The Occult Sciences in Byzantium

PaulMagdalino
Maria Mavroudi
The Occult Sciences in
Byzantium
La Pomme d'or
Geneva
Copyright by La Pomme d'or, 2006
All rights reserved
Cover: Biblioteca Univers'tari di B
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Graphic design: Miglena
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ogna, Bononiensis gr. 3632, fol. 361r.
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Abbreviations
AntCl Antiquite Classique
AG Anthologia Graeca
AG Les alchimistes grecs
BHG Bibiotheca Hagiographica Graeca
BMGS Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies
BZ Byzantinische Zeitschrift
CAB Corpus des astronomes byzantins
CahCMCahiers de civilisation medievale, Xe-Xlle siecles
CahHistM Cahiers d'histoire mondiale
CollByz Collectanea Byzantina
CCAG Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum, 12
vols. (Brussels, 1898-1953)
CCCM Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis
CCSG Corpus Christianorum, Series Graeca
CFHB Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae
CMAG Catalogue des manuscrits alchimiques grecs, 8 vols.
(Brussels, 1924-32)
CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium
CSHB Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae
DOP Dumbarton Oaks Papers
ErJb Eranos Jahrbuch
GCS Die griechischen christlicher Schriftsteller
HAW Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft
JOB Jahrbuch der osterreichischen Byzantinistik
JSJ Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian,
JRS
ODB
PG
PLP
REB
RHR
'Hellenistic, and Roman Period
Journal of Roman Studies
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
Patrologia Cursus Completus. Series Graeca
Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaeologenzeit
Revue des etudes byzantines
Revue de l'histoire des religions
SVF Stoicorum veterumfragmenta, ed. H. von Arnim
(Leipzig, 1903)
TM Travaux et Memoires
PmbZ
PBE
ZRVI
Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit
Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
Zhornik Radova Vizantoloskog Instituta
Contents
Preface 9
Introduction 11
Maria Mavroudi
Occult Science and Society in Byzantium:
Considerations for Future Research 39
Katerina Ierodiakonou
The Greek Concept of Sympatheia and Its Byzantine
Appropriation in Michael Psellos 97
Paul Magdalino
Occult Science and Imperial Power in Byzantine History
and Historiography (9th-12th Centuries) 119
Maria Papathanassiou
Stephanos of Alexandria: A Famous Byzantine Scholar,
Alchemist and Astrologer 163
Michele Mertens
Graeco-Egyptian Alchemy in Byzantium 205
t David Pingree
The Byzantine Translations of M!ish!i'allah on
Interrogational Astrology 231
William Adler
Did the Biblical Patriarchs Practice Astrology?
Michael Glykas and Manuel Komnenos I on Seth
and Abraham 245
AnneTihon
Astrological Promenade in Byzantium in the Early
Palaiologan Period 265!
Joshua Holo
Hebrew Astrology in Byzantine Southern Italy 291
Charles Burnett
Late Antique and Medieval Latin Translations of Greek
Texts on Astrology and Magic 325,
George Saliba
Revisiting the Astronomical Contacts Between the
World of s ~ a m and Renaissance Europe:
The Byzantme connection
361
Bibliography
375
Indices
437
-
Preface
The present volume originated as a colloquium organised by the
editors and held in November 2003 at Dumbarton Oaks in
Washington, D. C. Earlier versions of all the papers published here
were delivered at the colloquium, with the exception of a single
one, which the author did not wish to submit for publication. The
occasion was entirely financed by Dumbarton Oaks, thanks to the
support of the Director, Professor Edward Keenan. The editors
gratefully acknowledge the work of Dr Alice-Mary Talbot, Director
of Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, and her then assistant,
Caitlin McGurk, in making the practical arrangements for the
colloquium. We are indebted to Dr Talbot for sending the
manuscript submissions for external review, to the reviewers for
their constructive comments, and to the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine
Publications Committee for releasing us from the obligation to
publish in-house. We are deeply grateful to Krassimira Platchkov
for accepting our volume to launch her new publication series, Les
Editions de la Pomme d'or. Paul Magdalino would like to thank the
British Academy for the award of a Research Readership which
relieved him from teaching in 2002-4. Maria Mavroudi is indebted
to the Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities at the
University of California, Berkeley for a research fellowship that
halved her teaching responsibilities during the academic year 2004-
05. Finally, the editors and publisher gratefully acknowledge the
invaluable help of Thalia Anagnostopoulos in copy editing the
10
Paul Magdalino Maria Mavroudi
volume and compiling the bibliography and copy editing, and of
Mariya Spiridonova who compiled the indices.
The volume is dedicated to the memory of David Pingree, who
passed on 11 November 2005. The quantity, scholarly range, and
quality of the work on the exact and occult sciences that he left
behind is simply breathtaking. In almost forty books and well more
than a hundred articles and book chapters he edited, translated, and
studied texts in Akkadian, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic, and
Hebrew covering chronologically from the earliest antiquity until
end of the Middle Ages and geographically from India to
Gibraltar. He was devoted, generous, and kind to those who knew
him as teacher, colleague, and friend. Those who never met him
cannot but be grateful for the guidance and intellectual
that his abundant and pioneering publications will
contmue to provide. He is sincerely and sorely missed.
Paul Magdalino and Maria Mavroudi
Introduction
This volume represents the first attempt to examine occult science
as a distinct category of Byzantine intellectual culture. There have
been studies of particular occult sciences, notably the two most
intellectually pretentious, astrology and (to a lesser extent)
alchemy, though until very recently far more effort has gone into
the editing of texts than into evaluating their contents and
contextualising their authors.
1
There have also been studies of
occult practice, mainly concerned, in the nature of the evidence,
with its repression by the authorities and criticism by orthodox
religious opinion. But insofar as such discussions have conceived of
the occult as a whole, they have defined it in terms of magic. Thus
Spyros Troianos analysed the legislation on Byzantine magic;
2
Byzantine magic was the theme of a colloquium and a subsequent
volume produced by Dumbarton Oaks;
3
and a table-ronde on
Byzantine magic, involving both editors of this volume, took place
in the 20th International Congress of Byzantine Studies, held at
Paris in 2001. Each of these initiatives surveyed a variety of
1
The place of astrology in medieval Byzantine culture and religion has recently
been studied by P. Magdalino, L 'orthodoxie des astrologues. La science entre le
dogme et Ia divination il Byzance (VII' -XIV siecle ), Realites byzantines 12 (Paris,
2006).
1
S. Troianos, 'Zauberei und Giftmischerei in mittelbyzantinischer Zeit', in G.
Prinzing and D. Simon, eds., Fest und Alltag in Byzanz (Munich, 1990), 37-51,
184-8.
3
H. Maguire, ed., Byzantine Magic (Washington, D. C., 1995).
12 Paul Magdalino Maria Mavroudi
practices, different in each case, not all of which could be strictly
classified as magical. Yet magic seemed in all cases to offer the
most convenient and comprehensive definition. This is equally true
in the study of the civilizations most closely related to Byzantium,
from Greco-Roman Antiquity to the Renaissance: discussions of
magic abound, but discussions of the occult sciences are rare. Why
so? (Most obviously, because magic, not being restricted to a
learned tradition, is less elitist and more conducive to
anthropological research; it has also left vastly more material
evidence, in the form of charms, spells and amulets which when
they use writing at all evince, for the most part, a low and formulaic
level of literacy. The study of occult science requires some
familiarity with specialised languages, methods and techniques,
whereas the study of magic is freely available to historians and art-
historians. Moreover, defining the occult as science tends to deprive
it of the religious quality inherent in the concept of magic.
What then, apart from the need to avoid repetition, is the reason for
preferring the occult sciences to magic as the theme and title of this
collection?,Is occult science not just magic by another name? The
answer lies principally in the corollary of the point made above: the
concept of magic does not do justice to the learned, literate end of
the spectrum. It puts the educated, sophisticated masters of occult
knowledge, some of whom, in Byzantium, were leading social
figures, in the same category as the drunken old women who were
inaccurately according to a recent authority, as the
leadmg practltloners of magic in Late Antiquity.
4
It also implies
that they offered an alternative religion, or a superstitious substitute
for orthodox c_ult, which was demonstrably not the case. In any
case, occult sctence cannot be regarded simply as the learned and
non-superstitious side of magic. Magic entered the vocabulary of
the as a term of opprobrium, connoting the
ntes of onental Although it came to denote an'
cultural reality, it never lost its negative
what the cultural Other practised as a substitute for true
rehgwn; mstead of serving the true deity it sought to usurp d' .
powe b h al ' tvme
r y mec amc or demonic means; its rituals mimicked
M.W. Dickie Magic and M .
New York, 200,1). aglclans m the Greco-Roman World (London and
introduction 13
religious cult, but in exclusive, private settings.
5
Few men, least of
all the learned, were keen to refer to themselves as magoi,,.Oespite,
or indeed because of, the natural elision between astrology and
astral magic, between the charting of planetary influences and the
incantation of planetary spirits, astrologers strenuously denied that
their predictions were based on anything other than natural science,
and compared their prognostications to the "expert guesswork" of
the medical doctor, 'Alchemists, if put on the spot, would no doubt
have taken a similar line. This was of course a defensive position,
adopted in order to counter charges of sorcery and polytheism, and
it does not mean that the practitioners of astrology and alchemy
really saw no connection between their knowledge and other types
of esoteric learning that were used to predict or to affect the course
of nature. However, if pushed to define the connection, they would
have done so not in terms of magic but in terms of philosophy. This
may strike us as bizarre, and it would certainly be deeply
misleading to treat philosophy and occult science as synonymous.
Yet intellectual engagement with the occult was rooted in, or sought
to cohere with, the philosophical systems of Greco-Roman
antiquity, as will be further discussed in this introduction and in a
later chapter of this volume. The learned practitioners of the occult
had a basic general education including philosophy, and tended to
combine their special expertise with a variety of intellectual
interests, which made it appropriate to describe them as
philosophoi. Philosophos was the generic label for an intellectual in
Byzantium.
6
It was also a label strongly coloured by the Late
Antique fusion of Pythagorean, Stoic and Neoplatonic traditions
which identified philosophy with an ascetic lifestyle and the
possession of extraordinary mental and spiritual powers that went
far beyond the rational exposition of logic and metaphysics and had
much in common with the charisma of Christian holy men-
themselves often referred to as philosophers by their apologists.
7
It
was the philosopher's capacity-or reputation-for learning and
contriving paradoxa, extraordinary phenomena, which caught the
public imagination in Late Antiquity and shaped the image of the
'See F. Graf, Magic in the Ancient World (Cambridge, Mass., 1997).
6
See ODB, s.v. PHILOSOPHER.
7
E.g. Sozomenos, Kirchengeschichte, ed. J. Bidez and G.C Hansen, GCS 50
(Berlin, 1960), I 12. 8, 13.1, 14.1, lll 14, 38.
14 Paul Magdalino Maria Mavroudi;
philosopher in the formative period of Byzantine medieval culture
(5th-9th c.). In the widely circulated sixth-century chronicle of John
address secret prayers to the Moon,
8
create
talismans,
9
- and into thin air
10
in addition to predicting '
eclipses
11
and making astronomical discoveries;
12
the "most learned
philosopher" Theon of Alexandria (late 4'h c.) is mentioned not only
as an astronomer, but as a teacher of Hermetism and Orphism,
13
while Malalas' near-contemporary Proclus features not as the
leading Neoplatonist of his generation, but as a dream interpreter
for the emperor Anastasius I
14
and as the inventor of an incendiary
substance which bums a rebel fleet.
15
In the late eighth-century
collection of legends about the monuments of Constantinople, the
Parastaseis, the city's large collection of ancient statues are full of
hidden meanings and sinister powers, and the men who know how
to interpret them are philosophers, not magicians.
16
For present-day purposes, however, 'philosophy' is hardly more
appropriate than 'magic' as an identifying label for the scientific
aspect of the occult. So should this not simply be considered under
the heading of science tout court, or should not science and magic
be included, without forced and arguably anachronistic separation,
under the same broad umbrella? The merits of this approach, which
was exactly the one adopted by Lynn Thorndike Jr. in his still
valuable. History of Magic and Experimental Science, are
expounded by Maria Mavroudi- in her essay in the present volume.
Its disadvantage is that broad umbrellas can be unwieldy, and do
8
Ioannes Malalas, Chronographia, ed. H. Thurn, CFHB 35 (Berlin and New york,
2000),44.
9
Ibid., 81,201.
10
Ibid . 202.
II Ibid., 118
12
Ibid., 130.
"Ibid., 265.
14
_Ibid., 335. He is PJ_Uclus from Asia, but is surely meant to be identical
wtth the famous Atheman philosopher.
" Ibid., 330-l. The rebel in question is Vitalian, whose revolt broke out in 512
note that the real Proclus died in 485.
16
Parastaseis syntonwi chroniktJi, ed T Pre er . . .
Constantinopo/itanarum, I (Leipzig
1901
)
19
_7
3
. ed g Scrtptores ongmum
Herrin, Constantinople in the Earl E' ' tr., comm. A. Cameron, J.
Chronikai (Leiden, I984); see furth:r The Pw:astaseis Syntomoi
Power', below. agdalino, P, Occult Science and Imperial
Introduction 15
not always cater adequately to special interests, In this case
defining the occult as either magic or science, or magic and
'- science combined, risks not emphasizing enough the fact that the
,--Late-Antique and medieval world did articulate a concept of occult
-wliidom that deserves to be considered in its own right. Yet
mapping out the stages in the development of the Byzantine
understanding of the occult is made difficult by the relative dearth
of theoretical texts on the topic that can be dated and attributed to
known authors with certainty. Modem scholars must gather much
of the Byzantine understanding of the occult by examining not so
much direct statements by Byzantine authors but the Byzantine
Nachleben (manuscript tradition, quotation by other writers,
reception among professional and literary circles) of ancient
"classics" of the genre such as the Hermetic corpus, the Chaldaean
Oracles, the Testament of Solomon, and the Kestoi of Julius
Mricanus, whose initial composition or subsequent usage (or both)
can only by approximation be dated, localized, and attributed to an
identifiable individual.
A notable exception to this state of affairs is the work of Michael
Psellos (1018-ca. 1081 or later), who emerges from the surviving
written record as the most learned, prolific and respected authority
who best understood and appreciated the philosophical legacy of
antiquity.
17
Psellos occasionally uses the word an6xQu<j>oc;
(apocryphal), the direct Greek equivalent of Latin occultus. Thus,
discussing the demon Gillo, who was blamed in folk tradition for
killing infants at birth, he says that he has not come across her in his
usual ancient sources for demonic names, but only in "an
apocryphal Hebrew book" ascribed to Solomon.
18
More often,
however, Psellos refers to "hidden" meanings and forces by two
almost synonymous words that are suggestive of speech rather than
17
The literature by and on Psellos is immense. For a comprehensive survey of the
scene in 2005, see P. Moore, Iter Psel/ianum: A Detailed Listing of Manuscript
Sources for all Works Attributed to Michael Psel/os, Including a Comprehensive
Bibliography (Toronto, 2005); see also the recent collection of essays edited by C.
Barber and D. Jenkins, Reading Michael Psel/os (Leiden, 2006). For the writings
discussed in this introduction, see particularly J. Duffy, 'Hellenic Philosophy in
Byzantium and the Lonely Mission of Michael Psellos', inK. Ierodiakonou, ed.,
f(,za.ntine Philosophy and its Ancient Sources 2002), 1_39:-56.
Mtchael Psellos, Philosophica minora, I, ed. D. 0 Meara (Lelpztg, 1989), 164.
-
16
Paul Magdalino Maria
sight: ("forbidden", "secret") and clQQ1J'tOS)
("unspoken", "unutterable", and, by extension, "inexplicable"). He 1
sometimes uses these words to describe Biblical and Christian
mysteries,
19
but usually, in his work, they denote the secrets of
profane learning. By lopking at the passages in question, we a
good idea of what a well-educated Byzantine considered to be
.. occult, and why. .....,.
In his funeral oration on his mother, Psellos says that he has read all
the Hellenic and even barbarian books "on spoken and unspoken
things (:n:EQL 'tE Qf)'t&v xal. UQQTJ'tWV) . . . and reading all their
theology and their treatises and proofs on nature, I was delighted at
their depth of thought and the enquiring nature (m::g(egyov) of their
discussion".Z
0
The content of the "unspoken" material is suggested
by the list of authors; apart from Plato and Aristotle and the Pre-
Socratics Empedocles and Parmenides, these include Orpheus,
Zoroaster and Hermes Trismegistos. In other words this was
largely mythical cosmology, concerned with revealing
and secrets of creation.
In the same oration, Psellos writes "I have learned the secret.
properties (01JVUJ.IEL ... UQQTJ'tOuc;) of stones and herbs, although I
have given their experimental use (:rtEQLEQyov XQ'fiotv) a wide
berth".Z
1
His treatise On the properties of precious stones ends by
the classical authorities on the subject: "among the
more ancient sages, Anaxagoras, Empedocles and Democritus, and
among those not so long before our time, Alexander of Aphrodisias
a man m_ost capable of discoursing on all matters and especially
secret thmgs of nature (:n:egl ... 't&v <l:n:OQQTJ'tWV iic; <j>vaewc;)". 22
The words <l:n:6QQTJ'toc; and iiQQTJ'tO turn up in other treatises that
Psellos wrote on esoteric and enigmatic questions. He says h
h' e IS
wntmg . IS piece On divination from shoulder-blades and on
m response to an enquiry from someone seeking "to know
m advance both natural and secret causes of future things (x.al!
19 Ibid., 17' 106; see also the essay by K lerodiako . th
40. nou m e present volume, n.
20
Michael Psellos, Michele Pse/lo Aut b. ifia .
(Naples, 1989),
148
_
9
. '
0
wgra Encomw per Ia madre, ed. U.
Ibid., 148.
"Psellos, Philosophica minora, I, ed. Duffy, 119.
Introduction
17
<j>uaLxa xal, <l:n:6QQTJta 1:6.>v
23
In
another p1ece he records the belief that lions fear the cock because
it heralds sunris.e and they belong to the lunar order, so lion-faced
demons, on seemg a cock, are afraid; "whether this is true, is for
.. know.ledge to decide".
24
In the same
vem, the hidden meamng has been revealed which contains secret
philosophy ( <l:n:6QQTJ'tOV <j>tA.ooo<j>tav)", is the theme of his
Allegory on the Sphinx,
25
and his Interpretation of the twenty-four
letters concerns "the secret and unspoken meanings (<l:n:6QQTJ't6. tE
x.al iiQQTJ'ta)" hidden in the letters of the alphabet.
26
None of the
great philosophers, to Psellos' knowledge, had devoted himself to
researching this aspect of hidden knowledge ('fie; EYXEXQ1JJ.LilEYTJc;
<l:n:oQQTJ'tWV yvwoewc;), not Africanus "the great exponent of the
secret forces of nature (t&v EV t'fl <j>iloH ouv6.J.!Ewv
<l:n:OQQTJ'tWV)", nor Proclus "who ventured as far the secret things
of nature (tO>V WtOQQTJ'tWV t'fl <j>iJOEL)".
27
Proclus, Psellos was fascinated by the "hieratic art" of the
Chaldaean_Oracle.s, the MiddiePlaronlcverse texTO!i thehierarchy
of cosmic powers attributed to the second-century Julian the
and his

It is not surprising
that his comments on th1s congruence of Gnostic, Hermetic and
Chaldaean thought" that has been "aptly labelled as 'the underworld
of Platonism'",
29
contain several instances of the words <l:n:6QQ1]toc;
23
Psellos, Philosophica minora, I, ed. J. Duffy (Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1992), 113.
A treatise on divination from shoulder-blades (wf.IOJtAm:ooxoJtia) has been
published from a 13th-c. manuscript by G. A. Megas, 'Blj)f-(ov
WII01tAUtOOX01ttac; EX xwlhxoc; 'tf)<; 'E8vtxf)c; Blj)Ato8iJxl]c; A8l]V<ilv',
Aaoyewpia 9 (1926), 3-51.
24
Psellos, Phi/osophica minora, I, ed. Duffy, 55.
25
Jbid. 158.
26
Jbid., 141.
121. On this text, see the essay by K. lerodiakonou in this volume.
Ul'he Chaldaean Oracles, ed., tr., and comm. R. Majercik (Leiden, 1989). See J.
Duffy, 'Reactions of Two Byzantine Intellectuals to the Theory and Practice of
Magic: Michael Psellos and Michaelltalikos', in H. Maguire, ed., Byzantine Magic
(Washington, D. C., 1995), 83-95; P. Athanassiadi, 'Byzantine Commentators on
the Chaldaean Oracles: Psellos and Plethon', in Ierodiakonou, ed., By::.antine
Philosophy, 237-52; J. Duffy, 'Hellenic Philosophy in Byzantium and the Lonely
of Michael Psellos .
. The Chaldean Oracles, introduction by Majercik, p. 3, citing J. Dillon, The
Mtddle Platonists (London, 1977), 384.
10 Paul Magdalino Maria Mavronl\1
and nQQTJ'tO.
30
In his Chronographia, he alludes to the Oracles as:,
a wisdom beyond demonstration, which according to the best.
philosophers only the mind inspired by rational enthusiasm can
understand. He says that he encountered this wisdom-which he
ranks higher than the study of Platonic philosophy and
mathematics- "in certain secret books ( MOQQtl'tOL tLOl.

We shall come across it again.
Psellos wrote, at the request of the patriarch Michael Keroularios, a
short treatise on alchemy, explaining the principles of the
manufacture of gold. He playfully chides his correspondent for
dragging him from the sublime heights of philosophy to the
mundane level of banausic metallurgy; however, this too is
philosophical insofar as it depends on a knowledge of natural
science& even though people commonly consider it to be something
"ritualistic and ... secret (n:J...em:Lxov ... xal <irt6QQTJ'tOV)", having
no!hing to do with any of the rational arts.
3
l Gold-making happens
as a result of the natural transformation of matter, "not from any
incantation or wonder-working or other secret practice
(UQQTJ'tO'UQy(a)". \lfe commends the philosophical curiosity of his
correspondent which motivates him "to enter the inner recesses of
,nature and admire their secrets (MOQQTJ'ta)"\ the same curiosity
had led Plato and other early philosophers to travel and see natural
wonders like the volcanic eruptions of Etna and the flooding of the
Nile, "the causes of which they interpreted in secret (E:v
MOQQi]'t<p )".
33
Psellos concludes by promising that if the patriarch
initiates him into higher theology, he will not fail to instruct him in
every other work of natural science, "and I will not neglect any kind
of practical application (J..LTJXUVfJ), or of the elder and secret
(MOQQyt'tO'U) wisdom, but if you wish I will investigate the depths
of the earth with you".
34
Psdlos, Phi/osophica minora, I, 8-9; ll, 128-9, 132-3, 135, 140,147-8.
Mtchael Psellos, Chronographia, VI. 40, ed. and tr. E. Renauld (Paris 1926-8
repr. 1967) I, 136. ' ' '
32
Michael Psellos, Letter on chry ed
1
B'
1
h. . sopoeta, 1dez, Catalogue des manuscrits
a33c tmtques grecs, (=CMAG), VI (Brussels 1928) 1-47 esp 26
Ibid., 30-32. ' ' ' . .
34
Ibid., 42.
Introduction
19
This theme of science and the occult is taken up more fully in a
letter to an unnamed correspondent concerning the education of his
son.
35
Everything in nature, says Psellos, has a cause, even when it
seems paradoxical. Simple drugs often ineffably
contain antithetical qualities within themselves. This is not without
reason, "but the cause is not apparent to us. For all things are driven
by natural urges, and while some incline to those like them, others
are forced by their opposites, through universal sympathy, and
though substances are often separated, the distance between them
does not prevent them from acting upon each other". Thus, "the
image and shape of a thing transmit the operation of magic to the
archetype". After giving several examples, Psellos observes,
things are hidden/forbidden (<irt6QQT)ta) and thoroughly unknow
to most people, but for me ... nothing unspoken (oiJbv nil
UQQi]twv) is unknown because of my soul's natural curiosit
(:n:oA.mtQUYJ..LOGVVTJV). And I have recorded the methods of o
them, but I have not used any of the secret practices
(aQQTJ'tO'UQYL<ilv); indeed I curse their users, taking from these men
only enough to be able to learn about . some of the occurrences
whose functioning seems inexplicable to most people". He goes
to cite cases of extraordinary foreknowledge and strange habits
among animals, "and no-one, not even of the very wise, can e_xplain
the causes of the occurrences". Specialists can explam the
principles of their own disciplines, and he gives several examples,
including astrology, but he concludes, "Every science and art can'
provide explanations for the causes of its own matters; as for the
unspoken things of nature ('ta b tf]c:; <j>vaewc; UQQT)ta),
and those things that speak louder than nature, though the1r 1
existence certainly has a cause, this is not known to us".
Aporrheta and arrheta are therefore the "secret" and "unspoken"
forces of cosmic sympathy: the "ineffable
U'Uf.L:Jta8eLav), as Psellos calls it elsewhere, accor?mg t? whtch. all
the parts of the universe are in harmony, but also m anttpathy, smce
the whole world is one living organism".
36
The origins of this
concept in Stoic and ,J?hiloso_EhY, and Psellos' own
----
35
Michael Psellos, Epistula 188, ed. K. Sathas, MeaaWJVIXi/ Bt{JJ..wfh)xYJ, V,
477-80. . . . 149
36
Michael Psellos, Oratoria minora, ed. A. Littlewood {Le1pz1g, 1985),
20
Paul Magdalino Maria Mavroudl -,,
contribution to the idea, are discussed by Katerina Ierodiakonou
later in this volume. Here it is important to note that the concept of
cosmic sympathy gives coherence to Psellos' sca.ttered references to
the occult and thus to the notion of occult science that emerges
from his writings. Occult science is for him the study of
extraordinary natural phenomena whose exact causes are unknown,
although they can be generally explai_ned by the operatio.n of
and that all_ow
unconnected parts of the cosmos to interact. The mvestigatiOn of
aporrheta and arrheta is of two kinds. One is the application of
experimental methods to produce material results; this involves the
performance of rituals, or, more rarely, a mechanical as. in
the transmutation of base metal into gold. The other, with which
Psellos himself identifies, is the purely theoretical study of the
methods employed in experimentation (JtEQLEQyao(a); this derives
from a disinterested love of knowledge for its own sake, and it is
driven by the curiosity (JtOAUJtQUYfWOUVT]) of an enquiring
philosophical mind.
Though the necessarily limited survey of texts above does not
exhaust Psellos' brief mentions or more extensive discussions on
the topic, it does suggest that he provides a coherent Byzantine
definition of occult science as a discrete epistemological category,
and a Byzantine justification for using the term instead of magic:
the various kinds of magic and divination were the applied sciences
corresponding to the philosophical theory of cosmic sympathy, and
they were scientific, rather than superstitious, insofar as their
methods provided material for philosophical abstraction and
comparison. But how sound, and how representative of Byzantine
realities and attitudes, is Psellos' epistemology of the occult?
all, how typical, and how true, is the distinction that he
-praws between pure and applied occult science?
Psellos took his epistemology, like his cosmology, from the
Neoplatonic philosophers of Late Antiquity, particularly the
'Divine Proclus'. He followed them in believing that the
sympathetic or antipathetic connections between stars, men,
animals, plants and minerals could be manipulated to affect and
predict future events, and that images could be worked on to
Introduction 21
compel their prototypes. Like them, he regarded these connections
as the proper concern of the philosopher, and accepted that the key
to learning them lay in the "barbarian" wisdom of the ancient
civilisations of the Near East, notably Chaldaea and Egypt. In short,
his concept of occult science was based on a model which was
several centuries old, and which was fundamental not only to
Byzantine tradition, but also to that of Islam, the medieval west,
and the European Renaissance. In these traditions, various kinds of
magic and divination were associated in ways which both reflect
their special, occult status and their connection with other types of
learning.
For Byzantium; both "outsider" and "insider" sources can be used
to build up a profile of occult learning. The outsider's view is to be
found in those legal and literary texts, which, on the whole, present
occult practice in a negative light. Here astrology, dish-divining,
dream-interpretation, divination from natural phenomena, sorcery
in general, and the performance of rituals on statues in particular,
tend to be grouped together and criticised in similar terms; they are
also usually associated with persons of education who had a place
at the imperial couft\
37
The insider's idea of the place and identity
of the occult sciences within the intellectual spectrum is well
documented by two types of sources: the manuscripts containing
technical treatises and prescriptions on magic and divination; and
astrological texts detailing the characteristics of persons born under
each planet and sign of the zodiac.
While many manuscripts are exclusively devoted to single
disciplines-this is notably the case with astrology-others consist
of wide-ranging miscellanies in which treatises on astrology,
medicine, numerology, dream interpretation, alchemy, geomancy
and lecanomancy rub shoulders with each other and quite different
texts. The collections represent the interests, and often the
professional tools, of their owners, although it should be noted that
since most of them occur in very late manuscripts (14'h-c. and later),
they do not necessarily reflect the contexts in which the earlier texts
37
This fact was briefly noted, not without avowed surprise, by H.-G. Beck, Das
byzantinische Jahrtausend (Munich, 1978), 268: "Es ist erstaunlich, wie weit
verbreitet auch in den hOchsten Kreisen die Praktiken der Mantik waren und was
es sonst an zauberischen Krimskrarns gab."
22 t'aUI Magaalmo Maria Mavroudi.,
'
'\hey contain had circulated in earlier centuries. Occasionally, the ::
available evidence allows modem researchers to ascertain some ,
kind of continuity over the centuries in the combination of texts that
occur in the surviving manuscripts. Such an unusual example is the
fifteenth-century MS Vat. Urbinas gr. 107 that contains the work of
Polyainos on military strategy and the Oneirocritika of
Artemidoros.
38
While the combination might at first sight appear
random or surprising, it is clearly deliberate and rooted in the same
mindset as the instructions in the tenth-century treatise On Imperial
E-.:peditions which advised emperors to take with them while on
military campaigns not only Polyainos but also a manual on dream
interpretation.
39
The surviving manuscripts and collections of texts
associated with the Byzantine encyclopaedic activity of the tenth
century provide most of our fragments from the Kestoi; not only the
tenth-century encyclopaedists but evidently also their predecessors
in earlier centuries (on whose selections the tenth-century
anthologies were based) deemed that the Kestoi had a legitimate
place in collections on agriculture (the Geoponika), veterinary
medicine (the Hippiatrika) and military science.
40
Passages from
the Kestoi are also copied together with pharmacological chapters
from Galen and Dioscorides, as in the fourteenth-century MS
Laurent. plut. 74, 23.
41
In general, miscellanies from later centuries are not only more
numerous but also more variegated thematically. It is impossible to
tell whether this reflects a broadening of the occult curriculum or
merely "the survival of the fittest". Earlier miscellanies perhaps
appear as more homogeneous because they tend to have fewer
pages (losing folia over the centuries is a natural process for a
book). Later miscellanies tend to be bulkier, and at the same time
" Description in C. Stornajolo, Codices urbinates graeci bibliothecae Vaticanae
(Rome, 1895), 163--{i6.
39
The text was first published as 'Appendix ad librum I' in De cerimoniis aulae
byzantinae, ed. J. Reiske, I (Bonn, 1829), 467; new edition in Three Treatises on
Imperial Military Expeditions, ed., tr., comm. J. Haldon (Vienna 1990) text (C),
106. '
"' See J. R. Vieillefond, Les "Cestes" de Julius Africanus {Florence and Paris,
1970), 68-70 {on the context of the fragments), 77-83 {on the manuscript tradition
of the Kestoi).
41
in A. M. Bandini, Catalogus codicum manuscriptorum bibliothecae
medtceae laurentianae, III (Florence, 1770), cols. 125-27.
Introduction
23
personal and idiosyncratic; they rarely reproduce complete works;
they may contain texts selected or truncated in a way that renders
them incomprehensible and therefore useless to persons other than
the professional master who put them together (often copying for
his personal use) and his immediate disciples. Subsequent owners
are likely to discard such books, especially if these were informally
and unattractively copied to begin with, and were eventually soiled
and tom apart because of all-too-frequent and unceremonious
consultation. Earlier miscellanies may have largely disappeared due
to these vicissitudes, while later ones were perhaps saved thanks to
the arrival of the printing press, or simply because they had a
shorter journey through the centuries.
Surviving examples of miscellanies copied between the twelfth and
the fifteenth centuries include the following: MS Ambrosianus E I 6
sup. of the thirteenth century that contains the Physiologos, a
selenodromion, a text on medical prognostication, a number of
Christian apocrypha (including the letters exchanged between
_AbjaJ" Christ, texts that in the realm of "good" magic are
Kriown for their prophylactic properties) and an assortment of
astronomical and astrological excerpts.
42
The mostly medical
miscellany MS Atheniensis 1493 of the end of the twelfth or the
thirteenth century also includes a text on divination by using
shoulder blades 1 (scapulomancy or omoplatoskopia).
43
Among
manuscriptsci'the fourteenth century, MS Vat. gr. 178 combines
excerpts from Ptolemy's Geography (a text that provides
mathematical tools for astronomers and astrologers) with
instructions on how to construct an astrolabe and passages on
pharmacology and the medicinal properties of plants from Aetius of
Arnida and other, unidentified sources.
44
In the year 1384, the
physician John Staphidakes
45
copied in his own hand a manuscript
42
The MS is no. 273 in the catalogue by A. Martini, D. Bassi, Catalogus Codicum
Graecorum Bibliothecae Ambrosianae, I (Milan, 1906), 303-4.
43
A 121h-century date is ascribed to the manuscript in, I; and A:
KaTaA.oyoq Twv x<teOYQdcpwv n'jq 'E8vtx7fq Bt{JA.w8rpeqq '11'
(Athens, 1892), 267. A IJih-century date is favored by Megas, B$AlOV
... ', 3-4.
44
Description in I. Mercati, P. Franchi de' Cavalieri, Codices vaticani graeci, I
(Rome, 1923), 356-8.
4
' On Staphidakes, see PLP 26735.
24
that he dedicated to the hospital of the monastery of St Panteleemon
in Constantinople; only a few folia from that volume survive and
now form part of the largely fifteenth-century MS Paris. gr. 2510.
46
However, it is possible to identify the contents of Staphidakes'
volume because they were faithfully reproduced in the course of the
fifteenth century in what is now MS Paris. gr. 2315.
47
Staphidakes
copied not only texts pertinent to botany and medicine, but also
astrology and magic. Among further examples from the fifteenth
century one should mention MS British Library, Harley 5596 that
treats subjects such as geomancy, palmomancy, basic astrology,
demonology, and magic, including the Testament of Solomon.
48
MS
Paris. gr. 2509 combines astrology (Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos and a
variety of anonymous texts) with the Christian symbolic zoology of
the Physiologos, the lapidary attributed to Epiphanius, and the
alchemical treatise by Nikephoros Blemmydes, as well as
instructions on how to calculate the date of Easter and other
religious texts, such as the liturgies of St James, St John
Chrysostom, and St Basil, and the rites of ordination to various
ecclesiastical positions.
49
MS Vindob. phil. gr. 162, from the first
half of the fifteenth century, combines the Akathist Hymn with the
Oneirocriticon of the so-called Achmet and an assortment of
prophecies on the future of Constantinople.
50
MS Vindob. phil. gr.
287 (from around the same period) reproduces the Oneirocriticon
and long passages from the astrological works of Hephaestio of
Thebes and Theophilos of Edessa. MSS Bononiensis 3632 (ca.
1440),
51
at least in part copied by John, son of Aaron, and Paris. gr.
46
Described by H. Omont, Inventaire sommaire des manuscrits grecs de Ia
Nationale, 2 vols. (Paris, 1886-98), II, 275; more details, especially
?,n the phystcal make-up of the manuscript, in CCAG, VIII, 4, 68-70 (no. 88).
See CCAG, VIII, 3, 27-32 (no. 43). MS Paris. gr. 2315 contains a note with an
explicit it is identical to its model which had been copied by
Ioannes Staphtdakes m 1384 for the hospital of St Panteleemon.
48
Adequate description of the manuscript in CCAG, IX, 2, 14-16 (no. 43); see also
;. C. McCown, The Testament of Solomon (l.eizpig, 1922),13-15.
H. Omont, Inventaire sommaire des manuscrits grecs de Ia Bibliotheque
Natronale, II, 274-75.
in H. Hunger, Katalog der griechischen Handschriften der
Nationalbibliothek, I (Vienna, 1961), 265.
Descnpttons of MS Bononiensis 3632 can be found in c c Me c
Testament o' s 1o (L own, '. e
. . .' o "'?n. etpztg, 1_922) 21-25; A. Olivieri and N. Festa, 'Iodice dei
codtct greet delle Btbhoteche Untversitaria e Comunale di Bologna', Studi italiani
Introduction 25
2419 (ca. 1462)/
2
copied by Georgios Meidiates,
53
are veritable
encyclopaedias of the occult bringing together texts on medicine,
botany, astrology, alchemy, geomancy, dream interpretation, and
magic. Since both manuscripts include some of the same texts in an
identical version and arranged in the same sequence, there can be
no doubt that they are related, either directly or through a common
ancestor;\ we may be in the presence of two named indiVICfUals
bclOnging to the same "school" of occult thought, or at least to a
circle of like-minded and directly communicating professionals.!
\
Especially for the Palaiologan period, it sometimes is possible to
pull together enough prosopographical information to convey the
intellectual make-up not of major figures (which could be
considered exceptional), but of the rank-and-file (and therefore, one
would hope, closer to an intellectual "average" of the times). For
example, towards the end of the fourteenth century, a professional
astrologer (perhaps to be identified with John Abramios) evidently
was also a practicing physician, or at least was considered enough
of a medical authority to be dispatched by the emperor to
Alexandria in order to purchase medical supplies.
54
In the early
fifteenth century, John Kanaboutzes, owner of a manuscript
di filologia classica 3 (1895), 442-56, repr. in C. Samberger and D. Raffin, eds.
Catalogi codicum graecorum qui in minoribus bibliothecis italicis asservantur in
duo volumina col/ati et novissimis additamentis aucti (Leipzig, 1965); CCAG, IV,
39-46 (only fols. 266ff.); short report on its alchemical contents in CMAG, II. 144
(no. 23) and on its version of the Kyranides ibid., 298-321 (Libri Koeranidum 6);
on its astrological contents, see CCAG, IV, 39-46 (no. 18).
"Brief description of MS Paris. gr. 2419 in Omont, lnventaire sommaire, II, 256;
detailed description of its contents in CCAG, VIII,!, 20-63 (no. 4 ); see also Me
Cown, The Testament of Solomon, 25-27; for a description of its alchemical
contents, see CMAG, I, 62-8 and 152-63 (nos. 3 and 21).
53
On Meidiates, see H. Hunger, Repertorium der griechischen Kopisten 800-1600.
ll (Vienna, 1989), no. 104.
54
On Abramios, see PLP 59; also D. Pingree, 'The Astrological School of John
Abramius', DOP 25 (1971), 189-215. As remarked by Pingree, one of the signed
autographs of Abramios (MS Marc. gr. Cl. V. 13) includes not only astrological
texts, but also a version of the Kyranides; however, Abramios wrote a note that he
completed copying "the present book" (t'] JtaQoiiaa on fol. 117v, while
the text of the Kyranides does not begin until fol. 125 (see CMAG, II, 263).
Without first-hand examination of the manuscript it is impossible to dectde
whether both parts were written by the same hand and were not placed in the same
volume at a later date.
26 Paul Magdalino Maria Mavroudi 1
oontruning tho T'"'"'""' of Solomon, wa. olo tho of 1
astronomical tables for the latitude of Phokaia (a handy md also for 'l
astrological purposes) and of a commentary on Dionysios of !
Halikarnassos dedicated to the lord of Ainos and Samothrake;
significantly, he counted a physician named Zoanes among his
closest friends.
55
The astrological lists of characteristics induced by planets and signs
are largely based on ancient sources. However, the infinite
variations from list to list suggest that they reflect the genuine
perceptions of Byzantine astrologers. In the case of the occult
sciences, they are particularly valuable because they reflect the
astrologers' own perception of the intellectual company to which
they belonged through the dominant influence of Mercury at their
birth. The mercurial professions, according to Vettius Valens (2"d c.
A.D.), included "diviners, sacrificers, 'lma:Seers; dream
interpreters", together with-among others-doctors, grammarians,
lawyers, rhetors, philosophers, military engineers and, of course,
astrologers, described as "those who become experts and
investigators of celestial phenomena, and whose glorious delight
and desire it is to observe the wonderful work for the benefit of
others". 5
6
According to (4'h c.?), a conjunction of
Venus and Mercury in the same sign at sunrise will produce
'geometers, mathematicians, astrologers, magicians, famous seers,
augurs, and water-diviners who have the gift of dish-scrutiny or
necromancy' .
57
Hephaestio of (early S'h c.) says that
into occult things (twv
such as magic, celestial phenomena, practical
wonder-working, augury, dream-
InterpretatiOn, philosophy and the like".
58
Another, probably later
55
On. Kanaboutzes, see PLP 10871; also A. Diller, 'Joannes Canabutzes',
ByZantton 40, (1970),. 271-75 and idem, 'Joannes Canabutzes and Michael
Chrysokokkes, Byzantton 42 (1972) 257ff., both reprinted in A. Diller St d'
Gr k M T d' . , u tes m
ee . anuscrrpt ra lllon (Amsterdam, 1983), 363-70; on Kanaboutzes'
of the Solomonic text, see C. C. Me Cown, The Testament of Solomon,
;. Vettius Vettii Valentis Antiocheni Anthologiarum libri novem ed D
57
1Dgree (LeipZig, 1986), 4. , . .
58
Manetho,:4JJotelesmatica, ed. A. Koechly (Leipzig,l858), IV.
206
ff
70
..... Hbri "" ol, D. Pm.;..,. 2 ""- j
Introduction
27
manual, identifies the mercurial characteristics as "a talent for.
learning and predicting the future, and the rational
knowledge, intelligence and understanding [the causes otl
existence, culture, philosophy and geometry, astronomy and the
hieratic art, also augury and the hidden arts (ta<; xgu<j>(ou<;
'tEX,Va<;)".
59
Elsewhere OIJe finds that a conjunction of the Moon,
Mars and Mercury produces, among others, "inventive and
experimental types, initiates of the occult and knowers of secret
things".
60
Both outsider and insider evidence shows that the Byzantines had a
'Cfear notiOn of'111e0cCUit sciences as distinct from, but cOriSIStell"tly
associated with, other types of both practical and I
theoretical. The astrological lists ofmercurim occupations confirm
the mrellectiial spectrum evoked by Psellos; indeed, they almost
suggest that they provided the model for his desire to learn
everything, that he set out to acquire the range of expertise expected ,
However, as insider 111ake
the distinction that desirable theory and the
of occu science.
'
This distinction is not limited to Psellos. It is present in the material
investigated by two of the contributors to this volume: Michele
Mertens notes a difference in the alchemical manuscripts between
working texts and. library copies,
emphasises that the division
1'fOill:""" Ptolen}y onwarOS, essentially a difference between the
theoretical and the practical side of the same siJbject. The idea that
occult meti;ds should be studle<i'"butnot practised turns up in three
)Xzantine writers after Psellos. Most famously, Anna Comnena
expresses it in her digression on astrology,
so with regard to both astrology and the
Chaldaean Oracles.
6
I Less well known is the letter in which the
thirteenth-century emperor Theodore II Laskari,.. argues that great
scientists do not concern practical details or the
59
CCAG, Xl,i83.
60
CCAG, II, 115: a1tOKQU$OJV J.tUOlU xal
1tQUYJ.U'ttWV... . .
6
I Michael Italikos, Michel Ita/ikos, Lettres et discours, ed. P. Gautier (Paris,
1972), nos. 28 and 30.
28
material results of the sciences they study. He gives the example of
geometry, "which they know and do not know ... they are able to
practice it, but do not do so". His other examples all pertain to the
occult: astrology, divination, sorcery, oracular incantations. "They
belong to philosophy, and philosophy has created them; they are
resolved by philosophical method, but on the other hand the
artifices of these unscientific sciences (
are known by true scholars to be complete idiocies and
products of idle verbiage". If he were ignorant of these things, he
would be open to learned criticism for not knowing the end results
of philosophy. But since he does have scientific knowledge of
them, he makes fun of them, so he has a very different mentality
from those who merely have regard to the practice.
62
There can be no doubt that Theodore Laskaris voiced the
sentiments of many late Byzantine intellectuals, and that the
rationale he expressed was widely shared, because it was deeply
ingrained in the basic cultural principle of ancient and medieval
thought that abstract concepts were inherently superior to material
_techniques. The distinction between the desirable theory and the
undesirable practice of occult science can therefore be seen as a
product of the same value system that rated doctors more highly
than surgeons, poets above painters, and text-book learning derived
from an ancient master as more authoritative than the results of
a_nd But _it is clear for Psellos,
With whom the dJstmctwn IS first articulated, epistemological
snobbery is not the whole story, and that his concern to distance
himself from occult practice has much to do with the further
meaning of the words_.fu/.Qm.a ansi rutOQQllta. These things were
"unspeakable" because th CilnS'han piety and
. aws o t e and this is why Psellos had to explain that
nls mterest I tnem Was UrelV ac!i(!emJc. Thus it wastnat ne. felt
obliged not to belittle but o curse the practitioners of the
and, a disclaimer for the reading of suspect
matenal, to claim that I have striven to learn the methods of even
62Th
eodore Doukas, Theodori Ducae epistulae CCXVII ed N Fest (Florence,
1898), no. 131, pp. 183-4. ' a,
Introduction 29
the vilest or otherwise forbidden sciences, so that I may have the
means to refute the people who practice them".
63
We need not disbelieve Psellos when he says that he was interested
primarily in learning the methods for the sake of pure knowledge.
The sheer breadth of his interests and researches, as evidenced by
the variety of his writings, tends to confirm his own declaration that
he was in it "not for experimental curiosity but for love of
learning",
64
out of detached interest in the principles of all sciences
rather than material interest in the results produced by any one.
However, the line between "pure" and "applied" occult science was'
probably much finer than he and the others were prepared to admit
in their self-justification. It is far from clear what distinguished
legitimate :n:oA.v:n:Q<lY!WOUVl'J from improper
especially when Psellos uses JtEQLEQyov in a positive sense. There
is nothing to indicate that the unnamed practitioners whom Psellos
curses did not share his own high-minded philosophical concerns.
Equally, he protests rather too much that he had not taken part in
their rituals. Indeed, his strenuous denials could be read as
revelations of the exact opposite of what they say, like the
denunciation of the occult sciences by the Renaissance occultist
Cornelius Agrippa, of which Frances Yates wrote that "it can
probably be regarded as a safety-device of a kind frequently
employed by magicians and astrologers for whom it was useful, in
case of theological disapproval, to be able to point to statements
made by themselves 'against' their subjects".
n
.:rn<) 'Ui\<'1 v." 1\..41"''
One indication that Psellos may not be giving the complete pictute'
is to be found in his statement that the causes of occult phenomena'
cannot be known. This is puzzling in view of the fact e basic
function of magical rites was to bind s irits- demo -to
perform tasks or to give information about the future. In the
Neoplatonic cosmology that Psellos espoused, the demons were the
forces of cosmic sympathy and antipathy, which connected
apparently unrelated objects, and transferred the effects worked on
an image to its prototype. If not the ultimate causes, they had a
causative role, and it was impossible to discuss causation without
63
Psellos, Philosophica minora, I, ed. Duffy, I 13.
: Psellos, Philosophica minora, I, ed. Duffy, 112.
F. A. Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (London, 1964), 131.
30
Paul Magdalino Maria Mavroudl
mentioning them. It was precisely the manipulation of demons to
which the Church objected in magic and divination, making no
distinction between good and bad spirits, but identifying all of them
with Satan and the pantheon of pagan gods. This, it seems, is why
Psellos preferred to declare a position of complete ignorance with
regard to occult causation. His other writings show that he thought
a lot about demons. His fascination with the Chaldaean Oracles
cannot have been totally unrelated to the sophisticated demonology
of this text, which for all its high-minded, spiritual concern with the
salvation and elevation of the soul, offered a theoretical guide to the
hierarchy of cosmic causes and agents and the means for engaging
them.
66
This interpretation is confirmed by another text of Psellos that has
attracted comparatively little attention, perhaps because it is not
preserved in the main manuscripts, or printed in the main published
collections of his writings.
67
His lecture (or letter?) To his students
on the ventriloquist is an avowedly idiosyncratic exegesis of an
occult Biblical incident, King Saul's encounter with the Witch of
Endor (1 Samuel [=1 Kings], 28), the "ventriloquist woman",
68
which the English Bible renders as "woman with a familiar spirit".
Psellos proposes an analysis of the term "ventriloquist" that earlier
commentators, he says, have failed to explain. To do this, he must
touch on material commonly considered occult, "although it is in
fact not so foreign to philosophical discussion. For nothing is
unspeakable to philosophy, but even those things which seem
unresponsive to incantations and charms are drawn out and laid
bare by philosophical discourse." The existence of demons,
material spirits who were once fallen angels and now resent human
beings for taking their place in heaven, is commonly acknowledged
66
Cf. P. Athanassiadi, 'Psellos and Plethon on the Chaldaean Oracles' 246:
"Wh.en it comes to magical practices Psellos is wholly engrossed by his
and ts eager to tum the slightest hint into a theory with multiple adaptations ... the
sheer amount of space that he devotes to the magical aspect of the Oracles betrays
a considerable bias in this direction".
67
Michael Psellos, Ad discipulos de ventriloquo, ed. A. Littlewood in 'Michael
Psell?s and th.e Witch of Endor', JOB 40 (1990), 225-29; cf. Duffy "The Lonely
MtssJon of Mtchael Psellos', 149. '
.. The Greek terms in the Septuagint are ol eyyaO"tQLJ.LUflOL (ventriloquists in
general), :t"vft. (ventriloquist woman), and 1:0 eyyaO"tQLJ.LU90V
(the ventn1oqutst sptnt).
Introduction 31
and scripturally attested. For further information on them, however,
one has to use the writings of the Chaldaeans and the Egyptians, in
particular the Chaldaean Oracles. Citing Proclus' commentary on
the Oracles (the "hieratic art"), and using his knowledge of
medicine and anatomy, he identifies the ventriloquist spirit as one
of the group of demons that colonise various organs of the human
body. Because the stomach is centrally located and is in close
sympathy with the brain, the heart and the liver, the spirit that lives
there both imposes itself on the whole organism and can be
compelled by the brain to speak or be silent. Insofar as the spirit
foretells the future, most affected persons are willing to give it
voice, either their own or another's. For some reason, they tend to
be women-perhaps because female bodies are more physically
sympathetic to the slack and fluid ventriloquist spirit. Psellos goes
on to summarise the Biblical incident, in which Saul compels the
woman to summon the shade of the late prophet Samuel from the
depths of the earth. Reserving the weightier problem of Samuel's
apparition for future discussion, Psellos emphasises, in conclusion,
that he is not dogmatising, but showing his polymatheia, his
willingness to embrace all forms of learning - and this for his
students only. He is not boasting of his occult knowledge, yet not
denying it either, for since most people do not even see what is at
their feet, even a superficial understanding of arcane and occult
matters will allow one to rise above the clouds and see into the
ether.
This text has rightly been cited for its concluding manifesto in
favour of polymatheia,
69
but its unique importance lies in the clarity
with which Psellos combines the demonology of the Chaldaean
Oracles with human physiological theory in order to provide a
scientific analysis of an undeniably true occult phenomenon which
neither the Biblical narrative nor its Christian commentaries had
adequately explained. It shows what he, following the Late-Antique
Neoplatonists, sought in the occult wisdom supposedly emanating
from ancient Egypt and Babylon: the proper identification of the
demons who operated the system of cosmic sympathy, and whose
existence was only vaguely, if reliably, attested by Christian
theology and Greek philosophy. Perhaps better than any other text
69
Duffy, 'The Lonely Mission', Joe. cit.
32
Paul Magdalino Maria Mavooudl!
in Psellos' vast corpus, his piece on the Witch of Endor helps us to
understand why, for him, the Chaldaean Oracles as mediated by
Proclus were the ultimate not only in occult science, but in the
whole curriculum of learning.
In this, however, Psellos cannot be regarded as entirely
representative of the Byzantine mainstream. He was apparently the
first s take a serious intere e Oracles since Proclus,
and no-one after litm at them so much attention untt George
Gemistos Plethon, the self-declared Hellenist, in the fifteenth
century.
70
In other ways, too, Psellos is not a comprehensive or
accurate guide to the state of the occult sciences in Byzantium. For
one, he does not cover their entire spectrum in equal depth. His
comments on alchemy neglect the ritual aspects of the
transmutation process. His equivocal passages on astrology, which
imply that he knew much more about this than he was prepared to
say, do not indicate whether he counted it among the occult
sciences, or regarded it as the purely natural science that its
partisans sometimes claimed it to be. Most seriously, Psellos gives
barely a hint of the intellectual exchange, especially in the occult
sciences, that had been taking place for over two centuries between
Byzantium and the Islamic world. Not only had Muslims, Jews and
Christians in the Abbasid Caliphate translated almost the whole
corpus of Greek philosophical and scientific texts into Arabic, but
scholars in Abbasid Baghdad, and later in Ummayad Spain and
Fatimid Egypt, had made significant innovations in many fields
including mathematics, astronomy, cosmological theory, astrology
and dream interpretation. Their effects were felt in Byzantium from
the end of the century. By the mid eleventh century, when
was
mto reek, and the most
wasinadapted CTreek
attributed ur''1\climet son

