ASTROLO´GIA
ASTROLO´GIA This word is employed by the best Latin
writers (e. g. Cic.
de Divin. 2.42, 87;
de Orat. 1.16, 69) to denote
astronomy in general, for which
astronomia does not occur earlier than Seneca. In Greek,
ὰστρολογία is the
[p. 1.213]more common term, and is the only one used in the genuine works of
Aristotle. But Xenophon (
Xen. Mem. 4.7,
4 and 5) and Theophrastus use both
αστρολογία and
ἀστρονομία in the same sense. In the present article,
however, we employ the word in the sense in which it is used in the
Christian Fathers, for what is strictly termed
judicial
astrology, and treat of astronomy under
ASTRONOMIA
At a period far beyond the records of authentic history a belief arose, which
still prevails unshaken in the East, that a mysterious but close connexion
subsisted between the relative position and movements of the heavenly bodies
and the fate of man. In process of time it was maintained that the fortunes
of each individual throughout life depended upon the aspect of the sky at
the moment of his birth, and especially upon the star which was rising above
the horizon at the instant when he saw the light, and upon those which were
in its immediate vicinity (
conjunctae), or
removed from it by a sixth, a fourth, or a third part of a great circle of
the sphere; or, finally, upon those which were at the apposite extremity of
the same diameter (
oppositae). Few doubted that
by observation and deep study persons might acquire the power of expounding
these appearances, that the destiny of the child might be predicted with
certainty by those who were skilled to interpret the language of the stars,
and that the result of any undertaking might be foretold from the aspect of
the firmament when it was commenced. Hence a numerous and powerful class of
men arose who were distinguished by various designations. From the country
where astronomy was first studied, and their science was first developed,
they were called
Chaldaei or
Babylonii; from observing the stars,
astronomi, astrologi, planetarii; from employing diagrams such as
were used by geometricians,
mathematici; from
determining the lot of man at his natal hour,
genethliaci; from dealing with the effects (
ἀποτελέσματα) of the stars,
ἀποτελεσματικοί: while their art was known as
ἀστρολογία, μετεωρολογία, γενεθλιαλογία,
ἀποτελεσματική,
Ars Chaldaeorum, Mathesis, or, from the tables
they consulted,
πινακική. Their
calculations were termed
Babylonii numeri,
Χαλδαίων μέθοδοι, Χαλδαίων ψηφῖδες,
Rationes Chaldaicae; their responses when consulted,
Chaldaeorum monita, Chaldaeorutm natalicia praedicta,
Astrologorum praedicta.
The stars and constellations to which attention was chiefly directed were the
planets and the signs of the zodiac, some of which were supposed to exert
uniformly a benign influence (
ἀγαθοποιοὶ
ἀστέρες), such as Venus, Jupiter, Luna, Virgo, Libra, Taurus;
others to be uniformly malign (
κακοποιοὶ
ἀστέρες), such as Saturnus, Mars, Scorpio, Capricornus; others
to be doubtful (
ἐπίκοινοι ἀστέρες), such
as Mercurius. By the combination and conjunction (
συνδρομή,
constellatio) or opposition, however, of those
benign with those malign, the power of the latter might be neutralised or
even reversed, and a most happy horoscope be produced, as in the case of
Augustus, who was born under Capricornus (
Suet. Aug.
94), and hence that figure frequently appears on his medals. For
the sake of expediting calculations, the risings, settings, movements, and
relative positions (
ortus, occasus, motus, viae,
discessiones, coetus, conventus, concursiones, circuitus, transitus,
habitus, forma, positura, positus siderum et spatia) were
carefully registered in tables (
πίνακες,
ἐφημερίδες). In so far as the planets were concerned, it was of
especial importance to note through what sign of the zodiac they happened to
be passing, since each planet had a peculiar sign, called the
domus or house of the planet, during its sojourn in
which it possessed superior power. Thus Libra, Capricornus, and Scorpio were
respectively the
houses of Venus, Saturn, and Mars.
The exact period of birth (
hora genitalis) being
the critical moment, the computations founded upon it were styled
γένεσις (
genesis or
genitura),
ὡροσκόπος (
horoscopus), or
simply
θέμα, and the star or stars in the
ascendant
sidus natalicium, sidera natalicia,
or sometimes
ὡροσκόπος.
The Chaldaean astrology was unknown in Greece until after the conquests of
Alexander, although Eudoxus, a younger contemporary of Plato, is said to
have warned his countrymen not to place faith in it (
Cic. de Div. 2.4. 2, 87).
