationale thatisgiven for the assignment ofthe exatationsisamore symbolic one, where cach ofthe diurnal plants is exalted in a sign thats configured by trine to one ofits domiciles, while each of the nocturnal planets is exalted in asign that is configured by sextile to one of ts domiciles" As we will see, both symbolic and natural rationales were probably taken into account simultaneously when some of these techniques were first formulated, but Ptolemy chose to ‘emphasize the natural explanations when presenting them in his work Inthe Greek philosophical tradition, a general theory of celestial influence ‘was formulated by Aristotle, who inthe fourth century BCE outlined a model ‘of the cosmos where the rotations of the planetary spheres were seen as the ‘ultimate source ofall motion or change on EarthThis doctrine seems to have ‘been elaborated on by subsequent philosophers over the next few centuries, ‘especially by followers of Aristotle, who became known as Peripatetics. In particalar, the pseudo-Aristotelian treatise called De Mundo (On the Cosmos) seems to represent a stage that took place in the Peripatetic school sometime ‘between the third and frst centuries BCE, during which some of the general ‘views that Aristotle expressed about the celestial spheres transmitting change to the sublunar sphere became more concrete doctrines about the planets having the power to order, regulate, and influence things on Earth.” By the first century CE, it seems that some authors had started to associate certain qualities ofheat and moisture with the planets. For example, Pliny the Elder (mid-frst century CE) maintained that certain planets were hot, cold, or 7 Ptolemy, Ttrabiblo, 1,20. " Porphyry, Juroduction, 6, also deawing on Antiochus Fora good overview of Aristde} views on celestial inluences see Freudenthl, “The Astroogiation ofthe Aristotelian Cosmos esp p. 240. "ora translation of De Mundo ace The Complete Works of Arse ed. Barnes, vo. I+ _p. 62-640. This work has traitionally been included inthe works of Aristotle since its Mtibuted to him, although i is usally viewed asa piece of psewdepigrapha. The dating * ‘uncer, with ome dating scaly asthe ate fourth century BCE, and others dating t0 the latefrst century BCE or ely fst century CE Diflerent views on the dating are discussed Dorey in Bos, “Supplementary Notes oa the ‘De mundo,’ p 313, fa. 2. There seems to be general agreement that it was writen Sometime around the Helleistic period, Fora good ‘dscusion ofhow Aristotle's views a celestial inluence were moi by later Peripatetic ‘see Freudenthal, “The Astologization of the Aristotelian Cosmox” While Preadenthl focuses mainly on the second century CE Peripatetic Alexander of Aphrodisis, some of |e anguments about what he cll the “astologization of the Aristotelian cosmos” are 280 applicable to De Mundo, in between. He says thit “Saturn is of a cold and frozen nature,” “owing to the proximity of the sun” has a “fiery glow” Jupiter, situated between them combines the influence of each and is rendered "9 Also in the frst century CE, Dorotheus of Sidon seems to blend and naturalistic conceptuaizations when he describes the combined of Mars and Saturn: Saturn isin conjunction with Mars the Warlke, he makes the jse angry) character gentile. For indeed the impetuous Mats, vehement and swif, sets unreflecting and inconsiderate speed into motion, because he is hot; Saturn, instead, is slow; but when both are sd, the mortal (who is being born) will be midway between them and thebest.” ces to the planets being hot or cold in the century before Ptolemy. hhis model was not created entirely from scratch, However, he does hhave taken the causal or naturalistic conceptualization of astrology ‘than some of his predecessors. This is an important point since ‘been a tenclency amongst academics to take Ptolemy's views as being entative of the mainstream of the Hellenistic tradition than they ‘especially when compared to other astrologers such as Vettius ‘Dorotheus of Sidon. As. result ofthis, Ptolemy's notions of celestial are usually viewed as being paradigmatic or definitive for astrology ‘Roman period.” David Pingree went so far as to argue that ideas Causation were the primary distinguishing factor between the and earlier Mesopotamian astrological traditions: History, 2,6: 34-35, trans. Rackham, p. 191. Carmen, ea Pogree, pp. 368: 25-30. 369: 1-5, trans, Helen, “Ancient the Horoscope of Rome, p56. fook for granted that the material on universal astology in Hephsesto 4, 23, that talls about the planets exerting certain influences was fom tas marked the beginning ofthe causal conceptuaiation ofatology ight ‘ofthe Hellenistic tradition, around the late second or eay fist century BCE. From Astral Omens, p. 26. However, we should be careful about drawing rm rom tis passage, because it isnt clear how much oft represents Hephaestio's ‘or iterections. Hephaestio lived in the ith century Cat a point when Aristotelian causal conceptuaization of astrology had alecady become and Hephaestio himself dew heavily on Ptolemy throughout his work Ara this we cannot be certain whether these references tothe planets tanamiting thelr seth n thischapter represen the views of Hephaestio or hissousces, whom he cll Egyptian wie men” these types of astrology depend on the notion that the planets, in their ternal rotations about the earth, transmit motion (change) to the four clements and to the assemblages of elements, animate and inanimate, in the sublunar world. This theory is completely different than that of , appearance,” goddess, living together or lawful fnucse;” older sibling," housekeeping, the queen, mistress of the sessions fortune, city, gathering ofthe masses,” gains, expenditures, Cron 5) pte ha he San eth igh pein le and he es Neer alee nor Ice Rho mention tose sok sete yal hry bethathvrscpe but at ero eee ec wits wih mains i ace “toate othe" ct in lyin being eget on th ars ft bay ins thn how te trans ie pews cana eg ltivlwsrangthespesscn gona mtarosogotece spac anne compra ek euro erst ne thatthe pions tas We gest sori uch opi. Theo sve eed am ie ine as ch tan sha prolay es tea upaeson otek oe a gee guy tole th sees Poy Ce 1), apt move thie athan te pce el led peo in Gro Ronan metal and pence tc eg twit neyl tthe snon otc ie eater non) tne ny nn ou eat eat nO purslane cha emaeoen inka ebrahorsesey movement heme =e Ib. short one word lacuna her nthe mans akough the editor have ling werpin, based ona compuzon with the Teer excerpt in Rtortan sight beet fllong word pron tel refs one ceo entrance although moe bol ca alo sppesancesorhow one lokst other Thisisthe same word wed refer concep dean more general caret “aorta” na. Schimt poe steht and olen hs fc exes Male ten aye ote” ‘lr ang ether han his cpaceion ued on other ens, For example Rho (Compe 07) a tha the ‘home? boats, travel" wanderings (since it does not hold straight due to the Crab). Of the parts of the body, she rules the left eye the stomach, breasts, the breath,” the spleen, membranes; and marrow (from which it produces

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