Elements of Astrology (1898) p.7. Broughton describes its value to astrologers as "One of the best books the student should read, and which is most essential" p.v.
Heilen, Stephan, 'Ptolemy's Doctrine of the Terms and its Reception', in Jones (2010)p.45.
Pecker (2001)p.311. Most contemporary sources give c. 90 – c. 168 as the most likely time-span of Ptolemy's life. Robbins gives 100–178 ('Introduction', I p.viii). Mark Smith also veers towards the figures given by Robbins: "It is said that he lived to be seventy-eight and survived into the reign of Antonius Pius' successor, Mark Aurelius (161–180). These two claims, if true, would lead us to place Ptolemy's death not only somewhere within that span, but probably toward the end".
It is sometimes suggested that Ptolemy invented the tropical zodiac or broke conventional practice in his use of it; see for example Heilen, 'Ptolemy's Doctrine of the Terms and its Reception', p.52, in Jones (2010), or Robert and Dann,The Astrological Revolution, (Steiner Books, 2010) p.234. However, it is clear that Ptolemy was merely following convention, as demonstrated by Geminos's Introduction to the phenomena, 'On the Circle of the Signs' ch.1, where the tropical zodiac is given detailed explanation in a text dated to the 1st century BCE, and known to be based on the accounts of older authorities (Evans and Berggren (2006), Preface, p.xvi and Introduction, p.2); and also because Ptolemy states that he is offering the methods of his older sources: "it is reasonable to reckon the beginnings of the signs also from the equinoxes and solstices, partly because the writers make this quite clear, and particularly because from our previous demonstrations we observe that their natures, powers, and familiarities take their cause from the solstitial and equinoctial starting-places, and from no other source. For if other starting-places are assumed, we shall either be compelled no longer to use the natures of the signs for prognostications or, if we use them, to be in error" (I.22, Loeb: p.109–111).
Although the rate of revolution is only 1° every 72 years, it adds up over long periods of time. Nearly 2,000 years have passed since Ptolemy wrote his Tetrabiblos so the displacement is now approximating to the distance of a whole zodiac sign. The full cycle completes over the course of 26,000 years - see Evans (1998)p.245ff.
Tester (1987)p.84: "That the topic was of great importance is shown by the length of Ptolemy’s chapter and the number of illustrations he gives to help the reader understand an immensely complex procedure. This is very unusual since Ptolemy tends to avoid details of practice, and consequently needs and uses few illustrations".
Tester (1987)p.84. Original source given as L’astrologie greque, 404 (Paris: Leroux, 1899).
Tetrabiblos III.1 (Loeb: p.225). This explanation was mirrored in subsequent discussions on why the moment of birth is more reliable, though not separate, from the moment of conception. For example, Johannes Kepler was following Ptolemy when he wrote in his Tertius Interveniens (1610): "When a human being's life is first ignited, when he now has his own life, and can no longer remain in the womb - then he receives a character and an imprint of all the celestial configurations (or the images of the rays intersecting on earth), and retains them unto his grave". See 7.1 of Translated excerpts by Dr. Kenneth G. Negus on Cura, retrieved 17 November 2011.
sacred-texts.com
Ashmand (1822) 'Preface' pp.xvii. The unknown author of the 'Address' in the 1635 Elzevir edition reports that it "was translated a few years ago" and says of its author Allatius: "He ... holds some office in the Vatican Library. He undertook his present work, however, for his own private gratification, and that of certain friends; but when writings compiled with this view have once quitted their author's hands, it will often happen that they have also, at the same time, escaped his control."
sas.ac.uk
warburg.sas.ac.uk
See Houlding in Burnett and Greenbaum (2007) p.277; and Charles Burnett's 'notice' in the preface to the reproduction of Plato de Tivoli's translation by Johannes Hervagius in 1533 (available in digital format by the Warburg Institute (retrieved 19 November 2011).
skyscript.co.uk
Houlding, Deborah 'Ptolemy's terms and conditions: the transmission of Ptolemy's terms; an historical overview, comparison and interpretation', in Burnett and Greenbaum (2007); reproduced online at Skyscript (see p.3–4,6,11,15); retrieved 7 December 2011.
Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon: A: 'τροπ-ή , ἡ, (τρέπω) ('turn, turning'); 1.b "each of two fixed points in the solar year, the solstices". Retrieved 24 November 2011.
uchicago.edu
penelope.uchicago.edu
Robbins (1940) 'Translator's Introduction' II, p.xii. Analogies between the status of the Tetrabiblos in astrology and the Bible in Christianity are frequent. See for example Riley (1974) p.235, "virtually the Bible of astrology"; Broughton, Elements of Astrology (1898) p.7: "Ptolemy’s Four Books on Astrology are to the European and American Student what the Bible is to the student of Christian Theology"; Tucker, Principles of Scientific Astrology (1938) p.32: "it is the Tetrabiblos which interests astrologers ... it is their astrological bible"; and Zusne, Jones, Anomalistic psychology: a study of magical thinking (1989) p.201: "the astrologer's bible, the Tetrabiblos, is still in use in the Western world".
