THE CAESAREAN ASTRONOMY

How the mean and true Arguments are found, and what the planetary states are.

You will obtain the true Argument In historical astronomy, the "Argument" is the position of a planet on its epicycle—the smaller circle that rotates upon a larger one. by extending a thread from the center of the world through the center of the epicycle; there you will note the place touched by the thread of the lower epicycle, for that is the true apogee original: "aux"; the point in an orbit farthest from the center. of the epicycle. If you now count the signs, degrees, and minutes in order from that point of the true apogee to the pointer for Saturn (♄), the true Argument of Saturn arises, which is likewise necessary for investigating Saturn’s latitude. We shall now teach what the remaining accidents and "passions" States or appearances of the planet. of Saturn are. When Saturn stands at the summit of its eccentric A circular orbit whose center is not the Earth.—that is, in the apogee of the eccentric—it then appears smaller than itself and is slow in its course. However, when it is 90 degrees distant from the apogee of the equant or deferent The large circle that carries the smaller epicycle. on either side, it exhibits its true size. Conversely, opposite the apogee of the deferent, it appears largest and is said to be swift in its course.

Eastern and Fast in course, Increased in light, Increased in number.

Saturn is also called oriental Rising in the east before the Sun. and increasing in light from the time the Sun moves away from it until the opposition. It is called occidental Setting in the west after the Sun. and decreasing in light from then until it reaches conjunction with the Sun again. We call it "increased in number" when its true motion is further from the beginning of Aries than its mean motion. Conversely, it is "decreased in number" where its true motion is less than its mean motion. It deserves to be called "swift" or "increased in course" when the line of true motion moves faster than the line of mean motion. It is "diminished" and "slow in course" by the opposite reasoning.

Combust.

When it is not further than 9 degrees from the Sun, it is said to be combust Lost in the Sun's glare..

The planets appear joined in the mean apogee of the epicycle.

In Saturn, the ascent and descent of latitude must also be observed, which will be treated below. It should be known that Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, in their mean conjunctions with the Sun, are always found near the cross ✚ of the epicycle—that is, in the mean apogee of the epicycle. Similarly, in mean oppositions, the planet is never found anywhere but in the opposite of the epicycle’s apogee. From this, it is easy to understand that any of those three planets is always distant in the epicycle from the mean apogee by the same amount that the mean motion of the Sun is distant from the mean motion of that planet.

When planets are called direct, retrograde, and stationary.

Sometimes the wandering stars are called direct, retrograde, and stationary. Understand it this way: if a thread is stretched from the center of the world so that it touches the epicycle on the side, that very point of contact which is according to the order of the signs is called the "first station." A planet existing there is called stationary. Likewise, the point of contact against the succession of the signs is the "second station," and a planet staying there is similarly called stationary. A planet moving between these stations is called direct if it travels through the upper part of the epicycle (where it moves according to the signs). Thus, whatever has been said of Saturn up to this point is to be understood similarly for Jupiter and Mars. ¶ So that all these things may be received more clearly, it seemed fit to add a certain exemplary demonstration, like an image, so that what was said above may be known more certainly, as if set before the eyes.

The example of Emperor Charles.

¶ The birth of His Imperial Majesty Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, to whom this book was dedicated. claims for itself the year 1500 after Christ, the 23rd day of February, at 15 hours and 44 minutes in the afternoon. Since this time has been equated by a twofold calculation—first because of the difference in meridians, and second because of the inequality of days—there arises the number of 23 days, 16 hours, and 20 minutes, with which number the motions are now to be sought. First, therefore, because 1500 years are counted after Christ, one must look under the title "Root of the Mean Motion of Saturn" for the year 1400, for 1500 years have not yet fully elapsed. There, the root The starting position for a specific epoch. is found at 7 signs, 11 degrees of Scorpio (♏︎), and 38 minutes; you will count this in the Zodiac. Once this limit is shown, move the Saturn (♄) pointer of the lower small wheel to it. Then, in the same small wheel, look for the year 99 (since that many years have passed beyond 1400); lead the thread A through it. While it remains unmoved, place the indicator M beneath it, and then see the 23rd day of February in the Calendar. Near the M indicator (let 16 hours and 20 minutes be omitted, for they cannot be distinguished so exactly due to the narrowness of the instrument), join the thread A of the day. With the thread extended, apply the indicator M again with the line of confidence; once this is done, you have operated correctly enough. When the mean motion of Saturn in the Zodiac shows 25 degrees of Scorpio (♏︎) and 39 minutes through the indicator M, then place the indicator P of the second circle at the 13th degree and 9th minute, which is the apogee of Saturn, as you were taught by the instructions. And thus you will have rectified both wheels. You see, therefore, how the indicator M [stands] before G on the circle G H I at 5 signs, 12 degrees, and 12 minutes. The lower epicycle with its cross ✚ will also be arranged so that the cross proceeds from the center of the epicycle toward the circumference of the Zodiac, and the same epicycle, along with the deferent, will be ordered just as they should be.

¶ After this, let the Root of the Argument be seen in the table of the Argument at the number 1400, where you will find 0 signs, 5 degrees, and 56 minutes; join the indicator of the upper epicycle to that many signs, degrees, and minutes. After this, look in the upper epicycle for the remaining years, which are the 99 years completed beyond 1400, through which stretch the thread F from the center of the epicycle, and place the Y indicator beneath it. Furthermore, apply the thread F to the 23rd day, 16 hours, and 20 minutes (though the narrowness of the instrument cannot sufficiently admit these distinctly); place the indicator Y with the line of trust beneath it again. It reports 9 signs, 15 degrees, and 49 minutes on the rim of the lower epicycle, which is the mean Argument of Saturn. With the epicycles fixed thus, the entire theory with all the wheels will be most complete. ¶ You learn the true course of Saturn by directing the thread from center A through the middle of the star, where 17 degrees and 40 minutes of Capricorn (☌) Note: The symbol in the text is for Capricorn, often represented as ♑︎, though the OCR shows ☌ (conjunction). Context implies the sign. are shown in the Zodiac, which is what you desire.

The true place of Saturn in the Zodiac at the time of the Emperor's birth.

TABLE OF THE MEAN MOTION OF SATURN

TABLE OF THE MEAN ARGUMENT OF SATURN