Islamic did he engage with them
The masters of occult learning who are named or
detectable m Psellos' work were late antique philosophers, like
70
Ibid., 247-51.
11
M dlin
ag a o, L orthodoxie des astrologues, 105.
Introduction 33
Proclus and Alexander of Aphrodisias, and the sages of ancient
Babylon and Egypt. Yet, in typical Byzantine fashion, Psellos
applies ethnic and geographic terms of the ancient Near East and
Egypt to his contemporary reality, including instances where he
refers to the intellectual situation in the eleventh-century Muslim
world.
72
Could his references to the ancients be read as also
including his contemporary masters from the same parts of the
world? In the current state of research, it is accurate to state that the

an-Q..QDeiltiflsi. For this
perception to cliange, it would take the arduous ta of clearly
identifying the different ways in which Byzantine and Arabic-
speaking intellectuals read the same ancient sources, comparing
these medieval readings with each other, and deciding whether
developed in a state of mutual isolation or interaction. Scholars
have not even begun to work towards such a goal.
73
Psellos' discussion of dream interpretation is an example of what
may be accomplished by looking in this direction. In the Omnifaria
doctrina Psellos dedicates a brief paragraph to the several different
72
For example, in his Praise of Italos 1:oii 'ImA.oii), published in
Oratoria minora, ed. A. Littlewood (Leipzig 1985), no. 19; see also his funerary
oration to Patriarch John Xiphilinos [Epitaphius in patriarchem Joannem
Xiphilinum, ed. Sathas, Meaawmxij Btf3J..wlh!xq, IV (Paris, 1874), 424-25],
where Egypt and Babylon are compared with Trebizond, the birthplace of the
Patriarch.
13
The study of Byzantine philosophy, particularly regarding the work of Georgios
Gemistos-Pletho, has ventured in this direction; 'George Gemistos
Pletho and Islam', in L. G. Benakis and Ch. P. Baloglou, eds., Proceedings of the
International Congress on Plethon and His Time, Mystras, 26-29 June 2002
(Athens and Mistras, 2003), 339-53. The following observation by Akasoy has
clearly a more universal application than just the work of Pletho (ibid., 348-49):
"The analysis of the influence of 'Islamic philosophy' on Pletho's work-that is to
say the reception of the Arabic transmission of Aristotle by the Byzantine
philosopher-reveals some of the general difficulties involved in tracing an
'Islamic' influence. We are dealing with contexts of adoption and transmission of
highest complexity as well as with a strong interdependence of 'Eastern' and
'Western' ideas. Finding the different Renaissances-the Plethonic-Byzantine-
Greek, the Italian or the Islamic Renaissance-going back to their very own
cultural legacies or at least claiming to do so is thus a limited and limiting
perspective."
34
Paul Magdalino Maria Mavroudf
causes of dreams:
74
first among them is divine intervention.
75
The
idea is far from original and had been expressed earlier by both
pagan and Christian thinkers, including Aristotle
76
and the
anonymous compiler of the Oneirocriticon of Achmet.
77
It is also
mentioned not without skepticism, by the second-century author
of Daldis.
78
Psellos returned to dream interpretation in
a more extensive text,
79
where he attributes the appearance of false
dreams to the treacherous intervention of demons. This second
opusculum has been understood as Psellos' rehashing of
Iamblichos' De mysteriis, III. 2-3;
80
yet its assertion that demonic
intervention is what causes false dreams is an element absent from
both Iamblichos and the text on the veracity and falsehood of
dreams by Psellos' student, John ltalos.
81
The possible demonic (as
opposed to divine) provenance of dreams is also discussed by
Aristotle; however, Psellos' understanding of "demon" and the
realm of a "demon's" activity is-predictably-different from the
ancient philosopher's and in line with the Christian identification of
demons with Satan. In fact, the bottom line of Psellos' argument
(that truthful dreams come from God while false ones from Satan)
though implicitly accepted in hagiographic and monastic literature
earlier than the eleventh century, does not, as far as we know,
receive theoretical justification in Byzantine texts on philosophy or
dream interpretation. Whether by chance or not, it can also be found
in at least one Arabic source written about a generation earlier than
Psellos' lifetime, the late tenth--early eleventh-century manual
TuiJ_fat al-mulak by Abu Al).mad Khalaf ibn Al).mad (937-1008), the
74
Michael PseUos, De omnifaria doctrina, ed. L. G. Westerink (Nijmegen, 1948),
no. 116.
" lloAAai 't<OV OVELQOOV ei.ol,v al al'tiat. ol J.lb yaQ aiJ'l;<iJv ei.oi 6e6:rtVEU01:oL
li.voo6ev 1\lili!Euou 'to\J vou 'tfl /..oytxfl'l!Juxfl t']IL!iJv E'(yLV61J.EVoL.
76
Aristotle, llEQL xa6'u:rtVov , ed. W. D. Ross in Parva naturalia
(Oxford, 1955), 462b 12-464b 18a.
: Oneirocriticon, ed. F. Drexl (Leipzig, 1925), I, 15-2, 10.
Arterrudoros, Artemidori Daldiani Onirocriticon libri V, ed. R. Pack (Leipzig,
1963), I. 6, 15, 9-20,9.
: l!hilosophica Minora, I, ed. Duffy, 142-43.
: R1cklin, Traum der im 12. Jahrhundert (Leiden, 1998), 276-
??, for PseUos theory dream mterpretation in general, ibid., 270-78.
ltalos: quodlibetales, ed. P.-P. Joannou (Etta!, 1956), no. 43.
DIScussion of th1s text m Ricklin, Der Traum der Philo sophie, 278-84.
Introduction 35
last Saffarid emir of Sijistan.
82
Psellos' etiology of false dreams
clearly builds upon pre-existing Byzantine ideas on dream
interpretation; the key in deciding whether it is also informed by
theoretical discussions expressed in Arabic at around the same time
lies in investigating both Christian and Islamic demonology and
paying special attention to their common background in the pagan
Neoplatonism of Late Antiquity, but also to its Christian and
Muslim versions until the first half of the eleventh century.
For this and other reasons, this discussion of Psellos' role as a
spokesman of the occult sciences in Byzantium must end on a
question mark. It is ultimately impossible to decide whether he was
the supreme representative of the Byzantine tradition, the
inaugurator of a new phase who moved the tradition on to a higher
level, or an exceptional polymath who was typical of no-one but
himself. He certainly comes across in the surviving evidence as a
rara avis on a lonely mission.
83
Yet the texts he read had been in
Constantinople for centuries, the school curriculum he taught and
studied had been in place since Late Antiquity, and at least some
occult sciences in which he dabbled had been practised
continuously in Byzantium at least since the end of the eighth
century. Would he appear quite so exceptional if he had not written
so much that later generations chose to preserve? We must allow
for the possibility that earlier, more enigmatic and shadowy figures,
like Stephen of Alexandria and John the Grammarian, expressed
similar ideas based on a similar range of interests. At least we must
not overlook the fact that so much of the intellectual store that
Psellos brought to brilliant fruition had been saved for Byzantium
by Stephen's move from Alexandria to Constantinople after 610,
and was regenerated two centuries later by activities in which John,
as both iconoclast theologian and occult scientist, played a central
part.84
82
See J. Lamoreaux, The Early Muslim Tradition of Dream Interpretation
(Albany, 2002), 34-35.
83
Duffy, 'The Lonely Mission of Michael Psellos', esp. 152. .
84
Magdalino L'orthodoxie des astrologues, 33-66; see also Magdalmo and
in this volume. For the role of John the in th_e
Byzantine humanism', see Klaus Alpers' stimulating rev1ew of N1gel Wilsons,
Scholars of Byzantium, in Classical Philology 83 (1988), 354-9.
36 Paul Magdalino Maria Mavroli4JI
Both the reality and the image of the occult sciences in Byzantiunf.
are the concern of this volume, which seeks, above all, to present
them in their social and cultural context as a historical phenomenon;
The first three chapters consider the occult sciences as a whole.
Maria Mavroudi surveys the state of research on the subject and
shows how it has suffered from the perceived marginality of
Byzantium to the "grand narrative" of the rise of
thought"; she then sets out in search of the figure of the Byzantme
occult scientist, and lays down some parameters for studying his
social position. The theme of cosmic sympathy, which as we have
seen gave philosophical substance to the idea of occult science, i&
taken up by Katerina Ierodiakonou; after explaining how the
original Stoic theory was modified by the Neoplatonists, she shows
how Michael Psellos made his own contribution to the Neoplatonic
doctrine. Paul Magdalino analyses the image of occult science and
occult scientists that is portrayed in histories of the middle
Byzantine period and actually constitutes a substantial proportion of
the available evidence.
The themes of these articles come together in the following piece,
where Maria Papathanassiou examines the occult interests of
Stephen of Alexandria, the last ancient teacher of philosophy, and a
key figure in the transmission of ancient science to both Byzantium
and the Arab world; she argues for the authenticity of the
astrological and alchemical writings ascribed to him, and proposes
some interesting interpretations of the examples used in these texts.
Alchemy and astrology, the two most 'scientific' of the occult
are the concern of the next five papers. Michele Mertens
exammes the reception in medieval Byzantium of the works of the
most Late-Antique writer on alchemy, Zosimos of
Panopohs. David Pingree traces the reception into Greek of works
by the eighth-century Abbasid astrologer Masha'allah. William
Adler shows how the sources used in the twelfth-century debate
ohver the compatibility of astrology with Christian doctrine
t emselves reflect a lo t d' f
. ng ra Ilion of disagreement about the role o
m the ofthe Biblical patriarchs-had Abraham, as
the astrology, or had he rejected it along with
th d' Y_ ei_sm
0
his native culture? Anne Tihon looks at the way
e IstmctiOn between astr I d d
around 1300 h B .
0
ogy an astronomy was perceive
' w en yzantmm was opening up to new influences in
Introduction 37
both fields from Mongol-dominated Persia. Joshua Holo discusses
the perception of the same distinction among Byzantine Jews.
These studies of Byzantine astrology underline the extent to which
occult science was a culture that Christian Byzantium shared with
both its Arab neighbours and its Jewish subjects. They are
complemented by the chapter in which Charles Burnett explores the
neglected contribution that Byzantium made to the occult
in the medieval West, through texts on astrology and magic that
were directly translated from Greek into Latin. The volume ends on
a note of pure science, with a paper in which George re-
examines the question of the missing links between and
his thirteenth-century Persian precursor, al-Ti1si. In Its broader
implications, this last article poses the problem of investigating _and
identifying the concrete avenues of contact
Arabic, and Latin science (occult or not) and their receptiOn m early
modem Europe.
. Like the original colloquium, the present collecti_on not
pretend to be exhaustive or
chaEter Sll.ecifically "':'
introduction has shown to have been central to the B zantme
of the occult One reason for this omission is the fact, mentiOned
is already well served in the literature
with the other occult sciences and the theme of occult m
general. The other reason . ha !thou and
texts abound in a e Byzantm ost-B antme manusc . . _
are a most and thetr traditiOn
It will take several studies like Aun!he
Gribomont's thesis in progress on the Book of before
can do for Byzantine magic anything like what MI_chel_e
has done for alchemy in this volume, or what David has
done for astrology, here and elsewhere. But if the still
'd 't ofitably be v1ewed on remains impenetrable on the ms1 e, 1 can pr
the outside through its image and reputation, the people who
' h here to
practised it and the company they
t marrdnal t<Y me SCientmc
demonstrate that Byzantmm was no marg1 vere--nor
cu ture o t e iddle A es, and t a e o cu s were no
marginal to _.!_he learned cu ture o
Maria Mavroudi
University of California, Berkeley
Considerations for Future Research
The study of Byzantine science, occult or not, is a topic that modem
Byzantinists have probed very little. In order to approach it,
therefore, it is useful to become familiar with scholarly paradigms
developed in fields neighbouring Byzantine studies and to
understand what questions were posed, what answers were
provided, and for what reasons, in these neighbouring fields. The
present essay will briefly identify a few such paradigms and
propose avenues that research on Byzantine science may
productively explore in the future.
In the introduction to his magisterial eight-volume History of Magic
and Experimental Science (1923), Lynn Thorndike argued in favour
of a broad definition of his topic as "including all occult arts and
sciences, superstitions, and folk-lore", and emphasized that "magic
and experimental science have been connected in their
development; that magicians were perhaps the first to experiment;
and that the history of both magic and experimental science can be
40
Maria Mavroudl.
better understood by studying them together."' In this way
?is to the modem

and superstition and proceeded to discuss 'pseudo-
sciences , such as astrology and various forms of divination alon -_
. h 'h d . , , g.
Wit. ar . sciences . as, _for example, . medicine and pharmacy,
optics, music, the engmeermg of mechamcal devices, the use of the
abacus. and the introduction _of Hindu and Arabic numerals. At the
same time, he to the sophisticated philosophical
b_ackground required for an m-depth understanding of his topic and
that d_efinitions of what exactly magic and
science meant m the Middle Ages, especially definitions couched in
modem terms, do not reflect the way magic and occult science were
thought of during the Middle Ages:
"the meaning of the word, 'magic', was a matter of much
uncertamty even in classical and medieval times.-. There can
be no however, that it was then applied not merely to an
operal!ve art, but also to a mass of ideas or doctrine and that 't
a way of looking at the world. This sicte of
been lost sight of in hasty or assumed modern
to regard magic as merely a collection

.ea s.
Further Thomdik I . d
magic , d _e exp ame the necessity to examine medieval
an expenmental scien h
beginni h ce as t e result of a continuum
ng
10
t e early Christian
period "could b b centunes, because the medieval
Greek, Latin, :nd by vi:wing it in the setting of the
much"
3
H
1
Y_ nstlan wnters to whom it owed so
. e a so explamed that
ancient science must . any modem understanding of
Ages: "The . unavmdably use the vehicle of the Middle
anc1ent authors ar
1
medieval form in s e genera ly extant only in their
h ' orne cases there
ave undergone alteratio d . . Is reason to suspect that they
fathered upon the I n or a dttwn; sometimes new works were
bee m. n any case they h b
ause the Middle Ages t d' d ave een preserved to us
extent made them th . s u and cherished them and to a great
e1r own " Tho d'k fi '
m
1
e urther maintained that
1
L. Thorndike A H'
}923),2. , story of Magic and Experimental Science I (New York,
History of Magic I 4 '
'Tb omdi_ke,HistoryofMagic' I' 2.
omdike, History of Magic: I: i-3.
Occult Science and Society in Byzantium: 41
examining the longue dunfe is more illuminating than investigating
a shorter period of time:
"The history of thought is more unified and consistent, steadier
and more regular, than the fluctuations and diversities of
political history; and for this reason its general outlines can be
discerned with reasonable sureness by the examination of even
a limited number of examples, provided they are properly
selected from a period of sufficient duration. Moreover, it
seems to me that in the present stage of research into and
knowledge of our subject sounder conclusions and even more
novel ones can be drawn by a wide comparative survey than by
a minutely intensive and exhaustive study of one man or of a
few years. The danger is of writing from too narrow a view-
point, magnifying unduly the importance of some one man or
theory, and failing to evaluate the facts in their full historical
setting. No medieval writer whether on science or magic can
be understood by himself but must be measured in respect to
his surroundings and antecedents."'
Thorndike's approach is distinguished by its thorough acquaintance
with primary sources, many of which were (and some still are) to be
found only in manuscripts. Compared with the reference manuals
in the neighbouring fields of ancient and Islamic occult science
(even those written several decades later), it is also unusual for its
chronological organization, as opposed to presenting the primary
source material thematically, according to the genre to which a
given text is deemed to belong.
6
Discussions by genre reflect a
5
1bid . 3-4.
6
A. Bouche-Leclercq, Histoire de Ia divination dans /'antiquite, 4 vols. (Paris,
1879-82) organizes the discussion primarily according to each kind of divinatory
method employed in the ancient world and the geographic location where it was
practiced (therefore distinguishes between 'divination hellenique' and 'divination
italique'). In the field of Islamic studies, T. Fahd, La divination arabe (Leiden,
1966; repr. Paris, 1987), a thoroughly documented study steeped in primary
sources, also favours a thematic organization of the material. M. Ullmann, Die
Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam. Handbuch der Orientalistik, L4.2
(Leiden and Cologne, 1972), is organized by topic and includes the following:
zoology ('Tierkunde',.including literature on the hunt), botany (Pflanzenkunde),
lapidaries (Gesteinskunde), alchemy, astrology, magic, and agriculture (Die Lehre
von der Landwirtschaft); Ullmann's Die Medizin im Islam. Handbuch der
Orientalistik, 1.4.1 (Leiden and Cologne, 1970); English tr. as M. Ullmann, ls/cmJic
Medicine (Edinburgh, 1978) covers some complementary ground, especially in the
chapter on medicine and the occult. This categorization unavoidably owes
42
Maria Mavroudi
tradition established towards the end of the nineteenth century,
especially in the German-speaking world, and are clearly influenced
by the re-thinking of disciplinary boundaries and the re-
organization of knowledge (and the institutional structure of
universities) along those lines at around the same time. This
academic trend produced admirable works that still guide scholarly
research, but among its dangers, when applied to the material under
discussion, is the over-subordination of ancient and medieval
intellectual endeavours to modem categories and definitions, and
the blurring of the fact that medieval learning was, to use a modem
term, very 'interdisciplinary'.
7
something to an illustrious antecedent, the division of the material adopted by
Brockelmann in his (to this day irreplaceable) Geschichte der arabischen
Uteratur, 5 vols. (1898-42); on the long and difficuit publishing history of tliis
work, see J. J. Witkam, 'Brockelmann's Geschichte revisited' in the recent reprint
of C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, I (Leiden, New York,
and Cologne, 1996), v-xvn. To facilitate his discussion, Brockelmann divided
Arabic literature into chronological units and, from ca. 750 (after which date the
number of preserved texts and authors is significantly greater than before)
to the literary production of each period by genre and place of
producbon to the political fragmentation of the Islamic world. 'Die
Gehetmwtssenschaften' is the title of Book 2, chapter 17 (I 278-82)
whtch ts preceded by chapters on philosophy, mathematics, and
asti_ol?gy, .geography, and medicine (these categories are repeated, with some
vanatton, m the treabnent of subsequent periods, as well). The division according
was .also in another major and extremely useful bibliographic
F. Sezgm, Geschzchte des arabischen Schrifttums bis ca. 430 H. 12 vols.-
(Leiden 1967-), that covers AI b' t .
med
. . h a tc exts unttl ca. 1038 A.D. and discusses
tcme, p armacy zoology t . .
agriculture th ' . ' ve ennary sctence, alchemy, chemistry botany,
rna emabcs, astronomy a trol d '
rubrics The bibl" . . ' s ogy, an meteorology under separate
Die Byzantine science, occult or not, is H. Hunger,
proJane lteratur der B t. 2 I
Altertumswissenschaft XII
5
. yzan mer. vo s., Handbuch der
as follows mathematt:c d(Mumch,
19
78), where the last six chapters are titled
s an astronomy (astrol ) .
botany, lapidaries, alchemy) ed' . . . natural sctences (zoology,
due to the vernacular tc'?e, mthtary sctence, law, music. In addition,
categories, a brief discussion employed in texts that belong to these
remedies, and Byzantine to astrology. oracular literature, folk
Beck, Geschichte der byzantinisch lk
proverbs, m an addendum to H.-G.

7
A similar concern regardin ;n . s (Munich, 1971 ).
treattnent by Byzantinists Yzantme hterature and its compartmentalized
K.azhdan, People and Power in ;g to notions of 'genre' was voiced by A.
yzanttum: An Introduction to Modern Byzantine
Certain aspects of Thorndike's work clearly belong to the Zeitgeist
of the early 20'h century. Auguste Bouche-Leclercq's Histoire de fa
divination dans l'antiquite, 4 vols. (Paris, 1879-82) and his
L'astrologie grecque (1899) had already argued (while professing
to despise astrology and its sisters) that the study of divination in
antiquity is a worthy scholarly enterprise because it can elucidate
the history of ideas. The same point had been made in Thorndike's
doctoral dissertation titled 'The Place of Magic in the Intellectual
History of Europe' and submitted to the "Faculty of Political
Science" at Columbia University in 1905. But the vision he
presented in 1923 was still pioneering, because Franz Cumont's
L'Egypte des astrologues, an attempt to use astrology in order to
understand social history, would be published fourteen years later,
in 1937, and Otto Neugebauer's famous essay 'The Study of
Wretched Subjects', in which he called for a serious investigation
into the history of astrology in order to comprehend the
transmission of ideas from Antiquity to the Middle Ages and the
Renaissance, did not appear until1951.
8
Though the connection between 'rational' and 'pseudo' science
continues to be discussed in recent literature on pre-modem science
(obviously because scholars still estimate that it must be explained
to their readers),
9
the view that 'rational' science and 'pseudo'
science are two facets of the same coin is increasingly gaining
wider acceptance.
10
Though no longer pioneering in this respect,
Studies (Washington, D. C., 1982), 96-7; a new approach was implemented by
idem, A History of Byzantine Literature (650-850) (Athens, 1999).
8
0. Neugebauer, 'The Study of Wretched Subjects', Isis 42 (1951 ), Ill. Compare,
also, the remarks of L. Edelstein in 1937: "In the historiography of Greek
medicine religious and magical healing, in general, are dealt with only
occasionally and very briefly... Since these are factors abhorrent to modem
science, they are not interesting to the modem historian either"; see L. Edelstein.
'Greek Medicine and Its Relation to Religion and Magic', Bulletin of the lnstitllle
of the History of Medicine 5 (1937), 201-46; repr. in 0. and L. Temkin, eds.,
Ancient Medicine. Selected Papers of Ludwig Edelstein (Baltimore, 1967), 205-46.
9
See, for example, F. Rochberg, The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy.
and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture (Cambridge and New York, 2004).
10
Some researchers treat the connection between 'rational' and 'pseudo' science as
established truth in need of no further elaboration; see the statement of T.
Langerrnann, review of P. Travaglia, Magic, Causality and Intentionality: The
Doctrine of Rays in al-Kindi (Florence, 1999), in Speculum 77 (2002), 256-8:
44
Maria Mavroudi
Thorndike's work has aged gracefully; its flfSt four volumes that
focus on the Western medieval world may still be used as a
reference tool by medievalists. An equivalent work was never
written for Byzantium, neither in its bibliographic scope (including
manuscripts) nor in its articulation of an overarching vision about
the intellectual horizons and historic development of magic and
experimental science. Given the proliferation and specialization of
knowledge as well as the changed conditions in the academia and
society at large since the first half of the twentieth century, it is
unlikely that such a work will be produced in the foreseeable
future.
11
This, of course, does not mean that Byzantinists are
completely deprived of research tools. Investigation of the
Byzantine occult sciences today is made possible by a much earlier
wave of publications, mostly consisting in multi-volume sets
publishing primary sources, that appeared between the end of the
nineteenth century and the 1930s and 40s, such as the collective
catalogues of Greek astrological and alchemical manuscripts,
including excerpts from the relevant texts.
12
The analysis of these
sources was generally undertaken by their editors in articles rather
than book-length studies.
13
It is hoped that the recent renewal of the
''The question how to approach the subject of magic is belabored unnecessarily.
There now that, functioning within an appropriate causal
framework, 1s Just another form of technology or applied science. This
should be the sunple .and ac_cepta?le starting point for an investigation in De radiis;
much of Travagha s dehberatmn about science versus superstition is thus
superfluous."
II Th .
e. same 1s_ true even beyond Byzantine studies; cf. Witkam, 'Brockelmann's
Geschtchte reVISited', V-XV!!.
12 Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum (=CCAG), vols. I-XII (Brussels
1898-1953), Catalogue des manuscrits alchimiques grecs (=CMAG) vols I-VIII
1924-32); CMAG vols. VI-VIII are exclusively to the
publicalion of texts, a proJect that was interrupted b th b ak
II. Several alchemical texts were also published Ire of w_ar
Ruelle by M Berthelot Col/ ( . e e P of Charles-nmtle
1887-88;
d:s :nclens akhimistes grecs, 3 vols. (Paris

Athe?iensia, 2 vols. d:\: magic, see_ A. Delatte, Anecdota
I'Umversite de Liege, fascs.
36
and
88
(Lie ea:Ite d7 philosophte et Iettres de
of publishing the Greek alchemical co g d 1927-39). For the history
Papyrus de Leyde, papyrus de see the mtroduction by H. D. Saffrey in
Les alchimistes grecs 1 (Paris
1981
) m, fragments et recettes, ed. R. Halleux
13 O . ' , , VII-XV. '
ne exception: A. Delatte La c .
and Paris, 1932). ' atoptromancle grecque et ses derivees (Liege
45
effort to properly edit the surviving Greek alchemical texts under
the directorship of H. D. Saffrey (the first volume appeared in
1981),
14
and the long-term commitment to publish the corpus of
Byzantine astronomers under the supervision of Anne Tihon (the
inaugural volume came out in 1983)
15
will do much to facilitate the
study of the Byzantine occult sciences, even if neither undertaking
includes this among its explicit goals. Relatively recent book-length
studies by a single author treating any aspect of Byzantine occult
lore are exceedingly few: Richard Greenfield's Traditions of Belief
in Late Byzantine Demonology (Amsterdam, 1988) discusses a
period for which the documentation is by several orders of
magnitude more abundant than for the centuries preceding it.
Interestingly, a related topic, Byzantine eschatology, has received
much more attention, perhaps because its connection with
respectable political history is more obvious to modem scholars
than the relevance of astrology, geomancy, dream interpretation,
palmomancy, scapulomancy, lecanomancy, and magic for the study
of political history.
16
Yet both eschatology and divination are
equally important for a proper understanding of how political power
was yielded anywhere in the medieval world, both East and West.
Most recently, Paul Magdalino's L'orthodoxie des astrologues: La
science entre le dogme et la divination a Byzance (Vlle-X/Ve
siecle) (Paris, 2006), is a book-length study by a single author
addressing one of the most important and philosophically inclined
Byzantine occult sciences in a chronologically arranged discussion
14
In the series "Les alchimistes grecs" (AG) Papyrus de Leyde, ed. Halleux, AG, I;
of the 12 volumes (ibid., XIV-XV), only I, IV.! and X have appeared to
date; among them only L'anonyme de Zuretti ou L'art sacre et divin de Ia
chrysopee par un anonyme, ed. A. Coline!, AG, X (Paris, 2000), deals with a
as opposed to an ancient, Greek alchemical text.
N1cephore Gregoras: Calcul de /'eclipse du solei/ du 16 juillet 1330, ed. J.
A. Tihon, R. Royez, A. Berg, CAB I (Amsterdam, 1983); see the
IDtroduction by Tihon, ibid., 7-8; also eadem, 'Un pro jet de corpus des astronomes
byzantins', JOB 31 (1981) = Akten des XVI. intemazionales
1.2.1 (no pagination) and R. Browning, 'Projects in
d
Byzantme Phtlology', ibid. 1.1, 3-64. Nine volumes have appeared in the series to
ate.
MF b' . .
p or a overvtew of the literature on Byzantine eschatology up to 1993, see
p. Magdalmo, 'The History of the Future and Its Uses: Prophecy, Policy and
S R. Beaton and C. Roueche, eds., The Making of Byzantine History.
tu les Dedicated to Donald M. Nicol (Aidershot, 1993), 3-34.
46
Maria Mavrou4!1

-
that pays due attention to pre- and early Christian sources, and i&
founded on a thorough acquaintance with primary texts, some of
which remain little-read by modern scholars.
17
The existing and projected publications that can facilitate the study
of the sciences in Byzantium inspire a certain amount of optimism.
However, there can be no doubt that the study of Byzantine science
(occult or not) is not as advanced as that of its equivalent in the
ancient, Western medieval, and even the Islamic world. The reasons
for this disparity are worth an attempt at their identification. Could
it be attributed to lack of primary source material on which such an
investigation could be based? For example, the Middle and Late
Byzantine period lack the unmediated primary source material
provided by the ancient lead curse tablets or the magical papyri. Yet
the identification of physical remains of practiced magic (hardly
any have been identified from the Middle and Late Byzantine
period),
18
or recent advances in the field of papyrology (within
which the study of Arabic papyri remains the least investigated
domain), especially since it is pertinent only to a limited geographic
location, cannot by themselves explain the developments in the
study of magic and occult science. Another explanation may be
sought in the fact that Byzantine studies is a relatively young
discipline cultivated by a comparatively limited number of scholars;
but so is the study of medieval Islam in the Western world, while
medieval Islamic science has been studied by modern Western
scholars more than its Byzantine counterpart. Closer inspection
reveals that modern neglect in the study of Byzantine science
(whether rational or pseudo) is coupled with neglect in the study of
Byzantine philosophy, the ancient and Islamic counterpart of which
is, once again, considerably more advanced. In other words,
Byzantinists have paid insufficient attention to both the practical
application of science and its philosophical foundation in the
". L'Orthodoxie des astro/ogues. La science entre le dogme et Ia
fo1V!natzon a siecle), Realites byzantines 12 (Paris, 2006).
. Some matenal1s d1scussed by J. Russell, 'The Archeological Context of Magic
m the Early Byzantine Period', in H. Maguire, ed. Byzantine Magic (Washington,
D. C., 1995), 35-50. Amulets, phylacteries, protective rings, a protective gold
are presented in I. Ka!avrezou, ed., Byzantine Women and Their World
ndge, Mass., New Haven and London, 2003), 27ff.
Byzantine world. The result is a gap in. our
derstanding the textual, intellectual, and social Import of science
Byzantine history and the study of Byzantine civilization. To
tOr h ' h"l h '
tate this in more concrete terms, a goal t at p 1 osop y ,
ence' and 'pseudo-science' have in common is to understand
SCI , . d h'
the forces and laws that move nature and the umverse an or IS
son all three may appropriate much of the same theoretical
rea d . , .
apparatus; further, both 'science' and 'pseu o-sc1ence asp1re
control these forces, or at least use them to control one s
surroundings. It is therefore reasonable to expect that all three could
be practiced in the same circles, for the of, or by, of
the same individuals, and therefore stndes or obstacles the
modern study of each necessarily influence our understandmg. of
the other two. The intellectual profile and social role of a Byza?tme
theologian, ecclesiastic, historian, courtier, bureaucrat,
man of letters, cannot be fully appreciated without refere?ce to theu
knowledge of what Byzantium understood as science; yet
Byzantinists presently lack important tools that them
to add this component to the larger picture of Byzantme mtellectual
and social history.
The comparison among the fields of Byzantine, and Islamic
studies allows the conclusion that the most Important reason for
relative neglect in the study of Byzantine science, occult or not, IS
its perceived role in the history of what we term 'Western thought'
The generally accepted grand narrative goes, more or less, as
follows: the sciences were born in the ancient Near East, whence
already in antiquity they migrated West, am?ng the _Greeks; "':ho
gave birth to (Western) philosophy and made It and SCience flou:tsh
until (at the latest) the sixth century A.D. At around_ that time
science and philosophy died out in the Greek-speakmg world.
Thankfully, they were rescued by the Arabs, who translated and
adapted the Greek scientific and philosophical heritage as a result
of the translation movement from Greek into Arabic in the course
of the ninth and tenth centuries, and went on to produce some
worth-while science and philosophy of their own. By the
. d r the Mushm
century both subjects were begmmng to ec me m
world but again were rescued by medieval Europe, where a
' . ' . h" u from Arabic into Latm,
translation and adaptatiOn proJect, t Is me
48
Maria Mavroudi c. f
was launched in the twelfth century. It is understood that from then
on, and down to our own times, science and philosophy definitely
and irrevocably migrated west. Their initial twelfth-century
migration was intensified in the course of the fourteenth and the
fifteenth centuries, when Greek refugees fleeing Byzantium arrived
to the West carrying manuscripts of ancient authors and allowed the
West to rediscover ancient Hellenic wisdom, this time without an
Arabic intermediary. The Greek manuscripts brought to Europe by
Byzantine scholars during the Renaissance are understood as the
last contribution of the East (whether Arabic or Greek speaking) to
Western scientific and philosophical development.
Elements of this grand narrative are implicitly or explicitly present
in ancient and medieval sources, a fact that undoubtedly contributed
to its formulation in modem literature. For example, Ptolemy in the
Tetrabiblos explicitly mentions that the Egyptians are those who
developed medical astrology the most (1.3), and refers to the
Egyptian system of government of the houses (1.20) and the
Chaldaean system of government of the triplicities (1.21), implicitly
acknowledging the fundamental contribution that these two
civilizations made to astrology.
19
Diodorus Siculus in a well-known
passage (1.96-98) also discusses the Egyptian origin of science and
the benefit that Greek savants derived from it.
20
Reference to the
Egyptian and Babylonian origins of astrology and science is also
made in the world chronicles of the Byzantine period.
21
As for the
claim that wisdom had migrated from the Greek- to the Arabic-
speaking world, it is already expressed in medieval Arabic sources
and can be understood as a politically expedient rhetorical attitude
employed by the Abbasids in the course of the heightened
Byzantine-Arabic military antagonism of the ninth and tenth
centuries in order to cast, in the terms used by Dimitri Gutas, 'anti-
Byzantinism' in the guise of 'philhellenism' .
22
Yet the modem
19
Ptolemy, Tetrabib/os, ed. and tr. W. G. Waddell (Cambridge Mass 1940 repr.
1964), 30-33. ' .
"'_Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, ed. K. T. Fischer (post I. Bekker and L.
P,tndorf) and F .. 5 vols. (Leipzig, 1888-1906; repr. Stuttgart, 1964).
22
See the contnbution by W. Adler in the present volume.
M See D. Greek Thought, Arabic Culture: the Graeco-Arabic Translation
ovement m Baghdad and Early Abbasid Society, 2""- 41h IB'h-J(Jh Centuries
(London and New York, 1998), 83-9
5
.
elaboration and completion of the grand narrative articulated above
were developed in Western academia the course of the nineteenth
and the first half of the twentieth century and for this reason
unavoidably reflects ideological assumptions prevalent at the time
of European colonialism. As a result, modern study of ancient
philosophy and science largely emphasized what was deemed as
'rational' enterprise (along the lines of what the nineteenth century
understood and defined as 'rational'); further, questions and
answers are framed from a point of view centred on late medieval
and early modem Europe (the forerunner of modem Western
civilization). Indeed, most scholarly energy was expended and most
ink has flowed in order to elucidate the crucial junctures of
science's and philosophy's westward journey, in the imagined
geography of which the Greek-speaking world in antiquity is
reckoned as 'West', while in the Middle Ages as 'East'. For
example, the modern study of Arabic astrology was greatly
stimulated by the realization that its introduction in the medieval
West through translations from Arabic into Latin also created the
impetus for the introduction of Aristotelian philosophy in medieval
Latin thought/
3
and therefore was inextricably linked with
developments in Western medieval philosophy (itself a re-
habilitated subject in academic research around the same time).
24
As far as science and philosophy in Greek of any period are
concerned, it is well known that with the exception of finds in
papyri, its bulk is retrievable, with more or less difficulty, only
from Greek manuscripts of the Byzantine and post-Byzantine
period. Yet modern study of these manuscripts has concentrated on
extracting from them ancient science and philosophy, while little
attention has been paid to what Byzantine manuscripts that include
the works of ancient authors can tell us about Byzantine science and
philosophy. This neglect is exacerbated by the fact that, in contrast
with Islamic philosophy and science, the view about their
Byzantine counterparts implicitly or explicitly stated in modern
23
R. Lemay, Aba Ma' shar and Latin Aristotelianism in the Twelfth Century: The
Recovery of Aristotle's Natural Philosophy through Arabic Astrology (Betrut.
1962).
24
See the introduction by K. Ierodiakonou, ed. Byzantine Philosophy and Its
Ancient Sources (Oxford, 2002), 7.
,.
50
M
. M
ana avroudi , .;:,.
''
scholarship is that there hardly was anything worth talking about.
25
In summary, the only reason why Byzantium is important in the
history of science and philosophy is not because it added anything
significant to the Greek scientific knowledge and philosophical
sophistication of antiquity, but because it preserved ancient Greek
science and philosophy until the Westerners were able to recover it.
Such is the view explicitly adopted in the chapter on Byzantine
science by Kurt Vogel in Cambridge Medieval History,
26
which-
in spite of its age-remains an indispensable guide on the topic due
to its abundant bibliography and the general absence of reference
works on Byzantine science. As for Byzantine philosophy, though
recent scholarly literature has moved beyond appreciating it merely
as a repository of ancient philosophy, by necessity the importance
of studying it is still advocated in terms of its role in shaping
Renaissance philosophy (a nod to a line of thinking that may attract
and sustain a general interest in studying Byzantine philosophy, not
an implied comparison or relative evaluation).
27
"Evidently, this attitude was internalized, at least until recently, even within the
field of Byzantine studies. How else to explain the absence of any panel on
Byzantine science at the XVI International Congress on Byzantine studies (1981),
remarked upon by Anne Tihon thus: "Au moment de nous inscrire a ce Congres
d'Etudes Byzantines, un rapide coup d'oeil sur le programme propose suffisait a
nous amener a cette constatation desolante: I' absence de toute section consacre a
de Ia science byzantine" [A. Tihon, "Un projet de corpus des astronomes
(p: I of the _article in. a volume without pagination)]. A panel on
Byzantme sc1ence was mcluded m the programme of the XXI International
on Studies (2006). For the problems regarding the study of
Byzantme philosophy, see the introduction by Ierodiakonou ed. Byzantine
Phzlosophy, 1-13. '
History IV.2 (Cambridge, 1967), 264: "Byzantium is
lffiportant m the h1story of science ... not because any appreciable additions were
made to the knowledge already attained by the Greeks of the Hellenistic era but
because the Byzantine ed th I'd c '
. s preserv e so 1 toundatlons la1d m antiquity until such
Westerners had at their disposal other means of recovering this
27
See ODB, s.v. PHILOSOPHY (by 0 O'M ) ''Th .
specific Byzant' h'l h . eara e question of the existence of a
. . P I osop Y nsks anachronism if it presupposes a modem
cntenon of what 1s to count as h'l h If .
development, it is to be /
1
osop Y phllosophy is seen as a historical
philosophy and in th ffi oun
10
Byzantium in the interest taken in ancient
provided in tum and criticize this heritage. This work
lerodiak B I. msp_rratlon to Renaissance philosophy." See also
onou, yumtrne Phzlosophy 13 "Only [b tud . B .
y s ymg yzantme
Occult Science ana :society m nyzanuum:
51
More recent scholarship has begun to re-evaluate individual pieces
of this grand narrative: for example, emphasis and value is no
longer exclusively placed on what is deemed as 'rational'
enterprise, nor is the pursuit of 'irrational' subjects taken as a sign
of intellectual decline. In addition, a rehabilitation of Arabic science
and philosophy is taking place: it is now possible to argue that
neither entered a state of decline after the eleventh century.
28
Regarding Western European intellectual history, the twelfth-
century 'renaissance' (in the course of which Graeco-Arabic
learning was introduced in Western Europe through translations
from Latin into Arabic) in recent re-evaluation no longer looks like
the paramount event it had been made to be.
29
The result is
dissonance between the older grand narrative and our more recent
understanding of the individual components that comprise it. In
other words, as the pieces of the puzzle have changed shape, they
no longer fit together as neatly as they used to and must be
reconsidered not only individually but also as a whole. Any new
grand narrative that might emerge will not be complete without
taking into consideration the role of Byzantium in the formation of
Mediterranean science by contributing to and receiving from the
science of its Arabic and Latin speaking neighbours. Since, in any
period of human history, the economic and political power of a
nation or political entity is a decisive factor influencing the
international reception of the culture and science it produces, recent
developments in Byzantine studies must be inserted into future
thinking regarding Byzantine science and its international role: for
philosophy] will we manage to completely bridge the gap between ancient
philosophy and early modem philosophy. In this connection we have to keep in
mind the profound impact Byzantine scholars and philosophers of the fifteenth
century had on the revival of Platonic studies and Platonism in the Renaissance in
the West."
28
For a rehabilitation of Arabic philosophy after the II >h century, see D. Gutas,
'The Study of Arabic Philosophy in the Twentieth Century: An Essay on the
Historiography of Arabic Philosophy', British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
29.1 (2002), 5-25; for a refutation regarding Islamic astronomy, see G. Saliba, 'A
Redeployment of Mathematics in a Sixteenth-Century Arabic Critique of
Ptolemaic Astronomy', in A. Hasnawi, A. Elamrani-Jamal, M. Aouad, eds.,
Perspectives arabes et medievales sur Ia tradition scientijique et philosophique
(Leuven and Paris, 1997), 105-22, and esp. 113.
For challenges to the notion of a 12,.-century Renaissance, see C. S. Jaeger,
'Pessimism in the Twelfth-Century "Renaissance"', Speculum 78 (2003), 1151-83.
52
Maria Mavroudi .
example, we are now beginning to discern that not all intellectual,
artistic, or technological tradition (and the possibility of
"innovation") was lost in the period between the seventh to the
ninth centuries,
30
but have not yet contemplated what this means for
the translation movement from Greek into Arabic that took place in
the course of the ninth and tenth centuries. Over the last two
decades we have reached a consensus that Byzantium's golden age
did not end with the death of Basil II and that the eleventh and
twelfth centuries were periods of economic expansion and
intensified intellectual endeavour;
31
yet we have not begun to map
what this may imply for the reception of Byzantine philosophy and
science in the Islamic and the Latin world within the political
circumstances of the same period, such as the Byzantine
governance of the region of Antioch (969-1084) and the creation of
the Crusader states soon thereafter. The findings of work done in
the fields of art history,
32
and, secondarily, law/
3
promise that
future research focusing on other forms of cultural endeavour will
also prove productive.
34
Modern lack of interest in Byzantine
"'For a summary of recent work, see L. Brubaker and J. Haldon, Byzantium in the
Iconoclast Era (ca. 680-850 ): The Sources (Aidershot, 200 1 ), to be followed by a
forthcoming companion volume discussing new conclusions from re-reading the
sources.
31
A seminal publication on 12 .. -century economic history: M. Hendy, "Byzantium,
1081-1204: an Economic Reappraisal" Transactions of the Royal Historical
Society Slh series, 20 (1970), 31-52; see also the monograph by A. Harvey,
in Byzantine Empire, 900-1200 (Cambridge, 1989). A
fuUer articulat10n: A. La10u, ed. The Economic History of Byzantium from the
Seventh through the Fifteenth Century, 3 vols. (Washington, D. C., 2002). A
work on 12th-century cultural history: A. Kazhdan and A. Wharton-
Epstem, Change in Byzantine Culture in the 11' and 12"' Centuries (Berkeley
1985). '
32
Seminal in this. was the body of work by Hugo Buchthal (1909-); more
the P.ublicat10ns by Annemarie Weyi-Carr and Lucy-Anne Hunt.
sumval practices in Crusader lands, see B. Kedar, 'On
gms of the Earhest Laws 10 Frankish Jerusalem: The Canons of the Council
1120', Speculum 14 (1999), 310-35; J. Pahlitzsch, Graeci und Suriani
': .Kreuz;fahrerzeit (Berlin, 2001 ).
Work
10
this drrection is represented by the volume of I. Draelants A. Tihon B.
van den Abeele eds Occ 'd t p h . ' '
de C
.
1
en et roc e-Onent: Contacts scientifiques au temps
s ro1sades (Tumhout 2000) tw . . . . .
science A C I' .u; :
0
essays 10 th1s collection discuss Byzantine
byzant.' ,.
0
travail des quatre elements ou lorsqu'un alchimiste
astrono
10

Jabir', ibid., 165-90; and A. Tihon, 'Les textes

nuq arabes Importes a Byzance aux Xle et Xlle siecles', ibid., 313-24.
53
science (and the resulting currently prevailing impression of its
non-existence or worthlessness) is dependent on a (by now)
superseded understanding of Byzantium as a state and civilization
in decline. Since scholars no longer subscribe to this understanding,
it is now possible to reverse our initial set of assumptions and
investigate Byzantine philosophy and science from a completely
new angle, by looking for signs of its robustness and international
appeal, as would be consonant with the economic robustness and
international political importance of Byzantium, at least until the
Fourth Crusade. To put this in relief with an example: in the
thirteenth-century biographical dictionary by Ibn Abi Usaybi'ah,
we are informed that the monetary estate left behind by the
eleventh-century Jacobite Christian doctor al-Yabrudi consisted in
Byzantine gold and silver pieces.
35
AI-Yabrtidi, we are told by Ibn
Abi was born in the large Christian village of Yabrtid
(75 km North of Damascus), received his medical education in
Damascus and Baghdad, practiced in Damascus and corresponded
with physicians resident in Egypt. Though he lived and had most of
his professional connections within the realm of the Fatirnids (to
which both Cairo and Damascus belonged at the time) and as far as
we know never visited Byzantine territory, he preferred to invest his
fortune in Byzantine coinage, evidently because this was the hard
currency of the period. Since common opinion in today's world
holds that good medicine is that of the economically and politically
dominant countries, one cannot but wonder whether al-Yabrtidi
regarded Byzantine medicine with the same trust as the Byzantine
economy, and whether his impression of the one also influenced his
evaluation of the other.
A renewed investigation into Byzantine science (in its enlarged
definition that comprises its philosophical background, including its
theological ramifications/
6
as well as both its 'rational' and
" See J. Schacht and M. Meyerhof, The Medico-Philosophical Controversy
Between Ibn But/an of Baghdad and Ibn Ridwan of Cairo (Cairo, 1937), 69;
Arabic text ibid., 33.
36
See the remarks by R. Sinkewicz, 'Christian Theology and the Renewal of
Philosophical and Scientific Studies in the Early Fourteenth Century: The Capita
I 50 of Gregory PaJamas', Mediaeval Studies 48 (1986), 334-51; Sinkewicz points
out that Byzantinists rarely read works of 'high theology' and as a result missed an
oppoltiJnity to observe, in the context of Palamite studies, the interaction between
54
Maria Mavroudi
'superstitious' manifestations) could offer an avenue to contemplate
a number of issues that have occupied the wider landscape of
Byzantine studies over the last fifty years, or even longer. A
question for the wider field of Byzantine studies that can be
fruitfully approached from the perspective of the occult sciences is
the one regarding the role played by the ancient Greek heritage in
Byzantine culture.
37
Generations of Byzantinists have paid
attention to this question for both objective and subjective reasons.
Objectively, the adoption, continuous cultivation, and adaptation of
the ancient heritage is indeed one of the foundations of Byzantine
culture. In addition, with the exception of a few literary,
philosophical, and scientific texts recovered from the Egyptian
papyri, the main avenue available for the retrieval of ancient Greek
literary culture was, and has largely remained, the surviving
Byzantine manuscripts and their post-Byzantine apographs. This
objective reality led earlier generations of scholars to a very
subjective approach to Byzantine literary culture: further influenced
by the Gibbonian vision alluded to earlier and espousing an
understanding of Byzantium as a state and civilization in decline (a
view that was not seriously challenged in Western historiography
until the second half of the twentieth century), they came to value
Byzantine literary culture primarily as a repository of its ancient
Greek counterpart, not as something worthwhile in its own right. In
addition, not just Byzantine literature but Byzantine civilization as a
whole has been understood as so subservient to ancient authority
it was incapable of adapting to a changing reality.
Ultimately, Byzantmm was understood as lacking a set of qualities
that modern historiography came to associate with the medieval (at
least from the century onwards) and early modem West,
such as 'dynamism' and 'innovation'. In the terms of history of
Christian theology and the ren ed 14"'
bil . ew -century mterest m anctent sctence and
Pto osopby .. ' would like to thank my student David Crane for bringing this article
my attention.
37
For a brief foray into th' bl .
Mavroudi 'Ta'br
1
, ts pro em usmg Byzantme texts on divination, seeM.
Inte t t
'. dr a -ruy a and altki!m al-nujam: References to Women in Dream
rpre a ton an Astrology T rred
Medieval Islam to B . .rans e from Graeco-Roman Antiquity and
Gruendler and M C yzanttum. Some Problems and Considerations', in B.
Terms F , h ift.fi ooperson, eds., Classical Arabic Humanities in Their Own
es.sc r1 or Wo/fhart R hs .
and Colleagues (Leiden,
2006
),
47
e;,;c on HIS 65. Birthday from His Students
occult Science and Society in Byzantium:
55
science, these qualities are understood as leading to the scientific
and industrial revolution that, in its tum, becall).e the means through
which the West secured its economic, political, and cultural
preponderance in the modem world. In more recent years
Byzantinists, especially those studying Byzantine economy, have
moved away from the model of Byzantine immutability and
collapse under the weight of received tradition, though in doing so
they have stressed the 'adaptability' rather than 'dynamism' of
Byzantine economy. Yet if we accept that Byzantium was more
accomplished in terms of its scientific and technological
achievement than has hitherto been realized, what prevented a
scientific revolution from taking place there?
38
Though the question
would be novel if addressed to Byzantinists, it has been asked. of
course, in connection with the medieval Islamic world.
39
The
answer has generally been framed as the result of a polar opposition
between the social and intellectual realities of 'East' and 'West' and
could conceivably be applied to the Byzantine empire, since it is
generally understood as 'oriental'. Yet a sharp divide . between
'East' and 'West' (at least around the Mediterranean and its
hinterland, where the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa,
touch and melt into each other) is not so much the result of
perennial physical geography, but of changeable political
geography. Neither Graeco-Roman antiquity nor the Middle Ages
construed 'East' and 'West' in the same way that we do today, and
any projection of the modem divide on an earlier period would be
38
To the best of my knowledge, this revolutionary, by the standards of Byzantine
studies, question, has only been asked once, and only in passing, by P. Magdalino,
'The Byzantine Reception of Classical Astrology', in C. Holmes and J. Waring.
eds., Literacy, Education and Manuscript Transmission in Byzamium and Beyond
(Leiden, Boston, Cologne, 2002), 33-57. Magdalino suggests that the "tacit
acceptance" of astrology by the clergy was upset forever in the 12 .. century by
Manuel Komnenos' concerted efforts to make astrology a canonically acceptable
field of pursuit. The article ends with an intriguing final argument, that the reaction
of the "orthodox establishment" unleashed by Manuel's efforts to canonize
astrology was one of the factors that inhibited a scientific revolution from taking
in Byzantium.
It has also been asked in connection with pre-sixteenth-century China (a case
that cannot be analyzed here). An eloquent discussion of (and a proposed answer
to) the question in general terms is presented in P. Crone, Pre-Industrial Societies:
of the Pre-Modern World, updated edition (Oxford, 2003), 146-75 (in a
c apter titled 'The Oddity of Europe').
56
Maria Mavroudi
anachronistic. The boundaries established between scholarly
disciplines in the course of the twentieth century, in which
perceived geographic and linguistic units tend to be treated in
isolation from each other, have exacerbated our impression of the
'East' and 'West' divide. Yet more recent scholarship (with
economic history, once again, at the forefront) emphasizes
communication across this imaginary line
40
and prompts the
following question: as far as the medieval Mediterranean is
concerned, is it still useful to understand it in terms of 'East' and
'West' boundaries more or less co-terminous with our own while its
different political, religious, and linguistic constituents had close
and intensive interaction regarding politics, trade, economy, art,
literary culture?
The contemplation of a further large question (encompassing the
entire chronological spectrum of Hellenic studies and not just its
Byzantine component) can benefit from a new investigation of
science: that of continuity or discontinuity between
Ancient Greek, Byzantine, and Modem Greek culture. The cultures
of .the medieval Mediterranean, including Byzantium, had already
articulated the problem as it applied to their own world,
41
and were
hardly in. this respect; the question is currently shared by any
that can (for reasons of language, geography, or
otherwise) lay claim on a venerably old and culturally illustrious
past, and the of the problem's complication is usually
With the antiquity of a continuously surviving
wntten record pertinent to its investigation. To cite but one parallel
case, equivalent de?ate is being conducted on the disappearance
or sumval of the ancient Egyptian heritage in Coptic and Islamic
"' A recent tour de force M McC k
0
..
Communications and C onruc ' rtgms of the European Economy:
" F th . ommerce AD 300-900 (Cambridge 200 1)
or e SimUltaneous Arabic M r . ' .
ancient Greek herita d . .us Im and. Byzantme Christian claim on the
10" centuries) see the tune of theu greatest military antagonism (9"-
in the . :tas, ;::ek Though.t, Arabic Culture; for a similar problem
Arabic Writers' m pesnoT, Bsee k. Mavroudi, 'Late Byzantium and Exchange with
' roo s ed Byza ti F 'h
Perspectives on Late Byza ti A' n urn, au and Power (1261-1557).
Symposia (Yale, 2006). n ne rt and Culture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
57
Egypt.
42
In both the Greek and Egyptian case, arguments for and
against continuity have been articulated in the scholarship of the
last several decades.
43
The example of the occult sciences is
especially relevant because ritual and ceremonial elements in the
practice of magic and divination are particularly persistent even
after important religious, ideological, and socio-economic changes
have taken place,
44
a reality also demonstrable for civilizations
beyond the Mediterranean, such as the faraway cultures of the pre-
and post-Colombian Americas.
The important parameters influencing the Byzantine reception of
the occult sciences cannot be adequately discussed without
42
For a brief discussion of the problem of discontinuity or survival between
ancient and Coptic Egypt and for references to recent literature, see A.
Papaconstantinou, 'Historiography, Hagiography, and the Construction of the
Coptic "Church of the Martyrs" in Early Islamic Egypt', DOP 59 (2005)
(forthcoming); I am grateful to Dr. Papaconstantinou for allowing me to consult
her unpublished work. For an approach to the problem of break or continuity
between ancient and Islamic Egypt (an integral part of which is the articulation of
a modem Coptic identity from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century), see D.
M. Reid, Whose Pharaohs? Archeology, Museums, and Egyptian National Identity
from Napoleon to World War I (Berkeley, 2002); 0. El-Daly, Egyptology: The
Missing Millenium. Ancient Egypt in Medieval Arabic Writings (London, Portland,
Oregon and Coogee, Australia, 2005); M. Pettigrew, 'The Wonders of the
Ancients: Arab-Islamic Representations of Ancient Egypt' (Ph.D. diss., University
of California, Berkeley, 2004 ).
43
Examples in favor of continuity in the Egyptian/Coptic case: the seminal article
by S. Morenz, 'Altiigyptischer und hellenistisch-paulinischer Jenseitsglaube bei
Schenute', Mitteilungen des Instituts for Orientforschung I (1953), 250-55; more
recently, H. Behlmer, 'Ancient Egyptian Survivals in Coptic Literature: an
Overview', in A. Loprieno, ed., Ancient Egyptian Literature: History and Forms
(Leiden, 1996), 567-90; against: R. Bagnall, Egypt in Late Antiquity (Princeton,
1993). In favour of continuity in the Greek case: the 1974 classic by M. Alexiou,
The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition, zoo ed. (Lanham, Boulder, New York, and
Oxford, 2002) and eadem, After Antiquity: Greek Language, Myth, and Metaphor
(Ithaca and London, 2002); against continuity, presenting the arguments in its
favour as the scholarly implementation of a 19"- and 20"'-century Greek political
agenda: M. Herzfeld, Ours Once More (New York, 1986).
44
For an approach acknowledging the persistence of ancient ritual and ceremonial
W:Pects in the modem practice of magic and divination but emphasizing
discontinuity in their understanding by the ancients and the modems, see C.
Stewart, Demons and the Devil: Moral Imagination in Modern Greek Culture
<Princeton, N.J., 1991).
58
Mana

reference to these larger questions and are, in rough outline, the
following:
1. The pagan background of the occult sciences, both in the
Mediterranean world and the ancient Near East. Its discussion calls
for reference to the questions of 'East' and 'West' and cultural
continuity.
2. The relation of Christianity with the occult sciences which
naturally, touches upon the relationship of Christianity with
paganism in general and pagan Hellenism in particular, and for this
reason requires deciding the criteria according to which the
existence of cultural continuity can be accepted or rejected.
3. The influence of the overall social and political outlook of each
period, including, but not limited to, the military, political, and
cultural antagonism and exchanges of Byzantium with its Eastern
and Western neighbours. Such an investigation cannot be
undertaken without considering the medieval and modem
understanding of 'East' and 'West'.
4. The 'high' or 'low' register of culture to which the various
of the occult sciences belong and at which their
transrruss10n was possible. Nineteenth-century scholarship (under
the shadow of which we still toil) delegated the study of
'vernacular' manifestations of 'superstition' to the realm of
'folklore' and has viewed them as constituent elements of a
people's innate character and identity. Yet who constitutes the
'people' (and in which way), and the lines along which a divide
between 'high' d 'I 1
an ow cu tural production can be established,
n_ot understood in the same way in the medieval period.
ProJectmg a modem t 1 .
. . concep ua tzat10n of these notiOns on the
Byzantmes nsks, once again, anachronism.45
Enough has been said to establish the advantage of looking at the
phenomenon of the occult scientist not in Byzantium alone, but also
Compare, once a ain th . .
division between :Wd bnef but ,useful rejecting the modem
and Power in Byzantium,
97
_
8
_ emacular' Byzantme literature in Kazhdan, People
59
glancing at the Islamic world (where such practitioners included
christians and Jews) and Western Europe. This approach can be
useful not only because less advanced disciplines can use the
lessons learnt from those further ahead (in the way that Byzantine
economic history has greatly benefited from applying approaches
and methods developed for Western medieval economic history),
but also (and especially) because of very specific reasons:
First, there is a demonstrable textual transmission of treatises on the
occult sciences from and into Greek, Latin, and Arabic in circular
and absolutely interlocked directions that I will briefly try to
describe, though modem scholarship has not sufficiently
documented all of its components. Its best researched aspects to
date-even if a lot of work remains to be done-are the translation
movement from Greek into Arabic that took place in the course of
the ninth and tenth centuries;
46
and the wave of translations of
originally Greek and Arabic material from Arabic into Latin
especially during the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries.
47
Systematic scholarly interest and research in both directions started
already in the nineteenth century.
48
We know far less regarding the
translations from Greek into Latin that were made from Antiquity
until the Renaissance;
49
the translations from Latin into Arabic
46
The most recent comprehensive discussion on the topic can be found in Gutas,
Greek Thought, Arabic Culture.
47
Regarding astrology in particular, see F. J. Carmody, Arabic Astronomical and
Astrological Sciences in Latin Translation: a Critical Bibliography (Berkeley and
Los Angeles, 1956).
48
The catalogues of translations that were drawn up in the 19"' century are still
reference works. For Greek into Arabic, see M. Steinschneider, Die arabischen
Obersetzungen aus dem griechisch (Graz, 1960), originally published in
installments in various periodicals between 1889 and 1896 and reprinted in a
single volume in 1960; idem, Die europiiischen Obersetzungen aus dem
arabischen bis Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts (Graz, 1957), originally published in
installments in 1904--05. For the translations from Arabic into Latin, see also the
earlier catalogue by F. Wiistenfeld, Obersetzungen arabischer Werke in das
lateinische seit dem XI. Jahrhundert. Abhandlungen der koniglichen Gesellschaft
Wissenschaften zu Gtittingen 22.5 (I 877).
9
The translated texts were philosophical, scientific (including the occult
SCiences), and patristic. Regarding the occult sciences, see the contribution of
Burnett in the present volume. An old but still useful overview of
SCienlific translations from Greek and Arabic into Latin is C. H. Haskins, Studies
in the History of Medieval Science (Cambridge, Mass., 1924; 2"" ed. 1927; repr.
60
Maria Mavroudi
since the ninth century, including "a Roman book" on astrology d
Columella's agriculture;
50
the translations of Latin material _ant
G k
,51 d h
1
. . . m o
ree , an t e trans at10ns of Arabic matenal both from Arabic
1960); see also_ L. Thorndike, between Byzantine and Western Science
an_d before 1350, Janus 51 (1964), 1-36. A more recent and
bnefer was provided by M.-T. D'Alvemy, 'Translations and
, R. L. and G. Constable, eds., Renaissance and Renewal in the
12 Century Mass., 1982), 421-62; repr. in eadem, La transmission
des et scientijiques au Moyen Age (Aldershot, 1994), no. 11.
For med1cal, philosophical, and theological translations from Greek into Lat'
between the 4"' the 6"' centuries, see J. lrigoin, 'Les textes grecs circulant
le nord aux Ve C:t V_Ie siecles. litteraires et temoignages
.' m zl Grandee 1 Goti d'ltalia. Atti del X/JJ congresso
mternazzona/e d1 studz alt? Medioevo, Milano, 2--6 novembre 1992 (Spoleto,
1993), 391--40?. discussion can also be found in W. Berschin, Greek Letters
and the Mzddle Ages from Jerome to Nicholas of Cusa, revised and
ed1t1on, tr. Jerold C. Frakes (Washington, D. c., 1988).
texts were the Gospels and epistles of St Paul, the Psalms, the so-called
and lendar of (an more than a translation), Orosius' history
. of Sev11le s Etymologies. See C. Burnett 'The Translating
Act1v1ty m Med1eval s s K J . '
H db h d . '
10
ayyus1, ed., The Legacy of Muslim Spain.
D
:m. _er Onental1stik, XII (Leiden, 1992), 1037; repr. in idem Magic and
zvmatzon m the Middle A T, d . . '
Wo ld (Aid h ges. exts an Techmques m the Islamic and Christian
Ara
rb' sG/ ers ot, 1996), no. IV. See also P. Sj. van Koningsveld The Latin-
IC ossary of the Le 'd u . . '
u
0
M b' M .
1
en mverszty Lzbrary: a Contribution to the Study of
,.,. zc anuscrzpts and L't .
d'Al . .
1
erature (Le1den, 1977), reviewed by M.-T.
verny' La transmtsszon des t t h z .
Age (Aldershot
1994
) XV exes P
1
osophzques et scientifiques au Moyen
in ai-Andalus' Jou '/fino. h III_; J. Sams6, 'The Early Development of Astrology
" To th b ' f rna orr e Hzstory of Arabic Science 3 (1979) 228-43.
e est o my knowledge th 1 '
sciences into Greek h ' e trans atwns of Latin material on the occult
. ave never been d' ed
11
.
literature Br
1
'ef d' . . scuss co ectlvely m modem scholarly
ISCUSSIOn With Jim'ted t .
on Dream Interpretation. The On
1
. r_e_ erences m Mavroudi, A Byzantine Book
(Leiden and Boston
2002
)
409
of Achmet and Its Arabic Sources
with Arabic A 'b. f- . and _eadem, 'Late Byzantium and Exchange
agriculture in E. Fishe 'G T d!scus_swn of translations on hippiatrics and
Classical Studiesr'
27

