First Complete Latin Philo

...in the middle, exceeds the first by a third portion. For if six is subtracted, the remaining two are a third portion of the first. It is also exceeded by the last by an equal portion. For if eight is subtracted from twelve, the remaining four will become a third portion of the last. We have had to say these things necessarily concerning the beauty possessed by this diagram, or table, or by whatever other name one pleases to call it. The septenary shows so many ideas, and even more, in incorporeal and intelligible things. Moreover, its nature extends itself also into every visible essence which occupies the heaven and the earth, that is, the boundaries of this universe. For what part of the world is not affected toward the septenary, subdued by love and desire for it? First, they say the heaven itself is girdled by seven circles, whose names are these: the arctic, the antarctic, the summer tropic, the winter tropic, the equinoctial, the zodiac, and furthermore, the Milky Way. For our horizon is an accident, insofar as each person sees either sharply or the opposite, with the sense stretching itself further or nearer all around. Certainly, the host of wandering stars, holding a course contrary to the fixed stars, is distinguished by seven ranks, displaying a very great influence upon the earth and the air. For indeed, it varies the air with the four seasons of the year, bringing about infinite changes through each: by calms, clear skies, cloudiness, and the violence of storms. They also flood and diminish rivers, and cause fields to be flooded or, on the contrary, to be parched. Nay, they even induce the same successions in the sea, as it advances and recedes. For one may see marine bays where, when the tide ebbs, a wide shore suddenly appears; and a little later, as it returns, the sea renders itself very deep, navigable not by small cargo ships, but by those carrying ten thousand amphorae. No less do they bestow growth and the ripening of fruits upon all earthly things, both animals and plants, by fostering the nature of each according to their indefatigable courses and returns, so that new flowers may succeed and soon ripen to provide abundance for those in need. Indeed, the Bear, which they call the guide of sailors, consists of seven stars; by watching it, pilots furrow the seas in a thousand ways, attempting a difficult task and one greater than human wisdom. For using this mark, they have found by searching regions unknown to their ancestors: the inhabitants of the continent found islands, and the islanders found those situated on the continent. For it was fitting that the hidden recesses of both the land and the sea should be shown by the purest essence of the heaven to an animal dear to God, namely, the human race. To this is also added the choir of the Pleiades, completed by seven stars, whose rising and setting occur for the sake of great benefits to all. For when these set, the furrows are cut for sowing; but as their rising approaches, they bring the joyful news of the future harvest. Once risen, they likewise rouse the exultant farmers to the gathering of necessary things; and they gladly store away the provisions, which they will soon bring out for daily use. The sun itself, the leader of the day, making two equinoxes every year—in spring and autumn, the spring in Aries, the autumnal in Libra—exhibits the most evident proof of divine majesty in the septenary. For each equinox occurs in the seventh month; at which times also the law has proclaimed two of the greatest and most celebrated feasts, since at both times whatever the earth bears is perfected: in the spring, indeed, the grain and whatever else we sow; but in the autumn, the fruit of the vine and of most other trees. And since earthly things depend on celestial ones according to a certain natural harmony, the principle of the septenary, having originated from above, descends even to us, so that mortals...