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Marcus Manilius, who lived in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, is the author of the earliest treatise on astrology we possess. His Astronomica, a Latin didactic poem in five books, begins with an account of celestial phenomena, and then proceeds to treat of the signs of the zodiac and the twelve temples; there follow instructions for calculating the horoscoping degree, and details of chronocrators, decans, injurious degrees, zodiacal geography, paranatellonta, and other technical matters. Besides exhibiting great virtuosity in rendering mathematical tables and diagrams in verse form, the poet writes with some passion about his Stoic beliefs and shows much wit and humour in his character sketches of persons born under particular stars. Perhaps taking a lead from Virgil in his Georgics, Manilius abandons the proportions of his last book to narrate the story of Perseus and Andromeda at considerable length.

In spite of its undoubted elegance, the Astronomica is a difficult work, and this edition provides in addition to the first English prose translation a full guide to the poem, with copious explanatory notes and illustrative figures.

Customer Reviews (1)

A review of the Astronomica of Manilius edited by G.P Goold
This book is part of the Loeb Classical Library series that produces academically edited translations (with the original language) of ancienttexts. The Astronomica is a 4,500 line poem on astrology and stoicismwritten between 7-25 A.D by the Roman poet Manilius.

The translation ofthe text is excellent, G.P. Goold, being a distinguished classical scholar.Accompanying the translation is a detailed introduction that examinesvarious aspects of the poem; its date of composition, its sources, theastrological procedures used and its history.

This is a text intendedfor scholars or for those with a serious interest in history. Those lookingfor astrological guidance would do well to look elsewhere as the poem is apoor astrological guide.

The book begins with an introduction, explainingthe basic of astronomy and providing some historical background toastrology. This is followed by a series of astrological procedures. Each ofthese contradicts each other and none are given in their entirety. It is anastrological smorgasbord rather than a `how to' guidebook. Against thisbackground the poet explains the importance of the philosophy ofstoicism.

The background to the original book is as follows. It wascomposed in the last years of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, andcompleted in the reign of his successor, Tiberius. It discusses the stoicform of astrology that subordinates all aspects of life to fate. Everyaction of everyone and everything is entirely controlled by fate. The onlysolace the poem offers is that via astrology we can learn our fate and thusbrace ourselves for the bad and look forward to the good. Near the end ofthe book we are also told that we (humans) are divine or at least sharesome link with the stoic god and that some form of divine destiny awaitsus.

Possibly the book was intended as some form of political statement.The emperor Tiberius was an ardent astrologer who devoted much time to thecalculation of horoscopes of prominent men to determine if they werepotential rivals. If they were they then met a fatal destiny. Tiberius wasalso responsible for expelling astrologers from Rome, no doubt to keep amonopoly for himself. This suggests that Manilius had some imperial supportfor his work.

Nothing of Manilius is known apart from his sole work. Wecan only conjecture that he was wealthy enough to have the time to devotehimself to the work and had an abiding interest in the field of astrology.

I would recommend this without reservation to those interested in theclassics. ... Read more

Product Description
1697. Containing a System of the Ancient Astronomy and Astrology.Together with the Philosophy of the Stoicks, done into English Verse with Notes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Grand Trine formations were not discovered by Manilius
The description of Grand Trines in Manilius's book was not discovered by him. This is due to the fact that in the year 1,000 B.C., that is a thousand years before Manilius, King Solomon had a ring with two Grand Trines embedded on the ring. In other words, just take a look at the Star of David on the Israeli flag. So, Grand Trines were known way before they were written on paper. And what do you expect from Greeks who lived in Egypt for thousands of years and learned all about triangles and the pyramids. Even Pythagoras stole his ideas from an ancient Egypt. To build a pyramid you would have to have known about the Pythagorean theorem before the theory was discovered by Pythagoras. The baklava-munching Greeks stole most of their ancient knowledge. ... Read more

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This is a study of ancient didactic poetry, a type of literature which uses verse as the medium for teaching theoretical knowledge or practical skills. Volk combines a general discussion of didactic poetry as a genre in Greek and Latin literature with detailed interpretations of four famous Latin didactic poems by Lucretius, Vergil, Ovid, and Manilius. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

very useful
Very learned and also easy to read.You'll find lots of information on the genre of didactic poetry as a whole, and you'll also find useful close analyses of the individual authors.Volk's book is crucial for anyone interested in any aspect of Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid or Manilius. ... Read more

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This Book Is In French. ... Read more

Product Description
The Astronomica of Manilius is a poem in five books, at least partly written under the Emperor Augustus, which purports to teach the reader the art of astrology and the means by which an accurate horoscope may be cast. It is, therefore, a text from the classical age of Roman literature which deals with a topic to whose enduring popular interest any daily Western newspaper will testify. And yet, despite some notable modern exceptions, the infamously harsh verdict of Manilius' most ardent modern critic, A. E. Housman, continues to cast an imposing shadow on the poem. Forgotten Stars seeks to lift this shadow once and for all, as it brings together an international contingent of scholars to analyse this dynamic poem from a variety of perspectives. Matters of literary interest are complemented by approaches which assess the work's socio-political, philosophical, scientific, and astrological resonance, as well as its influence on later Renaissance writers. ... Read more

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This Book Is In French. ... Read more

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This Book Is In German. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Recently there has been a constant increase in secondary literature on Manilius´ cosmological didactic poem, written in the late-Augustan/early-Tiberian period. However, a concentration on ideological-political or narratological perspectives means that attention has been focused on individual passages, prooemia, excurses or other marginal sections, while the main material, the astrological teachings, have been neglected. However, above all in the last century, our knowledge of astrology has been significantly furthered by numerous (new) editions of the works of Teukros of Babylon, Dorotheos, Vettius Valens and Hephaistion. These texts are particularly important for our understanding of the fifth book of the Astronomica. ... Read more

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Originally published in 1911.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This Book Is In Latin. Due to the very old age and scarcity of this book, many of the pages may be hard to read due to the blurring of the original text, possible missing pages, missing text and other issues beyond our control. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more