of Latin Literature in the 4'h c. A. o.',
Latin material on philoso h . '
215
esp. 207-II. For an overv1ew of the
natural sciences) see Lp YB(Leak. necessary background for the study of the
0
' . u . . .
bersetzungen philosophisch T ', atem1sche L1teratur in Byzanz. Die
Browning (Venice 19
96
)
35
-4er
2
<PU.e.U.1Jv. Studies in Honour of Robert
''H ' ' ; tOr an expanded .
Aanvtxt1
0 8
vers1on of this paper, see idem,
in
0
"C:: ol JlE't<lcj>Qaow; cj>IAooocj>tx6lv
E7rWr1JfWv'-"iif: Ivvav''l1J rov Mi 1j llea"rmd llQW'l1Jf:
m.1]6wvi)(6Jy "<Xi 1: 1Jf: .dte6voi), E:mo7:1Jf-10VtXijf; 'Emi{}Elaf;
repr. (with additional biblio (Athens and Mystras, 2001), 69-79,
g p y)
10
L. Benakis, <PU.oaoljJla.
61
and Latin into Greek from the tenth or eleventh century into the end
of the Byzantine period and beyond.
52
But even at this state of
scholarly documentation, it is possible to discern that by the end of
the Byzantine era in the fifteenth century, and as a result of
intellectual activity that had started at least five centuries earlier, a
body of texts (or versions thereof, as medieval translations were
adaptations and explications of the originals) was available in all
three languages, Arabic, Latin, and Greek; through these texts, the
corresponding civilizations demonstrably influenced and infonned
each other in the field of the occult sciences.
In addition, travel, oral communication, and competence in foreign
languages, facilitated these exchanges even without the
intennediary of a translated text. For example-to focus only on a
few relatively well-known figures whose international careers are
better documented-Byzantine sources allow us to conclude that in
the eleventh century Symeon Seth moved between the Islamic
Middle East and Constantinople,
53
and in the late thirteenth-early
fourteenth century Gregory Chioniades kept traveling between
Constantinople, Trebizond and Tabriz.
54
Their careers have some
analogies with those of scholars known to us from Arabic, Latin
and Hebrew sources: an approximate contemporary of Symeon
Seth, the Nestorian priest, doctor, and philosopher Ibn Butlan, left
his native Baghdad in 1048, and, after spending two years in Syria
and three in Cairo, in 1053 he arrived in Constantinople, where he
observed the supernova of the year 1054 and witnessed the great
chicken-pox epidemic. He later went to Byzantine Antioch, where
he became a monk and died in the year 1068.
55
In the twelfth
Keipeva "ai Me).h:e' =Texts and Studies on Byzantine Philosophy (Athens,
2002), 187-97.
52
Some discussion in Mavroudi, A Byzantine Book on Dream Interpretation, 395-
429.
" On the career of Symeon Seth, see P. Magdalino, 'The Porphyrogenita and the
Astrologers', in Charalambos Dendrinos et al., eds., Porphyrogenita, Essays on the
History and Literature of Byzantium and the Latin East in Honor of Julian
(Aldershot, 2003), 15-31, esp. 19-21.
On Gregory Chioniades, see L. G. Westerink, 'La profession de foi de Gregoire
Revue des etudes byantines 38 (1980), 233-45. See also Mavroudi,
Byzantium and Exchange with Arabic Writers.'
_Sources on Ibn ButHin: Ibn al-Qifti, Ta'rrkh al-/lukama', ed. A. Miiller and J.
Lippert (Leipzig, 1903), 294-315; Ibn Abi U$aybi'ah, Kitab 'uyan al-anba' fl
..-'_
!.., :
- i
(
,.
c.:
62
Maria Mavroudi
century, the English-born Adelard of Bath studied and taught in
France, and spent several years of study and travel to S. Italy and
Sicily and the crusader Middle East (Syria, Palestine, and Cilicia);'6
Abraham Ibn Ezra (ca. 1090-ca. 1165), a Spanish Jew whose
surviving production includes works in Hebrew and Latin, and who
is also quoted in Byzantine astrological sources,
57
traveled from his
native Andalus to N. Italy (Venice, Verona, Lucca, Pisa, Mantua),
S. France (Narbonne, Beziers), England, Morocco, Egypt, the Holy
Land and Mesopotamia.
58
All five figures were fluent in the
advanced technical vocabulary of more than one language and
familiar with philosophical and scientific concepts that transcended
the boundaries of what we would call today their 'national' science
their travels were clearly motivated by the search for bette;
resources (patronage, more advanced knowledge and renowned
teachers, the existence of observatories), but also followed the flow
and eb.b of their contemporary international political developments,
as theu moves were clearly facilitated by the conditions created
the. Byzantine reconquest of and presence in the region of
Antioch the and eleventh centuries, the decline of Baghdad
and the nse of Ca1ro as a major political centre in the Islamic world
at .around the same time, the establishment of the Crusaders in the
M.Jddle East in the course of the twelfth, and the political re-
alignments brought about by the arrival of the Mongols in the late
tabaqllt al-a(ibba' ed A Miill I .
been translated E . er, (Cruro, 1882), 241-243; both excerpts have
Controversy Between ;:n Bu:Z, Schacht and Meyerhof, .The Medico-Philosophical
Hebraeus, Ta'rrkh mulch n of Baghdad and Ibn Rtdwan of Cairo, 51-66; Bar
Modem accounts of ed. An\(ln S!ilil)ilni (Beirut, 1958), 190-92.
arabischen Uteratur,
11
career: G. Graf, Geschichte der christlichen
Riqwlln, see J. Grand'Hen lean,.
94
7), 191-94; on Ibn Bu!liln's dispute with Ibn
(998-1067) 1 (Lo . I ry, Le /me de Ia methode du medecin de 'Air b. Riqwlln
uva10- a-Neuve 1979) 2 5 h'
10 Constantinople see G S ' . - ; on IS observation of the supernova
translating into Syrlac' . .'d trohmruer, 'l:lunain ibn Isl)aq: an Arab scholar
E b '
10 1
em, Von Demokr't b' D
r es m der arabischen Ku/t (Hi! .
1
IS ante: Die Bewahrung antiken
further references). ur deshelm, ZOrich, New York, 1996), 166 [202)
For Adelard and th
d L .
0
er such figures in 1 d'
an atm) Stephen of Antioch ' c u mg the trilingual (in Arabic, Greek,
and Culture in the 'Antioch as a Link between Arabic
er Proche-Orient Contact Centuries', in I. Draelants, et al.,
,. CCAG, XI.J, 228; see bel s SC!entifiques au temps des Croisades, 1-78.
See R. Mercier 'Eas ow, note 148.
Draelants et 1 ' . t and West Contrasted s .
8
Occident Proche
0
. m ClentJfic Astronomy', in I.
- Tlent, 332-4.
63
thirteenth and early fourteenth century; further, they all gravitated
towards local and international centres of political power; all are
known to us today for their scientific activities in fields that we
deem respectable, such as philosophy and astronomy, as well as
their less reputable sisters, such as astrology.
A second reason (already foreshadowed in our discussion above)
for which the examination of the Byzantine occult sciences would
be more fruitfully undertaken in conjunction with their Arabic and
Latin equivalents is the fac.t that the Greek, Arabic, and Latin
speaking worlds were, or at least some intellectual circles in their
midst were, heirs to essentially the same philosophical traditions
and educational curriculum developed in Late Antiquity.
59
Of
course this curriculum (the trivium and the quadrivium)
60
appears in
numerous versions (all of them clearly variations on the same
theme) through time in the different languages in question, and was
not always and in all geographic locations pursued at the same level
and with the same intellectual rigor. However, it is important to
recognize that it consistently furnished the philosophical
background for the study of the natural and the occult sciences and
could serve as an introduction to their pursuit. For example,
"This fact was well understood by Thorndike, as is clear from his statement, cited
earlier, that his initial goal was to write the history of magic and experimental
science in the 12'" and 13'" centuries, but found it impossible to do so adequately
without starting from antiquity (Thorndike, History of Magic, I, 2-3); and from the
ample and systematic reference to Arabic occult science throughout the first two
volumes of his History of Magic. The same holds true of Haskins' discussion of
12'"-century science in his Studies in the History of Medieval Science, organized
under three rubrics: 'The Science of the Arabs' 'Translations from the Greek' and
'The Court of Frederick II', which is presented as the meeting-point of the Greek
and Arabic traditions. Of course in their articulation of these connections
Haskins were aided by earlier reference works [Steinschneider, Die
arab1schen Ubersetzungen a us dem griechisch ( 1889 and 1896); idem, Die
europiiischen Obersetzungen aus dem arabischen bis Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts
(1904-05); Wiistenfeld, Vbersetzungen arabischer Werke in das /ateinische seit
dem XI. Jahrhundert (1877)]. Comparable reference tools are unavailable to
today.
For. the role of astrology in particular in the educational curriculum of the Greek-
world from Late Antiquity until the end of the Byzantine era, see the
by P. Magdalino, 'The Byzantine Reception of Classical Astrology', in C.
B
0
and J. Waring, eds., Literacy, Education and Manuscript Transmission in
yZan/lum and Beyond, 33-57.
,I
I
1t
jL

,.

l
f
'I

!
l
\,
i
I
!
:; l
i.
I
I
i'
,,
64 Maria Mavroudi
knowledge of astronomy, one of the subjects at the more advanced
level of the curriculum, is also necessary for the practice of
astrology.
Thirdly, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim monotheism posed for the
practitioners of the occult sciences a similar set of problems, the
most salient of which, at least in the eyes of modern scholars, is
their strained, or at least ambivalent, relationship with the
'orthodox' religious establishment, a 'given' that modern scholars
frequently mention but do not always analyze in detail.
In his Traditions of Belief in Late Byzantine Demonology, as well as
in his article 'Contribution to the Study of Paleologan Magic'
(1995), Richard Greenfield employed a distinction between what he
termed "The Beliefs of the Standard Orthodox Tradition" and
"Alternative Traditions."
61
In the conclusions to the book he
emphasized that this division is a device he employed in order "to
bring some much needed clarity and order to a subject that all too
easily becomes complicated, not to say tangled and confused"
(ibid., 307). One of the disadvantages to this approach (implicitly
acknowledged by Greenfield) is the imposition of a contemporary,
and not necessarily Byzantine, division on the source material that
obscures for us the Byzantine understanding of occult lore.
approach, as well as Utto Riedinger's 1956 monograph
titled The Holy Writ in the Struggle of the Greek Church Against
Astrology
62
h h
. emp asize t e dichotomy between the ecclesiastical
establishment and th It . .
. e occu scientist, as well as the reJection of the
sciences by the church. There is, indeed, an undeniably large
Imp?rtant body of material from the pens of Church Fathers
and clencs condemn th . . .
d
mg e occult sciences from Late AntiqUity
own to the end f th B
o e yzantme period. But, as Greenfield
61
'The Beliefs of the St d d
0
and "Alternative Trad't:W rthodox Tradition' is the title of the book's Part I
B
. . 1 tons of Part II s R p . . .1
elrefrn Late ByZant' D ee . H. Greenfield, Tradttrons o,
the Study of (Amsterdam, 1988); idem, Contribution to
62
U R'ed agtc m Maguire ed B
' mger, Die heilige S h . . yzantme Magic, 117-53.
Astrowgie von Orr'gen rm Kampf der griechischen Kirche gegen die
D es rs Joha
ogmengeschichte und zur Gesch. h nnes von Damaskos. Studien ZJIT
rc le der Astrologie (Innsbruck, 1956).
65
observed in an effort to balance the patristic and clerical evidence
with indications from other sources of the Paleologan period,
"It is clear that the relationship between the central Christian
orthodoxy and the peripheral semi-Christian (or actually non-
Christian) elements of belief and practice in the Palaeologan
religious mentality is one that is complex and far-reaching. At
the popular level, belief and practice embraced a range that
simply did not recognize distinctions between religion and
magic and was not only uninterested in separating areas of
orthodoxy and unorthodoxy, but was almost entirely incapable
of doing so. What is being described here is thus merely one
end of a largely continuous spectrum that shades, as it were,
quite smoothly from white to black. Any divisions in it are
imposed either by subsequent historical misconceptions or by
the views of the small minority of trained Christian theologians
who believed in and were both capable of and interested in
establishing such divisions. It is vital not to let the minority
speak in place of the vast majority."
63
More recently, in a 2002 article discussing the Byzantine reception
of classical astrology, one of the most sophisticated and
philosophically inclined occult sciences, Paul Magdalino added a
component that any future discussion on them ought to take into
consideration: he described what one may call "the orthodox
establishment" as having not only the religious facet outlined
above, but also a "national" one, identified with the Greek texts of
Ptolemaic astronomy inherited by the Byzantines from antiquity
and contrasted with the Islamic science imported in Byzantium in
what Magdalino chronicles as four distinct phases between the
ninth and the fourteenth century.
64
Of course, the dichotomy
between 'Hellenic' and 'oriental' wisdom evident in some of the
narrative sources may upon further inspection prove to be more of a
rhetorical construction than an accurate reflection of practical
reality; if so, Byzantinists will have to reflect on the motives and
objectives of such a rhetoric. For now, I can only briefly mention
three examples suggesting that future scholarship ought to attempt
to draw the Byzantine reception of Islamic occult science not as an
opposition between 'Hellenic' and 'oriental' but as a complex
:Greenfield, 'Contribution to the Study of Paleo logan Magic', 150.
Magdalino, 'The Byzantine Reception of Classical Astrology', 33-57.
1\
I
I
I
:
. r
!
j

'
-l
j,

i.:
'.j
,1
cl
.i

I
,,,
':1
'i
II
,I
I'
;l

.,
.\.
66
Maria Mavroudi
interaction of ideas the provenance of which eschews clear-cut
labels: MS Marc. gr. 299, most probably copied towards the end of
the tenth century and the earliest surviving Greek alchemical codex,
contains texts by 'Hellenic' authors such as Zosimos, but also the
earliest evidence for Byzantine knowledge of Arabic alchemical
terminology.
65
Theodore Metochites, a self-styled proponent of the
'national' Ptolemaic tradition, is also the intellectual grandchild of
imported 'oriental' wisdom,
66
since he begun his study of the stars
under the guidance of Manuel Bryennios, whose own teacher had
come from Persia.
67
Both the first and the second part of MS Vat.
gr. 1058, copied by two different but contemporary scribes around
the middle of the fifteenth century, each include not only texts by
two fourteenth-century champions of Ptolemaic astronomy,
Nikephoros Gregoras and his student Isaac Argyros, but also tables
and translated texts imported from Persia.
68
65
See Mavroudi, A Byzantine Book on Dreamltlterpretation, 401-03.
:See 'The Byzantine Reception of Classical Astrology', 45.
Metochites, poem 1, vv. 630-45, ed. M. Treu, Dichtungen des Gross-Logotheten
Theodoros Metochites. Programm des Victoria Gymnasiums zu Potsdam 84
(1895), 17-18:_BQuvw, EI]V 11.>; 1flli' iiQ' rn(x/.!]v 1-u'!'n' 6/.(yov XQ6vov aino'
ilxwv fUI81]fUI1Ll\fl' iil.l.!], oo<j>Ca, vu 1'EXELV w ...
E!; anoe ev8M' tli1-10vo, xal. 16 y' iiQ' al.aee,, c.O, liQ'
l\QU1EEL oo<j>L' UU11], xal. !-L6.1.a 1' rli,.wv iinav1E'; see also L Sevcenko,
Theodore Metochites, the Chora, and the Intellectual Trends of His Time', in P.
The Kariye Djami, IV (New York, 1975), 19-91, esp. 28; French
versJOn of the same article (without footnotes) by idem, 'Theodore Metochites,
Chora, et les courants intellectuels de son epoque', Art et socilfre a Byzance sous
les Paieologues Actes du 11 . , . . .
E . co oque orgamse par I Assoczatwn lnternatwnale des

ByZantrnes, Venise 1968. Bibliotheque de l'Institut Hellenique de Venise 4
emce, 1971) 22 'd .
World (Lo d' ' repr. m
1
em, Ideology, Letters and Culture in the Byzantine
l't!po d l982); S. Mergiali, L'enseignement et les lettrt!s pendant
d
. qu.e es a t!ologues (1261-1453) (Athens 1996) 63 note 275 for a brief
ISCUSSIOD and furth ' ' ' '
Persian scie .
8
er erences to scholarly literature on the importation of
Arabic yzantmm, see Mavroudi, 'Late Byzantium and Exchange with
68
For a description of th MS . , . .
Chioniades T'h A . e ' see D. Pmgree s mtroduction in Gregonos
' e stronomlcal Work 'G . . .
CAB II (Amsterdam
1985
) so, regory Chwmades I, I, ed. D. Pmgree,
second until fol.
4
9
9
v It 'i
25
.-
8
first scribe copied up to fol. 260v and the
intended as compo
8
Impossible to know whether the two parts were
. nents of the same
1
. .
combmation of 'Hellen , 'th , . vo ume or were JOmed together later, but the
IC WI onental' texts is evident in both parts.
67
In his 2006 L'orthodoxie des astrologues, Magdalino added further
nuance to the discussion: instead of positing an absolute dichotomy
between astrologers and the 'Orthodox establishment' (whereby
astrology would have been understood as marginal and therefore
irrelevant to any influential discussion about philosophy,
cosmology, and their theological implications), he showed that not
only astrologers kept modifying their discourse in order to fit the
Orthodox mould, but also official Orthodoxy could at times be
shaped by its encounter with astrological doctrine. If this
conclusion is taken into consideration in the future investigation of
the remaining Byzantine occult sciences we will, eventually, be
able to discern a hitherto missing component not only of Byzantine
Christianity, but Byzantine culture as a whole.
But let us return to Christian and Muslim monotheism that posed
for the practitioners of the occult sciences in both worlds a similar
set of problems: whether their strained, or at least ambivalent,
relationship with the orthodox religious establishment is the most
important in the whole web of relationships between the occult
scientists and society around them or not, the existence of
monotheistic defences for divination, and in particular astrology,
expressed in Greek, Latin, and Arabic is proof that in East and West
Christians and Muslims attempted to circumvent the problem in
similar ways. One must also keep in mind that the main Christian
(and Muslim and Jewish) objection to astrology is its determinism
and fatalism that are incompatible with the notion of free will and
salvation as a result of moral choices made freely by the individual.
This, however, is an objection to astrology raised in the Graeco-
Roman world earlier than Christianity by a number of pagan
philosophical systems that assert man's moral freedom. So defences
of astrology had been written since pagan antiquity, and the attitude
of individual pagan, as well as Christian, thinkers towards astrology
could be 'hard' (subscribing to firm determinism), 'soft' (accepting
the influence of stars on human life and at the same time allowing
for free will) and even 'very soft' (treating the stars not as causes,
merely as portents of things to come that are avoidable).
Discussions on the incompatibility of astrological determinism with
free will within this spectrum of different attitudes are also
documented among Jews of the Hellenistic and Late Antique
1\
.lr
!I
11
jl
j\
r
ll
') ,,
fJ
...
,,.
L
'i:
'I
I
I
I
!
..
68
periods
69
did not change. m.uch with the advent of Christianity.'l()
Further, smce both the Chnshan and the Muslim world inhe ted
the pagan served as background
arguments to this discussion, smce Islam is (and also views
Itself as. the . and fmal) heir to Judea-Christian
monotheism, Mushm discussions of astrology and divination were
bound to be very similar to the ones found in the Christian world.
Beyond the examination of abstract ideas pertinent to philosophy
and religion, in orde.r properly understand the relationship
between the occult scientist and the religious establishment one
it from the relationship of the
with secular authority and its relationship with the
occult sciences and divination. In the Byzantine context it is
to point out that the earliest Christian on
dlVlnatlon can be found in fourth-century secular, not canon, law;
they are ample precedents by pagan legislation;
71
and are repeated
throughout the Byzantine period.
72
As the publications of Marie-
Theres Fogen.and Spyros Troianos have already made clear, though
every Byzantme law book includes norms concerning magic and
d' . .
norms transmit the fourth-century constitutions

With only slight modifications. "
73
Likewise the ecclesiastical
of the occult sciences is based on canonical and
patristic precedent, both in Canon Law and its commentaries (as is
69
For a brief discussion w'th . .
As lo
1
re.erence to pnmary sources, see T. Barton, Anczent
1<l tro gy (London and New York, 1994), 71-8
N SH. J. T
19
e
8
ste
7
)r, History of Western Astrology (Woodbridge, Suffolk and Wolfeboro,
, 2-3 For 'hard' d f
also F. H C . an so t attitudes to astrology since antiquity, see
m Law and Politics (Philadelphia, 1954), 68;
11 See C ' ccu t Cience and lmpenal Power' in the present volume.
ramer, Astrology in R La .
see Barton An . oman w; Or a more recent (and shorter) ovemew,
attitudes of Astrology, 49-52 .<for pagan legislation); ibid., 64--68 (for the
also eadem p an emperors regardmg astrology until the end of the 5 .. c.). See
ower and Knowled A 1 d'
under the Roma E . ge. stro ogy, Physwgnomics, and Me zcme
n Fo mpzre (Ann Arbor, Michigan 1994) 54-71
r an overv1ew of B . . ' '
'Zauberei und Gif . concerning magic, see S. Troianos,
Simon, eds., Fest u In mlltelbyzantinischer Zeit', G. Prinzig and D.
73
M.-T. Fogen .;
1
tag m Byzanz (Munich, 1990), 37-51. .
Canon Law in 'M a on Magic: From Roman Secular Law to Byzantine
, agurre, ed. Byzantine Magic, 104, note 21.

69
evident from the textual references therein)
74
and in theoretical
treatises: the condemnation of the occult sciences in the
fourteenth/fifteenth-century work of Joseph Bryennios titled "What
the Sources of our Troubles Are" repeats arguments found in
Pseudo-Chrysostom' s "Oration on pseudo-prophets, pseudo-
teachers, and godless heretics."
75
" Several examples could be cited, but I will limit myself to only two: the three
12th-c. commentators on Canon Law, Zonaras, Balsamon, and Aristenos
(naturally) repeat the condemnation of divination pronounced by the 691/92
Quinisext Council in Troullo (itself justified with a passage from St Paul's second
epistle to the Corinthians). See L:vvraypa nvv eelwv xai ieewv xav6vwv, ed.
G. A. Ralles and M. Potles, II (Athens, 1852; repr. Athens, 1966), 442-7.
Likewise, the condemnation of magic and divination in Matthaios Blastares' 14'h-c.
:Evvraypa xa-ra a-rOLXeiov (Ralles-Potles, VI, 356--62) is based on the decisions
of earlier church councils (two local [Laodicea, Ancyra] and one that considered
itself ecumenical [the Quinisext)) and the authorities of John Chrysostom (ibid.,
357), Basil of Caesarea (ibid., 358, 359) and Gregory of Nyssa (ibid., 360), and
the novels of Leo VI (ibid., 362). There is nothing remarkable in the repetition and
reconfirmation of antiquated legislation in more recent legal collections, even
when such pieces of legislation have lost their social relevance. In his comments
on the seventy first Canon of the Council of Troullo, Matthaios Blastares explicitly
recognized that some of the legislation he included in his own work had become
obsolete he remarked that the Council punished with excommunication ... ...
rcail;,ouaw, 6rcoim rcot' _av Taina yaQ
futavta lWV Oearcea{wv lOlJl(l)V VOflOOctwv lO lllj.lfQOV nvm
oea{yTttm (" ... those , .. playing the so-called kylistrai, whatever they were. For all
these things have ceased to exist today through the prayers of these divinely sweet
legislators"). Legal institutions, not only Byzantine but also modern, are na.turally
resistant to change. Therefore, the existence of legislation against mag1c and
divination in Byzantium does not necessarily indicate general soc1al and
ecclesiastic intolerance for such acts; on the contrary, legislation prohibiting them
could exist in spite of secular and ecclesiastic tolerance for them. The
is amply paralleled today, and I allow myself to refer to one of the most amusmg
modern parallels: U.S. legislation restricting private sexual conduct, both
heterosexual and homosexual, among consenting adults. For a collection of such
laws, see http:l/www .sodomy.org/laws/ [last viewed 22 July 2006]. the
analogies between sex and astrology, see Magdalino, 'The Byzanune ReceptiOn of
Classical Astrology', 49-50.
" The observation was first made by R. Greenfield, 'Contribution to the Study of
Paleologan Magic', in Maguire, ed., Byzantine Magic, 123-24, note ,9: For the
texts, see Ioseph Bryennios, al altiat t6Jv xaO' At!ltllQWV, m loseph
monachou tou Bryenniou ta paraleipomena, ed. E. Voulgaris, T. Mandrakases, III
<Leipzig, 1794), 119-23; John Chrysostom [attributed to], TCEQL
IIJruliOTCQo<j>Ttt6Jv, xat 'ljlEUiiolltllaoxal..wv, xat aOewv alentxwv. xat rcEQI
II
ll
1:
,,
i.'
i1
:'
I
70
Maria Mavroudi
Therefore, the relationship of the secular authorities with occult
science is at least as ambivalent as the relationship of the religious
establishment with occult science. The reason is obvious: the (real
or imagined) ability provided by the occult sciences to predict or
manipulate occurrences in the natural and social environment has
an inherently subversive potential that the state tried to completely
suppress, or bridle and use to its advantage, while prohibiting it for
else. Leo VI, an renewed the pre-existing
prohibitiOn on astrology and divmation in his own legislation, is
also known to have ordered the casting of a horoscope for his
newborn son, Constantine VII, and to have summoned Pantaleon
metropolitan of Synnada, to interpret an eclipse of the Moon.
metropolitan interpreted it correctly as the downfall of one of Leo's
"ti] OUV"tEAE(a "tOU UMVO 'tOlJ"tOU', in PG 59, cols. 553-68.
to the editorial note in PG, this homily is considered spurious both on
grounds and because it anachronistically mentions Nestorius and
the (col. 560); moreover, it has a very complicated
and. every single manuscript that contains it presents a
vers10n. I take th1s as a sign of the homily's popularity and an indication
il _must have been us.ed as a model for both writing and orally
The version published in PG is the one from the lith-century
MS C01slm 349 [m the old numbering, now MS Coislin 77, described in R.
f!ata/ogue des manuscrits II, Le fonds Coislin (Paris, 1945), 66-
], wh1ch IS shorter than those extant m other manuscripts. It is impossible to
what version of Pseudo-Chrysostom Joseph Bryennios relied on. Bryennios'
P rases more expans1.ve than the PG version of Pseudo-Chrysostom. Examples
of analogies between the two texts: Bryennios 120 31-7 on ltVL)\"tQ xut
OT]QI.UAOJ"tU, xat ULIUl"tU U1tEQI.OXEm<o W' ol OQ06bo!;oL
xu,;ro9f.oumv, and PG 59, col. 561: xut ei.OwA69umv ea9(ov'te xat al!J.Il
ltVIX'tOJV xat Ol]QLUAOJ'tOJ > , , '
O . V, XUL OQVE01ta'tUX'tU XUL ltOAAU f'tEQU 'tOlrt:OJV
120,36-121, 1: iht O'tOAUL avbQLXUL 'I:U EUU'tWV yuvaiXU
evuUOUOLV. On <OJ" . - '' - ' - -
rnl , """' , EOQ'tOJV, UUII.OL XUL XOQOI., XUL
OLV c;tOIUlOL, XOlj!OL 'tE XUL J.lll9UL, xat alaXQOL aA.A.ou; EOEOLV EltL'tEAEiV ou
and PG 59, col. 561: IlaA.LY axouaa,;e :n:o,;a:n:ot XQIO<LUvot
OL <a e9v6Jv I'Wl]' "N"ta - ., , , ' . , .
. , ,_.. ltOIOUV"tE, u<j>UVIOj!OV ltQOO<oltOJV ij EJtuj>OJVijOEI.
OQXT]OEI., XQO"tOU "E'"WV ' ' - : :
(121 7_
122 6
. "" ""' ' 'I
0
'?11.10j!Ov yuvmxwv tv avbQaat. Bryenmos
(ibid') d .'b ) prov1.des more detail for the practices that Pseudo-Chrysostom
escn es as follows: Ilom:n:ot XQIO<LUvot 'Ioubai:xoi xat
,1Lu9ou;, xat yeveaA.oy(aL [sic for yeveOA.LaA.oy(au;) xat
:Qa 1:
0
xm. OO<QoA.oy(au;, xat <J>aQIJ.Uxe(au;, xat <j>uA.ax"tT]Qiou; xat
l1LEQ6Jv xut tv'?u<wv, XA1]boVIOIJ.OU xat ovetea, xat 6Qvtwv
A.uxvou Wt'tOV"tE xat a:n:oA.ou6J.lllVOL, xat
'I,_.. ltUQU"tl]QOuJ.lllVOI. ...
Qccult Science and Society in Byzantium:
71
ry
P
owerful ministers.
76
The reaction of individual emperors to
ve h . d.
1 the occult sciences depended on t eir temperament an mte lectual
disposition, but also on the situation .found themselves in. It is
clearly no accident the_ first. emper?r to
astrology and divination m h1s legislation (Constantms II m 357),
attained the throne and reigned in the midst of civil strife, when an
astrologically sanctioned rival could become even more dangerous
to the reigning emperor. Justinian, another emperor inimical to
astrologers (meteorologoi)
18
had to put down a serious revolt at the
very beginning of his reign_ was also threatened ?Y a plot
hatched by his powerful m1mster, John the Cappadoc1an, who,
encouraged by sorcerers and diviners, coveted the imperial office.
79
On the flip side of the coin, the fourteenth-century interest in
astronomy and astrology must be connected not only with the
overall intensified intellectual activity of the period, but also with
7
6 Theophanes Continuatus, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1838), 376, 8-19. See also
Mavroudi, A Byzantine Book on Dream Interpretation, 61; C. Mango, 'The
of Leo the Wise', Zbornik Radova Vizantoloskog Instituta 6 (1960), 59-93, repr. m
idem, Byzantium and Its Image (London, 1984), XVI , 68; Magdalino, 'Occult
Science and Imperial Power' in the present volume. .
n M.-T. Fagen, 'Balsamon on Magic: From Roman Secular Law to Byzantine
Canon Law', in Maguire, ed. Byzantine Magic, 103-4. See also Tester, History of
Western Astrology, 95.
18
Secret History XI.37; for the Greek text, see Procopius Caesariensis,
Omnia, ed. J. Haury and G. Wirth, III (=Historia quae dicitur Arcana) (Mumch
and Leipzig, 2001), 76, 12-77, 2; Procopius, ed. W. Dindorf, III (Bonn, 1838), 76,
18-77,6.
19
Prokopios (Persian Wars 1.25) tells us that when John the Cappadocian learned
of Theodora's detennination to destroy him, he turned to sorcerers and listened to
oracles "that portended for him the imperial office". For Prokopios' see
Procopius, ed. Haury and Wirth, I, 135, 3-136, 2; Procopius, ed. W. Dmdorf, I
(Bonn, 1833) 130, 10-134, 14; Procopius, History of the Wars, Books I and II, tr.
H. B. Dewing (Cambridge, Mass., 1979), 240-43. However, makes sure
his readers realize that the signs were not wrong, only their interpretauon The
Persian Wars (11.30) end with half a page otherwise disconnected wtth the
immediately preceding narrative, infonning us how the prophecy to the
Cappadocian that he was "bound to be clothed in the gannent of Augustus was
fulfilled: he had to wear the garments of a priest named Augustus he was
made a clergyman by force (ed. Haury and Wirth, I, 303, 13-304, 7; ed. I,
300, 1-18; tr. Dewing, 554-57). On Prokopios and the supernatural (concentrating
on the Secret History), see A. Cameron, Procopius and the Sixth Century
(Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1985), 56-9. For prophecy and politics in the age of
Justinian, seeP. Magdalino, 'The History of the Future', 3-34.
,'!\

,,
:I
!1t
l
,\ '
!\
I
p
:I

:i
\
,;
':
'I
ll
72
Maria Mavroudi
the astrological predictions sought by the parf . . .
and the civil wars and civil strife th t m the wan
a number of Palaiologan dthe empire.
mterested m astrology: in the year
1341
emonstrably
while lying on his deathbed at th ' emperor Andronikos ill,
e monastery of th H
the polymath Nikephoros Gregoras best k e odegoi,
histonan, .theologian, philosopher, and astro;omer 8o nown as :W
whether8,his predictions from the stars agreed with' th to enqurre
doctors. At least two political horoscopes . ose by the
Pal . I . survive from th
aiO ogan penod: one cast for the proclamation of M e
John V at noon of September 25 13 7 4. and anuel, son of
Constantinople by Andronikos iv p I . I one for the entrance to
August 1375 82 And 'k I a aw ogos on the twelfth of
' rom os V seems to h
astrologer John Abra . 83 ave patromzed the
successors com uted same Abramios and his
and 1408 84 An p . senes of eclipses between the years 1374
main pr . Tihon has observed that eclipses is one of the two
eoccupat1ons of By
the fourteenth zantme astronomers towards the end of
impossible n ctenttury and the beginning of the fifteenth,8s and it is
0 o connect this ( h f . .
astronomical . on t e ace of It) mnocent
empire, in the escalating political troubles of the
politically were seen as signifying the fall of
m IV! uals.
On his intellectual profile .
I' oeuvre (Paris,
192
(;/ee R. GUilland, Essai sur Nicephore Gregoras:
ikephoros Gregoras B . . .
J,J-560, 3 (XI.II). ' yzantma HIStona, ed. L. Schopen, I (Bonn, 1829), 559,
MS Paris. Suppl gr
20

!ulletin de Ia societf ll8r:-v; CCAG, Vlll.4, 76 and F. Cumonl,
On Abramios see PLP e es antlqumres de France (1919) 181
Ab ' 57 D p '
Ti DOP 25 (197!,), l9l-i :he Astrological School of John
hon . L asironomie byzanti a ,
15
for a disagreement with Pingree, see A.
7Ve sJecle' Byzanrion 66
09
;:)
de Ia Renaissance (de !352 a Ia fm du

pendant l'epoque des Pal;
1
-?
4
; see also Mergiali, L'enseignemenl etles
" Bs.v.ECLIPSE. oogues(l261-1453), 161-2.
A. Tihon R M .
(Louv . I . ercier, George G <
run- a-Neuve, 199S)
13
s Plethon, Manuel d'astronomie
connected w th th The othe bl
about b th 1 e calculation of East r .Pro em s conjunctions (syzygieS)
Union e close encounter with the t .Thts preoccupation is evidently brought
present at the time. See alatms and.the theological debates about the
ume. so the dtscussion by Anne Tihon in the
considerations for Future Research
73
The ability to control nature was evidently what made the occult
sciences an appropriate pursuit for the emperors themselves.
Byzantine sources contain abundant references to legendary and
pseudo-historical examples of royalty thus occupied, and I will
limit myself to only a small random sample: we know of the
existence of alchemical writings attributed to the emperors Justinian
and Heraclius (though only fragments of those attributed to
Heraclius survive, and only in Arabic);
86
and to Cleopatra, queen of
Egypt. We are explicitly told about the appropriateness of alchemy
for kings and emperors in a fifteenth-century commentary to
Dionysius of Halicamassus addressed to the Byzantine governor of
Ainos and Samothraki.
87
In the twelfth century, John Tzetzes
(Chiliades 11.36) emphatically praised Zeus as king and astrologer
(three times on the same page!),
88
making it impossible not to think
of Tzetzes' patron, emperor Manuel Komnenos, who was actively
interested in astrology .
89
A fifteenth-century Greek manuscript, now
86
They do not survive, but definitely existed in MS Marc. gr. 299. See its
description by H. Saffrey, 'Historique et description. du manuscrit alchimique de
Venise Marcianus graecus 299', in D. Kahn and S. Matton, eds. Alchimie: Art,
histoire et mythes (Paris, 2001), l-10. Alchemical excerpts attributed to Heraclius
survive in the Arabic alchemical corpus. See M. Ullmann, Die Natur- und
Geheimwissenschaften im Jslam. Handbuch der Orientalistik, Erganzungsband
Vl.2 (Leiden and Cologne, 1972), 189-90. For a discussion of the attribution of
alchemical texts to the patronage or pen of kings and emperors, see M. Berthelot,
Les origines de l'alchimie (Paris, 1885), 139-40. For a discussion on the false
attribution of alchemical texts to various authors (without, however, reference to
kings), see R. Halleux, Les textes alchimiques. Typologie des sources du Moyen
Age occidental 32 (Tumhout, \979), 97-9. Halleux rejects the possibility that
alchemical treatises were falsely attributed to authors in order to avoid persecution
by the church: "[La pseudepigraphiel ne parait pas avoir pour objectif d'eviter h
!'auteur les poursuites de l'Eglise, qui ont ete rares" (ibid., 98).
81 See J. Letrouit, 'Chronologie des alchimistes grecs', in Kahn. Matton, eds.
Alchimie: Art, histoire, et mythes, 69-70.
88 Ioannes Tzetzes, Historiarum Variarum Chiliades, ed. Th. Kiessling (Leipzig,
1826),47.
89 I was unable to identify a literary precedent for Zeus as in the
surviving Byzantine world chronicles (Zeus as king is usual), though thts clearly
does not mean that there was none either in chronography or in other genres. The
chronicle that comes the closest ;
0
connecting Zeus with occult science is the
Chronicon Paschale, ed. L. Dindorf, I (Bonn, 1832), 69, 20-22, stating that
(identified with Pikos) taught his son Perseus nQ6.l'tELV xat lE1..EiV UJV
'tOll J.LUO<lQO\l axiHjlou. This detail is not repeated in Anonymi Chrotwlogca,
published in place of Malalas' book I in Ioannes Malalas, Chronographia, ed. L.
' I
74
Maria Mavroudi
at Oxford, that contains the Kvranides a coli t'
1 ec IOn of d'
magtca lore, declares that the author of the k . me tcal and
f P
. 90 wor ts Kyra .
o ersta. At the level of historical
1
. . nos, king
'f rea tty, Byzantme
even t personally were not practitioners of th
on occaston found it advantageous to h e occult sctences
. present t emsel '
an Arabtc source we are told that emper C . ves as such: in
I
. or onstantme v
an a chemtcal exhibition for the b fi per,ormed
ene tt of an Ar b
whereby9the changed copper into silver and gold b a _embassy,
powder. Emperor Manuel K y usmg a dry
astrology,n and emperor wrote a defence of
interpretation,93 gos a text or two on
Though the legendary and d .
abundant than the historical pseu examples are more
the conclusion that this is the should not lead to
science with royalty in p y a rhetoncal connection of occult
to protect themselves fr: e on the part of the occult scientists,
and especially as it is and persecution; rather,
oun m the wntmgs of courtiers, it must
Dindorf (Bonn, 1831 ), 19-20 the .
mformation as the Ch . ' Anonymz Chronologica contains the same
romcon Paschale but b d ed
new edition, Ioannes M
1 1
' m a n g form; book I in Malalas'

1
d . a a as, Chronogra h' d
u es dtfferent material. P za, e J. Thurn (Berlin, 2000),
, CMAG, III, 25, fol. 25v.
Akhbiir alBuldan by Ibn ai-Fa Ih ai-H - .
s:'e D. Gutas, Greek Thought A q b' arnadhruu; for references and a discussion,
' Published in CCAG V
1
' ra zc Culture, 115-16.
astrology, seeP.

On Manuel Komnenos and his interest in
The Empire of Manuel
1
K' e Porphyrogenita and the Astrologers' 28 idem
the contribution ofW ll
4
3-II80 (Cambridge, 1993), 377-S2.
Two texts on dream . er the present volume.
epistl t mterpretatton attributed M
. e o Andreas Asan, containin . to anuel Palaiologos survive: his
Botssonade, Anecdota Nova (P g a phtlosophical discussion of dreams [ed. J. F.
by I. R. Alfageme 'La
184
4; repr. Hildesheim, 1962), 239--46; an
,:7!ernos de filologia cldsica 6VE1Qcn:wv de Pa!e6l?go',
511
Y of dream symbols [ed A D
2
27-55] and a manual mterpreung a
-
24
1- The texts are very elatte, Anecdota Atheniensia I (Liege 1927)
and th tuerent r d' ' ' '
of the manual to th:!: mg both content and linguistic register,
D as dtscussed by G C
1
peror has been considered spurious. The
reams?' By . a ofonos 'M 1 11
if not b M zantznische Forschun
16
' anue Paleologos: Interpreter of
title inJ. anuel himself, certainlyg;n M (1990), 447-55. The manual was written
!Cates 11 is all or anuel by so
genitive c ed 6vElQOXQL'tl] M meone m hts entourage, as tiS
can be understood as .. f. avouij).. 1:0ii Ilal.moMyou, where the
s see also the arguments . for" or "drearnbook by Manuel
m alofonos, 'Manuel II Paleologos', 454.
. '
75
represent a mutual acknowledgement on the part of both occult
scientists and civil potentates that they need each other.
94
It is no
accident that John the Lydian, a bureaucrat at the court of Justinian,
wrote not only on the structure of imperial administration, but also
on calendrical matters and omens.
95
And the anonymous Dialogue
on Political Science, another sixth-century text that, for now, I will
call a mirror of princes, includes a discussion on how sovereigns
should react to divination.
96
In the seventh century, Heraclius is said
to have decided the course of his campaign against the Persians by
bibliomancl7 (a method also used in the fourteenth century by
Andronikos II, as reported in detail by Nikephoros Gregoras);
9
s and
Constans II campaigned against the Arabs accompanied by his
personal dream interpreter, who was able to provide the right
advice, even if the emperor did not heed it.
99
Towards the end of the
eighth century, empress Irene, while acting as regent for her son
Constantine VI, allowed herself to be carried away by her own
ambition and members of her entourage who persuaded her that,
according to the outcome of divinatory techniques (ex
JtQoyvwcrtL'X<ilV), God had granted imperial power exclusively to
"Royal patronage for astrologers and occult scientists in general is well-known to
researchers of Western medieval and Renaissance history of science. Alfonso el
Sabio and Frederick II of Sicily are but two examples.
"llef!l 6warJwuiJv = Liber de Osten tis, ed. C. Wachsmuth (Leipzig, 1897); also
edited (along with the other two surviving works by John the Lydian on the
calendar and imperial administration) by I. Bekker (Bonn, 1837). On John's career
and works, see ODB, s.v. JOHN LYDOS.
"Menae patricii cwn Thoma referendario De scientia politica dialogtls, ed. C. M.
Mazzucchi (Milan, 1982), 41 (150)--42 (154). I am grateful to Patricia Crone for
bringing this text to my attention. For the latest discussion on its content, see D.
O'Meara, 'The Justinianic Dialogue On Political Science and Its Neoplatonic
Sources', in Ierodiakonou, ed., Byzantine Philosophy, 49-62.
:: Theophanes, Chronographia, ed. J. Classen (Bonn, !839), 474, 17.
Gregoras, Byzantina Historia, !, 358,9-17.
99 Theophanes, Chronographia, ed. Classen, 528, 20-529, 10. Constans II before a
naval battle with the Arabs dreamt that he was in Thessaloniki. His dream
interpreter offered an interpretation based on etymology: ewoal.ovbu] = et,
aU.<p vbtl](V) = literally, "place (=give) the victory to someone else". In spite of
the warning, Constans II chose to fight and was defeated. The incident is in perfect
analogy (and opposition) with the dream of a Satyr dancing on a shield dreamt by
Alexander the Great during the siege of Tyre and interpreted by Aristander of
Telmessos as TiiQO=Tyre is yours, in Artemidoros (IV .24); see
Artemidoros, Oneirocriticon Iibri V, ed. R. Pack (Leipzig, 1963), 260,3-10 .
76
Maria Mavroudi
her, while her son was destined not to rule too I h
k th h n t e tenth c
we now at t e luggage of an emperor goin entury,
include books on celestial omens 101 M g on campaign should
d th . oreover, Leo the D
reporte at emperor John Tzimiskes summoned S eacon
and Magistros, to2 and Ste hen b. ymeon the
Ntkomedeia, toJ to interpret for him thp , tshop (proedros) of
975 t04 B th e appearance of a com t .
. o ' according to Leo had devoted th e tn
obser;ation . of heavenly ('wv to the
!ffitEWQWV EOXOAUX6tas llQWta Jt ' Jl:EQL tT)V t(\)v
distinguished among the 'wise' of and were very
OVtES t!..!..oytfUl>tEQOt) tos D . h' at era (aVOQES t<llv ao<j>O)v
Pechenegs, Alexios I .was t IS 1.087 against the
negotiating with h'
0
. stnke a bnlhant success in
secretary who by an imperial under-
following few hours to6 Whd of the Sun within the
educated bureaucrats. not at I .dtscem here is a class of
other sources wh ' necessa.n.ly emment or known to us from
' o were famthar with th b'
quadrivium and dabbled in . e su of the
of the state or for th . the occult sctences, either for the benefit
income?). Such is amusement (or even supplementary
an intellectual know led y so cas.e. of Theodoros Chryselios,
geable m mthtary science, geometry,
;;;;:------
Theophanes, Chron .
101 for references ando;r:phza, 719,1-7.
426-7. tscusston, see Mavroudi, A Byzantine Book on Dream
. owing to the
of this figure With gsreat number of Symeons in the I Ofu c. further
Ymeon Metaph . . Ymeon Logothete th h f ' .

rastes, 1s mpossible d' e aut or o a chromcle, or
sources, see I. or scussion of the name Symeon in late

VU in the Madrid Man ' Poems on the Deaths of Leo VI and
w,
0
th. . . uscnpt of Skylitzes', DOP 23/4 (1969nO),
n e pobllcal im
Science and 1 . portance of Stephen f N'
1
"' Leo th mpenal Power' in th
0
comedia, seeP. Magdalino 'Occult
,o, e Deacon Hisi . ' e present volume '
Leo comm orrae, ed. K. B H .
victories ove that the comet was ln:se, CSHB (Bonn, I 828), 169.
disaste"' seerP Msenemies, while it ought rpt rehted as long life for the emperor and
'" A ' agdalino 'H'
0
ave been int ed f
lexiad VU
2 8
. !story of the F , erpret as a portent o
AlexiLJs, ed D R' : ' for the Greek text uture ' 32.
3
9 5
e1nsch and A see Anna Com
- 9; for an En r . Karnbylis
1
(B . nena, Annae Comnenae
Sewter (Bungay see Th; AI ed:$ and New York, 2001), 26Q-61,
Occhieppo, 'Zu u
0
1.969), 221. On of Anna Comnena, tr. E. R. A.
Petschenegenkri ldentifizierung der ate of the eclipse, see K. Ferrari d'
eges Alexios I Komnenos
wiihrend des
JOB23 (1974),179-84.
{)ceult Science and Society in Byzantium:
77
arithmetic, and music, and a practicing astrologer who seems to
have served as imperial official and is known to us only from a
letter of Theophylakt, archbishop of Ochrid toward the end of the
eleventh century and a student of Psellos.
107
Tzetzes also seems to
have served (or wished to serve) as personal diviner to members of
the court, perhaps because this was one of the services that
professional polymaths could provide to aristocratic clients. Among
Tzetzes' surviving letters two are dedicated to dream
interpretation.
108
The first one (no. 58) is addressed to emperor
Manuel Kornnenos and advises him to accept a proposed alliance
with the cavalry of the "Scythians" on the basis of a dream dreamt
101
Theophylakt's letter that acquaints us with Chryselios was published as no. 127
in P. Gautier, Theophylacte d'Achrida: Lettres. Introduction, texte, traduction et
notes, CPHB 16.2 (Thessaloniki, 1986), 570-9 (herefter Gl27). The letter ought to
be analyzed carefully, given that it is written in a joking (and I think jokingly
affectionate) manner towards Theodoros Chryselios. It is unclear from the letter
what exactly Chryselios did for a living. According to Gautier (ibid. 527, note 7),
''Theodore Chryselios est un inconnu. D'apres Ia suite du texte, ce personnage est
retoume a Constantinople apres avoir assume soit Ia charge de due de Skopje,
auquel cas son successeur serait le sebaste Constantin Doukas, soil celle de praktor
du Vardar". However, nowhere does the letter mention Chryselios' return to
Constantinople; it only suggests that Chryselios and the protasekretis kyr Gregory
Kamateros, the letter's addressee, are (or will soon be) in the same place (Gl27,
42-46 and 114-118) which is clearly not Constantinople, since Kamateros is said
to suffer from a long and miserable exile (Gl27 116-118: &1a n)v
001 emo&ljf!{av, 'tUU'tljV 0'/t n)v, E<j>1], J.WXQUV). In
addition, the only phrase that provides a clue regarding Chryselios' profession, is
Gl.27, 51-56: AQ10ft1]tiXOV j.tv ouv autov (=tOV XQUOljAI.OV) fl&ew, a<jl. ou
t01l BaQ&aQIWta<; EJTQat'tEV, ye xat I!EOWV '/tQ(SI!1 vuxt6Jv-!;EJ!I-.1]ttE
yaQ autov 'tOU \J:n:vou UQ18ftljt1XOV n 8HOQ1JI!U, btd ftfj&E 'tOil; Ult'VOI
cH.I-.' dxe xat al-fJOW> Mynv f.yw xa8t'll&w xat lt xaQII(a
1101l ayQu:n:vet xat ael 6E tL xat OJTW n)v J.I.OVUOa Ei J1Qll
tBJITI xal Ctf!U8Eil; &e(l;n 'tOU Ctf.!1:Qi'] Myov'ta. The meaning of the verb
3rQclttoo is multiple and therefore the information it can convey to us about
Chryselios' profession is vague. Combined with Theophylakt's mention of
Chryselios' occupation with arithmetic in the same passage, it might reveal that
Chryselios was indeed, as Gautier suggested, a praktor, i.e. a tax collector (see
ODB, s.v. PRAKTOR). The term Vardariotai is also problematic because it is unclear
whether it refers to an ethnic group or a territorial unit (see 008, s.v.
M. Mullett, Theophylact of Ochrid: Reading the Letters of a
Archbishop (Aldershot, 1997), 100 and 343, accepts that Chryselios was
unpenal official in Macedonia. I wish to thank Paul Magdalino for bringing the
f,:>blem ofChryselios' exact profession to my attention .
Ioannes Tzetzes, Epistulae, ed. P. A.M. Leone (Leipzig, 1972), 84-8.
I:
78
Maria Mavroudi
and interpreted by Tzetzes in the letter.
109
Tzetzes provides detail
about the time, place, and condition of his body while he had th s
dream. He insists that he went to bed without having eaten or
much but was clear-headed and almost not asleep, especially since
an attack of flees more than the army of Xerxes kept him
awake throughout the mght; he managed to relax in the earl
morning, at which time he had the dream he goes on to relat:
to . may at first sight appear to be the case, this
mformat10n IS neither gratuitous nor meant for comical effect, but
carefully calculated to suggest to the emperor that Tzetzes' dream
and its message ought to be heeded since, according to
pnnc1ples of ancient and medieval dream interpretation, dreams are
most dreamt on a light stomach and in an alert mental
state; m additiOn, the closer to morning they are dreamt the sooner
they will. be realized.
110
Since Tzetzes only states the conditions
.which he had the dream and does not provide explanations or
exphc1t references to manuals of dream interpretation, we may
that not only he, but also the emperor was well versed in
the pnnc1ples of this art.
111
'"' The appellation "Scythians" in th
the Pechenegs, while the Turks a e . c. was to or
1dentify with certainty the d re destgnated as Perstans . It ts tmposstble to
possible that Tzetzes is . and event that prompted Tzetzes' letter, but it is
requested in the incident to the Cumans the wages they
was the political fall of AI . scnbed by Kmnamos, the outcome of which
ab loanne et A/exio C Axouch. See Ioannes Kinnamos, Epitome rerum
168-{i9; Deeds of ed. A. Meineke, CSHB (Bonn, 1836),
1976), 201-2. anue/ Comnenus, tr. C. M. Brand (New York,
11o E .
: g. Artemtdoros, Oneirocriticon ed p k
Onerrocriticon ed F
0 1
' ac 16, 10-17, 2 Achmet Achmetis
M
. ' rex (Leipzi 1925) ' '
avroudt, A Byzantine
8
k g, 240-41; further analysis in
truthfulness ofmoming d
00
on Dream Interpretation, 151-3 and 451-2. The
a b f d' reams was a very wid I h ld b
ne tscusston of thi de . e Y e ehef m anctent llmes for
T
1
. s 1 a m Ho 0 '
ertu tan, see D. s Cervigni D , race, vtd, Moschus, Philostratus and
59. ' antes Poetry of Dreams (Florence 1986) JO n
Ill F ' ' ' .
. or a detailed reading of this let .
ctrcumstances in which it was d ter, agreemg that the details offered about the
see G T Cal ' reamt serve to h . . .
8
. : Oonos, 'Byzantine On . astze tts prophellc accuracy,
lrmtngham, 1994), 126. Calofonos (M. Phil. Thesis, University of
10
the Kmg of Hungary's Russian that the "Scythians" of the letter are
tes whom Manuel managed to win over while
79
The second letter where Tzetzes mentions dream interpretation (no.
59) is addressed to the wife of the Grand Hetaireiarches (a high-
ranking military official). It was written in May 1147, when the
menacing Germans of Konrad III arrived in Constantinople in the
course of the second Crusade. The letter seeks to comfort the
addressee by offering a positive interpretation of a dream that she
dreamt and apparently already interpreted (either on her own or
with somebody else's help) as signifying Constantinople's
imminent destruction, a disaster apparently also advertised in
oracles circulating at the time.
112
Though Tzetzes' interpretations
seem improvised and unpersuasive, this is a bona fide effort to
articulate an optimistic understanding of an ominous reality.
Significantly, the gift requested at the end of the letter, ambergris
incense, was supposed to improve the ability to divine through
dreams.
Yet a third piece of evidence suggests that Tzetzes might have
volunteered his services as diviner to aristocratic and royal circles
by interpreting not only dreams but also celestial omens. In a
fourteenth-century manuscript containing his Allegories to the Iliad,
a note informs the reader that a comet indicates future wars, but
also a series of other events, including marriages, and that Tzetzes
was able to foretell the marriage of the emperor seven months in
11dvance by correctly interpreting the appearance of a comet.
113
on campaign in June 1165. I am grateful to Mr. Calofonos for his generosity in
sharing his unpublished work.
1
" See Magdalino, 'History of the Future', 27, notes 106 and 110. .
113
This is MS Paris. gr. 2644; this particular note does not appear m any other
manuscript of Tzetzes' Allegories, though other notes are shared wtth the older. but
less tidy MS Baroccianus 131. See J. A. Cramer, Anecdota Graeca e codrcrbus
manuscriptis bibliothecarum oxoniensium, III (Oxford, 1836), IV, where Cramer
expresses the view that the notes of MS Paris. gr. 2644 go back to Tzetzes
himself. The note in question comments on verses 66-67 of Tzetzes' alleg?rica\
commentary of Odyssey, 4: llf. t6tE yeyovE xa( uot1]Q
01]tJlov ne<\>uxE y(vEOOm xatnoMJ.lOlv; the text of the note fol!ows.
El.nov xat noMJ.lOlv. Oil J.L6vov yaQ nokEJ.lOlY OfJf.Wlov EotL aUa xat
xat xal XUJYWY xal
illiJlreQ 6 ltQOEIJtWY ltEQL toil ycl.J.lOU OtL J.!tU ema
YI!ViJOE'tUL, l.avouaQloU oiJx e<\>6.VTJ ltQL t1]v 1tQ6QQTJOLV. See