Pecker (2001)p.311. Most contemporary sources give c. 90 – c. 168 as the most likely time-span of Ptolemy's life. Robbins gives 100–178 ('Introduction', I p.viii). Mark Smith also veers towards the figures given by Robbins: "It is said that he lived to be seventy-eight and survived into the reign of Antonius Pius' successor, Mark Aurelius (161–180). These two claims, if true, would lead us to place Ptolemy's death not only somewhere within that span, but probably toward the end".
Tetrabiblos I.2 (Loeb: p.19): "...it would not be fitting to dismiss all prognostication of this character because it can sometimes be mistaken, for we do not discredit the art of the pilot for its many errors; but as when the claims are great, so also when they are divine, we should welcome what is possible and think it enough".
Tetrabiblos I.2 (Loeb: p.13), i.e., those who "for the sake of gain, claim credence for another art under the name of this, and deceive the vulgar". In his commentary on the TetrabiblosJerome Cardan gave the example of those who give elaborate predictions based only on the day or month of birth.
Tetrabiblos I.2 (Loeb: p.19): "We should not object to astrologers using as a basis for calculation nationality, country, and rearing, or any other existing accidental qualities". Most of book II is given to exploring the stereotypes of nations in astrological terms.
Cicero (c. 45 BC)II.25,54, p.433: "why do they warn us of things which we cannot avoid? Why, even a mortal, if he has a proper sense of duty, does not warn his friends of imminent disasters which can in no way be escaped".
Tetrabiblos I.8 (Loeb: p.45). The first quarter of the synodic cycle brings an added emphasis on moisture; the next increases warmth; the next (in which the cycle is receding) withdraws the moisture and brings an added emphasis on dryness, and the final quarter (which closes the cycle) withdraws warmth and brings an added emphasis on coldness.
Tetrabiblos I.10 (Loeb: pp.59–65). The Ascendant is the eastern angle, associated with the east wind (Apeliotes) which excels in dryness; the midheaven is the southern angle, associated with the south wind (Notus) which excels in heat; the descendant is the western angle, associated with the west wind (Zephyrus) which excels in moisture; and the Imum Coeli is the northern angle, associated with the north wind (Boreas) which excels in cold.
It is sometimes suggested that Ptolemy invented the tropical zodiac or broke conventional practice in his use of it; see for example Heilen, 'Ptolemy's Doctrine of the Terms and its Reception', p.52, in Jones (2010), or Robert and Dann,The Astrological Revolution, (Steiner Books, 2010) p.234. However, it is clear that Ptolemy was merely following convention, as demonstrated by Geminos's Introduction to the phenomena, 'On the Circle of the Signs' ch.1, where the tropical zodiac is given detailed explanation in a text dated to the 1st century BCE, and known to be based on the accounts of older authorities (Evans and Berggren (2006), Preface, p.xvi and Introduction, p.2); and also because Ptolemy states that he is offering the methods of his older sources: "it is reasonable to reckon the beginnings of the signs also from the equinoxes and solstices, partly because the writers make this quite clear, and particularly because from our previous demonstrations we observe that their natures, powers, and familiarities take their cause from the solstitial and equinoctial starting-places, and from no other source. For if other starting-places are assumed, we shall either be compelled no longer to use the natures of the signs for prognostications or, if we use them, to be in error" (I.22, Loeb: p.109–111).
Ptolemy described only Cancer and Capricorn as 'tropical' and referred to Aries and Libra (the signs of spring and autumn) as the equinoctial signs. Generally, other ancient authors referred to all four as tropical, to distinguish them from the 'solid' signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius) which indicate established seasons, and the 'bi-corporeal' signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces), which Ptolemy says are so called because "they share, as it were, at end and beginning, the natural properties of the two states of weather" (I.11, Loeb: p.69).
Tetrabiblos I.11 (Loeb: p.67): "They have received their name from what takes place in them. For the Sun turns when he is at the beginning of these signs and reverses his latitudinal progress, causing summer in Cancer and winter in Capricorn".
For example, where he explains the three different ways by which the signs can be classified as masculine or feminine (I.12, pp.69–73).
Tetrabiblos II,1 (Loeb: p.119): "And since weaker natures always yield to the stronger, and the particular always falls under the general, it would by all means be necessary for those who purpose an inquiry about a single individual long before to have comprehended the more general considerations".
