Marcus Manilius (fl. 1st century AD) was a Roman
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
,
astrologerAn astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an...
, and author of a poem in five books called
Astronomica.
The author of
Astronomica is neither quoted nor mentioned by any ancient writer. Even his name is uncertain, but it was probably Marcus Manilius; in the earlier books the author is anonymous, the later give Manilius, Manlius, Mallius. The poem itself implies that the writer lived under
AugustusGaius Julius Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.
[These are the contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian after 45 BC...]
or
TiberiusTiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla...
, and that he was a citizen of and resident in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
.
Marcus Manilius (fl. 1st century AD) was a Roman
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
,
astrologerAn astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. Typically an astrologer draws a horoscope for the time of an event, such as a person's birth, and interprets celestial points and their placements at the time of the event to better understand someone, determine the auspiciousness of an...
, and author of a poem in five books called
Astronomica.
Criticism
The author of
Astronomica is neither quoted nor mentioned by any ancient writer. Even his name is uncertain, but it was probably Marcus Manilius; in the earlier books the author is anonymous, the later give Manilius, Manlius, Mallius. The poem itself implies that the writer lived under
AugustusGaius Julius Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.
[These are the contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian after 45 BC...]
or
TiberiusTiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla...
, and that he was a citizen of and resident in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
. According to
Richard BentleyRichard Bentley was an English theologian, classical scholar and critic.- Early life :Bentley was born at Oulton near Rothwell, Leeds, West Yorkshire. His grandfather had suffered for the Royalist cause following the English Civil War, leaving the family in reduced circumstances...
he was an Asiatic Greek; according to F. Jacob an African. His work is one of great learning; he had studied his subject in the best writers, and generally represents the most advanced views of the ancients on
astronomyAstronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere...
(or rather
astrologyAstrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which hold that the relative positions of celestial bodies and related details can provide information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters. A practitioner of astrology is called an astrologer...
).
Manilius frequently imitates
LucretiusTitus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the epic philosophical poem on Epicureanism De rerum natura, translated into English as On the Nature of Things or "On the Nature of the Universe"....
, whom he resembles in earnestness and originality and in the power of enlivening the dry bones of his subject. Although his diction presents some peculiarities, the style is metrically correct.
The astrological systems of
housesMost horoscopic traditions of astrology systems divide the horoscope into a number of houses whose positions depend on time and location rather than on date. The houses of the horoscope represent different spheres of life, described in terms of physical surroundings as well as personal life...
, linking human affairs with the circuit of the
zodiacIn astronomy, the zodiac is the ring of constellations that lines the ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the Sun across the sky over the course of the year. The Moon and planets also lie within the ecliptic, and so are also within the constellations of the zodiac. In astrology, the zodiac...
, have evolved over the centuries, but they make their first appearance in
Astronomicon. The earliest datable surviving horoscope that uses houses in its interpretation is slightly earlier, c. 20 BC. Claudius Ptolemy (c. AD 130 - 170), the father of classical astrology, almost completely ignored houses (
Templa as Manlius calls them) in his astrological text,
Tetrabiblos.
Textual history
Julius Firmicus MaternusJulius Firmicus Maternus was a Christian Latin writer and notable astrologer, who lived in the reign of Constantine I and his successors.-Life and works:...
, who wrote in the time of Constantine, exhibits so many points of resemblance with the work of Manilius that he must either have used him or have followed some work that Manilius also followed. As Firmicus says that hardly any Roman except 'Caesar' (by whom he almost certainly means
Germanicus CaesarGermanicus Julius Caesar was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Lugdunum, Gaul . At birth he was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
rather than
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
),
CiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.Cicero is generally perceived to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome...
and
FrontoMarcus Cornelius Fronto , Roman grammarian, rhetorician and advocate, was born at Cirta in Numidia. He also was suffect consul of 142.- Life :...
had treated the subject, it is probable that he did not know the work of Manilius. The latest event referred to in the poem is the great defeat of
VarusPublius Quinctilius Varus was a Roman politician and general under emperor Augustus, mainly remembered for having lost three Roman legions and his own life when attacked by Germanic leader Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.-Life:His paternal grandfather was senator Sextus Quinctilius...
by
ArminiusGaius Julius Arminius, also known as Arminius, Armin or Hermann was a chieftain of the Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest...
in the
Battle of the Teutoburg ForestThe Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in A.D. 9 when an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius , the son of Segimer of the Cherusci, ambushed and destroyed three Roman legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus.The...
(AD 9). The fifth book was not written until the reign of Tiberius; the work appears to be incomplete, and was probably never published, for it was never quoted by any subsequent writer.
Two manuscripts of
Astronomicon made in the 10th and 11th centuries lay hidden in monasteries, one at Gembloux in Brabant (now in Brussels) and another that has come to rest in the library at Leipzig. The unknown text was rediscovered by the humanist Poggio Bracciolini somewhere not very far from Constance, during a break in the sessions of the
Council of ConstanceThe Council of Constance is the 16th ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418. The council ended the Western Schism, by deposing the remaining Papal claimants and electing Pope Martin V....
that he was attending, in 1416 or 1417. The
editio princeps of
Astronomicon was prepared by the astronomer
RegiomontanusJohannes Müller von Königsberg , known by his Latin pseudonym Regiomontanus, was an important German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer....
, using very corrupted manuscripts, and published in
NurembergNuremberg is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. It is situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and is Franconia's largest city. It is located about 170 kilometres north of Munich, at 49.27° N 11.5° E. The population is...
about 1473. The text was critically edited by
Joseph Justus ScaligerJoseph Justus Scaliger was a French religious leader and scholar, known for expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and Ancient Roman history to include Persian, Babylonian, Jewish and Ancient Egyptian history.-Early life:He was born at Agen, the tenth child and third son of Italian...
, whose edition appeared at Paris in 1579 and a second edition, collated with much better manuscripts, at Leiden in 1600. A greatly improved edition was published by
Richard BentleyRichard Bentley was an English theologian, classical scholar and critic.- Early life :Bentley was born at Oulton near Rothwell, Leeds, West Yorkshire. His grandfather had suffered for the Royalist cause following the English Civil War, leaving the family in reduced circumstances...
in 1739. The edition of A.E. Housman, published in five volumes from 1903 to 1930, is considered the authoritative edition, although some may find G.P. Goold's edition for the
Loeb Classical LibraryThe Loeb Classical Library is a series of books, today published by Harvard University Press, which presents important works of ancient Greek and Latin Literature in a way designed to make the text accessible to the broadest possible audience, by presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each...
(Harvard, 1977) less intimidating.
An English translation into rhyming couplets by
Thomas CreechThomas Creech , translator, born at Blandford Forum, Dorset educated at Sherborne and Oxford, became Head Master of Sherborne School. He translated Lucretius in verse , for which he received a Fellowship at Oxford, also Manilius, Horace, Theocritus, and other classics. It has been long thought...
was published in 1697.
External links
- The Astronomica of Manilius at The Latin Library
The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. The texts have been drawn from different sources. Many were originally scanned and formatted from texts in the Public Domain. Others have been downloaded from various sites on the Internet . Most of the recent texts have been...
- A.E. Housman's introduction