..... I
80 Maria Mavroudi
The reaction of monks and clerics to the occult sciences was, like
that of emperors, also not bound by canon law and patristic
tradition, but rather depended on their individual temperament and
intellectual disposition. One should not forget that Byzantine
monks and clergymen were not a social group that is watertight,
coherent in its intellectual tendencies and homogeneous in its
educational and social background.
114
Several years of study
touching on (or going full force into) the occult sciences cannot be
completely pushed aside because of acquiring a religious affiliation,
especially since joining the clergy did not necessarily depend on
one's religious predisposition but was a career and a source of
income, and under particular circumstances it could even be a
punishment.
115
In the ninth century, emperor Theophilos had Leo
the Mathematician ordained metropolitan of Thessaloniki, evidently
m order to secure him a good salary.
116
Around the same period,
Cramer, ibid., 380 and Ioannes Tzetzes, Allegoriae lliadis, ed. J. F. Boissonade
\f.arts, 1851; repr. Hildesheim, 1967), 103, n. 67.
Already m 1965, the point that one can hardly expect a 'monastic' mentality
from the great number of Byzantines who chose monastic life shortly before their
death,_ has been emphasized in order to demolish the view that Byzantine
chromcles were purportedly written by semi-literate monks while serious
by educated secular individuals; see H.-G. Beck, 'Zur
"Monchschronik'", in C. Bauer, L. Boehm, and M. Miiller, eds.,
Speculum hworiale. Geschichte im Spiegel vol! Geschichtsschreibung und
H
Geschchtsdeutung (Freiburg and Munich, 1965), 188-97 comments in H.
unger, ).0 'H ' , '
B _ yorexvt.a. 11.6yt.a xoa!""1J yeapparela rwv
rd
v avnvwv, II (Athens, 1992), 25-9. This realization ought to be kept in mind in
0
er to properly understand th 'a!
I
. e soct and mtellectual context within which the
t sctences. functioned in Byzantium.
For the abtlity of th h h
Magdalin Th E . e c urc to attract the good minds of the 12" c., see
342
spello, e thmp1re of Manuel l Komnenos, 325-412, esp. the remarks ibid.,
mg out e advantage
11
occasional patron f . s or mte ectuals of a stable salary, instead of the
"'
0
th . .age
0
anstocrats depending on their whim
n e sctenttfic and astr
1

1
.
Katsaros 'Leo th M _ogtca mterests of Leo the Mathematician, see V.
e athemattctan H L'
9 Century' p L B ts tlerary Presence in Byzantium During the
utzer and D Loh ed .
Civilization
1
n Ca
1
. . rmann, s., Sc1ence in Western and Eastern
ro mgwn Tim (B
1
narrated in a varie of B ase 1993), 383-98; on Leo's career as
Baghdad in the
sources, see P. Magdalino, 'The Road to

Byzantium in the Ninth C or of Nmth-Century Byzantium', in L. Brubaker , ed.,
199-200, where or Alive? (Aldershot and Brookfield, !998),
appointment as bishop
1
-
8
pomts out and further discusses that Leo's
th
not mcluded in Th h 'd
e longest available narr t' . eop anes Contmuatus, who provt es
a tve on the CtrCumstances of Leo's rise to fame; it is,
1
81
John the Grammarian, with his deserved reputation as an occult
scientist,
117
and Photios, who had read on alchemy
118
and
agriculture, were learned laymen before being raised to the
patriarchal throne.
119
It is possible to find clergymen of different ranks (monks, priests,
bishops, patriarchs) engaging in divination throughout the
Byzantine period. To the two aforementioned tenth-century bishops
who interpreted celestial phenomena for emperors Leo VI and John
Tzimiskes,
120
one may add Psellos' evidence that two eleventh-
century patriarchs, Michael Keroularios (with the help of the monks
John and Niketas), and John Xiphilinos, practiced astrology and
divination;
121
and Tzetzes' twelfth-century statement that abbots
and priests rank along with diviners among those most
expert in the interpretation of dreams.
122
Overall, in the early
however, mentioned by Pseudo-Symeon, the continuator of George the Monk, and
Leo the Grammarian.
111 See the arguments made by Magdalino, 'The Road to Baghdad', 207. and
'Occult Science and Imperial Power', in this volume.
118 Agatharchides. See references in Letrouit, 'Chronologie des alchimistes grecs',
67,
119 It is possible that Photios was the inventor of a prophetic. acrostic the
Macedonian dynasty, LY BEKAAL. On the acrostich and tis attnbutton to
Photios in the anti-Photian tradition of the Vita lgnatii and Pseudo-Symeon's
chronicle, see P. Magdalino, 'Une prophetie inedite des environs de l'an 965
attribuee a Leon le Philosophe (MS Karakallou 14, f. 253r-254r)'. Travaux et
Memoires 14 (2002) ( = Mtflanges Gilbert Dagron), 391-402, and esp. 396 and
398. In the context of equating apocryphal scientists with foreigners_ (discussed
further in this paper), it is, perhaps, significant that the same antt-Phottan :seudo-
Symeon calls Photios xal;aQOltQ6owrro, (Chazar-faced). to R.-J.
Lilie, et al., eds., Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinschen Zeit I:3 (Berhn and New
York, 2000), no. 6253 (Photios).
120
Leo the Deacon, Historiae, ed. Hase, 169,5-8.
121
Michael Psellos, Scripta Minora, I, ed. Kurtz and Drexl (Milan, 1936), 232-
328.
121
Tzetzes, Epistu/ae, ed. Leone, no. 58 (addressed to emperor Manuel) .
85, 5: tyro YUQ 6 ava!;LO' 1\oul.o, 'tOU XQU'tOU' oou oil'tE 'tL flllV't"' E(I)V OU't
olmvwv oa<jla El11ro, oUO. UltUQXWV f\ rrarrd' 'tWV
'tLVU, 6ve(eou, 11 av'tLXQU' fLClV'tE(a, xat XQ1jOJ.Up111lfLCl'tU
PMmov tvf.on yLvwoxw 'tU 'tOU'tWV c'mo'tEAEOfLCl'tU [Because I, the un--:orthy
of your might, "though I am no wise a soothsayer nor one versed
10
the
stgns of birds" (Odyssey 1.202), nor am I an abbot or a priest or one who pursues

82 Maria Mavroudi 1
centuries the evidence has to be collected from the narrative
sources, whereas in the post-twelfth-century period (to which the
vast majority of our manuscripts on various forms of divination and
magic date) pertinent information can also be found in the notes of
readers and owners amidst manuscript pages, and is therefore much
more abundant. To mention but a few examples: at least three of the
several manuscripts of Aratos' Phenomena, were copied by men of
the church: a deacon, a bishop, and a monk (this last being
Maximos Planoudes);
123
the monk Arsenios translated an Arabic
geomantic treatise into Greek;
124
Symeon, a monk and
''chrysographos", (an epithet that might have something to do with
the practice of calligraphy but also alchemy)
125
commented on two
rules of divination by earthquakes;
126
a South Italian priest
borrowed a dream book and a lapidary from the monastic library of
St of _Casole (before 1469);
127
in the fifteenth century,
Patnarch Maxtmos of Constantinople presented an astrological
manuscript as a gift;
128
the famous MS Marc. gr. 299, the earliest of
the surviving Greek alchemical manuscripts, belonged to the Greek
virtue in any manner, when I have downright divinatory dreams and oracular
responses I sometimes know their significance].
"' Th . th I ese are. e I -century MS Marc. gr. 476, evidently a working copy (as
opposed to a manuscrit de luxe) also containing works by Lykophron was put
together b "Nik h '
Martin I Y . etas, t e humblest of deacons"; see Aratos, Phenomenes, ed. J.
(Parts, 1998), cxxx-cxxx1x. Scheer's effort to identify "Niketas the
humblest of deaco " h N"k
1
t b. h ns wtt t etas, deacon of Saint Sophia in Constantinople and
a er IS op of Serrae was refut d b M "b"d
auto ra h b . e Y artm, 1 1 A second copy of Aratos IS an
y Y Maxtmos Planoudes, an intellectual and monk (Martin, ibid.,
cxuv): eta thml copy ts by Arsenios of Monembasia (ca. 1535, Martin, ibid.,
124
See Mavroudi A
'" Cf th ' Byzantme Book on Dream llllerpretation 408-09 and 420.
e name "Chrysok kk " b . . ' .
Palaiologan er d
0
orne by phystctans and astronomers m the
Jews of th p
10
'and the equtvalent name "Sharbit ha-Zahav" among Byzantine
e same era see S B 53
(University Ala
1985
)'
1
owman, The Jews of Byzantium, 1204-14
,,. ' ., ' 47.
CCAG, I, 68 (MS Laurentia 28 34 "' ,,
ta ltQOXE(IJ.EVa M
6
nus. II c.): "toil XQUOoyQct<j>ou .,
127 H 0 ' o xav VUl1tQl OLUIJiilv.
mont, Le Typtcon du S . N" .
etudes grecques
3 0890
)
390
runt- tcolas dt Casale pres d'Otrante', Revue des
128
See MS Paris. gr. 2so
9
i ..
omnia III 1 ed W H ' n Ptolemy, C/audu Ptolemaei Opera quae exstant
.' '' Ubner(Stutt h
Maxtmus Ill Manasse (
1
. gart, 1998), XIV. This must be Patnarc
Church in Captivity
10
1477), on whom see S. Runciman, The Great
n ge, 1968), 194.
i
83
ardinal Bessarion before it passed in the collection of the
among our post eleventh-century Greek alchemical
uthors figures Kosmas the hieromonachus (an ordained priest and
a fifteenth/sixteenth-century manuscript volume brings
together texts on Greek alchemy and theological treatises relating to
f h
"f"l" nl30
the question o t e 1 10que.
1 would like to focus on one more problem within my vast topic:
the transmission of the occult sciences and what it implies about the
overlap or separateness of 'high' and 'low' registers of culture.
There is no doubt that a grasp of the philosophical background of
the occult sciences requires an elite education that not all their
practitioners could have. However, practi_cal application
not require this background, and their social relevance, their
importance for the larger world outside the ivory tower,
ultimately the reason to become interested in them, would be lost, tf
they could not be exported beyond the rarefied circles of the
philosophers. Further, what we recognize as 'high' and 'low' might
not have been exactly labelled as such within its Byzantine
context. 131 This lesson has already become clear from the study of
Byzantine vernacular literature, and can be applied to the occult
sciences. 132 Theophylakt of Ochrid (Gill) is aware of the
0
"b . 133
therapeutic efficacy ascribed to viper's flesh by Galen, n as10s,
Dioscorides,
134
and Alexander of Tralles
135
(authors qualifying for
' 29 CMAG, II, 125: hieromonachos Kosmas. See also Letrouit, 'Chronologie des
alchimistes grecs', 69, no. 20.
110
CMAG, V, 39-42; MS Escoriallll.Y.18.
131 The problem of 'high' and 'low' production by one and the same has
been discussed, in connection with dream interpretation, by G. Calofonos,
Interpretation: A Byzantinist Superstition?', BMGS 9 (198_4-8:), 215-20;. m
connection with Symeon Seth's literary production, by Magdahno, The Byzantme
Reception of Classical Astrology', 46--9. , ).. .
"' For a recent general discussion, see M. Lauxtennann, '6.T!fLW6T!<; xm

)..oymey:vi.a: 6tUXOlQlOttXE xa1. auv6ttxo1. xQ(xm' in P. Od_onco
P. A. Agapitos, eds., Pour une 'nouvelle' histoire de Ia litterature byzantme (Parts,
2002), 153-65. M r h
"' For viper's flesh used in Galen and Oribasios, see Alice Leroy-
0
mg
'Mectecins, maladies et remedes dans les Lettres de Theophylacte de Bulgane
Byzantion 55 (1985), 492. . d" /"b v
134 ll.16; Dioscorides, Pedanii Dioscuridis Anazarbei De materl? me ca .
1
" '
ed. M. Wellmann, I (Berlin, 1907), !26, 12-127, !0. Used to tmprove stght, to
84
Maria Mavmudi
our 'high' cultural register), but also by the auth f
Kyranides, I
36
a work closer to magic than medici
0
_the
gener.ally qualifies for our 'low' register because of
least m the form we have it) which is close to the
1
g ge (at
vemacu ar and 't
lore: for example, it advises to bum a bear's hair i d '
1 8
t d 'I I37 n or er to avert
ever an evt spmts, a practice that according to z
followed by twelfth-century bear-trainers 13& a d tonaras was
f lkl n o modem
o ortsts by early twentieth century Greek women in Th 139
But one not forget that in twelfth-century
the Kyramdes was translated from Greek into Latin by
Romanus, a lower-rank clergyman with medical e rt'
em M I' . . xpe tse and
. t anue s Latm mterpreter who also translated or adapted
tm other, more 'elevated' Greek material, such as theology
from the second-century A.D. dreambook of
Artemtdoros. Pascalis' acquaintance with the Kyranides and his
relieve conditions of the nerves to c
!he glands of the neck and t b ' ontrol .the growth of scrofulous swellings in
'"
0
. o estow longevtty
n vtper's flesh that Alexander f T
1
.
see Alexander von Tralles 0 . . o ra les us.ed to reheve the spitting of blood,
(Vienna 1879) 20
7
. , und Ubersetzung, ed. T. Puschmann II
. ' '' ouv av nc; E" '
E'l,u'ivv <j>anunxro
1
Th IJ!OL, 1t01:E uEi XEXQfJOOat 1:00 /iu! tci>V
"..- "'' e manner of referring t ' . '
thai use of this medication w I o VIper s flesh m this text suggests
136 Kyranides II ,
2
. D' K as
0
.ng and well-established in Greek medicine.
1976), 136. ' e yramden, ed. D. Kaimakes (Meisenheim am Glan
ID '
II.l; Die Kyraniden ed K . , ,
llVEUIJ.am novnna xu' '_ rumakes, 113: at liE 'tQLXE<; ['tfJ<; ilQxtou)
n. ''" ' 1tUV'tOI.OV 1tU"E't" < ,
'i'OQOUI'\'Ul (The hairs of b " uV ulWXOUOlV 0UJ.UWflVOl xal
1
. . a ear, when used .

spmts and every kind of fever) or Umtgatlons or worn, chase away
139
Ralles-Potles, II, 443.
'"' P. Koukoules, Byzanrinon b' ka' ..
See T. Ricklin Der T dos VI (Athens, 1955) 33.
h raum er Ph1/os h' 1 '
ZWisc en Constantinus Afr' op '"
1111
2. Jahrhundert: Traumtheorien
247-70. Pascalis und (Leiden, Boston, Cologne, I998),
entitled Liber Thesauri occu/ti :m:t er of a Latin book on dream interpretation,
d'histoire doctrinal; et i l C?lhn-Roset, 'Le Liber Thesauri occulti',
cites not only the du. Moyen Age 30 ( 1963), 11!-98,
low register), but also the
2
,, of Achmet (that qualifies for
tgh' linguistic register) in h manual by Artemidoros (clearly of a
excerpts f w at constitutes th 1'
. rom Artemidoros into La . e ear test known translation of
mtfrght known either in Greek
0
t
10
.' aths -;ell as Aristotle (whose writings he
omtetrq ta' rm etrp
from G .uo by authors other th . re-extstmg Latin versions or even
and reek mto Latm the Ystoria Bea Further, Pascalis translated
monk Eptpbanios [E F te. Marie by the 8'"-9"'-century priest
ranceschmi , 11 n
' EQl 'tOU
85
general intellectual profile brings to mind Demetrios Chloros, a
fourteenth-century doctor, astrologer, and priest who (after going
from orthodoxy to Catholicism and back to Orthodoxy) was tried
by the Constantinopolitan patriarchate because of possessing
magical books (including the Kyranides) and sentenced to
becoming monk under surveillance in the monastery of the
Peribleptos. Chloros' oscillation between Orthodoxy and
Catholicism, as well as the text of the synodal decree whereby
Chloros was condemned-which dedicates to the accusation for
magic and to the narrative of his ecclesiastic career between
Constantinople and the papal court an approximately equal number
of lines-make it reasonable to conclude that Chloros' trial cannot
have been simply about his possession of magical books.
141
E>eo1:6xou di Epifanio nella versione latina medievale di Pasquale Romano'. in
idem, Studi e note difilologia latina medieva/e (Milan, 1938), 111-24; Greek text
in PG 120, cols. 185-216); and the Disputatio contra Judaeos attributed to
Anastasios of Sinai; see G. Dahan, 'Paschalis Romanus Disputatio contra Judeos',
Recherches augustiniennes II (1976), 161-213, edition ibid., 192-210; Greek text
in PG 89, cols. 1203-82. Though the Dispuratio is written in the form of a
dialogue and does not present complicated grammar or syntax, its content does not
allow one to dismiss this text as low-brow because it discusses the trinitarian
nature of God on the basis of scriptural exegesis. The author of the treatise seems
to be well-informed about Byzantium's Muslim neighbors: he gives a Greek
translation for the Arabic name Raitho (PG 89, col. 1204C), and seems to be aware
of the assassination of caliph al-Mutawakkil by members of the Turkish military
elite in 861, or at least of the destabilization of Abbasid power brought about by
the Turkish military elite around the same period (col. 1212B-C: ouxl 1v
xal ouxl 'tWV Mi]liwv, ouxl 'tWV llEQOliJV xutf1t001j
uno 'tV 'tOU'tWV 1:cilv TouQxcilv;); see H. Kennedy, The Prophet and
the Age of the Caliphates, 2"" ed. (Harlow, 2004), 156-73. Further (cols. 1237B-
C), the text suggests that it was written in the second half of the 9'" century, as it
mentions that more than eight hundred years have elapsed since the capture of
Jerusalem by Titus (70 A.D.). This is incompatible with the generally accepted
dates for Anastasios of Sinai; on the problem of Anastasios' date, see Franceschmt,
'II llEQt 1:0\J ti]<; il1tEQayluc; 8w1:6xou di Epifanio' 109, n. 2 and J.
Haldan, 'The Works of Anastasius of Sinai: A Key Source for the Htstory of
Seventh-Century East Mediterranean Society and Belief, in A. Cameron and L.
Conrad, eds., The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East, I: Problems m the
Literary Source Material (Princeton, N.J., 1992), 107-47.
141 Acta et dip/ornata graeca medii aevi, ed. F. Miklosich and J. MUller, I (Aalen,
1968), 544-46. See also PLP, 30869.
I

''
,,
.. ,
.i
l
-J
.,
86

Maria Mavroudi
Anyone acquainted with the manuscri t ..
treatises (from 'licit' medicine and astro p tradition of technical
nomy to the ''ll' ,
SCiences) can have no doubt that textual t , . . . I !Cit occult
h d
. h . ransm1sswn went h d .
an . Wit oral mstruction. The existence of th . an -m-
verswns, _the general disarray and text m
the spelling peculiarities the ll'ngu t' .. of longer treatises
b
Is 1c reg1ster th t fre '
orders on the vernacular, and the content f a . quently
can tell us as much.
0
some margmal notes,
Among the occult sciences the oral r . . .
the vernacular tendencies the latet ans;ISSllon of alchemy and
texts have been noticed by sch I me Ieva Greek alchemical
discussion in the context of I than for rest.142 This
by recent analo . a c emy was possibly prompted
th c h gous studies of its Latin equivalent 143 but al b
e tact t at alchemical text ' so y
oral transmission For s generally more explicit about their
work addressed Leu:;a:; e, begins an alchemical
vernacular because this tha_t he wrote it in the
for technicaJ treatises (ey g o1 IC r:glster_IS appropriate
144 tTJ bLaf..Extcp,
beyond the trans he necessity for practical demonstration
rrusswn of w tt . . '
explicitly: an alchemical n treatises, IS also mentioned
technoparadotos i e t . techmque by Maria is called
The importance _through application.145
alchemy, a science that Is also evident m Arabic texts on
introduced among M
1
. ' ccordmg to the Arabic tradition, was
. us1msbythet h' .
Mananos. 146 In the Book
0
eac mgs of the Byzantme monk
the Jabirian co if the Monk, an Arabic alchemical text of
"Instruct me sorptuhs, Ipseudo-Jabir addresses his master thus:
... at may sh
others of it in your 1' are your knowledge and can inform
name; or, although I have occupied myself with
142
See di
141 scussiOn m L'anonyme de z . .
See references in M Pe . , urettz, ed. A. Cohnet LXVII-LXXIX
the Lat M'd re1ra, Alchemy a d th u '
e 1 die Ages' s
1
n e se of Vernacular Languages in
144
Greek text in Col/etflecdu urn 74 (1999), 338-56.
F h c ron esancze I h'
trans!. ibid.,III, 5
7
_
58
ns a c zmstes grecs, ed. Berthelot, II, 53-54;
bE UUtlJ li :
fol. 206v). L aoxoO !UlQcl MUQLa (CMAG,
ee Mavroudi, A Byzantine Book
on Dream Interpretation, 425.
87
this science, I cannot dispense with a teacher in many respects."
147
As is the case for doctors, the need for oral (that is, practical
instruction) in order to supplement knowledge gained from texts
must have created among the practitioners of the occult sciences a
certain guild-like mentality. Did successful practitioners tum over
their practice to their sons? For the time being I can point to no
direct Byzantine evidence, except for two parallels, one from
antiquity and another from eighth-century Christians of Hellenic
culture living under Muslim rule: the second-century author
Artemidoros addressed the last two of his five books on dream
interpretation to his son, with the express instructions not to make
them public in order to enjoy an edge over his professional
competitors. And Theophilos of Edessa, the Christian astrological
military advisor to caliph al-Mahdi (775-85 A. D.), addressed his
Labors Concerning the Beginnings of Wars (the only known Greek
treatise of military catarchic astrology) to his son, Deukalion. The
work comprises the most richly remunerated of Theophilos'
professional knowledge (the one that opened caliphal cophers) and
its compilation must have been an effort on his part to secure for his
son a comfortable professional and financial future. It is possible
that it was also composed in Greek.
148
If this is so, I speculate that
147
Translation by F. Rosenthal, The Classical Heritage in Islam (Berkeley and Los
Angeles, 1975), 250. The speaker is pseudo-Jabir, and the master is a pupil of the
Byzantine monk Marianas.
148 In stating that Theophilos' Peri katarchon was originally composed in Greek I
follow David Pingree's opinion expressed in ODB s.v. THEOPHILOS OF EoESSA, as
well as my own impression of the language and style evident in the excerpts
attributed to Theophilos and published in CCAG, I, 129-31; CCAG, II, 195;
CCAG, IV, 93-94 and 122-23; CCAG, V.I. 212-15. In particular, the close
correspondence of the vocabulary in a passage from Theophilos and an anonymous
Greek astrological text dated 379 A.D. (a comparison is offered in CCAG, V.I.
213) strengthens the impression that Theophilos' text must have been composed in
Greek and was based directly on Greek sources. However, the picture admittedly
becomes more complicated by the texts published further. The two excerpts
published in CCAG, V.l, 233-38 survive in the same manuscript (the second part
of Vat. gr. 212, fols. 106-52, written by a 14"'- or early 15"'-c. hand), but are found
twenty folia apart from each other (whether as a result of the scribe's intention or
through faulty subsequent binding). They are both addressed to Theophilos' son
Deukalion, though the second one is introduced with the clarification that 11 comes
"from the second edition" (ex txli6o0l). The first excerpt might
well be a translation from the Arabic because it ends with a turn of phrase that IS
unusual in Greek: xat oil 6eo0 ("you will not be
,,
i'

88
Maria Mavroudi
the reason for it was not the relative dearth of .
astrological vocabulary in late eighth-centu
ry abtc, but the
mistaken, with_ the help of God"). In Arabic, however h . .
future tense wtth a phrase like bi- 'a \I'll allah (= ElEOil
1
, of a
help of God) is habitual. The second excerpt (ibid =with the
defense of astrology and could be . . .
1
" -: -- 8) offers a Christian
an ongma composition G
quotes Genesis word-for-word in the ve . f
10
reek because it
published in CCAG VIJI 1 26
6 70 1
. rston the Septuagint. The excelpt
from the Arabic fo.r a me the of a translation
(268, 21) evidently a double winch Its use of YQU<j>eilOL,
rummg at clarification) of the Arabic kl1t'b ' , k tonb (wtth the second component
tttle in Byzantine administration (and ' . p .b uttll . Though grapheus is not a
grammateus), the Arabic translat' f e eluctdated by the addition of
function in Abbasid o . t e same word, katib, is an important
the term votanLoL (' ' e ,same bureaucrats seem to be designated by
. " tmpena notaries) ib'd 270 6 T .
mconststency in the choice of
1
. h .
1
" . here tS a further
ibid., 267: :Libra; in Greek is identified by the editors,
Ptolemy and Zuyo, (
268 231
X1'[AUl (270, 8), an old tenn used by
Theophilos' excerpt in CCAG.' t that became later and is also used in
technical vocabulary a ' , 12. These mconststenctes in the rendering of
. . re easy to explain 'f .
ongmally written in Greek b t . . t we accept that the text was not
two versions of Theo h'l' u ts .a trans_Iatton. Could it be that there were at least
G
P t os avrulable m Byza t' . . .
reek, and one translated f h
0
tum, one ongmally wntten in
rom t e Arabic .
translate Arabic astrological
1 1
. ' as part, perhaps, of a wtder effort to
CCAG, IX.! 204--6
6
th h e_x s mto Greek? The extensive text published in
' oug It reports so
wntten by him but
1 1
me opmtons by Theophilos was not
IS c ear y a -
1

Abraham b. Ezra (d
1165
) h compt atton by a personal acquaintance of
w om he ment bd
mtnguing questions regard' th .d . tOns
1
' ., 228. The text raises some
h
mg e t enttty of th 'I
e comptled it and the t'de t'ty f. e compt er, the language in which
' nt o ttsaddre b 1
avmd further speculation L'k . ssee, ut prefer, for the time being, to
'b . ' ewtse the exc t h . .
ann uted to a cenain Th h'l . ' erp on t e mag teal properties of plants
pen of Theophilos of Edeop
1
os m CCAG, XII, 119-21 is definitely not from the
17., essa, at least not . th ,. . . . . . .
-c. manuscript wht'ch .
10
e mgutsttc regtster evtdent m thiS
G
. essenttally f1
tven how limited a I . re eels tts contemporary spoken Greek.
P
sarnp e Theophtlos bl' h
en katarchon was ong all . pu IS ed excerpts are, the view that the
a1 tn Y wntten in G k
crtl!c edition of Theoph'l , ree mtght have to be revised once the
a 1 bl
1
os work an d vw a e, and especially if co . nounce by David Pingree becomes
becomes possible. mpartson of the Greek text with its versions in other
The rendition of technical te . .
and Gn:ek texts into Arabic are earliest translations of Persian, Indian,
P. Kumtzsch, 'Arabische A _led tn a fluent and problem-free manner see
Lob stronomte im 8 b '
nnann, eds., Science in W ts 10. Jahrhundert', in Butzer and
2
09. Some of this vocabul estern and Eastern Civilization, 205-20 and esp.
though ary must have b ' llts Impossible to asse . een avatlable since pre-Islamic times,
from the 9" c and
1
ss '
18
wealth because the surviving written evidence
dt ater The r
scussmg the visibility of . ear test surviving text of the anwa' genre.
vanous stars in connection with the advent of the
I
89
advantage of eliminating some of the competition by making the
treatise inaccessible to those astrologers in the caliphate who could
not read Greek.
The bilingual, the foreigner, the Jew, figure prominently (though
not exclusively) in the Byzantine sources as practitioners of the
occult sciences. This seems to be as much a stereotype as it is a
reflection of reality. A number of Greek texts on the occult
sciences, such as the Testament of Solomon, have recognisable
Jewish origins. In the ninth century, patriarch John the Grammarian
belonged to the family of the Morocharzanioi, possibly of
Armenian origin; and emperor Theophilos asked a Saracen captive
woman to foretell the future of his dynasty through necromancy. In
the eleventh century, Alexios Komnenos' astrologer, Symeon Seth,
a bilingual in Greek and Arabic, was probably born in Antioch,
which Byzantium reconquered in 969 and controlled, more or less
effectively, until the Armenian Brachamios surrendered it to the
Seljuks in 1084. Two other astrologers active in Constantinople
during the reign of Alexios, Theodoros Alexandrinos and
Eleutherios, were Egyptians.
150
In the twelfth century, two
aristocrats, Alexios Axouch and Isaac Aaron, fell from imperial
grace because of chargesthat included the practice of sorcery. Both
had good foreign connections in Byzantium's East and West, a
factor that helped advance their careers and at the same time
probably precipitated their fall. The political underpinnings of these
two episodes were unpacked by Richard Greenfield,
151
and the
strategy of their incorporation within the larger framework of the
Byzantine historiographical works in which they appear has been
seasons and weather forecasting (analogous to the Greek Phainomena by Aratos)
and going back to pre-Islamic astral lore, was written by Ibn Qutayba (d. 889; see
Kunitzsch, ibid., 207, note 2). There can be no doubt that the earliest contact
between Greek and Arabic astrology was at the oral level; occasional descriptions
of the process whereby early translations of Greek material into Arabic were
produced also confirm this view (Kunitzsch, ibid., 209).
'"' See Magdalino, 'The Porphyrogenita and the Astrologers', 2!-23; idem.
'Occult Science and Imperial Power', in the present volume.
"' R. Greenfield, 'Sorcery and Politics at the Byzantine Court in the Twelfth
Century: Interpretations of History', R. Beaton and C. Roueche, eds., The Makmg
of Byzantine History. Studies dedicated to Donald M. Nicol (Aldershot and
Brookfield 1993), 73-93.
" !
i
l
'
,,
1
:(:
j
j
!
'
; ..
>i
(
90
Maria Mavroudi
provided by Paul Magdalino.
152
I will therefore limit m If
h . . th d 'I f . yse to
emp astzmg e eta1 s o their foreignness because th
relevant to my argument: Alexios Axouch is a Turk on ht's are
'd d I A . . ,a er's
s1 e, an saac aron, though born m Connth, learnt Lat1n h'l
S
..
1
. . . w Iem
ICI tan captiVIty and went on to serve as emperor Manuel' La
153 AI . s tm
mterpreter. ex10s, at least according to the version of th
provided by Kinnamos, frequently consulted a Latt'n e story
, sorcerer
(yol]) who summoned and consulted demons about the futur d
provided Alexios with potions that would deprive Manuel f e an
1 h 154
0
ld
1
. rom a
rna e . ne c aim that this co-incidence of foreigner and
occult scientist exists because both categories are socially marginal
some of the occult scientists might have been
socially margmal, such as "Illyrians and Persians" said by the
polymath Michael Psellos to frequent the court of
Michael Keroularios. 155 But this can hardly be the case
with patriarchs, aristocrats, and court diviners who became
confidants of the royal entourage.
156
If we look at the Islamic world, we discern some of the same
a number of famous astrologers were Christians
roastnans, and Jews. Caliphs within the first two centuries of
Islam to a predilection for Jewish dream interpreters.
157
The ethmc ongins of the . d' 'd I . . . . . se m IVI ua s Implied lmgmstic
.that gave them access to 'foreign' wisdom (such as
n Ian, Persian and G k I)
th M . ' ree matena . Moreover, in the Greek and
e f ':"'orld occult scientists use some of the same
tncks: The ta'srl, the 'investment' on the part of a
f
lVlner m an .individual's future (whereby a diviner offers
avourable predictions t o a contender for power and explicitly
152
Magdalino, 'Occult Science an , .
'" Niketas Choniates H'
1
. d lmpenal Power , m the present volume.
1975), 146-4? ' IS ona, ed. J. A. van Dieten, I (Berlin and New York,
IS4
Kmnamos Epit
"' CMAG vi 76 om_e rerum, ed. Meineke, 267' 19-268, 2.
,,. The point Scripta_Minora, I, ed. Kurtz and Drexl, 322.
leading intellectuals and c
1
of magtc belonging to the imperial court, being
b
even 1gh-rank' 1 d
Y Greenfield 'Contrib f mg c encs and monks, was bnefly rna e
'"References' in the ofPaleologan Magic', 151.
1' yzantme Book on Dream Interpretation, !30. -
91
q
uests or implicitly expects, remuneration when the predictions
re ' b h A b' d G k
158
come true), is descn bed m ot ra tc an ree sources.
And, at least around the eleventh century, astrologers like Ibn
RiQwan in Egypt (as reported in the thirteenth-century biographical
dictionary by Ibn al-Qif!I),
159
and like the ones mentioned in
Theophylakt of Ochrid's letter!>, practiced out in the streets. Women
diviners were also practicing in the streets of Messina and Tunis at
the beginning of the thirteenth century .
160
The Byzantine astrologers
seem to have preferred three-pronged crossroads,
161
as did those
who pretended to be possessed by demons for the sake of profit,
according to the twelfth-century canonist Balsamon.
162
There can be
no doubt that these analogies are the result of direct communication
and oral exchange at the level of practical application, above and
beyond the translation of texts.
"' For the 'investment' in Arabic sources, see G. Saliba, 'The Role of the
Astrologer in Medieval Islamic Society', Bulletin d'etudes 44 (1992).
45-67, esp. 64-6. In Greek, see J. A. Munitiz, J. Chrysostomtdes, E. Harvaha-
Crook, C. Dendrinos, The Letter of the Three Patriarchs to Emperor Theophtlos
and Related Texts (Camberley and Athens, 1997), 99.
"'G. Saliba, 'The Role of the Astrologer'. 62; Ibn ai-Qif\I (ed. J. Lippert), 443--44;
tr. into English in Schacht and Meyerhof, The Medico-Philosophical Controversy
Between Ibn But/an of Baghdad and Ibn Ridwan of Cairo, 33. On the chronology
of Ibn al-Qiftl's life and the date of his biographical dictionary. see Ibn al-Qtf\1
(ed. J. Lippert), 5-13. .
'"'Michael Scot (ca. 1175-ca. 1234), Liber introductorius, MS lat.
10268, fol. 119, quoted by Haskins, Swdies ill the History of Medteva_l Sctence.
290, note 114. Street astrologers can still be found in modern Ind1a; see A.
Beinorius, 'The Power of the Stars: Astrology and Divination in the Tradtttonal
Indian Society', Intematiollallllstitute for Asian Studies Newsletter 33 (2004), _JS;
and Sudhendu Chanda, Astrologers and Palmists ill Contemporary Society
(Kolkata, 2002), 67-69 and photographs at the end of the book. , .
161
Theophylact of Ochrid, Letters (Gl27); Gautier, Thtfophylacte
Lettres, 515, 69-71: xal. 1\t, Mywv yuvatl;l.v oux
XU'tU (tf.,./..' Eli:' EQ'(UO'tijQLOV iiv OEj.LV\JVOL 'tO
... [telling women their fortune, not in three-pronged crossroads, hke the
diviners, that is those charlatans, but in a workshop, so that he dignify the sctence
(=astrology) ... ].
162 Ralles-Potles, II, 407. Three-pronged crossroads were generally
be liminal spaces frequented by demons. For example, cf. CCAG. I
(excerpts from MS Neapo/. gr. II. C.33, written ca. 1495): ot ,;wv
'tQ!OMwv EQ)(EOI:le xat eloEQ)(EOI:lE 'tijv ej.lt,v <'tlt6KQt.OW (demons of three-
pronged crossroads, arrive and come in to answer me).

92
Maria Mavroudi
Byzantine civilization is generally u d

1
. n erstood b h
mtense y mtrospective and disinterested in im . y sc olars as
goods from the outside. It is I tl . k . any cultural
' un , ptOvocative t
opposite regarding the occult sciences o Witness the
field, which managed to re, an remarkably
and ntual for centuries, even longer th:n ?asic vocabulary
e ust1an church.
POST SCRIPTUM: After the writin of
essentially completed I ch d g the present paper was
' ance upon some d t
social ambivalence (but also . d a a regarding the
government and educated . WII e. acceptance) of astrology among
. . Circ es m mode 1 d'
stnkmg parallels to the 8 . rn n Ia that offer some
to outline it here. To ;tate. of affairs, a.t least as I tried
astrology in India today is both a complicated situation,
the case in the Western wold) as a pseudo-science (as is
to Indians, including the ,dan at the same time appeals widely
current intellectual status a ; and upp:r class. Further, the
:md practice of astrology underpmnings of belief in
Important component of ' I . e ?Isen?aged from its status as an
words as part of the . c assJcal Indian civilization in others
to ancient and v bl . '
ward the end of th . enera e Sanskrit heritage that
. e nmeteenth c t . '
m the language of We en. was remterpreted and
rationalized' by w stern scientific discourse (therefore
und 8 . . estern standards) b h . .
. er ntJsh colonial
1
163 Y t e Hmdu mtelligentsia
enJoyed by astrology d' The degree of official acceptability
government in order to n I a t?day as well as its use by the
fact that the govempursue Wider political goals, is evident by
mcluded ment recog
m university cu .
1
164
mzes It as a subject to be
controve rncu a. Th 1
rsy and elicited h d IS resu ted m great public
constitute eate crif
8
Part of a wider p
1
. . ICism on the grounds that it
o Itlcal agend t . .
a o encourage nght-wmg
considerations for Future Research
93
Hindu nationalism and Hindu religious fundamentalism.
165
The
contemporary Indian debate regarding astrology parallels the
following aspects of its Byzantine equivalent: First, it highlights the
use of astrology in pursuing political goals for which the success or
failure of astrology to predict the future, though mentioned in the
course of the discussion, is of secondary importance. Second, the
modem Indian rhetoric surrounding astrology as a product of
'national' Indian heritage (even if scholars agree that it was
'contaminated', already in antiquity, by contact with its Persian and
Greek equivalents) reminds one of the insistence on Ptolemaic
astrology as part of Byzantine 'national' heritage in the eleventh or
in the fourteenth century.
166
Third, the social profile of the
practitioners of astrology and their clients seems to be very similar
with that of their Byzantine counterparts. At least one publication
offers concrete statistical data regarding the social and intellectual
demographics of astrologers and their clients in India today:
Sudhendu Chanda's Astrologers and Palmists in Contemporary
Society. Anthropological Survey of India, Memoire no. 106
(Kolkata 2002), published under the auspices of the "Ministry of
Culture, Department of Culture". The venue and date of publication
of this book make it likely that it represents an effort to champion
astrology167 and that its appearance is connected with the public
debate regarding the introduction of astrology in Indian education
that erupted in October of !998.
168
However, even those opposing
government policies regarding astrology acknowledge that in India
today political, business, and personal decisions such as matrimony
"' Among a great number of possibilities, a brief and clear, to the uninitiated.
summary of the controversy and its implications is Ranjit Devraj, 'Astrology is a
Science, It's in the Stars', Asia Times Online (16 August 2001) at
http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/CHI6DID3.html (last viewed on 22 July 2006).
For more detail, see N alini Taneja, 'The Saffron Agenda in Education: An
expose', South Asia Documents at htt,p:/lwww.indowindow.com/sadlarticle.php1
child-29&article=28 (last viewed on July 22, 2006).
'" See Magdalino, 'The Porphyrogenita and the Astrologers'; idem, 'The
Byzantine Reception of Classical Astrology'; Mavroudi, 'Late Byzantium and
Exchange with Arabic Writers.'
167 The impression that Chanda's work is meant as an effort to champion astrology
is strengthen by its dedication to "my astrologer mother Late Smt. Surama Chanda
late Dr. Suresh Chandra Chanda."
TaneJa, 'The Saffron Agenda in Education', l.
(
l.'
.,
94
Maria Mavroudi
are largely made after consultation with an astrologer.
169
The
coverage of Chanda's book is not as comprehensive as its title
advertises, since it discusses astrology and palmistry only among
the Hindus of contemporary West Bengal, deliberately omitting the
Muslims and Christians resident in the region (ibid., 59-60). Even
so, it provides interesting demographic information on the social
and educational profile of 1370 West Bengali astrologers (ibid., 59-
70), as well as the confidence in the predictive value of astrology
and palmistry among 600 individuals listed by occupation (ibid

80-81). According to the data tabulated by Chanda, the
overwhelming majority of astrologers belongs to the two upper
echelons of the Hindu caste hierarchy (Brahman or Kayastha) and
holds degrees in higher education (both "graduate" and "post-
graduate"). Astrologers have a greater demographic concentration
in large urban centres. The majority of Brahman astrologers learnt
th.e trade from parents rather than from an institute, books, or
friends and relatives, while the majority of their Kayastha
colleagues acquired their astrological knowledge at an institute, a
'" Devraj. 'Astrology is a Science.'
:
10
The unid.iomatic English and abundance of typos undermine the scholarly
unpact of this book; moreover, ils treatment of the history of astrology and the
a l?t to be desired. As for the statistical data it contains, no
mformat1on IS provided regarding how the interviewed individuals were chosen
and ":hether they offered their views to the author orally or in response to a written
The in the tables do not always add up precisely; one has
. tednder whether this IS so because the author tampered with or completely
mven the data or IS simply th 1 f h . th h e resu t o t e excessively careless typing evident
.roug out the book. Regarding the 600 individuals who purportedly expressed a
VIew regardmg their confid th . .
their total number (600) m . predtctive value of astrology (ibid., 80-81),
within twelve of th r round, and the number of interviewees
40 or SO) h'l ; Isted professiOnal categories is a multiple of ten (30,
re.:Wns, I it a multiple of 5 (35 and 25). For these
end, however I dec'ded . formation presented here with suspicion; in the
picture of so/an It must be more or less reliable in conveying the larger
astrology's opponen,ts Jo astr?logy in India is today. After all, even
the reason why instead f d' . . ts Wide social Impact, and this must be part of
. o ISmissmg govern t
1 1
. . .
rrrelevant and having to d 'th men a poI tics regardmg astrology as
effort in polemics again

: and laughable subject, they expend
furnished to the effect t
1
' an still need to point out that proof has been
example, R. Ramachandra: is "nothing but mumbo-jumbo." See, for
31-Apri1 13, 2001) at btto'u egrees of .Pseudo-Science', Frontline 18:7 (March
viewed on July 22, 2006). . www fronthneonnet comlf11807118070990.htm oast
95
difference that reflects the traditional role of the Brahmans as
guardians of inherited knowledge and religious tradition. The 600
individuals that are said to have expressed an opinion regarding the
predictive value of astrology and palmistry generally belong to the
better educated segment of West Bengali society-their
occupations are listed (in this order) as "novelists", "artists/
musicians", "players" (=actors?), "engineers", "doctors", "business
executives", "businessmen", "government officials", "college
teachers", "social workers", "general workers", "school teachers",
"students", "low type workers". According to the tabulated data,
more than 80% report that they have faith in the predictive value of
astrology and more than 70% have faith in palmistry.
I
I,
I
\
lo
Panteio University of Athens
The Greek Concept of Sympatheia and Its
Byzantine Appropriation in Michael Psellos
The anthropologists of the nineteenth century who tried to give a
theoretical account of magic argued that the common basis of the
different variants of magical beliefs and rites are the so-called "laws
of sympathy": like produces like; objects that have been in contact,
but since ceased to be so, continue to act on each other at a
distance; a part is to the whole as an image is to the represented
object. Although modern anthropologists are sometimes skeptical
as to whether these really are the necessary and sufficient criteria
for identifying all magical actions, it is generally agreed that the
belief in one version or another of the laws of sympathy is as old as
human society. For it seems that humans have always had the
~ e n d e n y to assume mysterious relations between all beings which
Inhabit the earth and the heavens. And it is exactly the belief in
these sympathetic relations that has provided people from different
cultures, throughout the centuries, with the principles for their more
or less sophisticated theories on astrology, alchemy, necromancy,
:1,,
98
dream interpretation, augury, geomancy, and generally with the
foundations for the development of the occult sciences.
1
Byzantines, too, talked about sympathetic relations when they
dtscussed the many branches of the occult sciences practised in
Byzantium. They had inherited the idea from the ancient Greeks
and they used, in invoking it, the very term the ancient Greeks had
used: sympatheia (auf.!Jta8na). But was their understanding of the
Greek concept of sympatheia the same as that of the ancients? This
is the topic of my paper. I want to examine, in particular, how the
.philosophers understand sympatheia when they, too,
refer to tt 111 order to explain the magical beliefs and practices of
their contemporaries. I want to find out whether their use of this
notion is the same as that of their pagan predecessors, or whether
had to adapt and to modify it in the light of the different
of their Christian culture. For Byzantine
philosophers were in a difficult position. On the one hand, both
Church and State authorities rejected magic as a vile remnant of the
tradition. On the other hand, magical beliefs and practices
had a strong hold on all parts of the Byzantine population, both
e and lower strata of society as well as persons of
education and high social status. Byzantine
P
1
were meant, as philosophers, to develop theories
provtd111g a rational understanding of the natural order of things;
were, hence, supposed to somehow make sense of the occult
sctences, too, without violating Christian dogma. But could the
Greek concept of h .
. sympat ew, or the parttcular way they
appropnated it, give them some theoretical backing in dealing with
the dangerous issue of the occult sciences?
The history of the us f h . .
h e o t e concept of sympatheia by Chnsttan
abut stretches back to the second century A D almost to the
eg111n111g of Ch
Athe nsttantty. Early Christian Fathers like for instance,
and Clement of Alexandria, St Basil, of Nyssa
find it I?'soshtom all use the notion of sympatheia; and we also
r
111
t e writings fo
Photios, Michael Psell .r 1l1stance, of John of Damascus,
os and Ntkephoros Gregoras. In this paper I
;-:-:::------
' J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bou h
Theory of Magic, tr R Br . (Log
1
(London, 1913 ), 51 ff; M. Mauss, A General
am ndon and Boston, 1972) 11 ff.
Appropriation in Michael Psellos
99
want to focus on how one particular Byzantine philosopher of the
eleventh century, Michael Psellos, used the notion of sympatheia in
his attempt to account for the use and abuse of the occult sciences.
So Psellos is discussed here as a representative of the Byzantine
appropriation of the Greek concept of sympatheia. It should be
noted, though, that it is a separate issue to what degree he was
influenced in this matter by earlier Christian writers, as well as the
extent to which his interpretation had a significant theoretical
influence on Byzantine thought after him.
Let us begin by examining the ancient background against which
the Byzantines talk about sympatheia. In ancient <:Jreek
has different, though obviously interrelated, meanmgs: tt ts used 111
medical writings, as for example in the Hippocratic corpus (De
alim. 23.1), to refer to the fact that when a part of the human body
somehow suffers another part may be affected, too;
2
it is also used
to talk about the fact that people may share the feelings of their
fellow-citizens, for instance in Aristotle's Politics (1340al3);
3
finally, it is used to refer to the supposed phenomenon that all
beings on earth and in the heavens are inextricably linked together.
That is to say, the ancient notion of sympatheia indicates a close
connection between things which are parts of some kind of a whole,
either at the same level, as different parts of the body are in relation
to the body as a whole, or at different levels, as the body and
soul are in relation to the living being as a whole. Thus sympathew
could refer to the close connection between different parts of the
same body as a whole, but also to the close connection between
different human beings as parts of mankind as a whole, or the close
connection between everything in the world as a part of the world
as a whole, or between the body of the world and its soul as of
the world. And it is this latter use of the notion of sympathew, the
cosmic sympatheia, which I want to mainly concentrate in what
follows, since this is the most relevant to the explanation of the
occult sciences.
2
Hippocrates [attributed to), De atimento, ed. E. Littre, Oeuvres completes
d'Hippocrate, IX (Paris, 1861; repr. Amsterdam, 1962), 98-120.
3
Aristotle, Politica, ed. W. D. Ross, Aristotelis politica (Oxford, 1957; repr.
19
64).
.r
,.
,,
v
t.'
.. i
:)'
100
Katerina Ierodlakonou
The notion of cosmic sympatheia was introduced by the Sto'
philosophers in the Hellenistic period.
4
Some scholars ha Ic
attributed the full development of this notion to Posidonius at
end of. the second and the beginning of the first century B.c.,s but
there 1s no doubt that even the early Stoics, and in particular
Chrysippus, believed in a close affinity among the different parts of
the universe; and for this close affinity they most probably used the
term sympatheia,
6
as well as the nouns synecheia (auvEXELa) or
synoche ( symphyia ( a1J fUJ>u(a),
8
symmone ( 01JIIIInvfl) 9
( ' 10 r..- ., ,
sympn01a au J.UtVOLU), syntonia ( auvwv(a),
11
and the
corresponding verbs and adjectives. According to the Stoics there
is nothing mysterious about sympatheia, and
about the relatiOn between the things in the heavens and those on
e_ru:th. In Stoic physics the whole cosmos is presented as a perfect
livmg body whose parts, though, are imperfect, insofar as they are
not self-sufficient and autonomous; for they cannot function by
and always depend on their being parts of this whole
Its other parts. What holds the system together is a certain
mtemal tension, a t6voc:;, created in the universe by the so-called
pneuma (:1tVEUJ..tU),
12
which consists of a mixture of fire and air and
the entire world as its soul, sustaining everything. Thus
the Stoics thought of the world as a unified Jiving organism a zoon
(
r- ) IJ
.,cpov : JUSt as pneuma permeates a human body and makes it as
4
For an earlier use of the t' f . .
Ia
. no 10n o sympathew, cf. Theophrastus, De causs
P ntarum, ed. F Wunmer Tceoph t' E .. .
1886
' " ras 1 resu opera quae supersunt omnia (Pans
, ; repr. 1964}, 2.19.4. '
K. Reinhardt, Kosmos und S)>m th . U .. . .
(Munich,
1926
). pa !e. neue ntersuclzungen uber Pose1domos
6
Stoicorum veterum Jr. .
473 47
5 532 534
agmenta, ed. H. von Am1m (Leipzig, 1903), II, nos. 441,
TbeUer=Fi
23
i-K F3'
546
.912; Posidonius, F26 Theiler=F217 E-K; F291
, S . 19 Theller=F 106 E-K F400f Theiler
t01corum veterum fr ed '.
449,473,54
6 550
von Am1m, II, nos. 389, 416, 439, 441, 447,
8
Stoicorum v' ' ' II.
St . eterumfragmenta, ed. von Amim II 546 550 911
mcorum veterumfr. ' ' ' , .
St . agmenta, ed. von Amim II 441 473 550
mcorum veterumfr ' ' ' ' .
11 St . agmenta, ed. von Amim II 543 912
orcorum vete fr ' , .
12 E S . rum agmenta, ed. von Amim II 543
.g. t01corum veter fr '
546, 716, 911. On ed. von Amim, II, 389, 416, 439, 441, 447,
fragmenta ed von Am'
11 4
nt kmds of 11VEiiJ.Ul, cf. also Stoicorum veterum
13 . lffi, 58, 459
Plutarch, Conjugalia praece .
(Cambridge, Mass.,
1928
. pta, ed. F. C. Babbitt, Plutarch's moralia, II
repr. 1962), 34; Sextus Empiricus, Adversus
101
its soul a Jiving and organic whole, with each single part grown
together in close connection all rest, in the way the
whole world is permeated and giVen life by pneuma; th1s pneuma
the Stoics identified with God who, in creating the world, becomes
its soul.
Hence, since everything in the world is permeated by
according to the Stoic view it makes perfect sense to say that, 1f
something changes in the cosmic order in one part of the world, this
may result in a change of something else in some other part of the
world, though the two parts do not seem, at least at first sight, to be
directly linked. And this holds, of course, also in the case the
relation between the heavens and the earth; for the tensional
connection created by the pneuma among all parts of the universe
implies, in particular, the sympathetic relation betwe.en heavenly
and terrestrial things and, as a result, the connecuon between
celestial and terrestrial phenomena. So, we may apply the analogy
of the Jiving organism even further: just as a well-trained
doctor can diagnose diseases affecting bodily organs by studymg
their symptoms revealed in other parts of the body, it should be
possible for someone who has acquired the relevant knowledge
interpret signs or symptoms found in any one part of the m
order to have a better understanding of other parts of the umverse .
This is, in fact, how the Stoics justified divination and, in particular,
astrology.
14
Since the events of a person's life are connected, as. a
result of the cosmic sympatheia, with astral movement, a certam
constellation of the stars can indicate a certain event in a person's
life. Or in the case of dreams, the Stoics claimed that while we are
dreaming the human soul, which is in a sympathetic relation to
mathematico, ed. J. Mau and H. Mutschmann, Sexti Empirici . 11-lll. 2'' ed.
(Leipzig, 1914-61), 9.78-85. On the Stoic application of the
pneuma to cosmology, cf. M. Lapidge, 'Stoic cosmology', m J. e '.e
Stoics (Berkeley, 1978), !61-85, esp. 176; D. E. Hahm, The Origms of Stoc
Cosmology(Ohio,l977), 163. . , . .
14 On astrology, cf. A.-J. Festugiere, La ReV<flatiotl d' Hermes Tnsmeglste,l.(P.arts,
1944), esp. 89-101; A. A. Long, 'Astrology: arguments and contra
10
:.
Barnes, J. Brunschwig, M. Bumyeat, M. Schofield, eds., Sc1ence and Speculatw
Studies in Hellenistic Theory and Practice (Cambridge, 1982}, 165-92;
'The case against divination: an examination of Cicero's De dlvmatwne
Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 31 (1985}, 1-10.
102 Katerina Ierodiakonou
God, is to some extent liberated from bodily restraints and thus able
to share something of the foreknowledge of that divinity which is
its source.
To sum up, what is important to keep in mind in connection with
the Stoic notion of sympatheia is the fact that, since the entire world
is permeated by pneuma, everything in it stands in a sympathetic
relation with everything else. This means that, according to the
Stoics, cosmic sympatheia is in principle a symmetrical relation, in
the sense that a change in any part of the universe, on earth or in the
heavens, may result in a change in any other part of the universe, on
earth or in the heavens. A change in the heavens may affect, or be a
sign of, what happens on earth, but also the other way round, what
happens on earth may affect, or be a sign of, what happens in the
heavens.
The Platonists were influenced by the Stoic notion of cosmic
sym_patheia to such an extent that it is only possible to fully grasp
therr use of the notion against its Stoic background. They also,
following in this Plato's Timaeus, stressed the fact that the universe
is a unified whole, and they also assumed that even parts of it which
are separated by a large distance may affect each other in a
v:ay, while the intervening parts seem unaffected.
Plotmus, for mstance, like Plato and the Stoics, thought of the
world as a living organism.
15
Nevertheless, the Platonists'
understanding of cosmic sympatheia significantly differs in certain
respects from that of the Stoics. For their supreme God is
and not part of the world, the way the Stoic God is
Immanent. In addition, on their view there is a sharp distinction
between the material and the immaterial world of which the
material world is a living image. Hence, the strongly
the Stoics' doctrine of a direct commingling of the Divine
with they claimed that the Divine rather employs in the
formatiOn of the world certain incorporeal powers.
" Plotinus, Enneades ed
(Leiden, 195
1
_
73
)
4
4 3
. P. and H.-R. Schwyzer, Plotini opera, 3 vols.
notion of he.
2

37
4.5.2-3. For a discussion of Plotinus' use of the
sympat ta cf G M 0 rtl 'S I
Philosophical Quart
1 24
( u er, ympathy m Plotmus', lnternattona
er Y 1984), 395-406.
103
As a point of departure the Platonists used the passage from Plato's
Timaeus (4la-b) concerning the harmonious order that the
Demiurge imposes on matter, which as such moves irregularly. God
creates the world as a highly rational material living being in the
image of the Divine Intellect, is an intelligible
living being. The material world IS held together, and Its order IS
maintained, by a rational soul of its own, the world soul, which,
illuminated by the Divine Intellect, guides the life of the sensible
world. The world soul as a whole operates in each and every part of
the body of the world, and in this sense extends throughout the
world but, being immaterial, it is not dispersed throughout the
body 'of the world, as the Stoic pneuma is: Such a
reinterpretation of the Stoic doctrine of cosm1c sympatheza 1s first
found in the writings of Philo, in which the organization of the
world is said to be due to God through God's Logos or Reason.'
6
Later, Plotinus and the Neoplatonists introduce a whole series of
divine beings and daemons, who form the link between God and the
sensible world; they hold everything together in its ordained
and they have the power to care and watch over the eternal cohesiOn
of reality, including the visible cosmos.
17
That is to say, the Platonists modified the notion of cosmic
sympatheia by placing the source of all power that permeates the
universe in the immaterial intelligible sphere as opposed to the
sensible world, which is constituted by both the sublunary and the
celestial world, i.e. by both the earth and the heavens: thus
explained cosmic sympatheia not in terms of somethmg hke the
Stoic pneuma, but rather in virtue of a non-physical linkage . some
kind of analogy (avaf..oy(a), or more specifically some kmd of
likeness or similarity (Of.LOLOtT]c;/6j.LO(OOOLc;),
18
both between the
immaterial intelligible world and the material sensible world, as
16 E.g. Philo, De opificio mundi, ed. L. Cohn, Philonis quae
supersunt, I (Berlin, 1896; repr. 1962), 117; Philo, De spectaltbus legtbus, ed. L.
Cohn, Philonis Alexandrini opera quae supersunt, V (Berlin, 1906; repr. l96
2
).
1.16; 1.329. . .
17 E.g. Proclus, In Platonis Timaeum commentaria, ed. E. Diehl, 3 vols.
1903..{)6; repr. Amsterdam, 1965), 3.162; 208; 241; In Platon.ts m;
publicam commentarii, ed. W. Kroll, 2 vols. (Letpztg, 1899-1901, rep
Amsterdam, 1965), 2.258. . 34-8
18 E.g. Plotinus, Enneades, ed. Henry and Schwyzer, 3.3.6.24-38, 4.5.1.
.,.
.,
,.,
104
well as between different parts of the material world that
equally affected by the intelligible world, for instance through :e
world soul. And it is in this latter sense of sympatheia
something spatially isolated in the sensible world cannot fail to
affect even a remote counterpart. Hence, the Platonists seem to
have regarded some sympathetic relations as asymmetrical and
some as symmetrical. The sympathetic relations between the
and the world are asymmetrical, since it is only
the sensible world wh1ch 1s affected by the intelligible world, and
not the other way round. On the other hand, the sympathetic
relations between the different parts of the sensible world, which
are similarly affected by the world soul, are clearly symmetrical
and this is why the sympathetic relation between the earth and
heavens guarantees that celestial phenomena may indicate what
happens on earth, while terrestrial phenomena may reliably provide
us with a better grasp of what happens in the heavens. The
Platonists, therefore, like the Stoics, thought of divination as
possible and explainable on the basis of the concept of sympatheia.
?od ttu:ough the Divine Intellect and a descending chain of
1mmatenal powers engineers events in the sensible world that are
as si.gns about what he has in mind; it is, then, up to us to
not1ce and mterpret these signs in order to find out what the future
may bring.
This is not, however, the only way Platonists used the notion of
sympatheia; for they also extensively used it to justify
mag1c. Even Philo (De migr. Abrah. 178-9)
19
and Plotinus
(Enneades 4.4.40; 4.9.3), who show no particular interest in magic,
refen:ed to cos!llic sympatheia when they discussed magical
practlces.
20
And it is this very same notion that we find in the works
of later Neoplatonists, like for instance in Proclus' De arte
hieratica, as the main explanation of the magical beliefs and
" Philo Judaeus De b . . .
0
era u ' mgratron.e A raham1, ed. P. Wendland, Phi/on is Alexandrlnl
it
4
. q ae supersunt, II (Berhn and Reimer, 1897; repr. De Gruyter, 1962), 268-
,. E. R. Dodds 'Theurgy and ts
1
.
Studies 37 (1
94
7) SS-6
9
! to Neoplatonism', Journal of
The Great 7: d' .' 'J. Dillon, Plotmus and the Chaldaean Oracles', tn hts
Christianityr (Aa ldlllonh. Further Studies in the Development of Platonism and Early
ers ot, 1997), 131-40.
105
practices of the

But what . ex.actly is
Neoplatonic use of the not10n of sympatheza m connection w1th
magic?
As has rightly been pointed out,
22
one can distinguish in the so-
called Chaldaean Oracles, a philosophical and a magical aspect.
The philosophical aspect consists of a cosmology in which the
various parts of the universe are in close cohesion and governed by
a system of powers with a strict hierarchy. At the apex of the
hierarchy we have a triad of beings: the Father from whom the
whole world has emanated in manifold gradations, the Paternal
Intellect who has organized the world rationally, and the Divine
Power also called Hecate. Further down in the hierarchy there are
various orders of angels and daemons, including good daemons
who help the human soul to ascend towards the Father and bad
daemons who are responsible for all evils. And it is at this point that
the magical aspect of the Oracles becomes crucially relevant. For
the Oracles also contain rules and instructions for rituals which, if
performed in the right way, summon up good daemons and ward
off bad daemons. Hence, the magical or theurgical aspect of the
Oracles has a preeminently practical purpose; it clearly is supposed
to enable human beings to control the daemons' powers.
The later Neoplatonists, who recognized in the cosmology of the
Oracles beliefs that are very close to their own, used the notion of
sympatheia in order to explain how the manipulation of daemons is
possible in magic and theurgy. For they believed that there is some
likeness or similarity that allows not only daemons to have an effect
on human beings, but most importantly human beings to have an
effect on daemons. In fact, some Neoplatonists thought that human
beings and daemons share in materiality, even if not to the same
degree, and this is mainly the reason why certain kinds of
for instance the terrestrial and subterrestial, can more eas1ly be
21 Proclus, De arte hieratica (=De sacrificio et magia], ed. J. Bidez, CMAG. VI
(Brussels, 1928), 148-51.
22 J. M. Duffy, 'Reactions of two Byzantine intellectuals to the theory and
of magic; Michael Psellos and Michael ltalikos', in H. Maguire, ed., Byzanrme
Magic (Washington, D. C.,l995), 83-97.
i
i
i
1
\ 106
Katerina lerodiakonou
enslaved by the magicians' rituals.
23
That is to say, the notion f
sympatheia between different parts of the sensible world
d h
. IS
presente ere as. a. relation having a function that goes
beyond that of divmatlon. For It allows human beings to influence
the behaviour of daemons, either in order to use the help of the
good daemons for the ascent of the soul or in order to neutralize the
activities of the bad daemons. This again is an idea not to be found
in Stoicism.
To sum up, the Neoplatonists adjusted the notion of sympatheia to
fit their metaphysical doctrines. Cosmic sympatheia is for them
some kind of likeness or similarity between the immaterial
intelligible world and the material sensible world, as well as
between the different parts of the sensible world that are similarly
affected by the world soul. It is on the basis of this notion that they
regarded divination as possible. But they also added to it a further
aspect; for they recognized that cosmic sympatheia can be used not
only to predict what happens in the future, but also to explain how
human beings can manipulate the daemons who are the
intermediaries between them and the Divine.
We should now tum to Psellos' use of the notion of cosmic
sympatheia. The challenge for him, as for all Christian thinkers, is
how to use this notion in order to understand the world and the
relations between its parts without coming into conflict with
standard Christian dogma. Psellos believes that there is cosmic
sympatheia and it is God himself who establishes it; he even says
that all parts of the world are closely connected in accordance with
a_n .ineffable that reminds us of the unity of a
hvmg orgamsm. The Chnstlan God, though, is not part of the
:orld; the world and, in particular, he created the
uman bemgs m his Image (xat'Elx6va xat Of.LOLOJOLV). The
human soul constitutes the divine element in us, which aspires,
when freed from the restraints of our body, to be in touch with God,

the nda7:tu'hre of daemons and their different kinds, cf. H. Lewy, Chaldaean
"'rae es an eurgy (Paris, 1956; rev. ed. 1978).