A footnote in the Robbins edition offers Jerome Cardan’s explanation that Ptolemy’s "inhabited world" was conceived "as a trapezium, narrower at the top (north) than the bottom, and bounded by arcs; this is divided into quadrants by north-south and east-west lines. The 'parts closer to the centre' are then marked off by lines joining the ends of the two latter, dividing each quadrant and producing 4 right-angled triangles at the centre". Robbins (1940)p.129, n. 2).
Tetrabiblos II.4 (Loeb: p.163). The planetary stations are where each planet's motion, according to geocentric observation, appears to halt and change direction. This leads the planet into or out of a period of apparent retrograde motion.
Tetrabiblos II.4 (Loeb: p.163). See also II.7 (Loeb:p.177), where the extent of obscuration helps to determine the proportion of those in the region who will feel its effect.
Effects are assumed to be most effective at the beginning of the period if the eclipse is visible near to the ascendant; in the middle of the period if it is near to the midheaven, and at the end of the period if it is near to the descendant. Attention is given to significant planetary conjunctions which fall upon, or make aspects to, the zodiac position in which the eclipse occurred. In this, planets that are rising into view in new synodic cycles signify the intensification of effects, whereas planets which are at the end of their synodic phases and disappearing under the glare of the Sun’s light bring abatements (II. 6 Loeb: p.169).
Tetrabiblos II.8 (Loeb: pp.177–179). Particular attention is given to the star that rises on the ascendant or culminates on the midheaven, whichever of these is the relevant preceding angle. (II.7 Loeb: p.171).
As an example of how this might be applied, an eclipse dominated by the 'beneficial planet' Jupiter, in good condition, would suggest prosperity and good meteorological conditions, whereas a planet considered to be destructive, such as Saturn, would suggest scarcity, freezing weather and floods (II.8 Loeb:pp.181–183). If the event involves the tropical signs of the zodiac, the effects could be related to politics, whereas fixed signs indicate foundations and constructions of buildings, whilst common signs indicate men and kings. If the animal signs are involved, the effects relate to herds or oxen, but if the sign or constellation presents the form of water or fish, the influence connects to the sea, fleets and floods. Of the 'terrestrial' signs (those depicted by humans or animals that live on land), the northern signs anticipate problems such as earthquakes that arise from the land, whilst the southern signs bring unexpected rains (II.7 Loeb:pp.171–175).
Tetrabiblos II.9 (Loeb: p.193): "For if they appear black or livid they signify the effects which were mentioned in connection with Saturn's nature; if white, those of Jupiter; if reddish, those of Mars; if yellow, those of Venus; and if variegated, those of Mercury. If the characteristic colour appears to cover the whole body of the luminary or the whole region surrounding it, the predicted event will affect most of the parts of the countries; but if it is in any one part, it will affect only that part against which the phenomenon is inclined".
Tetrabiblos II.8 Loeb: p.189): "Consequently questions of this kind would reasonably be left to the enterprise and ingenuity of the mathematician, [i.e., astrologer] in order to make the particular distinctions".
Tetrabiblos III.1 (Loeb: p.225). This explanation was mirrored in subsequent discussions on why the moment of birth is more reliable, though not separate, from the moment of conception. For example, Johannes Kepler was following Ptolemy when he wrote in his Tertius Interveniens (1610): "When a human being's life is first ignited, when he now has his own life, and can no longer remain in the womb - then he receives a character and an imprint of all the celestial configurations (or the images of the rays intersecting on earth), and retains them unto his grave". See 7.1 of Translated excerpts by Dr. Kenneth G. Negus on Cura, retrieved 17 November 2011.
For example (III.8): "if even in this case not one of the beneficent planets bears witness to any of the places mentioned, the offspring are entirely irrational and in the true sense of the word nondescript; but if Jupiter or Venus bears witness, the type of monster will be honoured and seemly, such as is usually the case with hermaphrodites or the so called harpocratiacs [deaf mutes]".
Tetrabiblos IV.10 (Loeb: p.459). See also Robbins (1940) 'Translator's Introduction', p.xxi for discussion of the variants. The comment quoted is from the ending according to Parisinus 2425.
Robbins (1940) 'Translator's Introduction' p.xiv: "Professor Franz Boll, whose studies of Ptolemy have been cited many times already, had begun work upon a new edition of the Tetrabiblos prior to his lamented death, July 3, 1924. His pupil, Fräulein Emilie Boer, however, continued Boll’s task, and the appearance of their completed text has been awaited since 1926. I regret very much that my own work on the present text and translation could not have profited from the results of the textual studies of these two scholars".
The term "ambient" refers to the humoral state of the surrounding air; i.e., the 'enveloping environment' (Ambient: "relating to the immediate surroundings of something" Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
