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CHAP. 113.—THE HARMONICAL PROPORTION OF THE UNIVERSE.

That harmonical proportion, which compels nature to be always consistent with itself, obliges us to add to the above measure, 12,000 stadia; and this makes the earth one ninety-sixth part of the whole universe.

Summary.—The facts, statements, and observations contained in this Book amount in number to 417.

Roman Authors Quoted.—M. Varro1, Sulpicius Gallus2, Titus Cæsar3 the Emperor, Q. Tubero4, Tullius Tiro5, L. Piso6, T. Livius7, Cornelius Nepos8, Sebosus9, Cælius Antipater10, Fabianus11, Antias12, Mucianus13, Cæcina14, who wrote on the Etruscan discipline, Tarquitius15, who did the same, Julius Aquila16, who also did the same, and Sergius17.

Foreign Authors Quoted.—Plato18, Hipparchus19, Timæus20, Sosigenes21, Petosiris22, Necepsos23, the Pythago- rean24 Philosophers, Posidonius25, Anaximander26, Epigenes27 the philosopher who wrote on Gnomonics, Euclid28, Coeranus29 the philosopher, Eudoxus30, Democritus31, Critodemus32, Thrasyllus33, Serapion34, Dicæarchus35, Archimedes36, Onesi- critus37, Eratosthenes38, Pytheas39, Herodotus40, Aristotle41, Ctesias42, Artemidorus43 of Ephesus, Isidorus44 of Charax, and Theopompus45.

1 Marcus Terentius Varro. He was born B.C. 116, espoused the cause of Pompey against Cæsar, and served as his lieutenant in Spain. He afterwards became reconciled to Cæsar, and died in the year B.C. 26. He is said to have written 500 volumes, but nearly all his works are lost (destroyed, it is said, by order of Pope Gregory VII.). His only remains are a Treatise on Agriculture, a Treatise on the Latin Tongue, and the fragments of a work called Analogia.

2 C. Sulpicius Gallus was Consul in the year 166 B.C. He wrote a Roman History, and a work on the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon.

3 Titus Vespasianus, the Emperor, to whom Pliny dedicates his work. His poem is mentioned in c. 22 of this Book. See pages 1, 2, and 55 of the present volume.

4 It is most probable that Quintus Ælius Pætus Tubero is here meant. He was son-in-law, and, according to Cicero, nephew of Æmilius Paulus, and Consul in the year B.C. 167. There are two other persons found mentioned of the name of Q. Ælius Tubero.

5 The freedman and amanuensis of Cicero. He was a man of great learning, and was supposed to have invented short-hand. He also wrote a Life of Cicero.

6 Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi. He was Consul in the year B.C. 133, and was a stout opponent of the Gracchi. He wrote Annals of the History of Rome from the earliest periods.

7 Livy, the well-known Roman historian.

8 He was the intimate friend of Cicero, and wrote Chronicles or Annals, in three books, a Life of Cicero, and some other historical works. A work still exists, called "Lives of Eminent Commanders," which is ascribed sometimes to him and sometimes to one Æmilius Probus, a writer of the reign of Theodosius. The latter probably abridged the original work of Nepos.

9 Statius Sebosus. He is mentioned by Cicero as the friend of Catulus. He wrote a work called the "Periplus," and another on the Wonders of India.

10 A Roman historian and lawyer, who flourished about B.C. 124. He wrote a Book of Annals, in which was contained a valuable account of the Second Punic war. This work was epitomized by Brutus and held in high estimation by the Emperor Adrian.

11 Fabianus Papirius, a Roman rhetorician and naturalist, whose works are highly commended by Pliny and Seneca. He wrote a History of Animals, and a book on Natural Causes.

12 Quintus Valerius Antias. He flourished about B.C. 80, and wrote the Annals of Rome, down to the time of Sylla.

13 Marcus Licinius Crassus Mucianus. He was instrumental in raising the Emperor Vespasian to the throne, and was Consul in the years A.D. 52, 70, and 74. He published three Books of Epistles, and a History in eleven Books, which appears to have treated chiefly of Eastern affairs.

14 Aulus Cæcina. He was sent into exile by Cæsar, joined the Pompeians in Africa, and was taken prisoner by Cæsar, but his life was spared. Cicero wrote several letters to him, and commends his abilities. His work appears to have been on Divination as practised by the Etrurians.

15 He appears to have been a diviner or soothsayer of Etruria, and to have written a work on Etruscan prodigies.

16 He also wrote a work on Etruscan divination, but it does not appear that anything further is known of him.

17 Sergius Paulus. He is also mentioned in the Index to the 18th Book. Nothing further seems to be known of him.

18 The greatest, with the exception of Aristotle, of the Greek Philosophers, and the disciple of Socrates.

19 A native of Nicæa in Bithynia, who flourished B.C. 160. He is called the "Father" of Astronomy. He wrote a Commentary on the Phænomena of Aratus and Eudoxus, which is still extant. His works, including those on the Lunar Month and the Fixed Stars, have not come down to us. His Catalogue of the Stars is preserved in the Almagest of Ptolemy.

20 Timæus of Locri in Italy, a Pythagorean philosopher, said to have been the instructor of Plato. He wrote a work on Mathematics. A work "On the Soul of the World and of Nature," which is still extant, has been ascribed to him, but on doubtful grounds.