:Ioria minora, ed. A. Littlewood (Leipzig, 1985) op. 37,
UQQt]WV x.at a t] 'tOU UAAt]AU 'H.U'tCt OUJ.Ulcl6ELUV
I<; vtuta6EL W EvO 'tOii x.60f10U "tUYXUVOV'tO.
107
and finally to ascend after death to heaven. Hence, there is no doubt
that the Platonists' notion of .cosmic sympatheia fits much better
than the Stoic view with what the Christians are prepared to say
about the sympathetic relations in the world. There is some kind of
likeness or similarity, even if not directly between God and the
creation, certainly between God's Son and human beings. In
addition, there may also be some kind of likeness or similarity in
the way things in the sensible world are affected by God's power;
for since all parts of the world are closely connected, when one part
is affected by God's power other parts are similarly affected, so that
an event in one part of the world can be used to predict another
event in another part of it.
But does Psellos also endorse the function of cosmic sympatheia
which the later Neoplatonists used in connection with Chaldaean
magic? When Psellos in his writings discusses the cosmological
theories and magical practices of the Chaldaeans, he as a matter of
course also refers to the notion of sympatheia; for he is well aware
of the fact that this is the way philosophers before him justified
such beliefs and practices.
25
However, the fact that he refers .to the
notion of sympatheia in this context does not mean he
in his other treatises uses cosmic sympatheia the way It was used In
connection with Chaldaean magic. If we carefully read Psellos'
remarks about the Chaldaeans, what seems to be the main reason
for his strong disapproval of the Chaldaean tradition is the pra.ctices
which involve inducing daemons, by using hymns, sacnfic.es,
perfumes or statues, in order to serve the purposes of the magicta?
and to break the natural order of things?
6
As Psellos himself says, tt
is indeed monstrous to claim that one could change the order of
things, since God himself arranged them in the best possible way
(Sathas, V, 57).
27
Hence, what Psellos finds really offensive in the
"Michael Psellos, Phi/osophica minora, IT, ed. J. Duffy (Stuttgart and Leipzig.
1992), op. 39, 148.8; 12; op. 41, 152.15; 18; Michael ed. P.
Gautier (Leipzig, 1989), 1 23A.53; 57; cf. Michael Psellos, Phllosoph1ca mmora. 1,
ed.D.O'Meara(Leipzig,l989), 3.119-20. .
1 187
16
Psellos, Philosophica minora, I, ed. O'Meara, 3.137-47; Psellos, Ep1stll a
ed. K. Sathas, MwawJVt.xi) Bt{3A.wh]xTJ. V (Paris, 1876), 474,478.
" TE(la't!i>liE ilYtJfl.UL 'tO 'tftv 't!i>V o/..wv 'ta;Lv fl.E'tUltOLEIV btayyti..i..eoem "tTl
'toO 0eoii 1t(lovo((;t 'tE'tayf!.Evwv x.a/..6:> ...
li
108
Chaldaean tradition is the attempt to influence and m 1
. ampu ate the
course of thmgs, to mterfere with divine providence and h
c-
Besides, whereas the Chaldaeans and the Neoplatonists believe that
there are good and bad daemons, all daemons accordt'n t
Ch
. . f 'th 28 ' g 0
ru , are bad. Human beings, therefore, should not try to
mantpulate them, even if they can, because dealing with th
1 b
. . , em
a ways nngs mtstortunes. That is to say, as a Christian, Psellos
cannot accept that the sympathetic relations between the parts of the
world are such human beings may control the powers of the
daemons for their own benefit. In fact, this is why Psellos
refuses give us detailed information about magical
practices; for he claims to be afraid that, if we follow them, they
could harm and he may be held responsible.
29
It is only in
cases of trymg to avOid the daemons' malevolent influence for
instaiice in exorcisms, that Christians are allowed to have
something to do with them, as Psellos himself admits in his life of
St Auxentios;
30
but these are clearly cases of antipatheia, of driving
the daemons away, rather than of sympatheia.
What .about cases, however, in which Psellos gives the impression
of the Greek concept of sympatheia to justify magical
practices? After all, Psellos is the writer of a treatise on the
of stones (Phil. min. I op. 34), in which he not only
descnbes the external appearance of precious stones, but also gives
an of their powers of healing, which very much sound like
magtcal powers. For instance, he claims that galaktites helps
forget bad things and remember good things (39-42), while
topazwn cures cases of mania (99-104) and sardonyx those
suffering from melancholy (79-82). Moreover, Psellos seems to
approve of certain ways of venerating the icons, which are again
"E.g. Psellos, Minora, II, ed. Duffy, op. 38, 145.8-10. Psellos seems
to hold mconsistent VIews on the issue of the daemons' corporeality; cf. Michael
Meteoro/ogie, ed. J. Bidez, CMAG, VI (Brussels, 1928), 61 and Psellos,
Demono/ogie, ed. Bidez, ibid., 119.
" Psellos, Philosophica minora, I, ed. O'Meara, 3.125-55; Psellos, Epistula 187,
Sathas, MwaUJJvtxiJ Bt{3).w(hjxr], V,475.
Michael Psellos, Orationes hagiographicae, ed. E. A. Fisher (Stuttgart, 1994),
op. I A.505-13.
109
very similar to magical practices. For instance, he talks in his
Chronographia (6.65-7) about the remarkable icon of Christ, which
was commonly referred to as the "Antiphonetes", and which the
Empress Zoe consulted in difficult moments, as if it were alive;
when the colours of the icon became vivid, she interpreted it as a
good sign, but when the colours turned pale, the forecast was bad.
Similarly, Psellos talks about the icon of the Virgin Mary of
Blachemai, which the people of Constantinople often used as a way
to predict the future (Orat. hag. 4); when they asked the icon
specific questions about their everyday affairs, they believed that, if
the Virgin's garment moved, the answer was positive, if it did not
move, the answer was negative.
3
I
But what exactly differentiates these cases from magical practices,
so that Psellos can present them as perfectly orthodox and
respectable? How can he claim, as he actually does (Orat. min.
7.156-80), that he is not actingas a magician when he finds himself
engaged in such practices? According to Psellos, practices which
only are meant to bring human beings closer to God, or to assist
them in making forecasts and in determining favourable aiid
unfavourable circumstances for particular actions, have nothing
objectionable. For such practices do not aim at commanding
daemons to produce good or bad effects, aiid thus at interfering
with divine providence; they simply help us, always with God's
assistance, to learn his will and adjust our lives accordingly. So,
there is nothing unorthodox in believing that certain stones have
sympathetic powers of healing, or there is nothing wrong in
attempting to predict future events by paying attention to the
changes of an icon. Furthermore, there is nothing reprehensible
about performing liturgies for victory in war, using incense, fasting,
or praying; all such practices are supposed to make our soul clean
and pure in order to be ready to accept God's will.
Therefore, it may be that Psellos does not use the notion of
sympatheia the way the Neoplatonists did in order to justify magic
and theurgy, but he follows both the Stoics aiid the Platonists when
he uses it to explain divination. For he seems to understaiid the
31
.on the icon of Virgin Mary of Blachemai, cf. E. Papaioannou 'The "usual
nurac1e" and an unusual image', JOB 51 (2001), 177-88.
1,,
,

.;
'
!.
i ..
.. .
.
110
'!f!!'
Katerina
notion of sympatheia as the main explanation b h'
we are able to have, because of our affinity to fact that
understanding of the world and of G d' .
1
?IVlne, a better
d
. . . o s wt I by mterp .
1vme stgns and symbols (auv81l"Uta , .. A , retmg the
?.7) F . . ,.. Orat ha 434
. . or mstance, m the case of the icon of th V' . . g. . ;
claims that it is our close relation to y . Me ugm Mary, Psellos
h
. Irgm ary that help
t mgs wh1ch cannot otherwise be seen so that s see
f t ( 0 1 ' we can predict the
u. ure rat. wg. 4.32-82); and interestingly enough h .
thts context both the term sympatheia (Orat hag
4 68
)' ed uses
10
s an another
tmc name.ly the term oikeiosis (Orat. hag.
4.'66). But to notlc.e the sympatheia and to interpret God's
stgns m the nght way involves, according to Psellos,
no mampulatwn of the natural course of things, and thus no magic.
There are indeed many writings by Psellos in which he refers
directly or indirectly to the notion ofsympatheia in connection with
. interpretation of God's signs and symbols. Among such
wntmgs there is a small treatise, which Psellos devotes to the
interpretation of the twenty-four letters of the alphabet, though in
this case he does not explicitly use the tenn auf.1Jt6.8ELU. The title of
the treatise is Interpretation of the twenty-four letters (EQiJ.l]VE(a
:rtEQL t&v eixomtWOUQWV OtOLXELWV) and has been edited by
John Duffy as opusculum 36 of Psellos' Philosophica minora I. The
idea behind this text is that the letters of the alphabet, as well as
their order and shape, are symbols 63, 129, 515), in
the sense that they hide ineffable messages (6.:rt6QQl]taliiQQl]ta
f.lllVUJ.lUta: 292-7; cf. 63; 624) which provide us, if we manage to
unravel them, with a better understanding of the world and of God'.s
will. Since modem scholars have not paid any attention to this
treatise/
3
in what follows I want to discuss Psellos' text, at least
32
In the sympathetic relations between humans and the divine Psellos seems
I
regard the Virgin Mary and the Christian Saints as intermediaries; cf. the

0
for the Virgin Mary (Psellos, Orationes hagiographicae, ed. Fls er,
4.73) and forSt Auxentios (ibid., IA.500). . th. his
33
The only discussion of this treatise, and in particular of Psellos' cilum a; hn
work is the first on the subject, can be found in an unpublished paper by
0
by
Duffy, "'The child of one night's labor": A treatise on the Greek
Michael Psellos' (presented at the Byzantine Studies Conference, Brookbne, '
November 8-10, 1991).
P
riation in Michael Psellos
Appro
Ill
. fl b ause I think that it gives us a good sense of how he
bne y, ec d th
d
the notion of sympathew an 1ts use 111 e
understan s . .
interpretation of the dtv111e symbols.
'th it is interesting to note that the Greek term which
To start WI , h
P
II
Us
es here to denote a letter of the alphabet IS stotc ezon
se os , 1 h.
(atOLJ(ELOV), and not gramma (yQUf.lf.lU) he a 111. IS
writings.34 In Byzantine times the tenn st01chezon retams Its anc1ent
ing according to which it refers to the four elements, earth,
mean , h' h
water, air and fire, as the basic constituents of .everyt mg 1? e
world. It also retains the sense which we find 111 early Chnsttan
times when it refers to the astral bodies and the powers believed to
Jie behind them. Most importantly, it seems that the term stoicheion
acquires at this time another sense, for it seems to refer to a
daemon, and in particular a daemon attached to some concrete
object; for instance, a daemon attached to a statue which thus
exhibits supernatural forces, i.e. it becomes a talisman, like the
Hippodrome monuments on the basis of which future events, and
especially disasters, could be predicted. This is, after all, how we
nowadays understand the term stoicheion in modem Greek.
35
Hence, just talking about stoicheia most probably brought to the
mind of a Byzantine in that period some connection with daemons
and magical practices. Does this mean, however, that Psellos
presents his interpretation of the letters of the alphabet as implying
magical relations between letters and the world?
In the proemium of the treatise, Psellos twice boasts to be the first
to interpret the letters of the alphabet as divine symbols
(l\ULVov/exmvot6f.ll]OUf.tEV: 14-17, 49-50). He also claims at the
to have written it in just one night, as if he were, we could say.
m state of divine inspiration (637-42). But what is exactly the
achievement which he regards as innovative and God inspired? Is it
34
M Psellos, Orationes hagiographicae, ed. Fisher, 1B.I99; Psellos Philosophic
mora I ed O'M 3 '
"F . eara, 2.87: 36.445; Psellos, Theologica, ed. Gautier, I 74.142.
!7 'c Das m Mystic und Magie (Leipzig and Berlin, 1922), 14--
E
Blum, The meanmg of Ol:OLXELOV and its derivatives in the Byzantine age'
ranos Jahrbuch 44 (1946) 31 '
Byzanfi D 5-25; R. Greenfield, Traditions of Belief in Late
ne aemonology (Amsterdam, 1988), 190-95.
112
really true that nobody before him tried to interpret the letters of the
alphabet as symbols of the Divine?
In ancient texts as well as in the works of Christian Fathers we
sometimes do find isolated interpretations of individual letters. For
instance, Plutarch's treatise De E apud Delphos gives seven
possible interpretations of the letter "E1jnA.ov which is found in
Delphic inscriptions.
36
Since in Plutarch's time the diphthong 'EI'
was used as the name of "E'ljJLA.ov, this particular letter acquired a
symbolic character, not only because it refers to the number five,
but also because it refers to the conditional particle 'if' as well as to
the second person singular of the verb 'to be'; according to one of
these interpretations, "E'ljJLA.ov is the second vowel, and since the
Sun is the second planet and Apollo is identified with the Sun,
''E'IjJIAov is a symbol of Apollo. Also, in the scholia on Dionysius
Thrax (321.37) there is some discussion of the letter 8f]tet, which
is said to portray with its circular shape the universe, having an axis
in the middle as the division between the heavens and the earth.
Then in John's Apocalypse (1.8; 21.6; 22.13}, famously enough,
God presents himself as the 'AA.<j>a and the 'Qj.liya of everything.
And in one of John Chrysostom's homilies (in Epist. ad Hebr.: PG
63, 77) the letter 'AA.<j>a is said to be the foundation of the alphabet
just like Christ is the foundation of Christianity. Furthermore, there
are also passages in which ancient philosophers used the letters of
the alphabet as an example for understanding the constitution and
division of reality, like for instance when Plato and Aristotle
compare the letters with the basic elements.
37
Finally, it should be
added that both ancient philosophers, starting from the
Pythagoreans, and Christian thinkers were very much intrigued by
the symbolic meaning of numbers, for which letters were used, as
well as by the unraveling of the real meaning of names in terms of
letters from which they are composed, an issue notoriously
dtscussed in Plato's Cratylus.
....
36
Plutarch, DeE apud Delphos, ed. W. Sieveking, Plutarchi moralia, III (Leipzig,
1929; repr. 1972), 1-24.
" Plato, Timaeus, ed. J. Burnet, Platonis opera, IV (Oxford, 1902; repr. 1968),
4
8c; Plato, Phi/ebus, ed. J. Burnet, Platonis opera, II (Oxford, 1901; repr.
1
967)18bff.; Theaetetus, ed. J. Burnet, Platonis opera, I (Oxford, 1900; repr.
19
67), 202eff; Anstotle,Meteorologica, ed. and tr. P. Louis (Paris, 1982),104lbff.
113
M
g next to the magical tradition, there is no doubt that letters,
ovm
1
1
II as
numbers and names, play an tmportant ro e m magtca
. .
b I
. " and practices. For they are satd to be the symbols whtch God
e 1e1s ak h d " h
n in the world in order to keep aw e m us t e estre 10r t e
has sow h "
1
f h
F t Being.3
8
The magician who knows t ese voca tmages o t e
should use them in their original form without, for
t ce translating them into another language, so that he manages
msan, 40 h
through them to communicate with the And t are
indeed many instances of the use of magtcal letters both m the
Greek magical papyri from the second to fifth century A. D., and
D
elatte's Anecdota Atheniensia whtch may be as late as the
among
1
. 1
sixteenth century, but most probably present a ear _ter magtca
d
't' For example vowels are often used m a certam order for
tra tton. , . .
all kinds of incantations.
41
Letters
rectpes
curing diseases, like for instance or btte of a "_Vtld
dog,43 and even for identifying a thtef. . In there ts a
treatise by the alchemist Zosimus on the mterpretatton of the letter
n.,b hich he takes to be the symbol for the planet Saturn,
FYCt, w . . (. , )
although he adds that it also has an mexphcable etVEQJ.LllVEUtov
incorporeal meaning.
So, why does Psellos claim that he is the first to. write on the
symbolic meaning of letters, when there is plenty of bef?re
him in the subject? It is true that in his treatise on the mter_Pretatton
of letters Psellos presents the symbolic meaning of every smgle
of the twenty-four letters of the alphabet in a systematic_ way, whtch
is far more sophisticated than the scattered remarks of hts
" Ch td 0 1 ed tr and comm. R. Majercik (Leiden, 1989),108.1;
a aean rae es , .,
1 1
bl' hus De
Proclus, In Platonis Timaeum commentaria, ed. Diehl, I 211. am

1 12
mysteriis, ed. E. des Places, Jamblique. Les mysteres d'Egypte ( ans,
42.15-18. . 959) 24
"Damaskios, In Philebum, ed. and tr. L.G. Westermk (Amsterdam, I
.. Cha/daean Oracles, ed. Majercik, 150. . ed K
" E.g. Papyri Graecae Magicae, Die griechischen Zauberpapyn,
2
;,. II.
Praezidanz eta!., 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1928-31, 2" ed. 1973-1974). I, 11-
19
'
166e; IV, 493. . .
142
9-11 550.5-
42 A. Delatte, Anecdota Atheniensia, I (L1ege and Pans, 1927),
12,551.10-13.
43
Delatte, Anecdota Atheniensa, l, 141.13-21.
44
Anecdota Atheniensia, l, 609.14--15,610.16-19 .
114
Katerina Ierod'ak
onou
For he strongly believes that this
exegesis of the alphabet may reveal to us th comprehensive
world and our position in it since there . e of the whole
k' d f , IS COSmiC sympath . .
some m o affinity between God and hi . I.e.
letters of the alphabet. For instance th fi s down to the
in Psellos' view the Trinity A.A.a e :ee letters symbolize
verb auvaA.d<j>ELV "encorr:passes" , w !Cth' e c?nnects with the
. , every mg m it If B
which he connects with the verb " d ,se ,
and does not tum back to some oth . '. trocee s from itself
he connects with the adjective er e, .. which
everything in the world !:! , A. Y IS productive of'
6La( Em . E 'ta symbolizes the division the
l: of the which has as a result the wonde; the
human bemgs feel towards the world and tht's ,s' th
reason w y they start h . ' e
Psellos mana . t e!r un.endmg inquiry, their Thus,
D.tA.ta ''E'Ijlies to gtve an mterpretation of the next three letters
in sand Zl]ta, and of. their particular order. And
'Hta to 'Q , way by relatmg the rest of the letters from
from
j.lya With the different modes of human enquiry starting
our attempts to k '
moving to ou d'ffi . nowledge of the sensible world and
Moreover, the intelligible reality.
their order but al n treatise not only the letters and
the lette :
0
so t eir shape; for mstance, the circular shape of
symbolizes on his view the pure intellect
e pure mtellect always turns to itself. '
This brief description f h
hope that h' .
0
t e contents of Psellos' treatise shows I
, IS exegesis of the lett f h ,
to be used for .
1
ers o t e alphabet is not supposed
by knowing th magtcba For there is certainly no hint that,
e sym ohc mean f h 1
influence the ord f h . mg
0
t e etters, human beings may
in which th er
0
t e umverse. Even in his life of St Auxentios
ere are many d . .
daemons Psello . escnptlons of attempts to drive away
' s IS careful not to ak f
letters or names t
1
. m e any reference to the use o
practices.4s Als; a h east not m the way these are used in magical
Blachemai and how en he talks about the icon of Virgin Mary of
out that in .ask f?r !ts help, he makes sure to point
g 1con It 1s not important to use certain .

ere ts a passage, however in w .
of !he name of God has lh ' htch Psellos clearly says that even !he utterance
hagiographicae, ed. Fisher to drive away daemons (Psellos, Orationes
' -9; cf. also ibid., IA.716-7)
115
names and formulae, possibly implying by this a contrast with the
significance in magic of a precise use of letters and names (Drat.
hag. 4.79-82). Hence, the sole motivation behind Psellos' treatise
seems rather to be his wish to construct a systematic exegesis of the
alphabet, which is in accordance with his metaphysical views,
overrides the scattered interpretations of the previous thinkers and
cancels the paradoxical interpretations given to letters in magic. In
other words, Psellos tries, on the basis of his belief in the
sympathetic relation between the letters and everything else in the
world, to give a reasonable interpretation of their hidden meanings;
and this interpretation does not serve any purpose other than to
provide human beings with a better understanding of the world and
God's will.
But what kind of understanding do we get through Psellos'
interpretation of the letters of the alphabet? The cosmic sympatheia
between God and his creation is often characterized by Psellos with
an adjective, which is very common in the Neoplatonic and magical
tradition, namely it is called "ineffable" ( iiQQl]t0).
46
It is not
ineffable, though, in the sense that it is shameful or forbidden to be
spoken of; rather, it is ineffable in the sense that it cannot be
expressed, since it cannot be fully grasped. For the true extent of
our relation to the Divine is not something we can fully understand,
since there is so little we can know about God. Nevertheless,
because . of God's sympathetic relation to the world, we can
understand something about his will, if we carefully read his signs
and symbols. So, learning, among other things, to interpret the
letters of the alphabet may help us in Psellos' view to acquire a
better understanding of God.
We should not, of course, expect that this understanding could have
the certainty of demonstrative knowledge. The signs and symbols
God sends us, including the letters of the alphabet, are mere
46 .Psellos, Orationes hagiographicae, ed. Fisher, 4.67; Michael Psellos, Oratorio
m:nora, ed. A. Littlewood (Leipzig, 1985), 37.367; Philosophica minora, I, ed.
0 Meara, 3.119; Michael Psellos, Theologica, I, ed. P. Gautier (Leipzig. 1989),
81.34.
116
indications, they are ef.l4>aaeu;, as Psellos often repeats.
47
In fact
there are two occasions in which he alludes to the literal sense of
the Greek noun Ef.l4>aat as a "mirror image": in his interpretation
of the three first letters of the alphabet, Psellos points out that, since
we cannot experience God's light in all its glory, it is at least
important to see its reflection in water (Phil. min. I 36.130-6); and
in his account of the miracle of the icon of the Virgin Mary of
Blachemai, he again says that, since we cannot see the Sun, just as
we cannot have knowledge of the Divine, it is at least important to
see the Sun's reflection in water (Orat. hag. 4.49-53). This means,
of course, that our interpretations of God's signs and symbols not
only fail to give us certain knowledge, they always run the risk of
not being correct. To avoid false beliefs, Psellos often stresses that
we have to be very vigilant in reading God's symbols. For instance,
again in his account of the miracle of the icon of the Virgin Mary,
he goes to great length to show that even the way questions are
posed to the icon considerably influences our interpretations of
God's will (Orat. hag. 4.617ff.).
But, then, who is really in a good position to interpret God's signs
and symbols? In the proemium of his exegesis of the letters of the
alphabet, Psellos draws a sharp distinction between on the one hand
the sophists, who have always something to say about everything
without getting involved in serious thought, and on the other hand
the philosophers, who work hard to avoid false beliefs and to
acquire at least s o ~ true understanding of the world and its
Creator (Phil. min. I 36.10-14). Psellos obviously thinks of himself
as a philosopher when he presents his systematic interpretation of
the letters of the alphabet, and in general when he arduously tries to
grasp the hidden meanings of things in the sensible world on the
basis of their sympathetic relation to the Divine. I do think that
Psellos considers himself a philosopher in a long philosophical
tradition, when he appropriates the Greek concept of cosmic
sympatheia in such a way as to reconcile Christian dogma with
47
Michael Psellos, De omnifaria doctrina, ed. L. G. Westerink (Nijmegen, 1948),
25.6; Psellos, Orationes hagiographicae, ed. Fisher, 4.679; 687; 698; 703; Psellos,
Theo/og1ca, ed. Gautier, I 62.64; 76.129; 91.51; 54.
G
k Co
ncept of Sympatheia and Its Byzantine
The ree .
n
. ation in Michael Psellos
APProP
117
b I
. f I hope therefore, to have shown that his
P
opular e Je s. , . . .
f this notion is worthy of senous cons1deratwn.
appropnauon o
I would like to thank John Duffy and Pavlos Kalligas for their helpful comments
on an earlier version of this paper.
PaulMagdalino
University of St. Andrews and Koc; University
Occult Science and Imperial Power in
Byzantine History and Historiography
(9th-12th Centuries)
The connection between science and government is as old as
history and is still very much with us. The connection between the
occult sciences and political regimes goes back at least to Sumer
and Egypt, and still makes an occasional appearance even in
western democracies. The mutual benefits of the relationship are
obvious. The occult scientist can promise the ruler access to extra-
terrestrial forces, fabulous wealth, and inside knowledge of the
future. The ruler can offer the occult scientist research funding, job
security, and protection from persecution in societies where, as
everywhere in the Christian and Islamic Middle Ages, the occult is
more or less outlawed by the dominant ideology. The down-side is
no less evident: the occult scientist can make his services and
expertise available to the ruler's internal and external enemies; even
if he does not, he Jives under constant suspicion of doing so. The
~ l r who lavishes trust and patronage on a master of the occult
nsks not only being defrauded, betrayed or at least misled, but also
120
Paul Magdalino
incurring the resentment of his other comtiers, the censure of h'
clergy, and a general loss of political credibility. IS
The close but tense relationship between occult scientists and rule
or would-be rulers is, more than anything, what puts occult scien::
in new.s, by extensio.n gives it a place in the history books.
Poht1cal h1stones thus contam valuable, often unique, evidencefor
the existence of occult science in high places at important times.
This is true of both the Roman and the Byzantine Empires. We
would know much less about astrologers in early imperial Rome
but for the gossip related by Tacitus, Suetonius, Cassius Dio and the
Historia Augusta.' We would not know that astrologers existed in
sixth, seventh and eighth-century Constantinople but for occasional
mentions by Procopius,
2
John of Nikiu,
3
Theophanes
4
and
Theophanes Continuatus.
5
Yet narrative histories are not, of course,
completely transparent windows on any aspect of the past they
record. Their distance from the events they narrate can be
They conceal, distort and omit as much as they reveal.
It IS important to understand, as far as possible with the aid of other
sources, what they fail to convey. But because they are important, it
is important to understand why they convey what they do.
Th1s too throws light on the context and occasionally even the
content of occult science in the culture that produced them.
In this paper I will look at the evidence for occult science in
history from the ninth to the twelfth century as recorded
by h1stonans writing between the tenth and thirteenth centuries.
Politically, this period was the great age of the medieval Byzantine
1
One need only look at the footnotes of Frederick H. Cramer Astrology in Roman
i-"wand.Politics (Philadelphia, 1954). '
. Anecdota, XI. 37-40: persecution of astrologers in Constantinople
under Justmtan 1.

of fohn, Bishop ofNikiu, tr. R.H. Charles (London, i916), XCV,

4
Th 'pp. -4: astrological prediction of Maurice's downfall.

ed. C. de Boor (Leipzig, 1883; repr. Hildesheim,
B 'r' d N
8
Theophanes, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor:

ear Eastern History, A.D. 284-813, tr. C. Mango and R. Scott

643
: the astrologer-monk Paul (695) and the court astrologer
' Theophanes Continuatus, ed. I. Bekker, CSHB (Bonn, 1838).
0
ult Science and Imperial Power in Byzantine History and
cc .. '"C . )
Historiography (9 -12 entunes
121
Empire; culturally, it was marked by a cumulative revival and
expansion of learning in which both history writing and occult
science played their parts.
6
My analysis will concentrate primarily
on the material recorded in the three most informative histories: the
anonymous continuation of the chronicle of Theophanes, compiled
in the mid tenth century and covering the period 813-961;
7
the
Alexiad of Anna Comnena, written towards the middle of the
twelfth century and covering the reign of the author's father
Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118);
8
and Niketas Choniates' history
of the period 1118-1206, mostly written before the end of the
twelfth century, but significantly revised and updated after the
crusader conquest of Constantinople in 1204.
9
In each case I shall
be concerned to establish: (a) what the text in question has to say
about the occult sciences, (b) the function of this material in the
narrative and the author's purpose in recording it, and (c) what
emerges from collating this material with other contemporary
evidence, most importantly that from non-historiographical sources.
I shall also consider the three most relevant histories written
between Theophanes Continuatus and Anna Cornnena, those by
Leo the Deacon (c. 1000),
10
Michael Psellos (c. 1060 and c.\075)
11
6
I have examined the role of astrology in this process in my recent book,
L'orthodoxie des astrologues. La science entre le dogme et Ia divination tl Byzance
(Vll'-XJV' siec/es), Realites byzantines 12 (Paris, 2006), chapters 3-5.
7
See above, n. 5.
' Anna Comnena, Annae Comnenae Alexias, ed. D.R. Reinsch, A. Kambylis,
CFHB 40, 2 vols. (Berlin-New York, 2001); Anna Comnena, The Alexiad, tr. E.
Sewter (Harmondsworth, 1969).
'Niketas Choniates Nicetae Choniatae Historia, ed. J.-L. van Dieten, CFHB II, 2
vols. (Berlin and New York, 1975); Niketas Choniates, 0 City of Byzamium.
Annals of Niketas Choniates, tr. H. Magoulias (Detroit, 1984). The significance of
the revisions, as evidenced by the different manuscript versions, is studied by A. J.
Simpson, 'Studies on the Composition of Niketas Choniates' Historia' (Ph. D.
diss., King's College London, 2004).
10
Leo the Deacon, Historia, ed. c. B. Hase, CSHB (Bonn, \828); Leo the Deacon,
Leo the Deacon. Byzantine Military Expansion in the Tenth Century, tr. A.-M.
Talbot eta! (Washington, D. C., 2004).
11
Michael Psellos, Chronographia, ed. and tr. E. Renauld, 2 vols. (Paris, 1926-8;
repr. 1967).
122
Paul MagdaJino
and Michael Attaleiates (c. 1080).
12
Before dealing with Choniates
it will be useful to look briefly at the rather different perspective

occult science at court in the mid twelfth century provided by John
Kinnamos, writing c. 1183.
13
Passing reference will be made, too, to
the tenth-century chronicles that provide parallel narratives to
Theophanes Continuatus,
14
and to the eleventh and twelfth-century
chronicles that are not direct witnesses to the events they record but
nevertheless provide interesting reflections of contemporary
attitudes.
15
The history known as Theophanes Continuatus has a composite
structure and shares material with other contemporary histories,
both the so-called Genesios and the various versions of the
Logothete chronicle.
16
However, Books I-V, covering the period
813-886, are the result of a single commission by emperor
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (945-959), and can be assumed to
represent single view of the past, even if book V, the encomiastic
biography of Basil I (Vita Basilii), is by a different author.
17
Furthermore, the encomiastic account of Constantine VII in Book
VI suggests that the author of this addition, made c. 963, was
broadly in sympathy with the line taken in the previous sections.
The compilation as a whole may therefore be taken as reflecting a
consistent attitude to the political use of occult science. The first
and most prominent mentions are in connection with the career of
12
Michael Attaleiates, Historia, ed. I. Bekker, CSHB (Bonn, 1853); new edition
with Spanish translation, Michael Attaleiates, Miguel Ataliates, Historia, tr. and
comm. I. Perez Martin (Madrid, 2002).
13
Ioannes Kinnamos, Epitome rerum ab Joanne et Alexio Comnenis gestarum, ed.
A. Meineke, CSHB (Bonn, 1836); Ioannes Kinnamos, Deeds of John and Manuel
Comnenus, tr. C. M. Brand, (New York, 1976).
14
I.e. Leo Grammaticus, Chronographia, ed. 1. Bekker , CSHB (Bonn, 1842}, .3-
331, Pseudo-Symeon, in Theophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 601-760, Georgms
Monachus Continuatus, ibid., 761-924.
" These are, in chronological order, the chronicles of John Skylitzes, John
Zonaras, Constantine Manasses, and Michael Glykas.
16
H. Hunger, Die hochsprachliche profane Literatur der Byzantiner (Munich,
1978}, I, 339-43, 349-56.
17
I. Sevcenko, 'The Title of and Preface to Theophanes Continuatus', Bollettino
della Badia greca di Grottaferrata, n.s. 52 (1998), 77-93.
It Science and Imperial Power in Byzantine History and
Occu "' '" C . )
123
h patriarch John VII the Grammarian.
18
John features in the
t e ative as a prime mover in the revival of iconoclasm under Leo
815, then as the chief religious adviser to Leo's successor
Michael II (820-9) and his son. Theop?ilos, then finally. as
the evil genius of Theoph1los persecutmg regtme (829-42),
omoted patriarchal synkellos soon after the new emperor s
pr cession in preparation for becoming patriarch when the throne
sue 19
1
d J h
fell vacant eight or nine years later. va ue. o .n Or
h's political and disputational skills, accordmgly choosmg htm to
h
1
ad the important embassy that he despatched to the Caliph al-
e 20 J h d
Mamun at the beginning of his reign. Thereafter, o n contmue
to make himself indispensable by satisfying the anxio.us
craving for knowledge of the future, "making predictions to htm
through dish-divining (A.EKavoJ.tavtsia) and sorcery (yorrreia)". The
author goes on to relate one example of Once the
emperor was deeply distressed by the mvas10n of an mfidel
barbarian horde under three leaders, John came up with a solution
to restore his morale. He said that in the hippodrome there was a
statue with three heads, "which he related to the leaders of the
enemy people by some enchantment (Ka-r6. nva cnotxsirocnv)".
Three strong men with three gigantic hammers should there.fore
strike the heads in unison at a certain appointed hour of the mght.
The emperor gave his approval, and the operation duly ":ent
Late one night in the Hippodrome, John, di,sguised m
clothes, quietly recited the magic words ('wu; <JLOLXELWnxou;
Myou;), "transferring the force that was inherent in the to
the (barbarian) leaders, or rather destroying that
previously in the statue by virtue of the spellbinding agent.s (EX 11)
1wv <JWLXELW<JCNtwv i'luvaJ.tEW)". When he gave stgnal, the
men with hammers dealt their mighty blows, although smce one
18
The fullest and most careful discussions of the scattered evidence for his career
are by D. Stiemon, 'John the Grammarian', in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de
Geographie Ecc/esiastiques (Paris, 1912-), fasc. 156-157, cots. and R.-J.
Lilie, Die Patriarchen der ikonoklastischen Zeit. Germanos 1.- Methodws I. (715-
847)(Frankfurt, 1999}, 169-82.
19
Theophanes Cominuatus, ed. Bekker, 32, 95-6, 154-5. .
20
Ibid., 95-9; cf. P. Magdalino, 'The road to Baghdad in the thought world ot
ninth-century Byzantium', in L. Brubaker, ed., Byzantium in the Ninth Cemury.
Dead or Alive? (Aldershot, 1998), 196-8.
124
Paul MagdaJino
struck less forcefully than the others one head was bent b
I
. ' ut not
comp etely severed. This was reflected in the fate of th hree
. d' I e t
mva mg eaders as they proceeded to tum against each oth
er: one
destroyed the other two, and retreated in disorder with the red ed
remains of the barbarian host.
21
uc
There an account of John's activities in his underground
sorcerer s laboratory that he constructed in a suburban estat
to his Here he kept a team of good-looking
":h? to his every need. They assisted him in his various
divmatlons b.y hepat.oscopy, dish-divining, sorcery and necromancy,
through which, With the aid of demons, he made accurate
predictions not only for Theophilos but also for various of the
emperor's associates.
22
One such prediction is mentioned at another
in the text: John foresaw by dish-divining the rise to power of
Basil the Macedonian.
23
Occult science makes two further appearances in connection with
Theophilos' reign. The first mention of astrology occurs in the
legendary story of the rise of Theophobos, a Persian refugee of
royal blood: according to one of the two alternative versions of his
origins recounted by Theophanes Continuatus when the Persians
":ere trying to trace surviving members of thei; royal dynasty, they
his presence in Constantinople "by astronomy and
divmatiOn (for they say that these sciences still flourish among the
Persians)".
24
Astrology also figures in the famous and no less
legendary account of the career of John the Grammarian's cousin
Leo the Mathematician, an account that has been enormously
influen.tial, creating perceptions of the 'first Byzantine
humanism . When Leo replies to the Caliph's invitation to go to
21
Theophanes Conrinuatus, ed. Bekker, 155-6; C. Mango, 'Antique Statuary and
the Byzantme Beholder', DOP 17 (1963), 61; repr. in idem Byzantium and Its
Image (London, 1984). '
:: Theophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 156-
57
.
24
Theophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 122.
'!heophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, Ill; cf. J.-C. Cheyne!, 'Theophile,
Theophobe et les Perses', in S. Lampakis, ed. Byzantine Asia Minor (6''-12'' cent)
1998), 39-50. '
The_ophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 185-92. The bibliography on Leo and his
role m the Byzantine "renaissance" is extensive; see P. Lemerle, Byzantine
occult Science and Imperial Power in Byzantine History and
Historiography (9'h-12'h Centuries)
125
Baghdad, he includes some predictions which in the context must
be astrological, and when he later becomes archbishop of
Thessalonica, he uses his astrological knowledge to save the city
from famine by predicting the end of a drought, and hence the right
moment to sow the next grain crop. It is important to note, however,
that this is very "soft" astrology, far removed from the casting of
nativity horoscopes that were the main focus of the church's
disapproval, and in any case astrology is presented as quite
marginal to Leo's main area of interest and expertise in philosophy
and mathematics, for which he gained his international reputation.
Furthermore, his astrology is not related to politics, and where he
makes political predictions, other kinds of occult knowledge are
involved. The two reported instances are associated with the reign
of Theophilos' son Michael III (842-67); both concern the rise to
power of Basil the Macedonian and the fall of Michael's uncle, the
Caesar Bardas, who promoted Leo after Theophilos' death. When
an earthquake toppled a statue in the Deuteron region of
Constantinople, Leo interpreted this to signify the fall of the man
who was second in rank after the emperor.
26
Leo is also said to have
told Bardas that his dynasty would be destroyed by "a certain young
man"; later, on seeing Basil, he pointed to him as the man in
question.2
7
The eulogistic biography of Basil I (867-86) that forms the central
portion of Theophanes Continuatus contains one reference to
Humanism, The First Phase (Canberra, 1986), 171-204; N. Wilson, Scholars of
Byzanh'um (London, 1983), 79-84; L. G. Westerink, 'Leo the Philosopher: Job and
Other Poems', Illinois Classical Studies, II (1986), 193-222. V. Katsaros, 'Leo
the Mathematician, his Literary Presence in Byzantium during the 9th Century', in
P. L. Butzer, D. Lohrmann, eds., Science in Western and Eastern Civilization in
Carolingian Times (Basel, 1993), 383-98; C. Angelidi, 'Le sejour de Leon le
Mathematicien a Andros: realite ou confusion?', EY'PYXIA. Melanges offerts a
Helene Ahrweiler, Byzantina Sorbonensia 16 (Paris, 1998) I, 1-7; M.
Lauxtermann, 'Ninth-century classicism and the erotic muse', in L. James, ed.,
?esire and Denial in Byzantium (Aldershot, 1999),161-70. Cf. also P. Speck,
Byzantium: cultural suicide?', in Brubaker, ed., Byzantium in the Ninth Cenwry,
and P. Magdalino, 'Road to Baghdad', ibid., 199-202.
Theophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 196-7; the chronicle of Pseudo-Symeon
(ibid., 677) explicitly applies this to the Caesar Bardas.
" Ibid., 232.
126
PauiMagdalino
astrology and one to sorcery. Describing Basil's building work in
the Great Palace,. the text mentions that he re-excavated and
restored to use cisterns that had been filled in by Heraclius
following a prediction by "Stephen the Mathematician" that ~
would perish by water.
28
This is one of the very few historical
mentions of Stephen of Alexandria as an astrologer, and it is the
only one independent of the horoscope of lslam.
29
Sorcery makes a
passing appearance towards the end of the biography, in the figure
of Theodore Santabarenos, a priest and monk who won Basil's
confidence in his final years, after the death of the emperor's eldest
son and designated heir, Constantine. Denounced by Basil's eldest
surviving son, "the most wise Leo (-wil ao<jloH:Cnou Ai\ovto\;)", as
a "sorcerer and deceiver (W y61'] xal <'m:atewv)", Santabarenos
contrived to frame Leo in a plot to kill his father while they were
out hunting. Leo was imprisoned and Basil, at Santabarenos'
insistence, would have had him blinded if the patriarch and senate
had not intervened. After a considerable lapse of time he was
persuaded to restore Leo to favour.
30
Book VI of the chronicle, covering the reigns of Basil I's
successors from 886 to 961, records four incidents involving the
political use of occult science. In 907-8 Leo VI (886-912)
summoned the metropolitan of Synada, Pantaleon, to interpret an
eclipse of the Moon.
31
He said that it signified the ruin of "the
second person", who turned out to be the emperor's chamberlain
Samonas, and not Leo's brother and co-emperor Alexander as the
emperor originally thought (and perhaps hoped). When Alexander
succeeded Leo as senior emperor in 912, he consulted "deceivers
and sorcerers" (:n:A.6.vot ... xal y61']GLV) who persuaded him that
the statue of the Kalydonian boar in the Hippodrome was his
talisman (crtmxetov). Alexander, failing to spot the allusion to his
own piggish lifestyle, accordingly equipped the bronze animal V.:ith
new teeth and genitals, and celebrated its rejuvenation by holdmg
special games, in which he sacrilegiously decorated the
"'Ibid., 338
"' SeeM. Papathanassiou in this volume.
~ Theophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 348-51.
Theophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 376.
Occult Science and Imperial Power in Byzantine History and
Historiography (9'"-12'" Centuries)
127
Hippodrome with lamps and curtains borrowed from churches.
32
After Alexander's death in 913, when the regency government of
the young Constantine VII was threatened by the formidable revolt
of the general Constantine Doukas, the regents were reassured by a
note in invisible ink from a former tax collector who had defected
to the Arabs, where he had apostasised to Islam and practised
"astronomy or rather astrology".
33
Finally, in 927, the death of the
empire's worst enemy, Symeon of Bulgaria, was brought about by
the decapitation of a statue at the Forum of Arcadius. This was done
at night after "the astronomer John" had informed the emperor
Romanos I Lekapenos that "the statue standing on the arch at the
Xerolophos, facing westward, is Symeon 's <talisman>, and if you
cut off its head, Symeon will die at once".
34
Despite the scattered, uneven and generally brief nature of these
references, three consistent patterns emerge. Firstly, recourse to
occult science is associated with rulers whom Constantine
Porphyrogenitus regarded as "bad", including the black sheep of his
own dynasty, his wicked uncle Alexander who had threatened to
exclude him from power. His own father's and grandfather's brief
encounters with the occult do not reflect badly on them. Basil is the
unwitting dupe of the "sorcerer" Santabarenos rather than the
conscious employer of the latter's nefarious services; he is deceived
while he is distraught by the recent death of his son, and his
deception only has serious consequences for his other son and heir
precisely because the "most wise Leo" recognises the deceiver for
the sorcerer that he is. Besides, we are spared embarrassing details
about Santabarenos' connections and the nature of his sorcery. As
for Leo VI's astrological enquiry concerning the lunar eclipse, this
is addressed to a churchman, and it is very "soft" astrology;
35
in any
case, a writer working for Constantine VII could hardly deny the
importance of celestial portents, given that Constantine's own birth,
32
Ibid., 379; cf. Mango, 'Antique Statuary', 63.
33
Theophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 383-4.
34
Ibid., 411-2.
" The distinction between 'hard' and 'soft', i.e. fatalistic and non-fatalistic
astrology was coined by A. A. Long, 'Astrology: argum.ents pro and contra', in J.
Barnes, J. Brunschwig, M. Bumyeat, M. Schofield, eds., Science and Speculation.
Studies in Hellenistic theory and practice (Cambridge, 1982), 170, n. 19.
128 Paul Magdalino
according to the emperor's own biography in Book VI of
Theophanes Continuatus, had been announ.ced by a comet.
36
With these exceptions, all the other rulers m the narrative who use
the services of occult scientists are dynastic enemies, either because
they belonged to the Amorian dynasty that Basil I terminated by the
murder of Michael III, or, in the case of Romanos Lekapenos (920-
44), because he had tried to establish his own dynasty at the
expense of Constantine VII. Theophilos and his predecessors were,
moreover, impious iconoclasts, and this makes it unsurprising that
the most villainous portrait in the entire rogues' gallery is the
iconoclast patriarch John the Grammarian whom the chronicler,
echoing earlier iconophile propaganda, calls by the opprobrious
name of !annes, after one of the magicians who was worsted by
Moses before Pharaoh
37
It is interesting to note the contrast
between the portrayal of John and that of his cousin Leo the
Mathematician, despite the probability that they had very similar
educations and interests, and the fact that they are both credited
with predicting the accession of Basil I. John, the obdurate
iconoclast, is portrayed primarily as a master of the occult, while
Leo, a lukewarm iconoclast who was rehabilitated after the
Triumph of Orthodoxy and given an important teaching post, is
portrayed primarily as a philosopher whose learning may have had
occult by-products but was on the whole a distinguished part of the
national heritage. Significantly, Leo only interprets the fall of a
statue, but does not interfere with it.
A second pattern that may be discerned in Theophanes
Continuatus' references to the occult is the rather low and marginal
profile accorded to astrology compared with other forms of
expertise. Apart from the "soft" astrological interpretations
36
Theophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 463, where the same comet is said to have
reappeared, dull and faded, at Constantine's death.
37
2 Tim 3, 8; cf. Ex 7, 11-12. The main source of information on Iannes was,
however, an apocryphal work, The Book of /annes and Iambres, now extant only in
papyrus fragments, but apparently available at the Byzantine court in the eighth
and ninth centuries; according to Michael the Syrian, Leo IV (775-780), the
iconoclast emperor of the !saurian dynasty, sent a copy a gift to the Abbasid
caliph al-Mahdi. See A. Pietersma, The Apocryphon of ]annes and Jumbres the
Magicians (Leiden, 1994); Chronique de Michelle Syrien, ed. and tr. J. Chabot
(Paris, 1899-1905), III, I.
Occu ,. '"C . )
129
attributed to Leo the and the Pantale?n
f Synada, political astrology 1s clearly located m the past, wtth
and Stephen of Alexandria, or in the east, among the
Persians and Arabs, and its methods are not discussed. Much more
rominent are dish-divining, mentioned three times as a speciality
John the Grammarian, and, above all, the science of interpreting
and controlling the talismanic force ( O"WLXE'Lov) inherent in the
public statuary of Constantinople. This, rather than any astrological
expertise, is the main claim to of John the under
Romanos I; he is in effect a yo11<;. a sorcerer, JUSt hke John the
Grammarian, Theodore Santabarenos, and the advisers of the
emperor Alexander. Not only is the applied knowledge of
stoicheiosis mentioned four times in the text, but the first and most
detailed account, relating to John the Grammarian, explains the
principles involved in the operation. The reasons for this emphasis
are not immediately apparent. However, it is clear from other tenth-
century sources, notably the Patria of Constantinople, that
contemporary Byzantines regarded the city's statues, with their
magical properties, as a vital part of their collective heritage and
identity.
38
We might therefore hazard the suggestion that the science
of interpreting and manipulating this unique collection of statuary
was valued precisely because it was exclusive to Byzantium-the
one science that gave the Byzantines the edge over their Arab
competitors.
What cannot be mistaken is that the author of Theophanes
Continuatus, books I-IV, takes it all seriously; the phenomenon
interests him, and his interest is picked up by the author of book VI.
Portents and prophecies abound throughout their text-! have
examined only those cases which could be construed as scientific-
and they do not serve merely to amplify the narrative. In connection
with the accession of Michael II the Amorian, the author denounces
diabolical divination (!Ulvnxl)) as a major cause of the civil wars
unleashed by ambitious contenders for the throne in whom the devil
has planted the "seeds of empire" in the form of optimistic
" Scriptores rerum Constantinopolitanarum, ed. Th. Preger (Leipzig, 1901-7;
repr. 1989); cf. G. Dagron Constantinople imaginaire. Etudes sur le recueil des
"Patrkl" (Paris, 1984).
130
Paul Magdalino
predictions by persons of ill repute.
39
Yet he clearly believes that
political foreknowledge can be divinely inspired, for he gives
numerous examples of portents seen and prophecies made by
respectable people, including holy men.
40
More often than not, the
question of divine or demonic origin does not arise: a striking case
in point is that of the "Sibylline book" in the Palace library,
containing an illustrated prophecy that was interpreted as foretelling
the overthrow of Leo V in 820.
41
Whatever the means employed,
their efficacy is never in doubt, and the coverage is even-handed.
One may thus suggest that the authors' brief to give an
ideologically correct account of politically reprobate regimes
provides the excuse to indulge a personal, if not an official
fascination with the more suspect forms of esoteric knowledge.
This fascination demonstrably corresponded to preoccupations of
the mid tenth-century milieu in which Theophanes Continuatus was
written and compiled. The air in Constantinople around 960 was
thick with political prophecy, as we learn from Liudprand of
Cremona and contemporary Byzantine sources.
42
As we have
already seen, the Patria reflect a contemporary concern with the
magic of statues, which is also perhaps reflected in the evidence of
a Spanish Arabic source that a copy of the Apotelesmata of
Apollonius of Tyana was sent to the court of Cordoba by
Constantine VII or one of his successors before 972.
43
At the same
time, astrology was not highly favoured, to judge from the lack of
horoscopes, astrological treatises, and astrological or even
astronomical manuscripts in the literature associated with the
39
Theophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 44-5; cf. also 56.
"'Ibid., 7-10,21-3,36,37,40, 102, 121, 122, 170-1, 180-4, 2l7ff, 22lff, 223-5,
225-6,226-7,233, 281-2,320.
41
Ibid., 35-6.
42
Liudprand of Cremona, Opera omnia, ed. P. Chiesa, Corpus Christianorum,
Continuato Medievalis 156 (Tumhout, 1998), 204-5; see also the Philopatris, ed.
and tr. M.D. Macleod, in Lucian, Works, VIII (Cambridge, Mass., !967), 415-65;
P. Magdalino, 'Une prophetie inedite des environs de 1 'an 965 attribuee a Leon le
Philosophe (MS Karakallou 14, f. 253r-254r)', Travaux et Memoires 14 (2002) (-'
Melanges Gilbert Dagron), 391-402.
" S. M. Stem, 'A Letter of the Byzantine Emperor to the Court of the Spanish
Ummayad Caliph al-Hakam',AI Andalus26 (1961), 37-42.
Historiography (9''-12" Centuries)
131
"encyclopaedism" of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.
44
Comparison
with other sources suggests that Theophanes Continuatus may have
distorted ninth-century realities in order to save important
reputations. The Patria attributes the mutilation of a statue to the
iconophile emperor Michael I (811-13),
45
while both the Patria and
the Logothete chronicle indicate that the talismanic virtue of statues
did not leave Basil I entirely unmoved.
46
The accounts of Basil's
reign deriving from the Logothete chronicle are also more explicit
on the subject of Theodore Santabarenos and his sorcery in ways
which reflect badly on Photius, if not on Basil:
47
according to them,
Photius recommended him to Basil, and he gained Basil's
confidence by conjuring up an apparition of the emperor's late son
Constantine, "and by many other means which he learned from the
teachings of Apollonius". Indeed, the whole image of Santabarenos
as a sorcerer seems to derive from the anti-Photian propaganda
generated by the patriarch's second and final deposition in 886. The
major piece of invective, the Life of the Patriarch Ignatius (Photius'
main rival), says that Photius recommended Theodore to Basil as a
"holy, most prophetic and visionary man", though knowing him to
be a practitioner of demonic magic, divination and dream
interpretation.
48
According to another anti-Photian text, Theodore's
father had been not only a sorcerer but also a Manichaean, who to
avoid persecution had defected to the Bulgars before their
conversion and renounced his Christian faith; later, Theodore
benefited from Photius' rehabilitation under Basil I because he had
: Byzantine Humanism, chapter 10.
Patna, ed. Preger, Scriptores, II, 205. The emperor is said to have cut the arms
off a statue of the Tyche of Constantinople, in order to weaken the two popular
!actions, the Blues and the Greens.
Leo Grammaticus, Chronographia, ed. Bekker, 257-8; Pseudo-Symeon. ed.
Theophanes Continuatus, p. 692; Patria, ed. Preger, Scriptores, II, 221.
Pseudo-Symeon, in Theophanes Continuatus, ed. Bekker, 692-4, 697;
of George the Monk, ibid., 845-6. Pseudo-Symeon, in keeping with
his anti-Photian line, is especially critical: he portrays Santabarenos as
the of Photius' ambitions and intrigues, accusing him of being a
and calling him "arch-magician" (UQ)(Lj.Ulyov, ibid., 694).
b NJketas ,the Paphlagonian, Vita lgnarii, PG 105, col. 568: W avliQU U'(lOV, XUl
IOQUtLXOOta:ov, XUL :JtQO<j>l]tLXW't<ltOV ... 1\, J.ul/J.ov 1\ J.l<l'(IXi]<;.
XUL i\tOL OO<j>(a<; XUL ljlU)(LXft<;
fltO)(l]X6ta ...
132
Paul Magdalino
had a hand in it, by preparing magic potions which a bribed eunuch
of the emperor's household added to the emperor's food and
drink.
49
Not surprisingly, there is no hint of the occult in the
edifying correspondence that Photius conducted with an Abbot
Theodore, probably Santabarenos, on theological matters. 5
As for Leo VI, the supposed victim of Santabarenos' sorcery, later
sources notably the interpolated version of Skylitzes, credit him
with an interest in astrology,
51
for which some confirmation can be
found in contemporary texts: the horoscope of Constantine VII,
52
and the letters and poems of Leo Choirosphaktes.
53
Leo the
Mathematician also emerges from other sources-the Logothete
chronicle,
54
the Palatine Anthology,
55
and astrological
manuscripts
56
-as more of an astrologer than Theophanes
Continuatus makes him appear.
We have already seen how, and why, the author draws a contrast
between Leo the Mathematician and John the Grammarian, who is
presented as the occult scientist par excellence. Unfortunately, there
is no evidence for John's occult interests independent of the
49
Sty llanos, bishop of Neokaisarieia on the Euphrates, Letter to Pope Stephen VI,
ed. J. D. Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima co/lectio (Florence and
Venice, 1759-), XVI. col. 432.
"' Photii epistulae, I-ll, ed. B. Laourdas and L. G. Westerink (Leipzig, 1983-4),
nos. 65, 142-23, 203, 205).
51
Ioannes Skylitzes, Synopsis historiarum, ed. H. Thurn, CFHB 5 (Berlin and New
York,l973), 192.
52
D. Pingree, 'The Horoscope of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus'. DOP 27
(1973), 219-31.
"G. Kolias, Uon Choerosphactes, magistre, proconsul et patrice (Athens, 1939),
76-7 (Leo VI's prediction of a solar eclipse); F. Ciccolella, Cinque poeti bizantini.
Anacreontee dal Barberino greco 310, Hellenica 5 (Alessandria, 2000), 104--5,
lines 85-6 (allusion to Leo's astronomical and astrological expertise).
54
Ps.-Symeon, ed. Bekker, Theophanes Continuatus, 63.8-40; Georgius Monachus
Continuatus, ed. Bekker, ibid., 804-6; Leo Grammaticus, ed. Bekker, 224--5; cf.
Magdalino, 'Road to Baghdad', 200. In all these versions of the story, Leo's pupil
who is captured by the Arabs impresses the Caliph by his astrological expertise,
and it is this that leads to the invitation to Leo to come to Baghdad.
" AG, IX. 20 I [The Greek Anthology, ed. and tr. W. R. Paton, III (Cambridge,
Mass., and London, 1933), from Leo's copy of the astrological handbook
by Paul of Alexandria; cf. Lemerle, Byzantine Humanism, 197-98.
,. CCAG, 1,139; Ill, 4; IV,40, 92; VII, 33, 65,130.
0
ccu '" 2'"C . )
Historiography (9 -I entunes.
133
onophile damnatio memoriae to which Theophanes Continuatus
':bscribes. It is possible to argue that John the occult scientist is a
fabrication of iconophile psogos, as far from reality
as the similar image that was created by the enem1es of a later
patriarch, Photius.
57
However, the consistency of the invective
against John the Grammarian perhaps gives it some credibility. He
is accused of divination in a source almost contemporary with his
deposition in 843, the canon written, probably by his successor
Methodios, to celebrate the Triumph of Orthodoxy.
58
The same text
says that John should be called Pythagoras, Kronos, or Apollo
rather than by the name of the forerunner of Christ. The first works
composed to rewrite history in the light of the Triumph of
Orthodoxy, the world chronicle of George the Monk and the Life of
St Theodora the Empress, specifically accuse John of lecanomancy,
and call him a "new Apollonius and Balaam";
59
it is interesting to
note that George the Monk, who may have been writing shortly
after 843,
60
manipulated his sources to give a distinctly negative
account of the ancient origins of the occult sciences, denying that
Abraham had been a practitioner of Chaldaean astrology.
61
The
specific accusations against John the Grammarian in these ninth-
century texts, combined with the specific choice of ancient
l1 Pseudo-Symeon, ed. Bekker, Theophanes Continuatus, 670; cf. J. Gouillard, 'Le
Photius du Pseudo-Symeon Magistros: les sous-entendus d'un pamphlet'. Revue
des etudes sud-est europeennes, 9 (I 971), 397-404.
58
PG 99, cols. 1767-80, at 1776 B-C; cf. J. Gouillard, 'Deux figures mal connues
du second iconoclasme', Byzantion, 31 (1961), 371-401, at 380-4.
59
George the Monk, Chronicon, ed. C. de Boor (Leipzig, 1904; repr.
Stuttgart,l978), 798-9; A. Markopoulos, 'B(O tft AirtOXQUTELQU 0wli0>QU
(BHG 1731)', IVf.lf.lEtxra 5 (1983), 249-85, at 261; tr. with notes by M. P.
Vinson in Byzantine Defenders of Images. Eight Saints' Lives in English
Translation, ed. A.-M. Talbot (Washington, D. C., 1998), 367-8; John's
lecanomancy is also mentioned in the late ninth-century Synodicon Vews, ed. and
tr. J. Duffy and J. Parker, CFHB 15 (Washington, D. C., 1979), 130-1.
011
See D. Afinogenov, 'The Date of Georgius Monachus Reconsidered', BZ 92
(1999), 437-47, arguing against the later date proposed by A. Markopoulos,
O't'/t 'XQOvo/..6y1)o1) 1:oii fEWQy(ou Mova:xoii', IVf.lJ.lEtXT:U, 6 [1985].
223-31
61
See William Adler's contribution to this volume. George's efforts to discredit
astrology and divination may therefore be seen, along with his lengthy polemics
against Hellenes, Jews, Muslims and Iconoclasts, and his lengthy defence of
monasticism, as a specific response to the ideology of the last Iconoclast regime
134
Paul Magdalino
prototypes - Pythagoras, the original arcane philosopher
Apollonius, the famous enchanter of statues; Balaam, the
sorcerer of the Old Testament - correspond to the particular profile
drawn by Theophanes Continuatus, and tend to confirm that this is
more than a generalised fantasy or stereotype image. It should also
be noted that John the Grammarian was more or less contemporary
with the compilation of a collection of tales about the monuments
of Constantinople that was the precursor of the Patria. The
Parastaseis Syntomoi Chronikai, put together between 785 and 843,
are of interest to us here because much of their concern is with the
identity and the numinous quality of statues, with the astrological
significance of certain monuments, and with philosophers as
interpreters of public statuary.
62
The Parastaseis is, to my
knowledge, the earliest text to use the word O'tOL')(Eiov and its
derivatives to apply in a technical sense to enchanted statues and
the elemental forces inhabiting them.
63
Is it coincidence that this
usage, replacing the word telesma and its cognates which we find in
the sixth century ,
64
appears at about the same date as the first
recorded attempt to perform a magic ritual on a statue in
Constantinople,
65
which itself coincides with the career debut of the
man to whom the second attested ritual is ascribed? I think it is
reasonable to suppose that Theophanes Continuatus not only
accurately reflects the occult interests and activities of John the
Grammarian, but also documents a significant moment in the
development of a form of occult science that was special to
Byzantium, although it was no doubt based on texts and rituals
ascribed to ancient philosophers, like the Apotelesmata of
62
Parastaseis syntomoi chronik.ai, ed. T. Preger, Scriptores originum
Constantinopolitanarum, I (Leipzig, 1901), 19-73; ed., tr., comm. A. Cameron, 1:
Herrin, Constantinople in the Early Eighth Cemury: The Parastaseis Syntomol
Chronikai (Leiden, 1984); cf. Dagron, Constantinople imaginaire, 29-48 and
passim; for the date, see 0. Kresten, 'Leon Ill. und die Landmauem von
Konstantinopel', Riimische Historische Mitteilungen 26 (1994), 21-52.
63
However, Cameron and Herrin note (p. 33) that the usage is more fluid in the
Parastaseis than in the later Patria.
64
C. Blum, 'The Meaning of stoicheion and its Derivatives in the Byzantine Age',
Eranos 44 (1946), 316-25.
65
I.e. the mutilation of the Tyche of Constantinople, ascribed to Michael I (81 1-
13); see above, n. 44.
0
ccu hc . l
135
Apollonius of Tyana.
66
What should be emphasised is that
Theophanes Continuatus, like the Parastaseis, describes the
talismanic properties of statues as the serious concern of learned
'1 h d I "
67
men, "les pht osop es ans a rue .
It is certainly safe to conclude that the magic of statues was a
concern of the early ninth century. The same can be said of political
prophecy, for which independent evidence exists in the Oracles of
Leo the Wise, recently redated to the reign of Leo V.
68
What cannot
be confirmed, contradicted or indeed explained by any other source
is the complete absence of astrology from Theophanes Continuatus'
account of John the Grammarian and the emperors he served. There
is circumstantial evidence to suggest that John the Grammarian
should have had astrological interests.
69
This makes it all the more
puzzling that astrology is not among the impieties with which he
was posthumously charged. Is this a case of a deliberate preference
for other forms of divination, such as Choniates later attributes to
Andronikos I? Astrology is, by contrast, almost the only occult
science that features in the histories of the late tenth and eleventh
centuries.
70
" Apollonius of Tyana, Apotelesmata, ed. F. Nau, 'Apotelesmata Apollonii
Tyanensis', Patrologia Syriaca, part I, vol. II (Paris, 1907), 1363-92; also ed. F.
Boll in CCAG, VII, 175-81.
67
Dagron, Constantinople imaginaire, ch. 3. This learned aspect of the Byzantine
perception of statues is less apparent in Niketas Choniates (see below); it is also
the one most neglected by modem scholars, who have discussed the phenomenon
in terms of superstition (Mango, 'Antique Statuary'), historical research (Cameron-
Herrin), the construction of myth (Dagron, Constaninople imaginaire), and
preoccupation with the power of images (L. James, 'Pray not to fall into temptation
and be on your guard: Pagan Statues in Christian Constantinople', Gesta, 35
[1996], 12-20).
" The Oracles of the Most Wise Leo and the Tale of the True Emperor (MS
Amstelodamensis Graecus VIE 8), ed. and tr. W. G. Brokaar et al. (Amsterdam,
2002).
"So:e Magdalino, 'Road to Baghdad', 207, 209-11. His career coincides with the
rev1val of astronomy in Byzantium, he visited Baghdad at the time of dated
astronomical observations that are recorded in Greek manuscripts, and his father
was called Pankratios, like the court astrologer of 792 (see above, n. 4): these
account for two of the three entries under that name in the prosopography of the
appropriate period (Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire, Pankratios 1-3 =
der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit 5680-5682).
Magdalino, L'orthodoxie des astrologues, 83-107.
136
Paul Magdalino
According to Leo the Deacon, it is mathematikoi, astrologers, who
provide the scientific explanation for earthquakes.
71
Although he
rejects this, he connects the defeats, civil wars and natural disasters
of the 970s and 980s with the appearance of strange celestial
phenomena.
72
One of these, the comet of 975, prompted the
emperor John I Tzimiskes (969-76), to seek the opinion of two
experts, Symeon the logothete and Stephen, metropolitan of
Nicomedia.
73
Leo criticises them for giving an optimistic
interpretation that flattered the emperor, instead of explaining what
the comet really presaged, "as their art required".
74
The
Chronographia of Michael Psellos contains two digressions on
astrology. The first is occasioned by Michael V's fatal decision to
banish his adoptive mother, the empress Zoe, in 1042.
75
He
dismissed the forecast of the astrologers whom certain of his
advisers urged him to consult; asked whether the stars were
propitious for a great and bold undertaking, they replied that all was
full of blood and gloom, and advised him to abandon or at least
postpone his project. Psellos observes that there was a not
inconsiderable group of astrologers at the time. They had only a
rudimentary understanding of the geometry of the heavenly spheres,
but they had a competent knowledge of the technicalities involved
in the casting of horoscopes, and some of them came up with
accurate predictions. "I say this", says Psellos, "since I know this
science, having studied it for a long time and having helped many
astrologers in the understanding of planetary aspects, although I do
not believe that human affairs are driven by the movements of the
stars". Psellos returns to this theme in a later digression on his own
" Leo the Deacon, Historia, ed. Hase, 68; cf. G. Dagron, 'Quand Ia terre tremble',
Travaux et Memoires 8 (1981), 100. The cause of the destructive earthquake which
struck Constantinople in October 989 appears to have been sought in the city's
horoscope: D. Pingree, 'The Horoscope of Constantinople', in Y. Maeyama, W.
G. Salzer, eds., IIPIEMATA: Naturwissenschaftsgeschichtliche Studien. Festschrift
.!j;r Willy Hartner (Wiesbaden, 1977), 310-11.
73
Leo the Deacon, Historia, ed. Hase, 168, 172--6.
On Symeon, seeN. Oikonomides, 'Two seals of Symeon Metaphrastes', DOP
27 (1973), 323--6; C. H!!!gel, 'Hagiography under the Macedonians: the Two
RecensiOns of the Metaphrastic Menologion', in P. Magdalino, ed., Byzantium in
the Year 1000 (Leiden, 2003), 220ff; for Stephen see below n. 79.
14
Ibid., 168-9. ' '
" Psellos, Chronographia, ed. Renauld, I, 97-8.
11
Science and Imperial Power in Byzantine History and
Occo lh '"C . )
137
learning, inserted into his account of the reign of Theodora (1055-
!056).76 Such is his knowledge of astronomy and astrology, the
long-suffering genius sighs, that he cannot prevent people
from bothering him to make predictions, even though he has
obviously put aside his books. Yes, he has studied all there is to
study, "but I have not made improper use of those sciences which
are forbidden by the wise men of God". Let other people invest the
stars with intelligent life, and connect them with all parts of the
human body. He is content to know the theory without believing in
it, not for any scientific reason, but because "a more divine power
has restrained me". He concludes his digression with a profession
of faith which can be read on one level as fervently pious and on
another level as ironically subversive.
77
Michael Attaleiates, Psellos' slightly younger contemporary, in his
account of the fall of Michael VII (1071-1078), describes the
emperor as refusing to recognise the writing on the wall, but paying
attention instead to "intriguers, astronomers, tellers of portents,
prophecies from statues by rituals (a<jllbQU!J.Utmv ltQOQQljoww tx
tei..etoov), and superstitious demagogues".
78
Attaleiates' dismissive reference to court astrologers is obviously a
part of the case .he is making to justify the overthrow of Michael
VII by Nikephoros Botaneiates. It is not necessarily a dismissal of
astrology, coming from a writer who thought it important to record
that the revolt of Leo Tornikes began on 14 September under the
conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter.
79
It is not so easy to explain Leo
Deacon's impliCit endorsement of "soft" astrology, or Psellos'
ambivalent attitude. Leo clearly regards the interpretation of
celestial phenomena as a legitimate tEXVT\, as long as it is done by
76
Ibid., II, 76-8
A. Kaldeliis, The Argumelll of Psel/os' Chronographia (Leiden, 1999), 118-

