Proclus: On the Sphere; Cleomedes: On the World; Aratus: Phenomena

He heard Dionysius of Heraclea. He associated with Antigonus, the king of the Macedonians, and Phila, his wife at that time. He flourished at the same time as Alexander Aetolus, Callimachus, Menander, and Philetas. He had three brothers: Myrin, Calonthas, and Athenodorus, who is said to be the first to have spoken against Zoilus, who wrote against Homeric poetry. Aratus studied under Persius the philosopher in Athens, and went with him to Macedonia when he was summoned by Antigonus. Having attended the wedding of Antigonus and Phila, and having achieved a good reputation, he spent the rest of his time there. Antigonus was the son of Demetrius Poliorcetes, and he took power around the one hundred and fifth Olympiad, during which Ptolemy Philadelphus reigned in Egypt. Thus, it is rumored by some that he was contemporary with Nicander of Colophon, the author of the Theriaca a poem on animal venoms. They say they proposed to one another—that one should examine the Phaenomena celestial appearances and the other the Theriaca. But this is clearly false. For Nicander appears to be younger by twelve full Olympiads. Some say that Aratus' father was Mnaseas, and that he heard a certain mathematician named Arisotherus, and that he was primarily a physician and a poet in the royal courts of Antigonus.