Euripides (
Frag. 485 Dind.) describes Hippo, the daughter of
Chiron, as predicting the future from the risings of stars: but Archdeacon
Hare (
Philol. Mus. 1.25) thinks that this referred only to
predictions of the weather. This limitation will not apply to the language
of Plato (
Timaeus, p. 40 D) about divination
from the movements of the planets (Lewis,
Astr. of the Anc.
p. 295). The first Chaldaean who practised astrology in Greece is said to
have been Berosus (
Vitr. 9.7), who lived about
B.C. 340-270. After this time it passed into general acceptance, especially
among the Stoic philosophers: and Panaetius, in the second century, who
rejected it, mentioned Anchialus and Cassander, two contemporary
astronomers, as standing alone in sharing his views (
Cic. de Div. 2.4. 2, 88).
Astrologers by this time had found their way to Rome. The words
de circo astrologos in
Cic. de Div. 1.5. 8, 132, evidently belong, not
to Ennius, as has sometimes been supposed, but to Cicero himself (cf.
Ribbeck,
Frag. Trag.2 p. 55): but Cato
(
de R. R. 5, 4) forbids his steward to consult
“haruspicem, augurem, hariolum, Chaldaeum.”
In B.C. 139 C. Cornelius Hispallus, the
praetor
peregrinus, banished the Chaldaeans from the city, and ordered
them to quit Italy within ten days (
V. Max.
1.3.2). We read, however, of prophecies of the Chaldaeans given to
Sulla, Pompeius, Crassus, and Caesar; and Cicero speaks of L. Tarutius
Firmanus, the friend of Varro, as “in primis Chaldaicis rationibus
eruditus” (
de Div. 2.47, 98). In B.C. 33 they were
again banished from the city by M. Agrippa, who was then aedile (
D. C. 49.1). Another severe ordinance was levelled
by Augustus against this class (
D. C. 65.1,
66.25), but the frequent occurrence of such
phrases as “expulit et mathematicos” (
Suet. Tib. 36), “pulsis Italia mathematicis” (
Tac. Hist. 2.62), in the historians of the
empire, prove how firm a hold these pretenders must have obtained over the
public mind, and how profitable the occupation must have been which could
induce them to brave disgrace, and sometimes a cruel death (
Tac. Ann. 2.32). Notwithstanding
[p. 1.214]the number and stringent character of the penal
enactments by which they were denounced, they appear to have kept their
ground, and, although from time to time crushed or terrified into silence,
to have revived with fresh vigour in seasons of confusion and anarchy, when
all classes of the community, hanging in suspense between hope and fear,
were predisposed to yield to every superstitious impulse. It must be
remembered also, that the most austere princes did not disdain, when
agitated by doubts or excited by ambitious longings, to acquire the
principles of the art and to consult its professors, as we may perceive, not
to multiply examples, from the well-known story of Tiberius and Thrasyllus
(
Tac. Ann. 6.20,
21). Hence Tacitus, after recounting the high
promises by which the “mathematici” stimulated Otho to assume
the purple, adds in a tone of sorrowful resignation, “genus hominum
potentibus infidum, sperantibus fallax, quod in civitate nostra et
vetabitur semper et retinebitur.” (See
Cic. de Div. 2.4. 2 ff.;
Gel.
14.1 ; Hor.
Carm.
i. 11, 2, 2.17, 17; Pers. 5.46;
Juv. 3.43,
7.194,
10.94 (with Mayor's note), 14.248, 6.553-581;
Tac. Ann. 2.27,
32,
3.22,
4.58,
6.20,
12.22,
52,
68,
16.14;
Hist. 1.22, 2.62;
Suet. Tib. 14,
36,
Vitell. 14,
Nero 40,
Galb. 4;
Gel. 1.9;
D. C. 49.43,
56.25,
57.15,
65.1;
Zonar. ii. p. 142; Lips.
Excurs. vii.
ad Tac.
Ann. ii. ; Jani,
Excurs. ad
Hor. Carm. 2.17.17; Ruperti,
Not.
ad
Tac. Ann. 2.27. For the penal enactments,
see Rein,
Das Criminalrecht der Römer, p. 901,
&c. Leipzig, 1844; Becker,
Handbuch der röm.
Alterth. 4.100-102 ; and on the general question, Lewis,
Astron. of the Ancients, pp. 292-303. Those who would
acquire a knowledge of the technical details of astrology, as practised by
the ancients, must peruse the Latin poem of Manilius, the treatise of Julius
Firmicus, and the Greek works of Manetho, Paulus, and Ptolemy.)
[
W.R]