21 An astronomer and peripatetic philosopher of Alexandria. He was employed by Julius Cæsar to superintend his revision of the Calendar. It is supposed that he wrote a work on the Celestial Revolutions, and a Commentary on the works of Aristotle.

22 A priest, mathematician, and astrologer of Egypt. A Letter on the Astrological Sciences, written by him to King Necepsos, is said to be extant in the Royal Library at Vienna, as also a work called the "Organum Astrologicum," dedicated to the same king. Juvenal seems to use his name as a common term for an astrologer.

23 He is mentioned by Julius Firmicus as "a most just emperor of Egypt, and a very good astronomer." A work by him is quoted by Galen in his tenth Book on Simples, but it was most probably of spurious origin.

24 "Pythagoricis" here may either mean the works of the followers of Pythagoras of Samos, or the books which were written by that philosopher. Pliny, in Books 19, 20, and 24, speaks of several writings of Pythagoras, and Diogenes Laertius mentions others; but it is more generally supposed that he wrote nothing, and that everything that passed by his name in ancient times was spurious.

25 A Stoic philosopher of Apamea in Syria. He was the instructor of Cicero, and the friend of Pompey. He wrote works on history, divination, the tides, and the nature of the gods. Some fragments only have survived.

26 Of Miletus, was born B.C. 610, and was the successor of Thales, the founder of the Ionian school of philosophy. He is said to have first taught the obliquity of the ecliptic and the use of the gnomon.

27 A philosopher of Rhodes or Byzantium. Seneca says that he boasted of having studied astronomy among the Chaldeans. He is mentioned by Varro and Columella as having written on rural matters, and is praised by Censorinus.

28 Of Alexandria, the great geometrician, and instructor of Ptolemy I. He was the founder of the mathematical school of Alexandria.

29 He was a Greek by birth, and lived in the time of Nero. He is extolled by Tacitus, B. 14, for his superlative wisdom, beyond which nothing is known of him.

30 Of Cnidus, an astronomer and legislator who flourished B.C. 366. He was a friend and disciple of Plato, and said to have been the first who taught in Greece the motions of the planets. His works on astronomy and geometry are lost, but his Phænomena have been preserved by Aratus, who turned his prose into verse.

31 Born at Abdera in Thrace, about B.C. 460. He was one of the founders of the atomic theory, and looked upon peace of mind as the summum bonum of mortals. He wrote works on the nature and organization of the world, on physics, on contagious maladies, on the chameleon, and on other subjects.

32 A Grecian astronomer. A work of his, called "Apotelesmatica," is said to be preserved in the Imperial Library at Vienna.

33 An astrologer of Rhodes, patronized by Augustus and Tiberius. He wrote a work on Stones, and a History of Egypt. Tacitus, in his Annals, B. vi., speaks highly of his skill in astrology.

34 A geographer of Antioch, and an opponent of the views of Eratosthenes. Cicero declares that he himself was unable to understand a thousandth part of his work.

35 A Peripatetic philosopher and geographer, of Messina in Sicily. He studied under Aristotle and wrote several works, the principal of which was an account of the history, geography, and moral and religious condition of Greece. A few fragments only are extant.

36 Of Syracuse, the most famous mathematician of antiquity, born B.C. 287. A few only of his works have come down to us, published at Oxford in 1792, by Torelli.

37 Born either at Astypalæa or Ægina. He was chief pilot of the fleet of Alexander during the descent of the Indus and the voyage to the Persian Gulf. He wrote a work called the "Alexandropædia," or Education of Alexander. In his description of what he saw in India, many fables and falsehoods are said to have been interwoven, so much so that the work (which is now lost) is said to have resembled a fable more than a history.

38 Of Cyrene, born B.C. 276. He was invited from Athens by Ptolemy Euergetes, to become keeper of the library at Alexandria. He was a man of most extensive erudition, as an astronomer, geographer, philosopher, historian and grammarian. All of his writings have perished, with the exception of a few fragments on geographical subjects.

39 Of Massilia, now Marseilles, a celebrated navigator who flourished about the time of Alexander the Great. In his voyages he visited Britain and Thule, of which he probably gave some account in his work "on the Ocean." He has been wrongfully accused of falsehood by Strabo. Another work written by him was his "Periplus," or 'Circumnavigation' from Gades to the Tanais, probably, in this instance, the Elbe.

40 Of Halicarnassus, the father of Grecian history; born B.C. 484. Besides his great work which has come down to us, he is supposed to have written a history of Arabia.

41 Probably the most learned of the Greek philosophers. His works were exceedingly numerous, and those which have survived to us treat of natural history, metaphysics, physical science, ethics, logic, and general literature.

42 A native of Cnidus in Caria, and private physician to Artaxerxes Mnemon, having been made prisoner by him at the battle of Cunaxa. He wrote a History of Persia in 23 books, which, with the exception of a small abridgement by Photius and a few fragments, is now lost. He also wrote a book on India. He was much censured, probably without sufficient reason, for the credulity displayed in his works.

43 Of Ephesus, a geographer, who lived about B.C. 100. He wrote a Periplus, and a work on Geography; a few fragments only of abridgements of these have survived.

44 Of Charax in Parthia, of which country he wrote an account which still exists. He flourished in the reign of Augustus.

45 Of Chios, a celebrated historian, and disciple of the orator Isocrates. His principal works were a History of Greece, and a Life of Philip of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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