: Historia, ed. Bekker, 257; ed. Perez Martin, 185.
COn:JU
e
1
.
1
ates, Historia, ed. Bekker, 22; ed. Perez Martfn, 18 Jupiter-Saturn
nc tons whi h
religt'ous h ' c occur every twenty years, were associated with political and
c ange SeeD p 'H'
1 OrientalS . mgree, tstonca Horoscopes', Journal of the Amerimn
Churches' occtety
82
0
96
2), 487-502; J. D. North, 'Astrology and the Fortunes of
entaurus24 (1980),180--211.
Paul Magdalino
the book and not with a view to flattering the emperor. One
wonders why he makes a point of naming and blaming the men
responsible for misinterpreting the comet of 975. Does he have
something against either of them, and does he have a message for
the astrologers at the court of Basil II at the time he was writing,
around the year 1000? The question is unanswerable, but it is well
worth asking, firstly because one of the experts in question, Stephen
of Nicomedia, was a very powerful figure in the church at the
time,
80
and secondly because there is much independent evidence of
astrological and astronomical activity under Basil II; in fact, more
than for any time before the twelfth century. In addition to a cluster
of horoscopes and other observations dating from 977 to 1019,
81
we
have the first translation of an Arabic astrological text, the De
revolutionibus nativitatum of Abu Ma'shar, which David Pingree
has dated to c. 1015.
82
Unfortunately, the texts do not show a direct
connection with the emperor, or identify the astrologer or
astrologers concerned. The name of Demophilos, associated with a
horoscope of 989, must be a pseudonym, if it does not refer to an
ancient astrologer whose method is being followed.
83
We can surely
conclude, however, that we would have a very misleading
impression of the availability of occult science to the most powerful
Byzantine emperor of the Middle Ages if we had only the evidence
"' He was Basil IT's emissary to the rebel Bardas Skleros in 976 (Skylitzes,
Synopsis historiarum, ed. Thurn, 317), and as patriarchal synkel/os he was the main
"persecutor" of St Symeon the New Theologian; see the Life by Niketas Stethatos,
Vie de Symeon le Nouveau Theologien, ed. I. Hausherr (Rome, 1928), 74-99,
pp. LI-LY!.
" See CCAG, II, 144-50; VIII, 253-5; Dorotheos of Sidon, Carmen astrologicum,
ed. D. Pingree (Leipzig,1976), 370-1, Xlll-XIV; Hephestio of Thebes,
Apotelesmaticorum epitomae quattuor, ed. David Pingree, II (Leipzig,1974), VI-IX,
XXII; D. Pingree, 'The Horoscope of Constantinople', 310-11, 313. Cf. P.
Magdalino, 'The Year 1000 in Byzantium' in idem, ed. Byzantium in the Year
1000, 233-70, esp. 261-2.
" Abo Ma'shar, Albumasaris de revolutionibus nativitatum, ed. D. Pingree
(Leipzig, 1968), V-VI; idem, From Astral Omens to Astrology: from Babylon to B
66-67,71.
" Pace the statements of Pingree, 'The Horoscope of Constantinople', 307-8, and
From Astral Omens to Astrology, 66, among many other publications. Demophilos
seems an unlikely Byzantine name, and the rare occurrence of the equally unlikely
Demochares in the 9" c. (see Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire and
Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit, s.v.) is not conclusive.
0
ult Science and Imperial Power in Byzantine History and
H:oriography (9'"-12'" Centuries)
139
f the historical narratives of his reign, from which the activity
cumented in the astrological manuscripts is conspicuously
although it is just conceivable that Psellos may include
in his statement that flourished under Basil in
spite of the lack of imperial patronage.
To return to Psellos, it is difficult to know what to take more
seriously-his obvious desire to distance himself from belief in
'hard' astrology, or his no less obvious concern to take centre stage
in both his astrological digressions. But the fact that he digresses
twice to assert his superiority suggests that he took astrology as
seriously as the people to whom he thought himself superior. He
clearly believes that astrologers can get it right, and that Michael V,
having chosen to consult them, was wrong their advice.
It is probably fair to conclude that he
as a substitute for religion, but accepted It as a sctence, and studted
it mainly out of philomatheia, a love of learning its to
which he refers elsewhere in the Chronographta and m hts other
writings.
85
His other writings show, moreover, was by
no means the only occult science that attracted hts mterest: he
also into alchemy, the Chaldaean everythmg
that went with Stoic and Neoplatomc syncretism. He even wrote
on making talismanic statues.
87
The trouble is that in advertising,
expounding, and justifying his own knowledge he tends to create
., Psellos, Chronographia, ed. Renauld, I, 18; cf. M. _Lauxtermann,
Poetry and the Paradox of Basil II's Reign', in Magdahno, ed., ByzantiUm m the
Year 1000, 202ff. . 'fy
" See the discussion of Psellos in the introduction to this volume; J. .
'Hellenic Philosophy in Byzantium and the Lonely ?f Michael Psellos :
K. Ierodiakonou, ed., Byzantine Philosophy and 1/s Sources (Oxfo
2002), 148-51.
86
Ibid: see also J. Duffy 'Reactions of Two Byzantine Intellectuals to the _Theory
' ' lik ' H Magmre ed.
and Practice of Magic: Michael Psellos and Michael Ita os m . '
Byzantine Magic (Washington, D. C., 1995), 83-90. Letter on chrysopoe1a, ed. J.
Bidez, CMAG, VI (Brussels, 1928), 26-42. Commentaries the_ Chalda:
Oracles, and interest in divination: Michael Psellos, Phi/osophlca. nunora,

Duffy (Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1992), 113-5; II, ed. 0' Meara (Letpztg, 1989),
51. M IX1)
87
Michael Psellos, Epistle 187 ( avemyQa<jlO), ed. Sathas, Eaaww
Bt{3J.wfh)"'1 V, 474.
140
Paul Magdalino
his own self-contained system, which gives little idea of what w
d h' H as
gomg on aroun tm. e does not name the "not inconsiderable
group" of astrologers who were active in the 1040s. Only in his
defence of John Italos does he allude to the superior achievements
of Arab science,
88
but he gives no idea of the extent to which its
results were being taken on board by contemporary Byzantine
astrologers and astronomers, as is clear from eleventh-century
treatises and scholia.
89
Psellos' remarks on astrology in the Chronographia are a useful
introduction to the relevant section in the Alexiad of Anna
Comnena,
90
not only because she had read and admired his work,
but also because there are clear similarities that we do not fmd in
other historians: the passages in question are digressions from the
main narrative, they convey mixed messages, and they involve the
narrator in the first person, who claims a theoretical knowledge of
astrology. Yet once the similarities are noted, the differences are no
less striking. The mixed feelings that Anna expresses are shared
with her father Alexios I, and she provides a wealth of concrete
information that makes her account incomparably valuable but also
highly difficult to interpret without some knowledge of
contemporary astrological literature. I attempted to elucidate and
contextualise the passage in a recent article,
91
but the key to a
definitive solution eluded me because it lay in a text that I
discovered when the volume was in press. This is my main
" Michael Psellos, Oratorio minora ed. A. Littlewood (Leipzig 1985) 70-71 cf.
P M d r :
. ag a mo, '!'h.e and the Astrologers: A Commentary on
Alextad Yl.7.1-7 , m Ch. Dendrmos, J. Harris, E. Harvalia-Crook, J. Herrin, eds.
Porphyrogenita. Essays on the History and Literature of Byzantium and the Latin
:ast m Hono,ur of Julian Chrysostomides (Aldershot, 2003), 15-31, at 27-8.
"A. T:hon, l..es textes astronomiques arabes importes a Byzance aux Xle et Xile
stedes tn A. Draelants, A.Tihon, B. van den Abeele, eds. Occident et Proche-
71ent: Contacts scient.ifiques au temps des Croisades (Tumhout, 2000), 313-24.
91
Anna Comnena, Ale.uad, YI.7, 1-7, ed. Reinsch and Kambylis 181-3.
See above, n. 87. '
141
justification for returning to the subject here, although the intrinsic
interest of the passage is such that it hardly requires justification.
92
The digression occurs in connection with the death of Robert
Guiscard. This was foretold, says Anna, in an oracle by
a certain mathematikos called Seth who had a high opinion of his
astrological expertise. He wrote it down on a piece of paper which
he sealed and handed to the emperor's men. When Guiscard died,
he instructed them to open the paper. The oracle read as follows: "A
great enemy from the west who has stirred up a lot of turmoil will
suddenly fall". Everyone was therefore amazed at the man's
science, for in this branch of wisdom he had reached the peak of
perfection.
The digression that follows then falls into three sections. First,
Anna explains that the "oracular method" is a recent invention,
unknown to the earliest astronomers and astrologers, Plato,
Eudoxos and Manetho; however, they did know about ascendant
signs, cardinal points, planetary positions and all the other vain
things that the inventor of this method bequeathed with it to
posterity. Secondly, Anna states how she herself learned some
astrology not in order to practise it, but to recognise its practitioners
for what they are. She does not want to boast, but she must put it on
record that the sciences flourished under her father, who honoured
philosophers and philosophy, although he somewhat disapproved of
astrology, because it persuaded simple people to have faith in the
stars rather than in God. However, there was no lack of astrologers
during his reign, and the third and final section of the digression is
devoted to describing three who flourished at the time in addition to
the aforementioned Seth: the Alexandrian, whose predictions were
so accurate that Alexios sent him into comfortable exile lest he
corrupt the young; another highly expert Egyptian called
" I refer readers to the article cited in n. 87 for my translation of the passage and
for detailed documented discussion of all points summarised in the following
paragraphs; see also Magdalino, L 'orthodoxie des astrologues.
142
Paul Magdalino
Eleutherios; and the Athenian Katanankes, who despite his name
never quite got it right.
93
The author knows astrology in theory but rejects it in practice;
94
her
hero disapproves of astrologers but allows them to flourish because
he is a patron of learning, a point emphasised elsewhere in the
A/exiad; astrology is a "vain pursuit", but not because its methods
are unscientific-rather, the accurate predictions made by good
astrologers threaten the basis of organised religion. This mixture of
manifest denial and implicit acknowledgement, which goes back, as
we have seen, to Psellos, is also to be found in the letters of Anna's
contemporary and protege, Michael Italikos.
95
It was probably a
fairly standard safety device employed by Byzantine intellectuals to
excuse their occult interests. In Anna's case, however, it can also be
related to the circumstances under which she was writing, in the
early years of her nephew Manuel I, a great devotee of astrology
with a flashy reputation for heroism and liberality that was
eclipsing the memory of his grandfather Alexios I. Her point is
clearly that her father did not need to use the services of astrologers,
but still looked after them as well as the present regime, if not
better, and she provides names to prove it.
Apart from the hapless Katanankes, the astrologers she mentions
are known from contemporary sources. Seth is the astrophysicist,
dietician and translator Symeon Seth. The Alexandrian can be
identified with Theodore Alexandrinos, who specialised in
predicting winners at the races in the Hippodrome. As for the other
Egyptian, Eleutherios, I see no reason not to identify him with
Eleutherios Zebelenos, an astrologer writing in 1079 and referring
93
The name is presumably a conscious play on the expression avayxl)V ="of
necessity". However, it does seem to have been an existing family name rather
than one that was specially invented for this individual: J.-C. Cheyne!, Pouvoir et
a Byzance (963-121 0 )(Paris, 1990), 64, 230, 236. .
A pomt also made by George Tomikes in his funeral oration on Anna, delivered
in c. 1152; see Georges et Demetrios Tornikes, Lettres et discours, ed. J.
(Paris, 1970), 296-7.
95
Michael Italikos, Let/reset discours, ed. P. Gautier (Paris, 1 972), nos. 28, 30, 31,
PP 184-92, 196-200; Duffy, 'Reactions of Two Byzantine Intellectuals', 9!-4.
Historiography (9"'-12'h Centuries)
143
to his birth in 1040.
96
Zebelenos should mean someone from Gabala
in Syria, known to the Byzantines as Zebel; the town was part of
the Fatimid realm for most of the eleventh century, which could
account for the reference to Eleutherios' Egyptian origin.
97
The reliability of Anna's information on the astrologers suggests
that we should pay close attention to what she says about astrology,
and notably the mysterious "oracular method" (f.l8oboc; XQlJO'f.WYv)
perfected by Seth. Earlier translators and commentators assumed
this was her rather quaint way of saying that astrology in general
was a recent invention, but such a reading does not make full sense
of her text, even when this has been emended to make a positive
statement negative. She must be referring to a particular kind of
astrology that was invented after the standard tools of the
astrologers trade. I previously concluded that this "oracular
method" was the political or historical astrology, developed by the
Persians and Arabs, which dealt with the rise and fall of religions,
dynasties and rulers according to major planetary conjunctions. But
this was before I came across a treatise existing in at least three
versions in six manuscripts. These versions are variously entitled:
A. MEeoboc; XQl]O'flWV (MS Paris. gr. 2506, fols.
92v-95v == MS Paris. gr. 2424, fols. 106r-
!08v).
B. ITEQL x.8eoewc; XQlJOflWV (MS Laurent. gr. 28,
14, fols. 30r-32v == MS Marc. gr. Z 336, fols.
163v-165r).
,. Pace Pingree, he should not be confused with of the
fourteenth-century astrologer and copyist of one of the manusc.npts, 29,
containing his works: Pingree, 'The Horoscope of Constannnople I 06, dem,
From Astral Omens to Astrology, from Babylon to Bfkiiner, Serle Orientale Roma
78 (Rome, 1997), 75-6. b r
97
For Zebel see Anna Comnena, Alexiad, XIII. 12, 21, ed. Reinsch and Y
18

420 ; 1.-C. Cheyne!, Sceaux de Ia collection Zacos (Bibliotheque
France) se rapportant aux provinces orientales de I'Empire ( ans,
200!), 95-7.
144
Paul Magdalino
c. XQi)a!J.<l texvw8v 3taQa toiJ (MS
Neapol. gr. II C 33, fols. 400r-402v = MS
Seldenianus 16, fols. ll2r-ll4r).
98
This mainly unpublished text describes a technique for feeding the
letters of a given question, in their numerical values, one by one,
into a series of computations involving the numerical values of the
ascendant sign of the Zodiac, the planet of the day and hour, and the
positions of the Sun and Moon at the time of enquiry. From these
computations emerge a series of numbers which convert into the
letters of the answer. The three manuscript versions differ radically,
although A and B have a first main section in common with
variations in wording. None of the manuscripts is older than the
fourteenth century, but version A is in a collection containing much
dated material from the twelfth century and earlier, and version C
provides the horoscopes of questions posed by a client, John
Synadinos, in 1153 and 1162.
99
The material raises major questions. When was the method
invented, and was it Byzantine or Arabic in origin? How widely
was it used? How was the random and nonsensical series of letters
yielded by the computations translated into an intelligible answer to
the question posed? Clearly we cannot begin to make sense of the
texts until they have been critically edited, intensively studied, and
collated with other potentially relevant material, or until the method
in all its variants has been tested in the production of sample
oracles. However, for the present purpose it is safe to conclude that
this was the method that Symeon Seth used to produce his oracle
concerning the death of Robert Guiscard, and that Anna, writing c.
1148, describes as a "recent invention".
Anna's digression on astrology is exceptional in Byzantine
historiography, but in the perspective of our enquiry it also appears
as the culmination of a trend: firstly towards a focus on astrology as
the prime occult science, and secondly towards a more personal
expression of the author's intense but ambiguous interest in occult
"Edited from the Naples manuscript in CCAG, IV, 146-9.
".Ed. Tihon, 'Sur l'identite de l'astronome Alim', Archives internationales
d hwmre des sciences 39 (1989), 3-21, at 12-20.
S
. e and Imperial Power in Byzantine History and
occult Cienc .
Historiography (9"'-12'" Centunes)
145
I d
On the real relationship between occult science and
knoW e ge. . . . . . .
imperial power the Alexiad is, Its. no
more informative a11d no less dlSlnformatlve t an Its pre
t nstructive to look at Anna's account of an event m w 1c
HereiiSI .
h
be Co
mpared directly with Theophanes Contmuatus and
s e can d' h
Leo the Deacon: the appearance of a comet mg t

f E rios by Robert Guiscard's son Bohemond m 1107. Un 1 e
populace, Alexios was convinced the phenomenon had
a natural cause, but he nevertheless consulted the experts, as as
th recently. appointed eparch Basil. Basil examined the comet JUSt
sunset, but was unable to make sense of it and fell St
John the Theologian then appeared to him in a dream and
him that the comet portended an invasion of the Kelts, and Its
subsequent extinction would signify their eventual defeat. It is clear
that Alexios, faced with a strange celestial portent, behaved exactly
as Leo VI and John I had done in 908 and 975 respectively. The
tenth-century historians regarded this kind of 'soft' astrological
enquiry as entirely legitimate, and had no problem in attributing it
to the initiative of respectable emperors; indeed, these are the only
occasions when respectable emperors are shown initiating the
consultation of occult scientists. Alexios himself may have had no
problem, but his daughter evidently did, because she does all she
can to 'detoxify' the episode, by claiming that he did not really
believe the star was a portent, by giving no credit to the
professional astrologers who, she has told her readers, were thick
upon the ground, and by asserting that the amateur who came up
with the answer did so through a divine vision and not through any
techne. About the time that she was writing these lines, another
comet preceded the arrival of the Second Crusade.
101
According to
Manuel I, in his later treatise in defence of astrology, this was
correctly seen as a portent of the crusade by "the then experts" (ol
tOtE tEXVh:m), especially those who remembered the comet of
Alexios' reign.
102
This is one further indication that Anna was
100
Anna Comnena, A/exiad, XII. 4, 1-2, ed. Reinsch and Kambylis, 368-9.
101
comet was evidently that of 12 February 1147: V. Grumel, La chronologie.
!ralte d'etudes byzantines, I (Paris, 1958), 473; Anna was still writing the Alexiad
:n 1148: XIII.?, 6, ed. Reinsch and Kambylis, 452.
01
CCAG, V.I, 115 ; also ed. S. Eustratiades in the introduction to his edition of
Michael Glykas, El<; rdq Wr:ogta<; nf<; eeta<; rganj<; xe,PcV.ata, I (Athens,
146
Paul Magdalino
reacting against the official vogue for astrology at the court of her
nephew. Her take on the comet of 1107 sets her apart from the
tenth-century historians, and points the way to the thoroughly
negative portrayal of astrology, and other forms of occult
knowledge, which we find in the historians of Manuel's reign:
Niketas Choniates, and John Kinnamos. Here, there is no
fascination and little ambivalence.
Kinnamos gives the impression that occult science only impinged
on imperial politics under Alexios' successors John II (1118-1143)
and Manuel I (1143-1180) when it was used in plots to overthrow
the latter. Manuel's chief minister Theodore Styppeiotes is said to
have prophesied, "as if from a tripod", that the emperor's days were
numbered and he was due to be replaced by an older, less autocratic
ruler who would rule "by reason as in a democracy".
103
For this,
Styppeiotes was deprived of his tongue as well as his eyes. Later,
when Manuel's nephew by marriage, the protostrator Alexios
Axouch, was convicted of plotting to usurp the throne, one of the
charges brought against him was that he had conspired with a
sorcerer of Latin origin, a great expert in demonic matters,
to prevent the emperor from having children; the sorcerer provided
him with drugs ( <j>aQJ.taXa) for this purpose.
104
Kinnamos may have had so little to say about occult science
because he found it uninteresting or distasteful, and in this he may
be compared to a few other Byzantine historians who are
co.mpletely silent on the subject and consequently do not figure in
this paper. But his reticence cannot be dissociated from his obvious
purpose in writing. This was to present a glowing biography of
. and therefore precluded any mention of occult science
which did not do credit to the late emperor. Manuel could be
1906), P o\,; tr. D. George, 'Manuel! Komnenos and Michael Glycas: A Twelfth-
Century and Refutation of Astrology, Part 2: Manuel I's Defence of
, Cultu:e and Cosmos 5 (2001), 30.

Kmnamos, Epuome rerum, ed. Meineke, 184-5. The episode is studied in detail
0. Kresten, Sturz des Theodoros Styppeiotes', JOB 21 (1978), 49-103,
suggests. that It may have involved Michael Glykas alias the Michael
of sorcery according to Choniates; see below, p.156.
,; Mmnamos, Ep1tome rerum, ed. Meineke, 267-8. Cf. P. Magdalino, The Empire
0
1 anue/1 Komnenos, 1143-1180 (Cambridge,
1993
),
218
_
9
.
Historiography (91h-J2'' Centuries)
147
portrayed as. victim of faile.d conspiracies involving
sorcery and illtcit divmatiOn. However, his official image, after as
during his lifetime, could not be allowed to show any trace of his
enthusiastic patronage of astrology that is well attested in his own
words, as well as by the History of Niketas Choniates.
105
Choniates,
on the other hand, had no need to spare any emperor's reputation;
his brief being, rather, to denounce the abuse of imperial power by
the emperors of his day, their treatment of occult science provided
him with excellent grist for his mill, and he went to work on it with
a literary gusto that has left a lasting impression on modern
perceptions of twelfth-century Byzantium.
Choniates' long account of Manuel's reign contains four passages
that must surely rank among the most eloquent and devastating
critiques of both astrology and political misjudgement in any
literature. They show the emperor credulously hanging on the
astrologers' pronouncements, and when not making wrong
decisions as a result, at best making himself look ridiculous and
irresponsible. In the first instance, he sends the imperial fleet out to
resounding defeat under a favourable horoscope.
106
In the second,
his commander wins a famous victory when he ignores the
emperor's orders to put off the engagement to an astrologically
more auspicious day.
107
In the third scene, we see the emperor at the
birth of his son, paying more attention to the astrologer's
calculations than his wife's labour pains, and then celebrating the
bright future mapped out in the newborn's horoscope
108
-an irony
that would not have been lost on Choniates' readers, who knew the
fate of the unfortunate young Alexios II, murdered before he
reached the age of fifteen by his uncle Andronikos I. Finally, we are
shown the emperor in his final illness, ignoring the patriarch's
advice to appoint a proper regency government because the
105
The only allusions to astrology in the large body of encomiastic literature
devoted to Manuel are to be found in the verse petitions of the writer known as
'":fanganeios Prodromos': cf. Magdalino, Empire of Manuel, 454; idem, 'Eros the
Kmg and the King of amours: Some Observations on Hysmine and Hysminias',
f..OP46(1992), 197-204.
107
Historia, ed. van Dieten, 95-6; Magdalino, Empire of Manuel, 5-6.
108
Chomates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 154; Magdalino, Empire of Manuel, 1.
Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 169.
148 Paul Magdalino
astrologers have told him he is going to live for another fourteen
years full of love affairs and victorious foreign campaigns.
109
Instead of worrying about his son's succession, Manuel worries
about the violent, apocalyptic winds forecast by the astrologers,no
and busies himself with preparing emergency bunkers and
removing the glass from the palace windows, while his relatives
and courtiers obsequiously imitate his example. But, Choniates
adds, the patriarch did finally prevail on him to sign a brief
statement renouncing his belief in astrology. m
On the other hand, Choniates records that Manuel punished other
forms of occult science.
112
In narrating the condemnation of Alexios
Axouch, he mentions that sorcery was the main charge, although he
dismisses it, along with the whole alleged conspiracy, as completely
fabricated, and he makes it sound suitably absurd: the enchantment
was said to be aimed at making its perpetrator fly invisibly,
complete with sword, wherever he wanted to go. m Choniates is
clearly critical of Manuel's unjust and arbitrary behaviour in this
affair, which he cites as an example of the tyrannical, paranoid envy
to which rulers are prone with regard to their pre-eminent
subjects.
114
However, he goes on to point out that justice caught up
with the main informer against Axouch, Isaac Aaron, who was
himself convicted of sorcery, and sentenced to blinding for this and
'
09
Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 220-1; Magdalino, Empire of Manuel, 11.
110
This may indicate that Manuel shared in the Mediterranean-wide apprehension
caused by the prediction that all the planets would conjoin in the sign of Libra in
September IJ86; see G. de Callatay, "La grande conjonction de IJ86", in
Draelants, Tihon, van den Abeele, eds. Occident et Proche Orient, 369-84. If so,
Choniates surely exaggerates the urgency with which the emperor reacted six years
in advance of the fateful date.
111
Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 221: ltEQL nva
XUQTfiV VltEffi111fJva-ro ti)v tvav-r(av 061;av !1E8aQJ.W08E[.
1
" The episodes are discussed by R. Greenfield, 'Sorcery and politics at the
Byzantine court in the twelfth century: interpretations of history', in R. Beaton and
C. Roueche, eds., The Making of Byzantine History. Studies dedicated to Donald
M. Nicol (Aidershot, 1993), 73-85.
113
Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 144.
"' Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 143; cf. Magdalino, Empire of Manuel, 6-
7; idem, 'Aspects of Twelfth-Century Byzantine Kaiserkritik' Speculum 58
(1983), 32646. '
Historiography (9'-12' Centuries)
149
another offence.
115
A magical figurine was found in his
possession,
116
and he was caught consulting a 'Book of Solomon'
used to summon up demons.
117
Choniates then narrates the cases of
two other men, Skleros Seth and Michael Silddites, whom Manuel
had blinded "for professing astrology in word, but in practice
engaging in demonic acts of sorcery". Seth used a love-charm to
seduce an unmarried girl, while Sikidites cast a spell on a
boatman,
118
and after a disagreement in a bath-house with his fellow
bathers, conjured up demons to drive them out.
In all these three cases of sorcery, the author does not seem to doubt
that demons were involved, and that the sentences were just;
indeed, he even implies that they were not harsh enough, since the
culprits survived to cause trouble again. Isaac Aaron is said to have
played a sinister role in Andronikos l's reign of terror (1183-
1185), by advising the emperor to put his opponents to death, or at
least to administer punishments much more severe than blinding-
which, he pointed out, had obviously not worked in his own case,
having left him free to work mischief with his hands and his tongue.
Michael Sikidites became a monk and later stirred up a doctrinal
controversy concerning the Eucharist. Skleros Seth reverted to his
115
Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 146-50
116
It was in the form of a man inside a tortoise-shell, with his feet bound and a nail
through his chest.
111
Numerous magical treatises are ascribed to Solomon, and lists of demons of
angels for invocation are among their standard features; see e. g. The Testament of
Solomon, ed. C. C. McCown (Leipzig, 1922); A. Delatte, Anecdota Atheniensia, I
(Liege-Paris, 1927), 397ff, 470, 649. Cf. R. P. H. Greenfield, 'Contribution to the
Study ofPalaeologan Magic', in Maguire, ed. Byzantine Magic, 127, 129-31; P. A.
Torijano, Solomon the Esoteric King. From King to Magus, Development of a
Tradition (Leiden, 2002).
118
The incident is also related in Choniates' theological compendium, the Panoplia
Dogmatike (excerpt ed.' van Dieten in the apparatus to the Historia, 148-9), which
adds certain details: Sikidites was an imperial secretary, and was standing with a
group of people on a terrace of the Great Palace overlooking the Sea.of Marmara.
He bet them that he could make the boatman stand up and smash all the tiles in his
cargo; after they agreed, the boatman stood up and reduced the tiles to fragments
with his oar, while the onlookers were helpless with laughter. He later said that he
?ad seen a huge snake on the tiles, staring at him and menacing him with open
JBWS.
150 Paul Magdalino
former ways, and turns up in the account of Andronikos' reign as
the diviner who foretold the emperor's overthrow.
119
Andronikos, finding himself threatened on all sides by men, and
abandoned by God whom he had offended by his excesses, resorted
to demons in order to learn the future, in the way that Saul had
consulted the Witch of Endor. He found that most of the ancient
methods of divination - through sacrifice, the flight of birds, dreams
and utterances gone out of use long ago,
and that only dish-diviners and astrologers were now available.
Rejecting astrology as being the more familiar and uncertain in its
predictions, he decided to seek the signs of the future in water. He
refused to be present at the ritual, and delegated this "foul business
of the night" to his loyal minister Stephen Hagiochristophorites,
who engaged the services of Skleros Seth. "By methods which I
find distasteful to know and speak of, but those who wish can learn
about elsewhere", Seth asked who would succeed Andronikos. The
evil spirit answered by tracing in the troubled water the first letters
of a name-a sigma in the form of a crescent Moon and a iota just
before it - which might be resolved as JsaakiosY
0
It thus made the
divination deliberately tantalising and uncertain, "or, to tell the
truth, the night-dwelling demon in its manifold wickedness clouded
in obscurity what it did not know for sure". Andronikos
immediately assumed that the reference was to Isaac Komnenos,
the usurper in Cyprus, who had gone there from Isauria (Cilicia).
121
He then ordered the question to be put again, this time asking not
only who but when. "The partial and earthbound spirit, plopping
and splashing in the water, uttered through enchantments, which it
is not necessary to reveal", that the time would be around the Feast
of the Exaltation of the Cross (14 September). Since it was already
'" Choniates, Hisroria, ed. van Dieten, 338--41.
120
Although Choniates does not say so, the response conformed to the influential
prophecy, which was current in the Byzantine court from Manuel's reign, that the
tmUal letters of the emperors from Alexios I would form a sequence spelling
AlMA (b.lood). It is clear Manuel himself believed in this prophecy, since he
named hts successor Alex10s and feared conspiracies by Alexios Axouch and
Andromkos; so did Andronikos, who wanted his son John (loannes) to succeed
?,',m. See Choniates, f!istoria.' Dieten, 146, 169,268,315,318,426.
. He ?ad been appomted mthtary governor of the province by Manuel: Choniates,
H1stona, ed. van Dieten, 290.
lSI
the beginning of September, Andronikos dismissed the oracle as
rubbish. However, someone suggested that maybe the prospective
candidate was not Isaac Komnenos in Cyprus but Isaac Angelos in
Constantinople. Andronikos dismissed this suggestion as well, but
Stephen Hagiochristophorites decided to arrest Angelos just to be
safe, thereby setting in motion a train of events that led to his own
death and the extraordinary fulfilment of the oracle.
122
The insecurity which caused Andronikos to resort to the occult also
made him overreact to the suspicion that it might be used to
challenge his own position. Soon after he he became regent for the
young Alexios II, a vagrant caught wandering outside his house was
accused of sorcery and handed over to the city populace to be
bumed.
123
Later, as emperor, when he condemned his erstwhile
favourite, Manuel's illegitimate son Alexios, to blinding and
imprisonment, he burned one of the latter's secretaries, a certain
Mamalos, at the stake. "In order that the punishment should not
look unjustified, but should involve some previous crime, he burned
certain books along with Mamalos. These supposedly concerned the
reigns of future emperors, and Mamalos was alleged to have read
them to Alexios to incite him to revolt".
124
Choniates alludes to such prophecies in the next reign, when he
says that the patriarch Dositheos used them to influence the
emperor Isaac II Angelos: "gathering, like the demons who inspire
dreams, the shapes of future events and certain apparitions from
Solomonic books, he led the emperor not by the nose but by the
ears".
125
The occult does not otherwise figure in the account of
Isaac's first reign (1185-95). However, he is shown consulting
astrologers after his brief restoration by the forces of the Fourth
Crusade in 1203,
126
and in the narrative of the intervening reign,
that of Isaac's brother Alexios III (1195-1203), Choniates clearly
suggests that this was regular practice. Noting that Alexios, on his
122
For a summary of events, see C. M. Brand, Byzantium Confronts the West,
(Cambridge, Mass., 1968), 69ff.
Chomates, Hisroria, ed. van Dieten, 255-6.
124
Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 310-2 .
125
Ch
126
Hisroria, ed. van Dieten, 408.
Chomates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 558.
152
Paul Magdaiino
return from Asia Minor in February 1201, did not go at once to the
Blachernae Palace because the moment was unfavourable, he adds
the comment: "the emperors of our time scrutinise the position of
the stars even before they walk".
127
As for Alexios' strong-headed
wife, the empress Euphrosyne, in her rage against her opponents,
"turning to prognostication of the future, she applied herself to
unspeakable practices and divination and performed many illicit
things". She cut the snout off the bronze sculpture of the
Kalydonian boar in the Hippodrome, subjected a statue of Hercules
to flogging, and mutilated other bronzes.
128
Here we may note that
Choniates does not refer explicitly to the idea of stoicheiosis, either
in this instance, or in other passages where he mentions the
manipulation of statues for political purposes. He simply reports,
without suggesting occult practice, that Manuel reversed the
positions of two bronze female figures in the Forum of Constantine
so that the one known as the "Roman woman" was standing while
the "Hungarian woman" lay fallen.
129
Although he says it was on
the advice of the astrologers that Isaac II in 1203 removed the
Kalydonian boar to the Palace, in order to check the swinish fury of
the populace,
130
he presents the mob's destruction of a statue of
Athena, who seemed to be beckoning to the crusaders, as an act of
ignorant credulity.
131
Finally, we should note one passage where
Choniates refers to occult knowledge without in any way
characterising it as such. In connection with the doctrinal
controversy of 1156--7, he mentions an imperial official looking up
a brontologion or "thunderbook" while Manuel was at his base
camp at Pelagonia in western Macedonia: the consultation revealed
that the violent thunderstorm signified the "fall of wise men".
Choniates clearly echoes contemporary opinion in connecting this
omen with the deposition of the three deacons who had provoked
111
Choniates. Historia, ed. van Dieten, 530. Choniates goes on to show the
absurdity of the precaution by describing how, when Alexios did finally return to
the Blachemae, severe ground subsidence caused a chasm to open up in his
bedroom. The emperor was unhurt, but others were shaken and a eunuch fell into
the chasm and was killed.
:: Choniates, ed. van Dieten, 519-20; cf. Mango, 'Antique Statuary', 62.
130
Chomates, Hzstona, ed. van Dieten, 151.
131
ed. van Dieten, 558.
Chomates, Hzstorza, ed. van Dieten, 558-9.
Historiography (9"'- I 2'" Centuries)
153
the division in the church.
132
Elsewhere, he shows a belief that
strange natural phenomena were portents.
133
Apart from this tacit endorsement of very soft astrology, Choniates
presents an entirely negative image of occult science in twelfth-
century Byzantine society. It is an integral part of his wider picture
of a decadent political culture that he paints in order to explain the
catastrophic weakness of the empire on the eve of the fall of
Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It is clear from the
different versions of his text that he added to the picture in the light
of that event, intensifying, among other things, his critique of occult
science. Yet the overall message with regard to occult science
remained the same: God helps those who help themselves trusting
in His providence, but Byzantine rulers had forfeited God's favour
in large part because they had based their decisions on fallible
human or demonic methods of telling the future.
Within this very consistent framework, however, Choniates'
presentation of the material is far from simple or uniform. To begin
with, it should be noted that the references to the use of occult
divination by Andronikos I' s successors, Isaac II, Alexios III and
Euphrosyne, were added after 1204. In the pre-1204 "b" version of
the History, written under Alexios III and perhaps as early as 1197,
all reference to astrology and sorcery ends in 1185 with the tyrant
Andronikos I. This is not surprising where Alexios, the reigning
emperor, is concerned, but more remarkable as regards his brother
Isaac II, whom Alexios had deposed and whom Choniates criticises
seemingly without inhibition as a vain, vindictive and sybaritic
incompetent. The fact that astrology and sorcery do not figure in
this critique thus suggests either that Isaac genuinely did not use
them, or that he used them in exactly the same way as his brother.
Either way, Choniates chose to concentrate his attack on the other
"' Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 21 1. I have not been able to identify the
T,Xact text among the numerous brontologia published in the CCAG.

