Astronomica

to renounce the dispute. From this overconfidence—or rather, this audacity—emerged the birth chartsoriginal: "genituræ," referring to astrological natal charts of Oedipus, Thersites, Paris, Philoctetes, and, so they might not seem to be raving only in small matters, even the birth of the World itself along with its own theme. We should not be surprised, then, that they attempted to investigate the birth charts of later Greeks based on the events of their lives. For Firmicus Julius Firmicus Maternus, a 4th-century Christian author and astrologer records the theme of Plato from ancient writings, with Aquarius as the horoscopeThe "horoscopante" or rising sign at the moment of birth, the Sun in Pisces, and the Moon in Gemini—that is, about the fifth day after the new moon.

And yet, Plato was born on the seventh day of the month of Thargelion An Athenian month roughly corresponding to May/June, according to Diogenes Laertius and the ancient Academics, in the first year of the 88th Olympiad. This corresponds to the seventh year of the Attic period, on May 21st, a Wednesday, in the 12th cycle of the Moon and the 2nd of the Sun. At that time, the Sun was in the 27th degree of Taurus, with the Moon making its passage very close to the yokeoriginal: "iugum," likely referring to the scales of Libra or a specific celestial alignment, which is to say, shortly before the conjunction. You see what "fine prophets" they were, who did not even have a consistent account of the dates!

Romulus, said Lucius Tarrutius Firmanus A Roman mathematician and philosopher, friend of Varro, was conceived on the 23rd of the month of Choeac, in the first year of the second Olympiad, at the third hour, during an eclipse of the Sun. We once thought the Actian monthsMonths of the calendar used after the Battle of Actium were being indicated here, relying on the good faith of Plutarch; however, Plutarch has deceived us more than once in such matters. We falsely believed that Plutarch had related these dates to the Actian usage familiar to him. In fact, these are wandering monthsMonths in a lunar or solar calendar that shift relative to the seasons because they lack leap years. Long before the form of the Julian year—let alone before the victory at Actium—Tarrutius, at the invitation of Marcus Terentius Varro, sought to determine the birth date of Romulus based on his deeds and...