3
He mentions various diosemiai that accompanied the revolt of Alex.ios Branas
m 1187: stars appeared in the daytime, the atmosphere was turbulent, and the
Sun's light was dimmed by sunspots (Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 384).
Later, he remarks on the strange Jack of such signs at the time of the Latin
oonquest of Constantinople (ibid., 586).
154 Paul Magdalino
kind of dependence on the supernatural to which Isaac was prone,
namely his excessive reliance on monks.
134
He shows us the
emperor soliciting the prayers of holy men instead of taking
resolute action against the rebel Alexios Bran as,
135
consulting the
eccentric hermit Basilakios at Raidestos,
136
and basing his flawed
policies, or lack of policy, on the prophecies of the Studite monk
Dositheos who had predicted his accession to the throne and been
rewarded accordingly with the patriarchates first of Jerusalem and
then Constantinople.
137
Here it is striking that in the first version of
the History, Dositheos' prophecies appear as spontaneous,
individual oral predictions. Only in the amplified, post-1204 text
does Choniates add the sentence presenting them in the far more
sinister guise of demonic apparitions culled from "books of
Solomon".
Thus in the original version of his History, Choniates sets his
critique of the relationship between occult science and imperial
power in the context of the relatively remote reigns of Ma.nuel.l and
Andronikos I. Moreover, his treatment makes an effective, If not
explicit, distinction between different types of the occult. The
consultation of a thunderbook by Manuel's official, and Manuel's
rearrangement of the female statues, are presented as innocent
even useful actions. Manuel's patronage of astrology. IS
differentiated in many ways from the practice of sorcery by various
reprobates, including Andronikos I. Astrology is fallible, but
sorcery is demonic. For the political abuse of astrolog_Y,
emperor takes more responsibility than the "pestilential
'" It was widely believed that holy men and women had the gift of prophecy, and
prophecies are as integral as miracles to the Lives of saints. However, monks who
deceive rulers with false predictions are portrayed in a distinctly more nega_uve
light. See, eg., Theophanes Continuatus, on the iconoclast monks who
Leo V a long reign (ed. Beker, 26-28); Psellos on the monks who aroused stmtlar
expectations in the aged empress Theodora (Psellos, Chrorwgraphia, ed.
II, 80-1); and John Zonaras on those who predicted that Alexios I would dte lll
Jerusalem (loannes Zonaras, Epitome historiarum libri XV/ll, 3 vols., ed. Tb.
Btittner-Wobst, CSHB [Bonn, 1897], III, 760).
"' Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 383.
'"' Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 448-9. Choniates does not call him a monk,
but the emperor addresses him as 'Father Basilakios'.
"' See P. Magdalino, 'Isaac II, Saladin and Venice', in J. Shepard, ed., The
Expansion of the Orthodox World (Aldershot, forthcoming).
0
cult Science and Imperial Power in Byzantine History and
c " 12"C . )
Historiography (9 - entunes
155
astrologers", who remain anonymous except where Choniates
names them in other contexts, notably, in the cases of Skleros Seth
and Michael Sikidites, for practicing sorcery rather than astrology.
By contrast, these two sorcerers and Isaac Aaron are named as
convicted malefactors who are rightly punished by Manuel but
survive to poison the political life of future reigns. The only
emperor who turns to sorcery is the tyrant Andronikos, but even he
does so as a last resort, and then with considerable distaste and
scepticism. Ironically, however, his scepticism is his undoing, for
he fails to recognise the real threat. His minister has more sense, but
in taking action precipitates the outcome he tries to avert. Thus the
contrast between astrology under Manuel and sorcery under
Andronikos is made dramatically complete in the narratives of their
respective ends. Manuel, ultimately deceived by astrology,
renounces it at the last, while Andronikos, having rejected astrology
as too commonplace and unreliable, finally turns to sorcery, which
destroys him.
The narrative of Andronikos' final, fatal recourse to lecanomancy
not only underscores his damnation by comparison with Manuel's
deathbed repentance, but fulfils at least two other functions. It
actually shows that the unexpected accession of the next emperor,
' Isaac II, was both foretold and set in motion by a demonic oracle,
and was therefore not quite the pure act of divine Providence that
lsaac's propaganda portrayed. It also echoes the many examples in
classical historiography and mythology of the nemesis incurred by
the hubris of power-blinded potentates who ignore or misinterpret
the oracles concerning them. There may be some reminiscence of
Roman history, too, in the story of the burning of the unfortunate
Mamalos on a fabricated charge of conspiracy involving forbidden
books. Certainly, this story echoes the episode of Alexios Axouch,
unjustly convicted of sorcery under Manuel. Here again, the
excesses of Andronikos' tyranny are shown to have precedents in
Manuel's despotic tendencies-or rather in the imperial system of
which he was the great paradigm in recent history.
Choniates' portrait of Manuel as a credulous devotee of astrology is
a complete contrast to that which we have from Kinnamos and the
emperor's other admirers, such as his panegyrist Eustathios of
156
Paul Magda!ino
Thessslonica and the Latin historian William of Tyre, all of whom
vaunt his medical knowledge but give no hint of other scientific
interests.
138
Yet Choniates' portrait is mirrored in the astrological
literature from Manuel's reign: although it is poor in dated
horoscopes and astrologers' names, it gives the emperor a very high
profile. He is the dedicatee of a basic introduction to astrology in
political verse by John Kamateros,
139
and he is the author of a long,
public defence of astrology in reply to a monk who had denounced
astrologers as heretics.
140
Manuel'ss authorship of this work is
indicated not only by its title, but by its reference to Alexios I as
"my majesty's grandfather", and by the trenchant refutation that it
provoked in turn from Michael Glykas.
141
It is curious that
Choniates' mentions neither the emperor's work nor Glykas'
refutation, since he presumably knew both, and his statement that
Manuel signed a written renunciation of astrology implies more
than a mere agreement not to consult astrologers. But if, as most
scholars accept, Michael Glykas was none other than Michael
Sikidites, Choniates' silence on the subject of his reply to the
emperor is understandable: he did not want to give any credit to a
convicted ex-sorcerer turned exponent of incorrect theology.
Choniates' information on the sorcerers punished by Manuel cannot
be corroborated from any other source, but his statement that Seth
and Sikidites were charged specifically with practising sorcery
while professing astrology echoes a major argument in the
emperor's defence of astrology. Here Manuel is at pains to
distinguish between legitimate astrological science and illicit astral
138
Kinnamos, Epitome rerum, ed. Meineke, 190; Eustathios, Funeral oration on
Manuel, ed. T. L. F. Tafel, Eustathii metropolitae Thessalonicensis opuscula
(Frankfurt-am-Main, 1832), 206; William of Tyre, Willemi Tyrensis Chronicon,
ed. R. B. C. Huygens, Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Medievalis 63-63A
(Tumhout, 1986), 848.
139
Ioannes Kamateros, Eisagoge astronomies, ed. L. Weigl, Ein Kompendium
griechischer Astrologie (Leipzig-Berlin, 1908).
140
CCAG, V.l, 108-25; ed. Eustratiades, I, !;!;,-ne; intr., tr., and comm. D.
George, 'Manuel I Komnenos and Michael Glykas: A Twelfth-Century Defence
and Refutation of Astrology', Parts 1-2, Culture and Cosmos 5.1-2 (2001), 3-48,
23-46.
141
CCAG, V.I. 125-40; ed. Eustratiades, I, 476-500; tr. and comm. by D. George,
'Manuel I Komnenos and Michael Glykas', Part 3, Culture and Cosmos 6.1
(2002), 23-43.
Historiography (9"'-12" Centuries)
157
magic. The former studies the stars as natural, inanimate signs,
while the latter invokes them as living, causative agents.I42
For the powers and qualities and temperaments which God has
given to the stars and all that proceeds from them are merely
indications. Abuse arises, however, when people address the
stars by invocation, like makers of enchantments;'" it is for this
reason that astrologers are called magi, as having turned aside
from the straight way and inclined towards impiety. This is
completely impious and abhorrent ...
... The stars are merely of the three states of past,
present and future, operatmg naturally and according to their
physical properties. What operates naturally is also beneficial
and surely not to be rejected. So the stars are not creative, fo;
their bodies are inanimate, unintelligent and without sense
perception. Thus whoever approaches them in a spirit of
observation does not acquire knowledge from them by question
and answer, like those who make incantations to demons, but
knowing the nature of the stars and the temperament that comes
from them, and their significant configuration, takes note of
present and future things.
It seems reasonable to suppose, therefore, that Choniates'
formulation of the charge brought against Seth and Sikidites reflects
the wording that was used in their prosecution to distance the
emperor and his scientific astrology from the astral magic of the
indeed, it might even suggest that they were prosecuted
?rder to make an example of bad astrology. Either way, the
InCidents as reported by Choniates are symptomatic of Manuel's
effort to get good astrology recognised by the church. Equally, the
that Choniates does not himself adopt Manuel's distinction, but
disapproves of astrology as a whole, is symptomatic of the
emperor's failure to win that recognition. Choniates clearly admired
142
CCAG .
"' Ol a' V.!, 112, ed. Eustrallades, my translation.
p
26
t D. George, "Manuel I Komnenos", part 2,
IS) tb translates th.1s as 'those who cast nativities', but as she comments (p. 44, n.
wo
1
d e example IS not accurate, and in any case it is unlikely that the emperor
CO
ut condemn a practice that he had followed at the birth of his son. Given the
next and them t" f
stor h . . en ton o mvocation, the reference must be to the ritual of
c erosrs.
I .!U
158
Paul Magdalino
and respected the patriarch Theodosios/
44
at whose insistence he
says Manuel signed his deathbed rejection of astrology. Although
this rejection is not independently attested, there is independent
evidence that the ecclesiastical establishment hardened its position.
The respected contemporary canonist Theodore Balsamon/
45
the
most pro-imperial Byzantine commentator on canon law and no
illiterate monk, was completely uncompromising. Not only did he
uphold the conciliar canons forbidding the clergy to exercise
astrology, but took the most rigorous interpretation of the imperial
legislation against mathematikoi that had been incorporated into the
Nomokanon. The canon-law commentator of the previous
generation, John Zonaras, had at least been prepared to allow that
the prohibition did not apply to astronomy, as opposed to
astrology.
146
Balsamon, however, regarded them as inseparable.
147
He argued that of the four mathematical sciences of the quadrivium,
"the first three (i.e. geometry, arithmetic, and music) are deemed
lawful to be exercised and taught, but astronomy is forbidden".
148
He concluded that it was dangerous "for an Orthodox Christian to
have mathematical books, to teach or be taught what is in them, and
quite simply to introduce any discussion concerning the nature or
power of the heavenly bodies".
149
This seems an extreme and
idiosyncratic position, yet there are indications that astronomy was
dropped from the mathematical curriculum in Byzantine schools at
the end of the twelfth century ,1
50
not to be properly reinstated until
. d . 1 151
over a century later, and then only among a very restncte c1rc e.
144
Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 241-3,261-2.
'" On Balsamon, see C. Gallagher, Church Law and Church Order in Rome and
Bywnrium (Aidershot, 2002), chapter 5.
146
Commentary on canon 36 of the council of Laodicaea, ed. G. A. Ralles-I.
Potles, 2:vvwnta uilv IJElmv xailEQc'iJv xav6vwv, 6 vols. (Athens, 1852-5; repr.
1966), III, 204-5.
147
Ibid., 205-6; see also his response to the metropolitan of Philippopolis, Ralles-
Potles, IV, 511-9.
, .. lbid.,512.
149
1bid., 518.
150
See Nicholas Mesarites on the curriculum of the school attached to the church
of the Holy Apostles, ed. and tr. G. Downey, 'Nikolaos Mesarites. Description of
the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople', Transactions of the American
Philosophical Society, 47 (1957), XLU, 894-96, 916-17; and on the education
of his brother John, Der Epitaphios des Nikolaos Mesarites auf seinen Bruder
159
The ca?onists, especially Balsamon, are also our major source for
the existence of other forms of divination in twelfth-ce t
1s2 Th . . n ury
ByzantiUm. e1r commentanes on canons 61 and 65 of th
Council in Trullo both .define the general references to
and augury, and explam the specific types of diviners that
. d . h 153 s are
mentwne m t e canons. mce the commentators use the pres t
th h
. . en
tense roug out, It IS not entirely clem:, except where they give
contemporary examples, whether a practice they describe was still
brief. of palmistry, Iecanomancy,
dJVJnatwn from birds, and d1vmatwn from sacrificial victims could
be based on reading rather than experience. However, their more
references to Athinganoi, "cloud-chasers" (vE<j>o&tooxtat)
who dlVlned women who divined from grains of
barley, and kntnm, prophetesses who frequented icons and
churches, suggest that these types were to be encountered in
twelfth-century Byzantine society. Balsamon gives a long
description of a divination ceremony called a kledon, that was
performed on 23 June until it was banned by the patriarch
Michael III (1170-78). He adds significantly, "May the auguries
from ravens and crows and other wild animals
also .be Altogether, he gives the impression that, much
!o his chagnn, there was a lot of divination on offer, and that it
mcluded two of the three varieties that according to Choniates had
ed. A. Heisenberg, Neue Que/len zur Gesclzichte des lateinsichen
Kazserr.ums und der Kirchenunion, I: Sitzungsberichte der bayerischen Akademie
der Wtssenschaften, philosophisch-philologische und historische Klasse, 1922
1922), 28-32. There were obviously exceptions, like the teacher of
cu e_Phoros see Nikephoros Blemmydes, Autobiographia sive
C vitae, necnon epistula universalior, ed. J. A. Munitiz, Corpus
Series Graeca 13 (Turnhout, 1984), 5-7; tr. J. A. Munitiz A

artzal Accou 1 S 1 '
(Lo
. n ptct egmm Sacrum Lovanense, Etudes et documents 48
uvam, 1988) 45-8 cf C Co t t' 'd H' h Ed
th Th. ' ' ns an tnt es, zg er ucatzon zn Byzanrzum
111
lrteenth and Early Fourteemh Cemuries ( 1204--f:a. 1310) (Nicosia, 1982),

'" s .
th B. Byden, Theodore Metochites' Stoicheiosis astronornike and
,.:_
Y Soj Natural Philosophy and Mathematics in Earl) Palaiologan

up:.untzum tudia G L .
, S . ' raeca et alma Gothoburgensm 66 (Goteborg, 2003).
ee m general M Tb F.. "B
1

to Byzanr .- ogen, a samon on Magtc: From Roman Secular Law
Koukoules ;anon Law', in Maguire, ed., Byzantine Magic, 99-115; P.
"'Rail .p v,av:tvc'iJv Bio,; xal floA.mawJ,;, I, part 2, 155-218.
es otles, 2:vvray,ua, II, 443-7,457-60.
r hi
160
Paul Magdalino
long become redundant, namely divination from birds, .utterances
and dreams. It is true that Balsamon does not mentiOn dream
interpretation, but its legal status was unclear since VI, in the
Basilica had dropped it, with ornithoscopy, from the hst of named
forbidd:n practices.
154
The circulation of dream literature is proved
beyond doubt by the fact that the most manual,
Oneirocriticon of Achmet attracted the attentiOn of two Latm
translators in twelfth-century Constantinople, Pascalis Romanus
and Leo Tuscus.
155
In this context, we may note that the Latin
tradition associates Manuel's reign with the translation of the
Kyranides and the transmission of alchemical texts:
156
interests that
have left no trace in twelfth-century Greek sources.
It seems, therefore, that Choniates used some
exaggeration in explaining Andronikos' decision to s.earc.h his fate
by lecanomancy. Rhetoric is also manifestly at work m hiS account
of the prophecies by which the patriarch Dositheos led Isaac II "by
the ears". As we have seen, the first version of the History presents
these as individual oral oracles, while the sentence added in the
amplified version transforms them into monstrous fantasies
from "books of Solomon" Both characterisations are obviOUS
distortions of the material, which can be shown to derive from one
or more of the apocalyptic or oracular texts narrating the reigns of
the last emperors in history before the coming of Antichrist and the
Last Judgement.
157
These texts circulated under various
pseudonyms, most commonly that of the Prophet Daniel/
58
and
most famously that of Leo the Wise.
159
Yet they are never, in any of
"' As noted by Balsamon in his commentary to Nomokanon IX, 25 (Ralles-Potles,
l.'vvray,ua, I, 192), the mentions of specific practices were replaced by a broad
condemnation of divination.
'" M. Mavroudi, A Byzantine Book on Dream Interpretation. The Oneirocriticon
of Achmet and its Arabic Sources (Leiden, 2002), 111-6.
156
C. H. Haskins, Smdies in the History of Medieval Science (Cambridge, Mass.,
1924), 103-5,160-1, 164-5, 191,215-21.
'" Cf. P. Magdalino, 'Une prophetie int\dite des environs de l'an 965 attribuee
Leon le Philosophe (MS Karakal/ou 14, f. 253'-254')', Travaux et Memoires. 1
4
(2002),401-2.
'" See P. Alexander, The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition (Berkeley and Los
Angeles, 1985), chapters 3-4.
'" C. Mango, 'The Legend of Leo the Wise', Zbornik Radova Vizantoloskog
lnstituta 6 (1960), 59-93; repr. in Byzantium and its Image (London, 1984 ).
Historiography Centuries)
161
the extant literature, attributed to Solomon, whose name was more
readily associated with books of sorcery-like the one found in
Isaac Aaron's possession.
This raises the question of the extent to which the prophetic texts
were perceived as occult literature at the time and should be
discussed now under the heading of occult science. Kinnamos'
description of the Styppeiotes conspiracy implies that it involved
oracles concerning the imperial succession. The Mamalos episode
suggests that possession of such oracular texts was a capital
offence, and Choniates is clearly of the opinion that belief in
oracles was, like the recourse to astrology and divination, a failure
to trust in Divine Providence: thus he blames Manuel for paying
attention to the Alpha who would succeed him, according to the
AlMA prophecy, rather than putting his faith in Christ, the Alpha
and Omega.
160
Liudprand of Cremona, in the tenth century,
describes the interpretation of the prophetic texts as the business of
astrologers/
61
and the prophecies themselves were believed to be
depicted in the relief sculptures of Constantinopolitan
monuments;
162
as we have seen, the decoding of talismanic statues
was also part of the astrologers' expertise. Liudprand and the Latin
tradition enhance the occult flavour of the prophetic texts by calling
them Sibylline books, and this flavour is given added piquancy in
the Latin translation of the Erythraean Sibyl, said to have been
made via Greek from a Chaldaean original in Manuel's imperial
treasury.
163
Yet Choniates, like Theophanes Continuatus and John
Zonaras, sometimes reports the fulfilment of political oracles
'"'Ch
161
L' omates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 146; Magdalino, Empire of Manuel, 7, 200.
162
of Cremona, Opera omnia, ed. Chiesa, 204-5.
C Scnp!ores, ed. Preger, 176. Theodore Metochites' oration in praise of
lhonstantmople, the Byzantios, alludes to the hidden wisdom that is to be found in
. statues and other sculptures of the city: xat noAA. f) uot mivtoOEV f)
uwaoxal.!a tov v ' ""'
OUt , OuV E't'l]V, EU IJ.(lAa 1tQOOEJ(Ovtt xal 0t]UGUQOL
OJro IJ,tv EXXE(IJVOL 1!tU ovt)vauem. M xal tv
XELJ.tTJAta ouot iiQa xat J(WQEIV

EwW )(QL <
xQ
6
e (MS . 1tEQat'ttQw XQi'JoOm l.o1Jt6v, !l xat xat 1t0ve!v bel
Vmdob.phi/. gr. 95, fol. 279v).
-ms, Studies, 174.
162
Paul Magdalino
without disapproval or disbelief.
164
The Church never formally
condemned the writing and circulation of apocryphal apocalyptic
prophecies, possibly because it could never be sure, until th.e
outcome proved them false and therefore harmless, that the1r
authors were pseudonymous and that they were not divinely
inspired. To exclude the possibility of such inspiration would have
been to deny to orthodox holy men the gift of prophecy that is such
a standard feature of Byzantine saints' lives; it would also have
been to deprive churchmen of an important
advantage over the laity, especially the As for the state, It
punished political prophecies on an ad hoc bas1s, when they could
be construed as treasonable pamphlets announcing the death of the
ruling emperor and identifying his successor.
165
But
whether written or oral, carrying a Christian apocalyptic message
were hard to condemn under the laws against magic and sorcery.
Prophetic literature is thus a grey area for the study of both the
reality and the reputation of the occult sciences.
164
Choniates, Historia, ed. van Dieten, 41, 353-4; for Theophanes Colllinuatus,
see above, 154, n.l34; Zonaras, Epitome historiarum, ed. BUttner-Wobst, III. 759-
60.
165
For an exhaustive discussion, see now W. Brandes, 'Kaiserprophetien und
Hochverrat'. Apokalyptische Schriften und kaiservaticinien als Medium
antikaiserlicher Propaganda', in W. Brandes and F. Schmieder, eds., Endzeiten
(forthcoming).
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Stephanos of Alexandria: A Famous
Byzantine Scholar, Alchemist and
Astrologer
INTRODUCTION
Understanding the intellectual profile of a famous scholar who lived
in the remote past can be a complicated task; in the case of
Stephanos of Alexandria the problem is compounded by the limited
surviving biographical information and the fact that early tradition
attributes to him activities and compositions which, according to our
modem standards, belong to very different disciplines. Stephanos of
Alexandria is a late-sixth/early-seventh-century Byzantine scholar
known as a commentator of Plato and Aristotle; astronomical,
astrological, alchemical and medical works are also attributed to
him.
1
It is generally accepted that he was a well-known and eminent
scholar in Alexandria before moving, by 617, to Constantinople,
. . Hunger, Die hochsprachliche profane Literatur der Byzantiner, 2 vols.
V un;ch, 1978), I, 26-7, 30, 63, 291-2, 300-301, 305, 310; 2: 231-32, 280. K.
1
;:;)
2
'Byzantine Science', The Cambridge Medieval History, N, 2 (Cambridge,
64-305, esp. 267-8, 297.
164
where he collaborated with the emperor Heraclius (610-641) and
taught the quadrivium.
2
Byzantine sources designate him as :gractical philos?pher" and
"philosopher and recumenical most ltkely_ to
present him as the ideal accomplished mtellectual of his time. Smce
philosophy, the arts, and technology in the past were not separated
by clear boundaries in the way they are today, Stephanos'
intellectual profile could be best understood if we paid attention to
the interrelations, instead of the dividing lines, among these
disciplines and the various scholarly activities attributed to
' H. Usener, 'De Stephano Alexandrino', in Index scholarum quae summis
auspiciis regis augustissimi Guilelmi imperatoris in .
Fridericia Guilelmia Rhenana per menses aestivos anm !880 a dze 21 menszs .,
aprilis publice privatimque habebuntur. Praefatus est Hermannus
Stephana Alexandrino (Bonn, 1881); repr. in idem, Kleine Schriften, III
and Berlin, 1914), 247-322; Kl. Oehler, Antike Philosophie und byzantmrsches
Mittelalter (Munich, 1969), 19, 276; W. Wolska-Conus, 'Stephanos d' Athenes et
Stephanos d'Alexandrie. Essai d'identification et de biographie', Revue des
byzantines 47 (1989), 5-89. On the astronomical association of Stephanos wtth
Heraclius, see most recently A. Tihon, 'Le calcul de Ia date de Paques de
Stephanos-Heraclius', in B. Janssens, B. Roosen and P. Van Deun, eds.,
Philomathestatos. Studies in Greek Patristic and Byzantine Texts Presented to
Jacques Noret for his Sixty-Fifth Birthday (Leuven, Paris, and Dudley, Mass.,
2004 ), 625-46.
3
In most MSS, works are attributed to him as follows:
<j>!Aoo6<jlou xat olxouJffiVLXOu lit.liaoxaA.ou (Stephanos the Alexandrian
philosopher and recumenical master), AA.e;avi\QEOl <j>!Aoo6<jlou
(Stephanos the Alexandrian philosopher), <jl!Aoo6<j>ou (Stephanos !he
philosopher), AA.e;avbQEOl (Stephanos the Alexandrian),
(Stephanos), 6 ffiuni]J.WJV (Stephanos the scientist),
<j>!Aoo6<j>ou xal f!EYCtA.ou bt.liaoxaA.ou (Stephanos philosopher and great master),
<jl1Aoo6<jlou AA.e;avbQEOl (Stephanos the Alexandrian philosopher),
f!EYCtA.ou <jl!Aoo6<jlou 'tou AA.e;avbQEOl xat
Ot.liaoxaA.ou (Stephanos the great Alexandrian philosopher and general master) [tn
MSS Laurent. Plut. 28, 13, fol. 240; Laurent. Plut. 28, 14, fol. 169v. Laurent. Plut.
28, 33, fol. 105; Marc. gr. 324, fol. 147v, 231; Marc. gr. 336, fol. 266v; Marc. gr.
335, fol. 25; Mediol. B 38 sup., fol. 49v; Taurin. C, VII, 10 (B, VI, 12), fol. 29; Vat.
gr. 1056, fols. 193v, 203v, 206; Vat. gr. 1059, fols. 123, 524, 529v; Angelicus 29
[C. 4,8], fols. 54v, 236v; Vindob. phil. gr. 108, fol. 292v; Vindob. phil. gr. 262, fol.
15lv; Monacensis 105, fol. 223; Paris. gr. 2419, fol. 72]. On the meaning of these
titles attributed to Stephanos, see F. Fuchs, Die hOheren Schulen von
Konstantinopel im Mille/alter (Amsterdam, 1964), 12-16; ODB, s. v. PATRIARCHAL
SCHOOL, PHILOSOPHER.
Alchemist and Astrologer
165
Stephanos. Moreover, modern criteria used to differentiate between
'science' and 'occult science' (our "scientific principles") are
largely based on quantitative (and therefore measurable) relations
between things or substances and are sharply distinguished from
philosophical ideas. On the contrary, in Antiquity the Stoic doctrine
of "sympathy" implied unity of the world and interaction between
its parts; further, it offered a basis for understanding the world both
as a whole and as a composite entity made up of various parts with
specific functions that continuously interact with each other.
The role and influence of alchemy and astrology on both state and
individual affairs during the Late Antique and Byzantine period can
be properly understood only by taking into consideration their wider
philosophical context. Even so, the attitude of Roman and Byzantine
emperors towards alchemy and astrology was ambivalent: for
example, the emperor Diocletian decreed the burning of "books on
making gold and silver" in Egypt.
4
Despite such episodes of
deliberate destruction, a great number of Greek alchemical and
astrological manuscripts dating from the Byzantine period do
survive.
5
AsTROLOGY AND ALCHEMY IN LATE ANTIQUITY AND THE
BYZANTINE PERIOD
Among all divinatory arts invented by man in order to foretell the
future, astrology was the most sophisticated in terms of the
philosophical background and astronomical techniques required for
casting a horoscope. These techniques were particularly refined in
Alexandria, an important and flourishing centre of Greek science-
'See !he Suda, s. v. and Xr]J.te(a in Suidae Lexicon, ed. A. Adler, 5
vols. (Leipzig, 1928-38), II, 104-5; IV, 804. This information refers to the
of Alexandria by Diocletian in the year 296/297, brought about by his
campwgn to put down the revolt of Lucius Domitius Domitianus. As a result of his
Presence in Egypt, Diocletian instituted a number of changes in the local system of
administration and taxation, including monetary and calendrical reforms; he also
Egypt's privileges (Kieines Pauly, II, s. v. DIOCLETIANUS).
32
Alchimiques Grecs (= CMAG), 8 vols. (Brussels, 1924-
18
)9,8Catalogus Codtcum Astrologicorum Graecorum (= CCAG), 12 vols. (Brussels,
-1953).
166
especially mathematics and astronomy-and a crossroads of various
cultures and religions. A considerable number of surviving
horoscopes
6
provide excellent primary source material for
researching the connection between astrology and medicine; indeed,
already in antiquity the combination of the two led to the creation of
a special discipline, "iatromathematica" (i.e. medical astrology),
7
a
fact that enhanced astrology's prestige, widened its influence, and
may partially explain its survival during the Late Antique and
Byzantine periods in spite of the strong polemics against it.
8
We also know that throughout the Roman imperial period astrology
was considered the most reliable method of divination. Any
emperor, therefore, would feel obliged or at least tempted to use it in
order to uncover future dangers to himself or the empire and to
pacify the excited minds of his opponents by withholding from them
the stimulus of astrological predictions, while reserving for himself
the counsel of his court astrologers. It seems quiet likely that
astronomy and astrology were taught at the Athenaeum (an
institution that in modem terms could be understood as the Roman
state university) from its beginnings in 134 because its founder, the
emperor Hadrian (117-138), was a firm believer in astrology as well
as a practicing expert. On the other hand, from the death of Ceasar
(44 B.C.) until that of Marcus Aurelius (180 A.D.) at least eight
expulsion decrees were issued against astrologers, all meant as
temporary measures. For this reason astrologers were allowed to
stay in Rome as long as they did not practice their art. In the year
294, the emperor Diocletian (284-305) was the first to replace the
usual regional ban on astrology with one valid throughout the
empire and including all divinatory activities considered dangerous
for the government. His edict had the same temporary character as
6
0
and H. B. Van Hoesen, Greek Horoscopes. Memoirs of the
Society 48 (Philadelphia, 1959).
Ptolemy, Tetrabtblos, 1.3, ed. and tr. W. G. Waddell (Cambridge, Mass., 1940;
!964), esp. 30, 32 (text), 31, 33 (translation).
M. 'latromathematica (medical astrology) in Late Antiquity and
the Byzantme pertod' .Medicina nei seco/i 11.2 (1999), 357-76.
167
former regional edicts. later did Christian emperors make these
edicts permanent for rehg1ous reasons.
9
Many well-known astrologers were active during Late Antiquity'o
and a large number of horoscopes cast during this period are
preserved in papyri and later Byzantine manuscripts. L. G.
Westerink's detailed study of an ancient commentary on Paul of
Alexandria's astrological work (ca. 378)
11
reveals favorable
conditions for teaching astrology in sixth-century Alexandria.
Westerink showed that the materials of the commentary come from
a series of lectures delivered in Alexandria during May-June of the
year 564 by Olympiodorus one of his disciples who taught
or astrology. Accordmgly, thought it likely
that m the s1xth century astrology could still be an important part of
the quadrivium and therefore of the whole teaching philosophy
curriculum.
12
Based on this evidence, Stephanos of Alexandria
(who lived in the late sixth/early seventh century, was invited by
emperor Heraclius to Constantinople, and cast both a personal
horoscope for the emperor, as well as a horoscope to predict the
future of Islam) must have studied astrology in Alexandria.
Christian emperors were interested in consulting astrologers for both
their personal and state affairs. Modifications of the relevant
legislation were always possible depending on the circumstances.
For example, a comparison of laws issued from the eighth to the
9
F: H. Cramer, Astrology in Roman Law and Politics (Philadelphia, 1954; repr.
. 1996), 232ff., 247ff., 281.
E .. g. Vettms Valens, Critodemus, Antigonus of Nicaea, Palchus, Rhetorius,
Eutocms, and above all Paul of Alexandria; see Paul of Alexandria, Eisagogika;
ed. Ae. Boer (Leipzig, 1958); also Heliodoros [attributed
1.. todort ut dtcttur m Paulum Alexandrinum commentarium, ed. Ae. Boer
1962). The famous astrologer Hephaestio of Thebes (born on 26
ovember 380) refers to and cites whole passages from the work of earlier
Ptolemy and Dorotheos of Sidon: see Hephaestio of Thebes,
11
{'elesmattca . ed. ?Pingree, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1973 and 1974).
6-
2
Westermk, Em astrologtsches Kolleg aus dem Jahre 564', BZ 64 (1971),
The Greek Commentaries on Plato's Phaedo, 1: 0/ympiodorus,
esp.
der Koninklijke Nederlandese Akademie 92 (Amsterdam, 1976),

'
2
W t k
es enn 'Bin astrologisches Kolleg aus dern Jahre 564', 6, 18-21.
168
tenth century shows that legislators of the Macedonian dynasty were
more actively against magic than the !saurian emperors had been. In
its tum, !saurian legislation was more forgiving, when compared
with the corresponding laws of the sixth-century Codex
Justinianus.
13
Consequently, it seems possible that the religious
politics of the !saurian dynasty did not destroy astrology and
therefore no restoration of it was necessary in later centuries.
The survival and continuity of astrology in the Byzantine Empire is
evident in a long letter of emperor Manuel Komnenos (1143-1180)
addressed to a monk of the Pantokrator monastery, in which Manuel
defends astrology.
14
One of the emperor's arguments was that
Constantine the Great (307-337) after consulting the best astrologer
of his time, Valens, waited fourteen years for the most favorable
date for the inauguration ('dedicatio') of ConstantinopleY He
concludes: "If Constantine and other pious emperors and prelates
had considered astrology as heretical knowledge, they would not
have used it." He also points out that, contrary to what his
correspondent had claimed, the use of astrology on appropriate
occasions is not an expression of impiety because astrology "simply
foretells by taking into account the powers, temperaments, and
qualities of the stars as bestowed on them by God".
16
He further
explains that "the stars are not a creative cause because their bodies
are irrational and insensitive. Therefore, we do not ask them in
13
S. Troianos, 'Zauberei und Giftmischerei in mitte1byzantinischer Zeit', Fest und
Alltag in Byzanz, in G. Prinzing and D. Simon, eds. (Munich, 1991), 37-51, 184-
88, esp. 38: "Aber wie sich aus dem Verg1eich der Gesetzblicher des 8. und 9./!0.
Jh. ergibt, hat sich der Gesetzgeber unter den Makedonen vie! intensiver mit der
Bekilmpfung der Zauberei befaBt, a1s unter den Isauriern, deren (Isaurier)
Gesetzbuch eine Verbesserung des Cod. Justinianus im Sinne griiBerer Milde
ausgibt."
14
lmperatoris Manuel Comneni et Michael Glycae disputatio, ed. F. Cumont and F.
Boll, CCAG, V.1, 108-25 (Manuel's letter) and 125-40 (reply by Michael
On this dispute see also W. Adler, below, and works cited.
Manuel crtes the mformation, which appears in Byzantine chronicles from the
c., that on the fourth day of the "dedicatio" of Constantinople, Constantine the
Great ordered Valens, 1tQW'teuovn, to cast th.e
horoscope. of the c1ty and to predict its future (CCAG, V.l, 118, 14--119, 22). ThiS
was done m the year 5838 from the beginning of the world (330 A. o.), on Monday
II May, in the second hour [of the day] and 26 minutes (MS Vat. gr. 191, fol. 397).
16
CCAG, V.l, 112,2-6.
169
expectation of an answer but, knowing by observation their nature
and hence their temperament, as well as the configuration [of the
planets] which reveals all this, we infer present and future events
from there".
17
The emperor distinguishes between astrologers and
those who invoke and talk with the stars and explains that the latter
are the reason why astrology is misunderstood and astrologers are
named magicians.
18
Consequently, the flourishing of astrology during the reign of later
Byzantine dynasties (the Komnenoi,
19
Angeloi, and Palaiologoi21)
and the considerable number of astrological manuscripts belonging
to the private libraries of state and church figures suggests that
many Byzantine scholars and intellectuals had reconciled their
Christian faith with astrology.
The case of alchemy is considerably different because its
'techniques, closely related to those of the goldsmiths, had many
applications to the art of jewelry-making and the luxurious
decoration of palaces and churches. We are told that Byzantine
emperors and Arab caliphs competed with each other in displaying
the wealth of their respective states. The report of 'Umara ibn-
l:lamza (d. 814/815), the ambassador of caliph (754-775)
to the Byzantine court, evokes the alchemical interests of emperor
V (741-775). He reportedly conducted
expenments m the ambassador's presence and transmuted lead
mto Silver and copper into gold.
21
According to G. E. von
Grunebaum, these experiments would have excited the caliph's
11
CCAG, V.l, 112,22-31
::CCAG, V.!, 112,6-9 ..
P. Magdalino 'Th p h
Alexiad VI.
7
.
1
_7, . e orp and the Astrologers: A Commentary on
History and L. ' m C. et al., eds., Porphyrogenita. Essays on the
Chrysostomid of Byzantium and Latin East in Honour of Julian
cbapters
4
an;
5
s ( dershot, 2003), 15-31; 1dem, L'Orthodoxie des astrologues,
.. .
F. JUrss, 'Johannes K t
Astrologie', BZ 59 (I 966) 2a ranos und der Dialog oder iiber die
21
G Stroh . ' 75-84, esp. 282; A. Tthon, m thts volume
mruer "U ar .
elixir' Grneco A' b' m a rbn l:lamza, Constantme V, and the invention of the
' '" - ra 1ca 4 (1991) 21
griecbischen Alchemie' : --'!; tdem, und die fnlhe Rezeption
W!isenschaften 5 (!
989
)
16
' Zeuschrift fUr Gesch1chre der arabisch-islamischen
7-77,esp. 172-3,
:-y..'
;
tl
II
i
rl
!
!
!
:
'
: ;
170
interest in alchemy.
22
The survival of alchemy in the Byzantine
Empire in the eighth and later centuries
23
argues against Usener's
opinion that alchemy was "forbidden" and that emperor Heraclius
would not have been interested in it for this reason. Owing to its
philosophical background, alchemy was consistently related to
philosophical ideas on the composition and structure of matter and
was understood as "practical philosophy" whereby "practical
philosophers" could achieve the transmutation of matter.
THE ALCHEMICAL WORK
Authorship and significance of the work
According to tradition, Stephanos of Alexandria is the author of the
work On the Great and Sacred Art of Making Gold/
4
originally
organized as a series of lectures (:n:ga!;eLc;).
25
First H. Usener (1880)
22
G. E. von Grunebaum, Der Islam im Mittelalter (ZUrich, 1963), 453, note 76.
23
See Michael Psellos, Letter on chrysopoeia, ed. J. Bidez, CMAG, VI, 1-47, text
26--42. Hunger, Die hochsprachliche profane Literatur der Byzantiner, IT, 281. D.
Pingree, 'Michael Psellus', Dictionary of Scientific Biography, XI, 182-86. Also
Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, ed. M. Berthelot and Chr. Ruelle, 3 vols.
1888), esp. II, 452-9: llegl. "tfJ <f>oxguoorcotia fJZtii)..Sev 6
oo<j>m"tU"tO tv <j>IAoo6<j>otl; XUQLO NLXlJ<j>OQO 6 BAEj.Lj.LUiil] xat l]Uj.LO(elll
"to\J oxorcou "tfl ouvegye(.(;t "to\J rcav"ta oux oV"tmv el 1:6 elvm
XQLO"to\J 1:0\J UAl]8Lvou E>eou i)tuiJv, <)> rcgrneL ei.<; ai.Wva
Uj.Li)v. Also ibid., 442-46:'EQj.Ll]VELa "ti'J frcLO"tfJfLlJ "tfJ
IQOj.LOvaxou "tO\J Koo,m. In addition, the oldest surviving Greek alchemtcal
codex, MS Marc. gr. 299 (10'"-11'" century) belonged to Cardinal Bessarion
(1402-72).
24
of Alexandria, :Ere6.vov JUeS"avoetw_. obtovwvtxov rptJ.oa6ov
><at nj<; {try6.J.1J<; xai.leea<; r:txv
11
_.. II eei xevao:rwtia_., ed. J. L.
Phystct et medici graeci minores, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1841-42; repr.
msterdam, 1963), II, 199-247, 23 (= Ideler). Stephanos' text stops on p. 213,6
because a gap in the binding of MS Marc. gr. 299 resulted in the loss of the end of
the '_YOrk; see H. D. Saffrey, 'Historique et description du manuscrit alchimique de
Marctanus Graecus 299', in D. Kahn, S. Matton, eds., Alchimie: art.
htstotre et mythes (Paris and Milan, 1995); for other editions of Stephanos' work,
see also F. Sherwood Taylor, 'The alchemical works of Stephanus of Alexandria'
out of nine lectures], Ambix I (1937), 116-39 [lectures I and II] and
25
IX 2 (1938), 38-49 [Letter to Theodorus and lecture III]
A detatled study of th rk . . ed in
e wo reveals that the text was ongmally organiZ
seven lessons, but some time earlier than the date of MS Marc. gr. 299 was
{A
lexandria: A Famous Byzantine Scholar,
Stephanos o
171
d Jlowing him, K. Krumbacher and K. H. Dannenfeld,
Stephanos' authorship of the work and viewed it as
q m osition of a later writer because the tenth-century Arab1c
compilation Kitab al-Fihrist by a!- Nadrm refers
to "Stephanos the older, who translated alchemical and other works
for the prince Khiilid ibn-Yazrd (d. 704 A. 0.)."
26
On the other hand;
a number of researchers looked favorably upon Stephanos
authorship, as for example M. Berthelot, E. 0. von Lippmann, I.
Hammer-Jensen, F. Sherwood Taylor, R. Vancourt, A. Lumpe, A. 1.
Festugiere, 0. Neugebauer, and H. Hunger.
27
Yet a third group of
modem scholars, including L. G. Westerink, P. Lemerle, E.
Chauvon, H. D. Saffrey, and G. Fowden, agree that the present
documentation does not allow firm conclusions, a state of affairs
that could definitely be improved with the appearance of critical
editions publishing all the works that the manuscript tradition
occasionally or consistently attributes to Stephanos.
28
W. Wolska-
redistributed into nine lectures and a short letter to Theodorus; the proposed
original division (and its correspondence with the division found in the manuscript
tradition and ldeler's edition) is the following: I" Lesson (MSS and Ideler: Lectures
I and II), Theodorus (: Letter to Theodorus and Lecture III), 2" Lesson (:
Lecture N), 3 m Lesson (: Lecture V), 4th Lesson (: Lecture VI), 5th Lesson (:
Lecture 6 Lesson (: Lecture VIII), 7'" Lesson (: Lecture IX); see M.
Papatbanassmu, 'Stephanus of Alexandria: On the structure and date of his
work', Medicina nei secoli 8.2 (1996), 247-66, esp. 251-7.
Use?e.r, 'De Alexandrino ', 256. K. Krumbacher, Geschichte der
(Munich. 1897), 621. K. H. Dannenfeldt, 'Stephanus of
Dtcttonary ofSciemijic Biography, XIII, 37-38 .
. M. Berthelot, Les origines de /'alchimie (Paris 1885) 100 200 E 0
Lippmann E 1 - 'on
H
ntstemng und Ausbreitung der Alchemie (Berlin 1919) 104 1
anuner-Jensen 'D" 1 '
Selskab H" I .' Ie a teste Alchymie ' Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes
Sh
ood
' Tisonsk-filologiske Meddelelser 4.2 (Copenhagen 1921) 146 148 F
eiW aylor 'Th 1 h ' '
(1937-8) 116-39 e a c emiCal works _of Stephanus of Alexandria', Ambi.t I
demiers A:nbu: 2 (1938), 38-49; R. Vancourt, "Les
d'Alexandrie' (The rLs "II exandrms d Anstote; L'ecole d'Olympiodore. Etienne
.,. . se, I e 1941) 30 A J Fest ., La , .
msmegiste, 4 vols (P .
19
' ug1core, revelatwn d' Hermes
AI
. ans, 44) esp I 239f A L s
exandnen und Kaise . ; : umpe, tephanos von
(1973), 150-9 esp ' Classtcal and Mediaeval Dissertationes 9
Astr ' eugebauer A H" t "A
onomy, 3 vols. (Berlin
1975
) ' Is ory OJ nctent Mathematical
profane Lir' d. esp. II, _1050, 1051 n. 53, 54; Hunger, Die
L. G. Westerink A eratur er Byzantmer, II, 280.
XXV; idem, Prolegom_ena to Platonic Philosophy (Amsterdam,
tudesurleCommentaire ast on Plato's Phaedo, I, 22; E. Chauvon
ronomique de Stephanos d' Alexandrie' (Memoire
l:
172
Conus carefully researched the personality and activities f
Stephanos of Alexandria or Stephanos of Athens
29
and pointed
that Byzantine historians associate the alchemical, astrological and
astronomical activity of Stephanos with the patronage of
Heraclius; we should not overlook this evidence and reject the
possibility that Stephanos was active as teacher in Constantinople.lO
Problems of authorship aside, many scholars have misunderstood
and underestimated the importance of On the Great and Sacred Art
of Making Gold. For example, M. Berthelot considered its scholarly
significance to be minor; consequently, he did not include it in his
Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs (= CAAG, 1888) and gave
only a brief summary of the subjects treated in it. Modem scholars
have also criticized it negatively on account of its rhetorical style
and the absence of original scientific ideas. However, as
commentary on selected passages of earlier alchemical texts, the
work in fact presented its author with an opportunity to demonstrate
wide rhetorical prowess, extensive learning, and a significant
breadth of philosophical understanding. The author dislikes the
whole chemical apparatus and polemicizes against those who pursue
the art of making gold in order to become rich. In spite of these
features, the manuscript tradition of the work clearly indicates that it
was greatly appreciated: it survives in fifty-three manuscripts, forty-
seven of which are in Greek, two in Greek with Latin translation,
and four in Latin; with the exception of six manuscripts produced
between the eleventh and the fifteenth centuries, the rest were
Licence, Universite Catholique de Louvain, 1979-80), 18; P. Lemerle, Le premier
humanisme byzantin. Notes et remarques sur /' enseignement et culture a Byzance
des origines au xe siec/e (Paris, 1971) [Greek tr. Athens, 1985; English tr.
1986], chapter 4, n. 29; Saffrey, H. D., 'Presentation du tome I des
Alchimistes grecs par R. Halleux', Papyrus de Leyde. Papyrus de Stockholm.
Fragments de recettes, ed. R. Halleux. Les alchimistes grecs, I (Paris, !981), Xll-
;Iv; G. Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes (Cambridge, 1986), 178.
Wolska-Conus, 'Stephanos. Identification'; eadem, 'Stephanos d'Athooes
(Steph:mos d: Alexandrie) et Theophile le Pr0tospathaire, commentateurs des
Aphonsmes d Htppocrate sont-ils independents l'un de !'autre?', Revue des etudes
';jozantines 52 (1994 ), 5--68.
Wolska-Conus, 'Stephanos. Identification', 17.
173
copied between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries.
31
The On
the Great and Sacred Art of Making Gold greatly influenced the
socalled poet-alchemists (Heliodoros, Theophrastos, Hierotheos and
Archelaos) as is evident from several passages in their texts.
32
In
the Arabic tradition, the name and work of Stephanos (lstafanns) is
associated with emperor Heraclius (Hiraql).
33
The Arabic alchemical
corpus attributed to Jabir ibn I:Iayyan cites passages from
Stephanos' work or uses analogous terminology without making
direct reference to the Greek source.
34
As far as alchemy in Latin is
concerned, the Turba philosophorum and Rosinus quote passages
(short phrases or even whole pages) lifted from the Greek
alchemical texts that were translated verbatim (through Arabic)
into Latin, while the author of the Rosarium philosophicum (a mid
fourteenth-century ompilation) cites nd comments on Stephanos.
35
In the early modem period, the work of Stephanos is included
in Dominicus Pizimentius' 1573 printed edition of Greek
!chemists in Latin translation,
36
as well as in later
"M. Papathanassiou, 'Stephanus von Alexandreia und sein alchemistisches Werk'
(Ph. D. diss., Humboldt Universitiit zu Berlin, 7. Dezember 1992), esp. Teil II
(Handschriften des alchemistischen Werkes).
32
Texts in Ideler, II, 328-35 (Theophrastos), 336--42 (Hierotheos), 343-52
(Archelaos); 'Heliodori carmina quattuor ad fidem codicis casselani', ed. G.
Goldschmidt, Re/igionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten, XIX.2 (Giessen,
1923), 26-34. G. Goldschmidt, 'Heliodors Gedicht von der Alchemie', in J. Ruska,
ed., Studien zur Geschichte der Chemie, Festgabe Edmund 0. v. Lippmann zum 70.
Geburtstage (Berlin, 1927), 21-27.
33
The name of the emperor Heraclius is included in the catalogue of alchemists
provided in the 10"-century bibliographical compilation by Ibn al-Nadrm, Kitab al-
./ihrist, ed. G. Fltigel (Leipzig, 1871), 353, 24ff; tr. B. Dodge, The Fihrist (New
York, 1970), 849-50. Ibn al-Nadim mentions the Kitab Hiraqlal-akbar (=Book of
Heraclius the Great) in 14 books (Fihrist, ed. Flilgel, 354, 27; tr. Dodge, 853); this
seems to be the Arabic translation of the Ks<j>aAma :rtSQt TIJ\; -rou XQUOOU
Lll', a work included in the table of contents in MS Marc. gr. 299 but
otherwise missing from the volume; see M. Ullmann, Die Natur- und
Geheimwissenschaften im Islam (Leiden, 1972), 189-90; M. Berthelot, La chimie
au Moyen Age, 3 vols. (Paris, 1893; repr. Osnabrock, 1967), esp. III sur Ia
de Ia science antique au Moyen Age), 243,255,257.
Berthelot, La chimie au Moyen Age, III, L 'alchimie arabe, 20-21. 52, 78, 80,
!68. See also Le livre des soixallfe-dix, in vol. I, esp. 325, 332,341.
,. Berthelot, La chimie Ull Moyen Age, I, 234,253,261,262,264,267,274-77.
Berthelot, Les origines de /'alchimie, 105 considers it a "paraphrase".
' \ .,
l
f
;.
,,.,
174
editions.
37
Last but not least, about one tenth of the books owned by
Isaac Newton (1643-1727) were alchemical, while nine out of
eighty-four titles recorded in his . manuscript De
scriptoribus chemicis refer to the Latm translation of works by
Greek alchemists, Stephanos included.
38
Since modem criteria regarding what constitutes 'science' differ
greatly from those of the Middle Ages, uncovering the larger
'scientific' principles underlying the work of Stephanos is a
challenging but necessary task, without which it would be
impossible to adequately comprehend the work, intellectual profile,
and activities of Stephanos.
39
Generally speaking, the loose structure of Stephanos' lectures On
making gold should not be attributed to his penchant for a personal
rhetorical style. Rather, it is the result of his effort to synthesize
various ideas originating in a wide array of disciplines into a logical
37
Democritus Abderita, De arte magna, sive de rebus naturalibus, necnon Synesii,
et Pelagii, et Stephani Alexandrini, et Michaelis P selli in eundem commentaria,
Dominico Pizimentio Vibonensi Interprete (Patavii apud Simonem Galignanum,
1573) (the work of Stephanos is found on fols. 23r-61r). Philosophus. Lectio
prima :n:eel xevao1Wdar;. Graece et latine cum notis crit. primus ed. Ch. Gf.
Gruner, Jenae 1777, in: J. G. Th. Graesse, Tresor de livres rares et precieux, 8 vols.
(Dresden, 1859-69), esp. VI (1865), 492.
38
J. Harrison, The Library of Isaac Newton (Cambridge, 1978), 59. K. Figala, J.
Harrison and U. Pezold, 'De Scriptoribus Chemicis: sources for the establishment
of Isaac Newton's (al)chemicallibrary', in P. M. Harman and A. E. Shapiro, eds.,
The investigation of difficult things. Essays on Newton and the history of the exact
sciences in honour of D. T. Whiteside (Cambridge, 1992), 135-79, esp. 136-7,
140-141, 166 no. [15], 167 no. [25], 168 no. [36], 169 nos. [46]-[48] and [50]-[51],
171 no. [72]. As an example of Newton's study of Greek alchemical works, I refer
to his description of a method for refining gold by heating it wit?
"Newton then attributed that knowledge to the 'Anciens,' in accord wtth hts behef
that all wisdom was anciently held by at least some wise men", in B. J. T. Dobbs,
The Foundations of Newton's Alchemy (Cambridge, 1975, repr. 1984), 154. But
Newton was right in attributing this method to the 'Ancients' because, as we have
shown, MS Paris. gr. 2327, copied in 1478 by Theodoros Pelekanos, includ.es two
recipes for refining gold and silver by heating them with antimony (Collectw.n des
anciens alchimistes grecs, ed. Berthelot and Ruelle, II, 333, 28- 334, II),
111
M.
xat aJ..xrnt.ekt', Otironla 16 (1995), 69-78. . and
M. Papathanasstou, 'Stephanus of Alexandria: pharmaceuttcal nouons .
cosmology in his alchemical work', Ambix 37.3 (1990), 121-33 esp. 125ff.;AmbiX
38.2 (1991), 112 (addenda).
175
sequence and fashion them into a whole. This, says Stephanos, is
exactly the research method of the philosopher; it is clearly his own
method, too. His intention to unify various philosophical theories
under the umbrella of a single theory able to account for all
phenomena observed in the universe seems very modem. Though
Stephanos promises to clarify everything, he in fact says nothing
that could be clearly and immediately understood. According to L.
G. Westerink,
40
the lack of clarity and logical sequence in
combining ideas also characterizes Stephanos' commentary on
Book III of Aristotle's De anima,
41
an observation that furnishes an
additional argument in favour of Stephanos' authorship of the
alchemical work. Further corroboration for this hypothesis is
supplied by H. Blumenthal's statement that "a curious mixture of
Neoplatonic aims and Aristotelian content emerges from Stephanos'
theoria" in his commentary on Book 3 of Aristotle's De anima.
42
Relations between microcosm, macrocosm and chemical
operations
A detailed study of the alchemical work demonstrates that
Stephanos' principles on "practical philosophy" are deeply rooted in
Neoplatonism and especially Damascius' De principiis. These
principles refer to the structure and transformations of matter, the
One and Many in the world and his theoretical approach to the
riddle of the philosophers,
43
i.e. the secret name of the philosophers'
stone.
44
Stephanos proves his extensive knowledge of Greek
philosophy and science by using ideas both well-known and new
"' Westerink, Anonymous Prolegomena to Platonic Philosophy, esp. Introduction,
XXIV-XXV.
"Publishedas the third book of Ioannes Philoponos, In Aristotelis de anima Iibras
commentaria, ed. M. Hayduck, Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca XV (Berlin,
1897), 446-607.
" H. 'John Philoponus and Stephan us of Alexandria: Two Neoplatonic
Christtan Commentators on Aristotle?' D. J. O'Meara, ed., Neoplatonism and
Thought (Norfolk and Albany, 1982), 54-63, notes esp. 55-56.
44
ldeler225,9-l4.
M. Papathanassiou, 'L 'reuvre alchimique de Stephanos d 'Alexandrie: structure
de Ia matiere, unite et pluralite, l'enigme des philosophes', in C.
ed. L'alchimie et ses racines phi/osophiques. La tradition grecque et Ia

lradl!wn arabe (Paris, 2005), 113-33.
?I :.I
176
(i.e. introduced by himself), especially in what he writes regarding
the relation among various parts of the macrocosm, microcosm, and
the philosophers' stone.
45
These relations may be outlined as
follows:
The secret name of the philosopher's stone comprises nine letters
forming four syllables (enta YQUf-Lf.urca exw,
df.11) and, according to Stephanos, corresponds to
("four bodies", namely the four primary cosmic elements as solid
bodies: fire-tetrahedron, air-octahedron, water-eicosahedron and
earth-cube) and to the alloy of four metals involved in chemical
operations. In Greek medicine, these elements correspond to the
four humours of the human body (blood, yellow bile, black bile and
phlegm). Stephanos draws further correspondences between the four
humors and chemical substances. He explains that
blood composed of air is warm and humid and is like
quicksilver. Yellow bile composed of fire is warm and dry and
is like copper. Black bile composed of earth is dry and cold and
is like the dross of both [quicksilver and copper]. Phlegm
composed of water is cold and humid and is like the vapours of
a watery solution of gold (i\1\an XQUOQl) which are the souls of
copper.
46
Stephanos uses the word "key" (xl..ds;) to denote the passage from
one element to another that has opposite qualities; he gives
examples for three of them as follows:
Fire-quicksilver is united with water through earth-dross like
blood is united with phlegm through black bile; this is the first
" !deter 220, 13-223, 15; 244, 31-245, 12. Also Papathanassiou, 'Stephanus's
Cosmology', 127.
46
The English translation follows the Greek text from the forthcoming edition by
Papathanassiou, 3: 3: 'Ex f1v UEQO> 1:0 atf!.C! SeQfLOV xat liyQOV EOLX tt'1
UbQUQ'fUQ<p, UruiQXEl 'fUQ SEQ I-Ii} xat ilyQu ex M mJQO> i] xol.i} 8EQl
xat U'(Qa EOLXE 'tQl xa1..xcp UruiQXOV'tL 8EQI-IC/l xat Sl]Qcp. Kat ex flv Jrl'l.>
1!>-awa xo>.i) EoLX 'tf1 oxwQ((;t 1:0>v UJ'tUQXEL yO.Q SlJQU xat 1JIUXQU. Ell
M Ma't:O> 1:0 <l>l.f.'{f!.C!1JIUXQOv xat U'fQOV i\mxE 'tQl Ma'tl XI!"0<P
01tEQ EO'tLV at 1Jiuxat 'tOil xa1..xoil UJtUQXEL YUQ 1JIUXQOV xat uyQ6V. The
corresponding passage in ldeler 220 18-24 presents significant textual
differences. ' '
key and a separation of the humid from the dry, i.e. a
separation of the souls of copper from the bodies, namely
quicksilver.<'
He goes on to explain the second and third keys:
Earth-dross is united with air-gold through fire-quicksilver, in
the same way that black bile is united with yellow bile through
blood; this is the second key, the making of a mound
of putrefied [substance], so that the dross is united
with fire-quicksilver through sulfurous [divine] water (8Elov
VOWQ ). Air-gold is united with earth-dross by water in the
same way that yellow bile is united with black bile through
phlegm. This is the third key, a union of air with earth, that is a
resolution by putrefaction and boiling, i.e. by the seven
conversions so that it becomes water and all is
united in cinnabar.
48
177
The number seven in the passage quoted above refers to the seven
planets and their metals, as is evident from the correspondence that
Stephanos draws between the four primary elements and the four
fixed points of the Sun's annual path in the Zodiac which mark the
beginning of the four seasons and their zodiacal signs. These points
are the two equinoxes (vernal and autumnal) and the two solstices
(winter and summer). He names the zodiacal signs "towers" and
thus refers to the sacred art (of making gold) as having twelve
towers (bwbexanugyos;) and twelve signs divided
in four groups (seasons) of three towers (signs) each: vernal equinox
"Ed. Papathanassiou, 3:4: otov 'tO l'tilQ tvoil'taL 'tQl UOa'tL Ou't 'ti\>
yi'Js, WOJ'tEQ 'tO aLfl.Cl tvoii'taL 'tQl $AE'ffl.Cl'tL Olit 'ti\>
)Uia(Vl]s EO'tl J'tQW'tl] XAEL> xal XWQlOfLOS 'tWV U'(QWV ex 'tWV
lOU'tEO'tt XWQlOfLO 'tWV 1JIUXWV 'tOil XaAxoil ex lWV oW!-Il'ltWV, i\'(OUV
tfJs XQUOaQ'(liQOU (corresponds to Ideler 220, 28-33).
"Ed. Papathanassiou, 3:6-7: Kal i] yfJ, fJ oxwQCa, tvoil'taL 'tQl UEQL
toil UOQUQYUQOU, i\'(OU i] OXWQ(a tvou'tm 'tQl uoau XQU<J<!l
6La tfJs 'hOJ'tEQ i] 1-\EI.mva XOAfJ tvoiltm 'tf1 !;av8fl XOAfl Ola 'tOil
at)latos, l]tls ta1:t Oeu'tQa x1..Et, 'ti\s oeol]mJias. &tws tvw8fl
OXOOQ(a 'tQl 8e(Q6s. ijyouv olit 'ti\s uOQaQyiJQOU. Kat 6 ai}Q
tvoil1:m 'tf1 Yfi, i]'(ouv 1:f1 ota 1:oil iJOa'tO>, 'tOil liyQoil,
-v"''l !;avei] XOAfJ tvoil'tm 'tfli-IAa(vn XOAfl Olit toil <j>Af.'{f!.C!tOs, eo-ct
tQ(tlj xl..el; 'tOil UEQO> 1-\E'tU 'tfJS 'lfJ>, olit 'ti\> o'i]1jJEW>
'tOU'tton 1:0>v El'tn't xat ywoi-\EVlJ> UOWQ xat
, OUIJvwv J'tUV'tWV tv 'tQl UJ.Ul, tv 'tfl XLvvaP6.QEL
,corresponds to ldeler 221, 2-12).
178
and signs-towers Aries, Taurus, and Gemini to air;
mer solstice and signs Cancer, Leo and V1rgo correspond to
fall equinox and signs _Libra,
spond to water; winter solstice and s1gns Capncom, Aquanus
corre 49
and Pisces correspond to earth.
St phanos explains that the bodies and colours of the seven planets
ar: precisely the seven bodies and colours of this composition, the
tetrasomia. In the same manner that the seven planets pass through
the signs of the Zodiac, the seven bodies and colors pass through
(i.e. appear in) the composition made up of the four elements.
According to Stephanos, the "mysterion of the philosophers" (where
mysterion is a multi-valent word meaning "mystery, secret", but
also "mystic rite", "an object used in magic rites, talisman" and
"symbol") is carried out by means of the sev_en _planets;_ the
philosophers call it the "Egg of the philosophers wh1ch IS not bud by
a bird" (<jJov t&v <j>LA.oa6<j>wv, O:ltQ oux EYEVV'Il0).
50
By
49
Ed. Papathanassiou, 3:9: ouv rra;w y(vovrm. e.:
lEOOaQOL lQICtliUIW<;. "Qme ouv liwliexarrueyo<; urraexouoa TJFV f) WQU
lfxVTJ' lQOrrWV tEOOUQOJV ava lQLWV rrilgywv liwliexa!;cplio<; AYElUL elvm,
avaxux1..ouj.ikvt] tel<; rgorra<; oihw<; ijyouv eagtvfj<;, xgL6<;, tallQO<;,
at)Q 8EQLVfj<;, XUQXLVO<;, Mwv, rrageevo<;, rrlJQ !;uy6<;,
crxogrrL6<;, 'tOl;6'tTJ<;. Mwg XELJ.IEQLVfj<;, aiy6xegw<;, MQoxoo<;, txeue<;,
liru:Q cruvay6f.IVa 6f10ll y(vov'taL 'tQorrat 'teooaee<; eagtvf), 8EQLVTJ,
J.LE801UJlQLVfl, XELJ.LEQLvfl, ijyouv 'teooaga O'tOLXEia UEQO<;, rruQ6<;, Mara<;, yfl<;
(corresponds to ldeler 221, .
"'The phrase is missing from MS Marc. gr. 299 (10"'/11"' century), where there.ts
a gap in its place; it survives in MS Paris. gr. 2325 (13"' century) and MS_ Pam.
gr. 2327 (a. 1478); ldeler 222, 10 marks a gap and quotes a somewhat dtfferent
(wrong) sequence of words. The full Greek text reads as follows (ed.
Papathanassiou, 3:10): 'QoautOJ<; rraALV ExEL 'tel OWftU'ta xat 'tel XQWJ.LCllU t!ilV
ema clOlEQOJV 't(i)V )..eyoJ.Jtvwv rrAaVTJlWV 'tWV au'tWV Elliwv 'tE xat oxTJfi(lroov,
liru:Q Elcrt 'tel emu O!OJ.LU'ta xat 'tel XQWJ.LCllU 'tOll au'toll
y(vOV'tUL J.LE'tcl 'tf)v 'tclSLV 'tWV emu amEQOJV. "Qorree yaQ OUlOL ol EJ"tta
amtge<;, ijyouv ol rr)..avij'te<;, el.aegx6f.IVOL ev wi<; arr1..avtm t<Pii(oi
xat ESEQX6J.IEVOL <jla(vovmt f1kv ytv6f.1VOL xat arroytv6f.1VOL, outOJ<; Kat
tailta ta emu OWJ.LUta xat ta XQWJ.LCl'ta <jlatv6f.1Va flkv y(vovtm
11
,a
cirroy(vovmt Ev tlji au'tcj> ouv8EJ.LCltL rlji ex reooagwv ormxe(Olv
lith. t!ilv errta acr'ti\Qwv 1:G>v 1..eyofikvwv rr)..avTJ'tG>v xat Urr)..av v
!;cpli(wv tEAEitUL 'tO tWV <jl!Aoo6<jlwv UlQEXEOta'tOV o:;
rrag'au'tOi<; ljJov r&v rptJ.oa6rpwv, on_e(! ovx eytvv,ae, <;
E<jlaoav, a)..)..' 0 VOll<; tOll rrQO<jlfllOU <jlwgato, omL<; UJ"tUQXEL, O (Ill;
(corresponds to Ideler 221,34-222, 12).
Stepbanos of Alexandria: A Famous Byzantine Scholar,
179
referring to the "body (alloy) of four elements (metals)"
(tetQaatoxr.p aooJ.LUtL) Stephanos means the cosmogonic Egg of
Greek philosophy which, according to Orphic doctrine, "is older not
only than the bird, but is older than anything in the world".st
Consequently, this Egg is a dynamic image of the All represented by
the two cosmic revolutions and should be identified with the Stone
of the philosophers.
Stephanos continues by drawing correspondences between the
primary elements on the one hand, and colors and parts of the
human body on the other, as follows: Earth corresponds to white
and to the part from feet to knees. Water is far-shining
and translucent ( and corresponds to the part from knees to
navel. Fire is yellow and fiery (bLWtvQOV) and
corresponds to the part from navel to heart. Air is saffron-coloured
and corresponds to the part from heart to neck.
52
Why
does Stephanos omit the head? Because, as is clearly stated in
Plato's Timaeus, "the divine revolutions, which are two, (the gods]
bound within a sphere-shaped body, in imitation of the spherical
form of the All, which body we now call the "head," it being the
most divine part and reigning over all the parts within us" (44D).
Moreover, "[the gods] planted the mortal kind apart therefrom in
another chamber of the body, building an isthmus and boundary for
the head and chest by setting between them the neck to the end that
they might remain apart" (69E).
53
Stephanos says that the head regulates the change of humours in the
human body exactly as the alternation of seasons regulates the
"0. Kern, Orphicorum Fragmenta (Berlin, 1922), 143: (Plutarch, Quaest. Sympos.
II 3,1 p. 636d) ae(ow l;uvct:olOL lOV 'Og<j>txov UoQOV )..6yov, o<; oux OQVLBO<;
fi(Jvov lO cpov arro<jla(vEL aHa xa\ futaoav
6iJ.Oll UVU't(8TJOL
Ed. 3: II: 'Ex flkv rrobwv EO> yovarwv ro til<; yfl<;

Ul"tUQXEL xat ear\ AEUXOV woet XLWV' EX liE lWV yovarwv EW<; roil
0
11'l>a:l.ou toll Mara<; motxeiov urraexet toll xarox(fl.OU xat Em\ 'tTJAauy<;
tlji re dliet xat Tfl OewQ((;t xa\ ex toll OJ.L<jlakoll til<; xaelila<;

rru.eo<; mmxeiov urraexet wll xaroxlfl.Ou xa\ em\ l;aveov xa\
Oto QOV. OJ<; to rrllQ' xat EX til<; xaglila<; EOJ<; lOll auxevo<; lOll UEQO<;
53 xat Eat\ xgoxwlie<; (corresponds to ldeler 222, 12-20).

tr. R. G. Bury (Cambridge, Mass., 1929; repr. 1981), (440) 98-9,
0-81.
ll!O Maria Papathanassiou
change of juices in nature. But the alternation of seasons depends on
the Sun's annual motion in the Zodiac (ecliptic); consequently, both
the head and the Zodiac regulate all changes observed in the human
body (microcosm) and the world (macrocosm). Finally, Stephanos
says that the changes of the four primary elements into one another
and the occurrence of natural phenomena are similar to what takes
place in a chemical apparatus: the cover (<j>avo<;) of the earthen pot
(xu6Qa, A<.Ol'ta<;) looks like the sky that covers the earth; many
changes occur in both the sky and the chemical apparatus as
putrefaction and the dross of metals change by exhalation.
54
An astronomical phenomenon recorded
In revealing the unity of the world, Stephanos related celestial and
terrestrial phenomena to man in various ways. The well-known
correspondence between planets and metals (Sun-gold, Moon-silver,
Mercury-quicksilver, Venus-copper, Mars-iron, Jupiter-tin, Saturn-
lead) and the observation of a particular planetary phenomenon at
the time that he was writing his alchemical work stimulated his
imagination and inspired him to include its allegorical description in
his text.
The following passage, if explained in astronomical terms, can be
understood as describing the Constantinopolitan eastern sky near the
horizon at dawn and may be used as a clue to aid the identification
of its author and the date of its composition:"
Again the [planet] of Venus attained the Persian dawn and
precedes the rays of the Sun; again the [planet] of Mercury,
54
Ed. Papathanassiou, 7:7: "QonEQ ouv EX wii ouQavoii xaJWQ01h6lc; til yfl
EnLXELIJEvou 'taii'ta rniV'ta elmv EX 'tWV avaSu!llftoewv, OU'tW<; xat 'ti\<;
i\m A.oool\oc;, we; ex yi)c; xat EX 'tOU EnLXELfWVOU <j>avoii e;
OUQavoii o<j>oi\Qat y(vov"taL ot Kat &oneQ at iic; yi)c; OTJijJEI<;
ou1:wc; xat o ioc; ou
To 1\ aim'> xa"tuvof(oeLc; xat ent i)c; '[OU
xe<t>uA.i)c;, OLx(uc; 1\(XT]V EmXELfUlyT]c; 'tljl OWJW'tL xat 'tU uyQU flll'taflaA.A.ouat]<;
'tljl EnLXQU'tOUV'tL 1tCl8L W<; at 'tQ01tU( (corresponds to ldeler 245, 3-12).
"Papathanassiou, 'Stephanus of Alexandria: On the structure and date of his
alchemical work', 258ff.
under the rays of the Sun, is found in the subsequent [Zodiacal
signs]; again the [planet] of Saturn is faintly discernible due to
the steepness of its height; again the [planet] of Mars is
preparing the burning cut; towards these [planets] comes the
Moon dressed as a bride [and] takes up the towed ships of the
nine parts; by means [of the Moon] the alloy that is in the
process of mixing itself does so to perfection. 56
181
This passage can be explained as follows: at dawn the Sun is under
the horizon; "Mercury, under the rays of the Sun, is found in the
subsequent [Zodiacal signs]" means that Mercury is also under the
horizon and is therefore invisible. "Venus attained the Persian dawn
and precedes the rays of the Sun" means that Venus is visible as
"the morning star" near the eastern horizon at dawn. "Saturn is
faintly discernible due to the steepness of its height" refers to
Saturn's great distance from the Earth according to ancient
cosmological models. "Mars is preparing the burning cut" means
that Mars (understood by astrology as the ruler of Aries and related
to violent activities, weapons, cuts, burns, and the metal iron) is
preparing to pass from the last Zodiacal sign, Pisces (a watery sign),
to the first one, Aries (a fiery sign). "The Moon comes dressed as a
bride" towards these planets indicates that the Moon is about to
come in conjunction with the Sun (new Moon), a phenomenon
allegorically understood as their marriage, a theogamia.
Consequently, after the full Moon, the Moon is now moving
towards these planets and the Sun, without having yet been in
conjunction with any one of them. As deduced from the author's
poetic account of this particular planetary phenomenon, the order of
the planetary positions from east to west is as follows: Mercury, Sun
(invisible under the horizon), Venus, Saturn, Mars, Moon (visible
above the horizon).
56
ldeler 225, 25-32: llaALV o [o correxi: i] MBA] 'ti)c; J\<j>Qol\('tT]c; 'tijv 1tEQOLXTJV
[A.ax<hv correxi: A.axoiioa MBA] t\ljlav 1tQOT]yt'tm 1:6.c; "toi) i)A\ou
1tUALV o 'tOii 'EQfLOii uno 1:6.c; 'tOii l]Atou auyuc; ent 1:6. En6fLVa
EUQWXE'tUL 1tUALv o 'tOii KQ6vou liLa 'tijv wii u1jlouc; fla8U'tT]'ta UfLUI\Qwc;
I!QOO<!>a(vE"taL 1tUALV 0 'tOU AQEOJ<; 'tijv ltUQWIIT] 'tOjlijV ev ole;
lll.!loxeuaoflkvTJ 1tQOQXEm oekl]vTJ, tac; t\vvta 1:oov 'tfLTJJ.Ulwv
va aiJilaV1 1:0 ouyXLQVWfLEVOV 'tEAELOU'tUI XQdJW.
182
In the last sentence of the passage the author refers to "the alloy that
is in the process of mixing itself'; this is the alloy composed of the
metals that correspond to the planets mentioned earlier according to
the Stoic principle of sympathy between all parts of the world, a
principle which underlies the traditional correspondence between
celestial bodies (planets), terrestrial things (metals, precious and
semi-precious stones, plants, animals etc) and parts of the human
body. This may be related to the subsequent passage:
The whole operation includes three [bodies/ elements/ metals]
and displays the tetrasomia [= the four bodies] as a fourth,
proceeding in an orderly manner. And they [= the bodies/
planets] run about to serve the most pure one [= Moon], so that
by means of the vigorous [conjunctions?] they spur
[themselves?] on towards the rays of the Sun, so that what
[comes] from something perfect and is perfect be combined
with [other] perfect [things].
57
"The tetrasomia proceeding in an orderly manner" here signifies the
four planets (apart from the Sun and the Moon) proceeding in order
on the Zodiacal zone. The passage means the following: the Moon-
silver comes in successive conjunctions with the four planets-metals
of the tetrasomia, changes their colours by transmuting their
substances and leads them towards the Sun as it (the Moon) is
moving towards its conjunction with the Sun; in this way the Moon
leads the four planets to their perfection through union with the Sun-
gold.
The date of the work
If this passage really refers to a planetary phenomenon observed. by
Stephanos during the time that he was composing his alchellllCal
work, one should be able to identify a great assembly of the Sun, the
Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn in a relatively narrow part
of the sky, seen in the eastern sky at dawn during the reign of the
" ldeler 228, 28-32: ... tva lQLWV OVlWV xa96),.ou 'tE'tclQ't11V
avabell;eL ti}v le"tQaowjUuv Kat 1\LUlQt)(OUOL
U:rct]Qeo(uv tva b..U 't<ilv e\Jlovouv'twv xev'tf]owmv
'tofl it/J.ou lo tx u),.ef.ou 'teAetov ouva<j>Bft
183
emperor Heraclius (5 October 610-11 January 641) at
Constantinople. The lack of any reference to Jupiter in the text
evidently means that it was not visible.
According to calculations made on the computer with the program
Voyager, during the reign of Heraclius there were 93 cases of great
assemblies of the Sun, the Moon and four planets, independently of
their order in the sky and their visibility; but only three of those (7
June 617, II March 636, and 19 February 638) fulfill most
astronomical conditions described in the passage. Closer
examination helps eliminate the conjunctions of 636 and 638, since
the order of the visible planets (as seen successively in increasing
height above the horizon) was Mars, Venus, and Saturn. This
sequence is different from the one described in the text (Venus,
Satum, Mars). In addition, in both 636 and 638 Mars was in the
Zodiacal sign of Aquarius; especially in February 638, it was very
near the Sun and moving towards Capricorn (retrograde motion),
i.e. in a direction away from Aries. Consequently, in neither case
could Mars have been preparing the "burning cut" by entering
Aries. After eliminating the years 636 and 638 from consideration,
the astronomical conditions on 7 June 617 deserve closer
examination:
Constantinople, 7 June 617,04.15 am local time (02.15 UT)
Planet
Rising Setting Zodiacal sign
Sun
04:29am 07:32pm 17 52' Gemini
Mercury
05:32am
08:56pm 04 33' Cancer
Venus
03:54am
06:42pm 07 51' Gemini
Mars
01:04am
01:00pm 01 39' Aries
{Jupiter
11:32 am
12:29am 15 18' Virgo]
<'
...
,.
184
Saturn 03:21am 05:32pm
25 33' Taurus
Moon 03:09am 05:53pm
22 29' Taurus
If we were at Constantinople on that date and Stephanos invited us
to admire with him the splendid view of the starry sky, he would
first show us Mercury, visible in the twilight as an evening star low
in the west; and next morning early at dawn (4:05 am local time, 24
minutes before sunrise) in increasing height from the eastern
horizon he would show us Venus as a morning star very low in the
east but visible because of its great brightness; a little higher than
Venus Saturn would be in conjunction with the crescent of the
Moon, and finally red Mars high in the sky. The position of
Mars in 1 39' Aries, a fiery Zodiacal sign and the first subsequent to
the vernal equinox, explains why "Mars is preparing the burning
cut": Stephanos must have been observing the planets for many days
while this particular planetary phenomenon gradually
was moving straight forward (towards the subsequent zodiacal Sign)
through the last degrees of Pisces before entering Aries on 4 June.
Meanwhile, the Moon, after the full Moon of 26 May, would come
successively into conjunction with Mars (3 June), Saturn (7 June)
and Venus (8 June), reaching its next conjunction with the Sun (new
Moon) on 9 June 617. Stephanos does not mention the 3 June
conjunction of Moon and Mars in Pisces, possibly because he wrote
this lecture some time after 26 May 26 but before 3 June 617
The astronomical method explained
A legitimate question may arise as far as this method of dating the
alchemical work of Stephanos is concerned: if the single date
fulfilling all astronomical conditions deduced from the text is
by searching only the astronomical phenomena that occurred dunng
the forty years of Heraclius' reign, is this not a circular
based on the assumption that the alchemical work is a genume
composition by Stephanos? If the attribution of the alchemical work
to Stephanos is false, it could have been written any time between
Of
Alexandria: A Famous Byzantine Scholar,
Stephanos
185
S banos' lifetime in the early seventh century and the late tenth-
tef eleventh century, i. e. the date ascribed on the basis of
to MS Marc. gr. 299, the earliest among the
manuscripts that contain the work. We therefore
whether the astronomical descn?ed m. the alchemical
work repeated itself at any other time dunng th1s four-century
period.
Let us begin with the celestial phenomenon itself. It true such
an astronomical phenomenon may occur several times dunng a
given century because of the participation of the planets Sun,
Mercury and Venus. As Plato says in his Timaeus (380), "and the
Morning Star [i.e. Venus] and the Star called Sacred to Hermes He
[i. e. God] placed in those circles which move in an orbit equal to
the Sun in Velocity, but endowed with a power contrary thereto;
whence it is that the Sun and the Star of Hermes and the Morning
Star regularly overtake and are overtaken by one another".
58
The
Moon joins them every month but the order of its successive
conjunctions with them differs from one month to the next. In our
case a major differentiation in this "regular" phenomenon appears
because of the participation of the planets Mars and Saturn whose
sidereal periods of revolution around the zodiac are ca. two (1.88)
years and ca. thirty (29.46) years respectively.
59
This means that we
do not see every month an astronomical phenomenon in which all
these planets are involved. Moreover, such phenomena are not
always visible, as their visibility depends on the angular distances of
the planets involved in relation to that of the Sun in the Zodiac. But
even if such a phenomenon is visible, there are two opposite regions
of the sky in which it may be observed: either in the eastern part of
the sky at dawn (if Mercury or Venus or both are morning stars) or
in the western part of the sky at twilight (if Mercury or Venus or
both are evening stars). This condition further restricts the
"Plato, Timaeus, tr. Bury (380), 79.
"The sidereal period is the time that a planet takes to complete one orbit relative
to. the fixed stars. The position of a given planet is measured on the ecliptic by
the coordinates of the ecliptic (ecliptic longitude, ecliptic latitude); we
constder the point of the vernal equinox as point zero on the ecliptic. A planet
a whole revolution around the zodiac (i.e. the ecliptic) when it returns to the
:I_Dt it was when we begun observing it, i.e. to the same degree on the
lipttc (t.e. the same ecliptic longitude).
. i
l
186
possibilities of when the astronomical phenomenon described in the
alchemical text may have occurred.
Let us now further narrow our search by imposing an even more
restrictive requirement: the order of the planets seen in the sky as
compared to that described in the text. By moving continuously, the
six celestial objects mentioned in the astronomical passage (Sun,
Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn) keep changing their angular
distances from one another and, in due time, also their order.
Though there are many different ways in which we can combine and
order six different objects, once a particular sequence and location
on the sky relative to one another are required, possibilities become
considerably more limited. The astronomical passage describes a
concentration of the planets except Jupiter in a relatively small part
of the sky, forming what in astrological terms is called a great
assembly or great conjunction. For this reason, we may allow an
angular distance of 48 degrees (equal to the greatest elongation of
Venus from the Sun) for their positions on the ecliptic. The passage
does not explicitly mention in which sign of the Zodiac the whole
phenomenon occurred. However, it does provide us with a valuable
piece of information, "Mars is preparing the burning cut" which, as
we have seen, indicates the passage of Mars from Pisces (water) to
Aries (fire). In the passage, Mars rises first and is followed by
Saturn. Therefore, the key in searching for the occurrence of such a
celestial phenomenon in the four centuries after the reign of
Heraclius is to identify instances when Mars was in the last degree
of Pisces and Saturn a few degrees further in the successive order of
signs. A search in Owen Gingerich, Solar and Planetary Longitudes
for the Years -2500 to +2000 by Ten-Day Intervals (Madison,
1963) yields thirty-two possible dates (beginning with 672, 674 and
ending with 1086, 1088), as Saturn moves ca. two years in each sign
and Mars can overtake him twice in the same or the next sign. These
thirty-two possibilities were further explored by running a computer
search with the help of the program Voyager, through which
such as the order of the planets on the sky and theJ
VISibility on its eastern part at dawn can be taken into consideration.
The computer search indicates that none of the conjunctions that
occurred until 1088 A.D. fulfils the astronomical requirements
deduced from our reading of the astronomical passage in the
187
alchemical work of Stephanos. If our allegorical interpretation of
this passage is correct, the only viable celestial phenomenon it could
be describing between the seventh and the eleventh centuries would
be the one visible from Constantinople and evolving around 7 June
617.
This piece of evidence becomes particularly intriguing when we
also take into consideration the fact that Stephanos of Alexandria is
the author of a very important commentary on Ptolemy's Handy
Tables, in which he gives his own examples explaining the use of
Ptolemy's tables
60
for the calculation of solar, lunar and planetary
positions, as well as solar and lunar eclipses calculated for the
coordinates of Constantinople.
61
The dates of calculated examples in
this commentary fall in the years 617-619.
62
his suggests that during
this period Stephanos was in Constantinople and consistently
observed and calculated the motion and position of the Sun, the
Moon, and the other planets. Had he been not in Constantinople but
Alexandria, he would have used the data of Ptolemy's tables as they
are given for the geographic latitude of Alexandria without
modifying them for Constantinople's coordinates. It seems that
Stephanos, while systematically engaged with the observation of
astronomical phenomena for the purposes of his commentary on
Ptolemy, was also composing his alchemical work. The particular
planetary phenomenon he observed around the beginning of June
617 him so much that he decided to include its allegorical
descnptiOn m the alchemical work. By the beginning of the seventh
:, On Ptolemy's Handy Tables, see Neugebauer, A Historv of Ancient
mathematical Astronomy II 969-78

1ecpavou, !JZYa/-ou <jn/..oa6cj>ou xal i\Ael;av1\QW 1\Laaacj>T(OL<; 1; oixelrov
ELY!Wtwv tfi tWV :rtQOXeLQOJV xav6vrov ecj>61\ou toi) 8EOJVO in MS Vat
' mas gr. Usener edited a few chapters of the work based on MSS: "C
cuius p_raesto mihi erat apographon Gottingense (cod. ms,
5
XV ),
0
codJcis (an Cromwelliani?). U cod. Urbinas gr. 80 chart.
Mexru: c?d. Vaticanus gr. 304 chart. s. XV." See Usener, 'De Stephano
62 N drino 289-319 [289-295 commentary, 295-319 text].
eugebauer A H'
1
, A .
Chauvon 'Etu' IS ory OJ Mathematical Astronomy, II, 1045-50. E.
M.-cb Hu de. sur le astronomique de Stephanos d' Alexandrie';
novemb l0. Stephane d _Alexandrie: Calcul de !'eclipse de Solei! du 4
Papathan
re . (Mem. de licence, Universite Catholique de Louvain 1987)
8SSIOU 'St h ' .
Handtafeln d 'p ep von Alexandreia', Teil I, 2.C. Kommentare zu den
es tolema10s.
188
century, the correspondence of plan.et to metal was a long
and firmly established occult tradition With which Stephanos was
thoroughly familiar and to which he also refers elsewhere in his
alchemical work, including an instance in the same lecture where
the astronomical passage is contained.
63
The evidence of the astronomical passage in the alchemical work
that is datable to ca. 7 June 617, combined with the known
astronomical observations and calculations by Stephanos in
Constantinople on the one hand, and the attribution of the
alchemical work to Stephanos of Alexandria in several instances
recorded in Byzantine historiography and the Greek manuscript
tradition on the other, indicate that this attribution must be accepted
as genuine. H. Usener was the first who voiced doubts about it
because he thought that alchemy was a forbidden subject in
Byzantium. Usener launched a debate that still continues and may
lead to a dead-end, especially if anyone's re-examination of the
available evidence begins with the negative assumption that the
various works attributed to Stephanos cannot have been written by
the same author. Usener's view is predicated on the existence of an
established split between "officially acceptable" or "canonical" and
"forbidden" or "heretical" fields of knowledge during the Late
Antique and medieval period. As a result, modem scholars have
viewed the surviving written record of Stephanos' various interests
and activities as the products of many different scholars (as many as
the subjects treated in his surviving works), instead of a single one.
However, if we allow the Byzantine evidence to speak, we may be
able to appreciate how multi-faceted Stephanos' intellectual profile
really is.
E.g. Ideler 230, 24: Oihw llij A.ourov
11
at 'tO xa'/..K6"f..QOJOV
A<jlQoli(nJS 8eQIJ(Jv ilmlQ.r..eL 'tfl <jluaeL (So you should consider that the copper
colored body of Venus is warm by nature).
THE ASTROLOGICAL WORK
189
The problems with dating the Apotelesmatike Pragmateia and its
attribution to Stephanos
A few pieces of surviving evidence suggest that Stephanos had
indeed occupied himself with astrology during the reign of
Heraclius, perhaps at the request of the emperor himself. The first
piece of evidence is a tenth-century report by the biographer of the
emperor Basil I that Heraclius had drained, filled in, and converted
into a garden a cistern of considerable size situated in the imperial
estates because Stephanos of Alexandria had cast the horoscope of
the emperor and predicted that he would die by drowning; as a
result, the emperor took special measures to protect himself from
this danger.
64
Although Stephanos' predictions regarding Heraclius'
death were wrong, the emperor's elaborate precautions can be taken
as an indication that Stephanos may have had a certain amount of
influence on him. That Heraclius had feared death from water is
confirmed independently by the Short History of the patriarch
Nikephoros.
65
No further information on the emperor's horoscope is
available to us since neither a text nor a design for it survive.
A second piece of evidence that Stephanos of Alexandria had indeed
written on astrology survives in Greek but goes back to a ninth-
century Arabic source. At least two Greek manuscripts, MS
Angelicus 29 of the year 1388 and MS Vat. gr. 1056 of the
fourteenth century, contain the Greek translation of Arabic
texts, including a catalogue of astrological books found
m the caliphal library the reading of which was forbidden. The
catalogue is attributed to the famous ninth-century astrologer Abll
64
The
Ostro ?hanes ed. I. Bekker, CSHB (Bonn, 1838), 338,10-12. G.
AI
g rsky, Gesch1chte des byzantinischen Staates Handbuch der
tenum '
61 Nike XII, 1-2, 3rd ed. (Munich, 1963), 77-93.
comm :s, Patriarch of Constantinople, Short History, 24-25, ed., tr., and
ango, CFHB l3 (Washington, D. C., 1990), 72-5.
'I
190
Ma'shar.
66
Whether the astrological book (apotelesmatikon) by
Stephanos of Alexandria listed in this catalogue is the surviving
Apotelesmatike Pragmateia or a different one can only remain an
open question. However, by the tenth century, "Stephanos the
Astrologer" 6 f1U8ru..ta'ttx.o;) was recognized as the
authority who had cast a horoscope pertinent to the early Islamic
conquest, as is explicitly mentioned in the De administrando
imperio (Chapter 16).
67
The Apotelesmatike Pragmateia by
Stephanos of Alexandria is also mentioned by the eleventh-twelfth-
century Byzantine historian Georgios Kedrenos;
68
both passages
have already been identified and discussed by H. Usener.
In addition to these cursory references in Byzantine historiography,
we also have the well-known and much-debated text of the
Apotelesmatike Pragmateia, an astrological treatise that includes a
horoscope of Islam. It has been edited by H. Usener as part of his
article entitled 'De Stephana Alexandrino'.
69
Usener's edition is
66
CCAG, I, 83ff.: IleQl t<ilv 1totE tv t
J.!USI']J.!UtLx<ilv xal 111'1 Ehtev a\Jt<) (sc. 6 i\n:oJ.lftcraQ) OtL tit
ta <'m:oxe(J.!Va ev t<iJ xal I\LI\6J.LEVa tLVl
El avayvwmv ana elot tailta To
toil . . . .
67
Identified by Usener, 'De Stephano Alexandrino', 257 note*: "Constantin.
Porphyrog. c. 16, p. 37 Menes. ol J.Ll'JVL tQ('I!l
lvliLXtuilvo liex6.'tl'J El to Mxawv EtO to. W!o
x6crJ.LOu vilv bE crt\ WO lvliLxtuilVO liex6.tl'] ltEJ.11ttl'J, W dvm ltml
tOtE EW vilv XQ6VOU 1JlJ.L. To bE 8ef16.nov 'tWV aut<ilv EyEvEtO
el J.Li')Va tQ('tl']V, ltEJ.11ttTI El 'tOU autoU xe6voU\;
l'tQWtO UQXI'JYO t<ilv Mou6.J.LE8 6 xat 1tQO<In)tl'J aut<ilV XQI']J.LUtUl<l\;
EXQU'tl']<JE tii UQXii t<ilv E'tl'J evvea. [=Constantine Poprhyrogennetos,
De administrando imperio, ed. and tr. Gv. Moravcsik, R. J. H. Jenkins, CFHB I
(Washington, D. C., 1967, repr. 1993), 80.:.81]."
68
Usener, 'De Stephana Alexandrino', 257: "(Cedrenus, Hist., t. I, p. 717,7) tQl
EtEL (imp. Heraclii) ijyouv t QAa' <'m:o xtWEW x6crJ.LOu, J.Ll'JVL Y
e' eytveto 8Ef1{ttLOV t<ilv 1t<lQU
tautm xavovumvto xeatf)crm, ev toxua E'tl'J ,e. ev lie tfi crucrteo<t>n
xal 6.xatacrtacr(q. xat cruJ.L<PoeQ: EtEQ<;t Etl'J V', W elvm ti]v liL<XxQatl']OLV
autwv futacrav euwxoilcrav liucrtuxoucrav E'tl'j tl;e' . . . Mv iiQa xal-.6>\;
8ef1{ttwev 6 6.crtQov6J.LO, w OLJ.IUL n:axu
E:xetvov."
"'Usener, 'De Stephana Alexandrino', 247-89, 321-22 with two designs of the
horoscope; ibid., 266, 17-20: cp1Aocr6<j>ou
l'tQUYJ.UltECa l'tQO\; TLf168eov tov autoil n:g6<!laOLV
191
based on six Byzantine manuscripts dating from the fourteenth to
the sixteenth centuries and containing two types of design for the
horoscope.
70
As is the case with the alchemical work, Stephanos'
authorship of this piece is also considered spurious.
Before discussing the problem any further, let us focus on certain
aspects of the text based on Usener's edition.
71
The treatise can be
divided into three parts. In the first,
72
the author refers to "the books
of ancient wise men books on scientific initiation through
astronomy" and explains the "introductory method" to them.
Among other things, he also tries to offer his readers a clear
knowledge "through the eventual and possible configuration of the
stars" which God gave us to use "like a prophetess." The author
piously points out that all natural phenomena and changes observed
in the world as well as all political and social events, even a man's
talents and status in society depend on God. In other words,
everything depends on the "will and energy of the Creator, God of
all, to whom alone belongs the creative causality." God uses the
stars and their motions as simple instruments even though he could
achieve his aims without the stars. The author asserts firmly that
"perfect and true knowledge belongs to God, while men, making
conjectures on the basis of the elements and the stars, in part know
and in part predict." Consequently, both the extent of our knowledge
veo<j>avf) xat ii8eov VOJ..1.08ecr(av toil MW6.J.LEO, lie xat
al.ka J.LEAAovtwv n:goayOQEUoucra. Horoscopes of Islam are also known in
the astrological tradition (friendly communications by Prof. Dr. sc. G.
Berlin, and Maria Mavroudi).
a Usener, _'De Alexandrino', 289: "In adnotatione critica opusculi
potelesmattci h1s hbrorum signis usus sum A Laurent 28 14 quo V Rose
usus est s. XIV chart.; B Laurent. 28, 13 etC 28, 16 s.
con: Y Roseo conlata; R apographon Valentini Rosei h. e. codices AB(C)
cf. p. 258; _M Monacensis n. 105 s. XVI; V Vindob. phil. gr. 108 s.
(La ?e . type of design for the horoscope is preserved in the Florentine
and. Munich MSS_ (Usener, 'De Stephano
'Des h
3
21), another type IS drawn m the VIenna (Vindob.) MS (Usener,
11
tep ano Alexandrino', 322).
1tQUYJ.L<l'tE(a
107-17 tou IcrMJ.L Ot E1t!aT1'/J!EI; OTOV EAA1'/VIXO xweo (Athens, 1997),

' De Stephano Alexandrino', 266, 5-271, 22.
11
192
and the accuracy of our predictions through the position of the stars
are always restricted and subject to failure.
73
But Stephanos' lectures
On making gold prove his great piety as they begin and end with
prayers greatly influenced by the works of the early Christian
fathers.
In the second part
74
the author explains for what reason and when he
cast the horoscope of Islam and proceeds in a general analysis of it
according to known astrological principles. He says that he was iti
the school's small garden with his students when he was visited by
Epiphanios, a merchant who had just arrived from Arabia Felix
(euoa(j.WJV Upon entering, Epiphanios requested that
Stephanos order one of his students to suspend the astrolabe and
find the ascending degree of the ecliptic (<hQoaxomxf]v J.LOtQav),
the planetary positions and the cardinal points of the horoscope,
because of the importance of the news that Epiphanios was about to
report; Stephanos ordered "his Sophronios" to do so. "While
Sophronios was busy suspending the astrolabe and calculating the
hour, Epiphanios began his narrative" regarding the appearance and
activity of Mul.tammad in ArabiaY Clearly, the numerical data taken
by Sophronios and later studied by Stephanos are meant for a
catarchic horoscope (xm:aQxf]v), the kind cast at the beginning of
an undertaking in order to predict its outcome. This is the reason
why the astrolabe is raised at the very moment when Epiphanios
begins his narrative about the inception of Mul.tammad's movement.
The third part includes the predictions about the events that will
place "during the dominion of this nation", i.e. the Muslims, both
general terms, following the characteristics of the planets found m
each one of the horoscope's houses, and specifically during the
reign of each one of Islam's future caliphs.
76
The main argument against the authorship of the Apotelesmatike
Pragmateia by Stephanos is that, in his predictions on how
polity of Islam will fare in the future, the author of the treause
"Usener, 'De Stephano A1exandrino', 266,5-7; 267, 10-15; 267,24-268, 2;
268

J,S-20; 270, 25-29; 271, 10-16, 19-21.
75
Usener, :ne Stephano Alexandrino', 271,23-279, 13.
76
Usener, ,De Stephano A1exandrino', 271, 23-25; 272, 3-13.
Usener, De Stephano Alexandrino', 279, 14-289.
193
demonstrates accurate knowledge of the events that transpired
during the reign of the successive Arab caliphs from the beginning
oflslam until the end of the eighth century; from that point on, the
"predictions" are all wrong, which indicates that the work cannot
have been written at the beginning of the seventh century and must
have been put together, at least in the form that we have it, towards
the end of the eighth century. David Pingree has argued that the
author of the Apotelesmatike Pragmateia is well-informed both
about the work of Stephanos on Ptolemy's Handy Tables and the
methods of Sassanian political astrology described in treatises on
catarchic horoscopes written by Theophilos, son of Thomas, a
Maronite Syrian Christian who knew Greek and served as personal
astrologer to caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775-785).
77
The remainder of the present article will argue that at least the
introduction to the Apotelesmatike Pragmateia does go back to a
genuine astrological work by Stephanos written in the early seventh
century; and that the time, place, and prosopographical data that
frame the narrative around tl.te horoscope of Islam reflect realities
about the life, activities, and intellectual circle of Stephanos.
the portrait of Stephanos as an astrologer was not newly
the end of the eighth century; rather, astrological
expertise was attnbuted to him more than a century after his death
because he was already known as an astrologer during his lifetime.
but not .the astronomical data of the horoscope of Islam
will be exammed m order to suggest that it might not have been
calculated backwards (i.e. by a later forger) but may represent the
result of a genuine observation of the heavens that took place
exactly when the text says it did, on 1 September 621.
" D. Pingree 'CI . I . . .
(1989), 2
27
_3
9
esasstca und Byzantme Asirology m Sassanian Persia', DOP 43
Mine/alter (Zu'. t'

238
-39. See also G. E. von Grunebaum, Der Islam im
Mathematical Asrtc '
963
> 465 n. 58. Neugebauer, A History of Ancient
tronomy, II, 1050.
! :
"
194
Relations between the Horoscope of Islam and the alchemical
work
Two short passages in the first section of the Apotelesmatike
Pragmateia indicate that its author in addressing his students refers
them to knowledge he had expounded earlier, evidently in other
lectures he must have given. The meaning of these references
becomes clearer if we read them in conjunction with the alchemical
work by Stephanos. In the introductory section to the
Apotelesmatike Pragmateia, the author reminds his student
Timotheos and other auditors the content of his lectures and his
teaching method:
I have elucidated everything I taught you and your fellow-
listeners, my students, by circumscribing it within the limits of
philosophy and clarifying it through theories [so that it be]
accurate and truthful not through persuasion [wrought] by the
elegance of words but through natural and unexceptionable
sequence; [I mean] the Platonic method of
Aristotelian physiology, geometric deliberations, arithmetiC
proportions, musical repetitions, (the alchemical allegories and
impenetrable processes of thought, the astronomical critical
points in human life and the notorious astrological predictions,)
the Ptolemaic ... Syntaxeis and his practical enchantments."
The teaching program described above includes subjects that, in
modem terms, would be labeled as both 'rational' (philosophy,
g
eometry and arithmetic music and astronomy) and 'irrational'
' , . I
(astrology and alchemy). Astrology is covered both at the
level ("notorious astrological predictions" and "practical
enchantments") and in its theoretical foundation, since reference to
"Usener, 'De Stephana Alexandrino', 267, 3-10: oo( ...
oou xat ... xat ooa !!Ev urct\lleil;a UJUV, tv<?<; TUlV (a<;
OQffiV (X"tQeXi'J TE xat a\jJEUI>EOTUTa BEffiQ'
l)u;}.euxava, OU TCEL6oi }.1\!;EffiV <jlUOLXji bE Xal
axo;\.ouBc;x, <jluOLo;\.oy(ac;,
YEffif.I.EtQLXU<; TCCQLVOa<;,
XTJf.LEUtLxac; xat
aOtQOVOfll.XOU<; X;\.Lf.LUXtf]Qa<; XUL rco}.u()Qu;\.}.fJwuc; U0"1:QOf.LUvtEa<;,) <;
llto;l.ef.I.ULxac; ** xat ouvta!;e'"' xat 6Qyavtxuc; auwu f.LUyyaveac;.
h S Of A
lexandria A Famous Byzantine Scholar,
Step ano
195
the Ptolemaic Syntaxeis (in th_e plural) must not
Pt Iemy or's major astronomical work, the Meg!Sie Syntaxis
known as the Almagest) but also his astrological one,
the Syntaxis Tetrabiblos. The approach to alchemy seems to be
mostly theoretical, si?ce it _is referred _to as "allegorical"
This calls to mmd both the general
approach of Stephanos' alchemical work and a specific passage in
his text, where he analyzes the concept of "allegorical alchemy" by
distinguishing between "mythical" (flV8txi];) and "mystical and
hidden" alchemy (f.LVOLLXTJ xal. xgvn:i] X1'J).ILa).
79
According to
him, "mythical alchemy is confused due to the multiplicity of
words; but mystical alchemy deals with the universe through
deliberation on the creation, so that man who is God-minded and
born-of-God learn through straight work and theological and
mystical rationale. "
80
The second passage of the Apotelesmatike Pragmateia where its
author most likely refers to his earlier teachings is as follows:
Not only these and [other] such animals have had such a birth,
but also many other forms are produced and made by means of
putrefaction according to the differences of species and the
position of the stars, like the metals, for example gold, silver,
copper, iron, lead, the different stones, and whatever is like
them. Those of us who remember, understand [the process of
their birth] well."
" Papathanassiou, 'Stephanus of Alexandria: pharmaceutical notions and
125.
Letter to Theodoros, ed. Papathnanassiou, 5: Kat ii;l.;l.o EOltv i) ).LUOtxi) XTJ!lia,
xat Iil-l-o i) !IUO'TLxi) xat xgumf]. Kat i) !!Ev f.I.UOtxi) :rco;\.urc;I.T]O(<;x }.6ywv
i) llt f.I.UO'Ttxi) My iivOQffi:rcoc; llt<l xat Oeo;l.oyl.lllv
IIUottx&v Myffiv J.UlOn. Ideler 208, 28-34.
Usener, 'De Stephana Alexandrino', 270, 5-10: ou j.L6vov 1) tauta xat ta
lOLUU'tl]V EOXOV ti')v YEvEOLV' a}.}.(( xat iiiJ.a Me'iota 1:WV Eillci>v
a afJijleoos y(vetaL xat mmoT]tat rcQ6c; tci>v yevci>v xat tTJV
B8otv, let f.I.E'ta;I.Atxa, olov 6 xat
Kat a I]Qoc; xat xat i) <ci>v 1-Lewv xat ooa towu1:a.
to toov JJAv ti]v yt\vemv ol EvVOTJOUf.LEVOL tmytyvtboxof.LEv.
'I 196
True, the last sentence of the above passage (xul. 'tOU'tlOV
yevEotV ol tvvol'}adflevot tmytyvwaxowv) could also be
translated as "Those of us who understand, know [the process of
their birth] well". Choosing between the two possibilities depends
on how we interpret the verb EVVoeoo; among its various meanings
is that of EV8UJlOUJ.LUL (to remember). Therefore, it is likely that the
past tense EVVOTJOUI.IVOL refers to the author and his students, as
also follows from the verb EmyLyvwoXOI.IV. If this is so, the whole
phrase would mean "we saw, learned, understood and now
remember the birth of metals and stones by putrefaction." If indeed
the author of this passage is Stephanos inviting his students to
remember his earlier teachings, the reference to putrefaction should
be made in his alchemical work. The Apotelesmatike Pragmateia
includes the quoted passage at the end of a long paragraph which
explains putrefaction (oi')'ljnv) as a natural procedure leading to the
birth of various small animals and flowers. The phrase "[they] are
produced and made by means of putrefaction" must refer to a
technical procedure, as contrasted with the natural procedure
described in the following words: "by means of putrefaction done
into the marshes and the very wet locations . . . such animals and
plants are bom."
82
Even if these words evoke Platonic and
Aristotelian ideas regarding the birth (yEvEOLV) of metals and
stones, putrefaction is a basic method of alchemy and pharmacy and
is, indeed, mentioned by Stephanos in his alchemical work.
83
Identification of Sophronios
As we have seen, the Apotelesmatike Pragmateia mentions by name
at least three of the author's friends, students, or collaborators:
Timotheos, to whom the text is addressed, the merchant Epiphanios,
and Sophronios, the astrolabe reader. While neither Timotheos nor
can be identified with any known personality on the
basis of surviving evidence, we do have a few leads regarding the
identity of Sophronios.
82
Usener, 'De Stephano Alexandrino', 269, 10-12; also 270,4: ou\
YI!J'EVt]flk'v11> i!v 'to4; xat ,;o4; xa6\JyQOJ.>
'te xat <j>u,;a 'tOWOe avaoi.OovtaL
For example ldeler, 213,3: OTpro\JOL ltQUO'tCt'tq> mJQL ...
197
Wolska-Conus has already analyzed the appearance of Stephanos of
Alexandria in the Leimonarion by John Moschos. Let us briefly
review her conclusions here: Moschos reports that he and his friend,
the sophist Sophronios, during their first residence in Alexandria
between 581 and 584 attended lectures at the home of
Stephanos, a sophist and philosopher who resided in the building
complex around the church of the Holy Theotokos of Dorothea,
built by the orthodox patriarch Eulogios.
84
The medical knowledge
that. Sophronios displays in his collection of seventy miraculous
healings written ca. 610 is compatible with the teachings of
Stephanos the sophist mentioned by Moschos. It seems that
Stephanos, the teacher of Sophronios, is identical with Stephanos of
Athens or Stephanos of Alexandria, physician and philosopher, the
only teacher of medicine in Alexandria at that time.
85
After leaving
Alexandria to settle in Constantinople, Stephanos became a member
of the intimate circle around patriarch Sergios and emperor
Heraclius.
86
One may build a little further on Wolska-Conus' reconstruction of
the personal relation between Stephanos and Sophronios: though
Wolska-Conus deliberately leaves this question aside because it is
impossible to provide a definite answer,
87
it is conceivable that
Sophronios, the student of Stephanos in Alexandria is the same
who later became patriarch of (634-38);
close contacts with high-ranking officials of the three
Alexandria, Constantinople, and Jerusalem, may
explam the existence of prayers at the beginning and end of his
:lures on alchemy. In addition, his medical and philosophical
owledge as a known commentator of Hippocrates and Aristotle
may also explain his references to medical and biological subjects
" WolskaConus 'St h . .
i\m]>.ao tv . op ldenhficatiOn', 7, note 6: "PG 87, 29290:
... lie EL> ;ov mxov L.'te<j>av.?" oo<j>tmoil ... [va 1!Q6.1;oollV
EuX6yiO, 'tf)v 'tf)v ay!av 8eotoxov, t]V q>xoM!J.t]Oev 6 !J.UXUQLO<; n<'ma<;
Stephano, 'est cite D.OJQo6ta<;. Ce passage omis par Usener, De
a repnse de son etude dans ses Kleine Schriften, p. 248, en
Wolska-Conu s h
16
Wotsk ,., s, lop anos. Identification' 59
8-.onu s e . '
11
Wotsk C s,
1
Phanos. Identification 68
8
onus, 'Stephanos. Identification': 47:
. ;.,
i'
: lj
. I
h

. il
\
',i
,.,
;'j
:
. ('
ii
.fl
fi
1
198 Maria Papathanassiou
in the alchemical work.
88
The author of the horoscope of Islam
supposed that Sophronios, the friend of Moschos and patriarch
Eulogios, had followed Stephanos from Alexandria to
Constantinople and therefore could plausibly be placed in his
teacher's garden in September 621.
I plan to revisit the much-debated question of the identities of
Stephanos and Sophronios in a later article. For now, I would like to
briefly discuss some technical aspects of the evidence contained in
the Apotelesmatike Pragmateia.
The data of the horoscope
Let us now comment on the data of the horoscope of Islam as it is
found in the text. We will attempt to determine the exact date for
which it was cast, as well as compare its data with modern
astronomical calculations. As reported in the text, Epiphanios
visited Stephanos on Tuesday, 5 Thoth according to the Egyptians,
in the third hour; at that time the Sun was in 95' in Virgo.
Applying this to the astrolabe, he found the Ascendant in 20 Libra,
the Descendant in 20 Aries, culminated above the horizon 22
Cancer and under the horizon 22 Capricorn.
89
Although no other
data of the horoscope is mentioned in the text, more details can be
found in the design of the horoscope that survives in the
manuscripts.
90
This data concerns the position of the planets, the
nodes of the Moon's orbit and the lot of fortune in the "houses"
calculated according to the ascending and culminating degrees of
the ecliptic, as follows:
The Sun and Mercury are in 95' Virgo in the twelfth house. The
Moon is in 1216' Capricorn in the fourth house. Venus is in 266'
Leo, in conjunction with the ascending node of the orbit of the
Moon in 19.50' Leo, both in the eleventh house. Saturn is in 2330'
7ldeler, 203, 15-24 (on production of voice); 211, 16--25; 220, 13-221, 12; 222,
229,17-230,23 (on y6VO!;)' 245 9-12 and 17-20 (the three
quabtles of the soul). ' '
: Usener, :De Stepbano Alexandrino', 272, 21-24; 273, 10-15.
Usener, De Stephano Alexandrino', 289, 321-22.
199
cancer in conjunction with the upper culminating point of the
ecliptic in the tenth house. Mars is in 2 Cancer in the tenth house.
Jupiter is in 2039' and the lot of fortune in 229' Capricorn, in
conjunction with the lower culmination. The descending node of the
orbit of the Moon is in 1950' Aquarius in the fifth house. .
We can immediately comment that while we are given the date of
the month, the day of the week, and the hour at which Epiphanios
visited Stephanos, no year is mentioned. H. Usener cites a passage
from Kedrenos' History, according to which Stephanos of
Alexandria cast the horoscope of Islam in the year 6131 from the
beginning of the world, on Thursday 3 September in the twelfth
year of the reign of the emperor Heraclius.
91
According to Usener,
this is the year 6130 and not 6131, based on a passage from the De
administrando imperio, a composition from the reign of
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (912-959).
92
As for the
astronomical data of the horoscope, it is obvious that Usener could
not check their accuracy.
According to 0. Neugebauer and H. B. van Hoesen, the horoscope
was for 1 September 621, in other words the beginning of the
Byzantme year towards the end of which the Hijra occurred (16
July 622). This deduction is based on the fact that the position of
on 1 September, which corresponds to 4 Thoth, agrees
Wtth that m the horoscope (while September 3 and 5 of the year 621
do not); regarding the errors in the positions of Venus, Mercury,
and the lot of fortune that are found in the manuscripts Neugebauer
van Hoesen accept that the first two represent a
0
f t: data of the planetary positions in another sign in the diagram
t e horoscope, while the third one, regarding Mercury is a
tttography of the Sun's position.
93
'
If the horoscope of 1 1
calculat d b s am and tts astronomical data were indeed
e ackwards (i.e. by a later forger for a date at about a
"u
92
sener, 'De Stephano AI d
., Usener, 'De Stepbano d
2
57 note* (passage quoted above, note 67).
Neugebauer and y an an nno 257 (passage quoted above, note 68).
Stephana Alexandrino' Greek Horoscopes, 158-60. Also Usener, 'De
' 0-15. .
200
century or two earlier than the time in which he lived), it would
have required not only long-winded and laborious calculations
stretching over several manuscript pages (a procedure that even
modem researchers of ancient and medieval astronomy had to
follow before the age of computers) but also profound mathematical
expertise. It is unlikely that such a master would have perpetrated
the mistakes evident in the text. Let us use modern methods to
reconstruct the heavens as it looked from Constantinople on 1
September 621 and see if an alternative explanation for the mistakes
is possible.
The planetary positions as calculated on the computer are as
follows:
94
Constantinople, 1 September 621 at 8:55am (06:55 UT)
Planet Zodiacal sign Rising Passage Setting
Sun 1051' Virgo 5:31am !2:02pm 06:32pm
Mercury 2652' Virgo 07:01pm !2:54pm 06:48pm
Venus 2624' Cancer 11:51 pm 07:26am 03:00pm
Mars 0305' Cancer 01:57am 09:04am
04:10pm
Jupiter 2238' Capricorn 04:11pm 08:49pm
01:32pm
Saturn 2538' Cancer 01:42am 09:04am
04:26pm
Moon l1 08' Capricorn 03:26pm 08:24pm
12:34 am
94
The positions of the Sun, the Moon and the five planets were detennined.
00
the
computer with the astronomical programs VSOP 87 (Variation Seculmre des
Orbites Planetaires) and ELP 2000/85 (Ephemeride Lunaire Parisienne) by Dr.
Denis Savoie (Planetarium du Palais de Ia decouverte, Paris). The program
Voyager ll was used for the calculation of other elements of the horoscope
Alcbemlst and Astrologer
201
Ascendant 2007' (2046' refracted horizon) Libra, Midheaven
2
338' Cancer. Longitude of the ascending node of the Moon's
orbit 2438' Leo and that of its descending node 2438' Aquarius
(according to Neugebauer and Van Hoesen, 2340' Leo and
2340' Aquarius).
As far as the visibility of the planets is concerned, Mars, Venus and
Saturn were visible in the morning sky, while the Moon and Jupiter
were visible in the evening sky. Especially Mercury (app.
magnitude +1.7) was very low in the west and set down 16 minutes
after sunset when the Sun's altitude under the horizon was only
343'. Stars of first apparent magnitude are visible only when the
Sun's altitude under the horizon is equal or greater than 6;
consequently, Mercury was invisible because the twilight was still
very bright. This suggests that whoever calculated the astronomical
data for the horoscope of Islam was indeed observing the heavens
on 1 September 621 and, because of Mercury's invisibility, may
have that Mercury was in exact conjunction \Vith the Sun.
As a result, he did not calculate its position by means of the relevant
astronomical tables. This would account for the great difference of
t6 between Mercury's true position on the sky and that which we
have in the horoscope's chart.
Since the implications of this observation cannot be discussed
within the confines of the present paper, I plan to return to them in a
future publication.
CONCLUSIONS
has already shown, Stephanos of Athens should
"All enttfied with Stephanos of Alexandria. The designation
exandri "d . .
ind' an oes not indicate that this was his native city it only
!Cates that in m h'
1
'
Constantino l .ovmg IS p ace of residence and activity to
in Ath bp e, he so from Alexandria. He was most likely born
ens, ut the period he t . AI .
the course of . . spen m exandna was decisive for
his litet' hhls studies and his professional future. Already during
lme e was a re t bl d .,
philosoph . . pu a e an tamous scholar interested in
y, med!cme, and science. His written output was both
'-t
'.: ..
202
variegated and prolific: Wolska-Conus has discussed his authorshi
of several works that we know either by title or because they
survive, including his introduction and adaptation of Theon's work
. on Ptolemy's Handy Tables and commentaries on Porphyry's
Eisagoge and treatises of the Aristotelian, Hippocratic, and Galenic
corpora. In the conclusions to her admirable essay, Wolska-Conus
deduced that Stephanos' involvement in the doctrinal politics of his
time (unavoidable for a leading philosopher and intellectual) and
the serial transfer of his loyalties between the Chalcedonian,
Monothelite, and Monophysite parties, cost him his reputation in
posterity; regarded as a traitor by all, he was embraced by none.
Wolska-Conus expresses scepticism regarding the reputation of
Stephanos as alchemist and astrologer; mindful that it is recorded in
relatively late Byzantine sources, she is inclined to interpret it as the
posthumous medieval afterglow of his Late Antique stardom, the
brilliance of which became tarnished already during his lifetime.
However, the evidence we have surveyed in the present essay
indicates that Stephanos, the commentator on ancient philosophy,
medicine, and astronomy, was also the author of the alchemical
work and a practicing astrologer (as any astronomer could be at
least as early as Ptolemy). Stephanos' reputation as astrologer in the
Middle Byzantine period and beyond is primarily based on the
Apotelesmatike Pragmateia, a work that includes at least an
introduction based on a genuine work by Stephanos; its author did
not invent Stephanos' astrological pedigree but exploited his
existing reputation in this field of knowledge. This reputation may
have been generated by emperor Heraclius' patronage of
Stephanos' astrological activities. The tenth-century evidence from
the life of Basil I suggests that Heraclius, appreciative of
Stephanos' overall scholarly reputation, at some point asked him to
cast his personal horoscope in order to find out about his own
future; he may later have asked him to also cast a horoscope
rega.rding .the Byzantine military encounter with the early
anrues, smce they presented such an imminent danger to hiS
empire .. The hesitation of modem scholars to accept
alcheffilcal and astrological activities as an integral part of hiS
profile is not rooted in a proper grasp of seventh-century
reahty; rather, it is the result of anachronistically applying modern
fA
iexandria: A Famous Byzantine Scholar,
Siephanos o
203
't ria in order to understand the organization and transmission of
during a much earlier and very different historical
period than our own .
Michele Mertens
University of Liege
Graeco-Egyptian Alchemy in Byzantium
The main concern of this paper will be with the problems raised by
the reception of ancient alchemy in Byzantium. After a brief
introduction, I will start from the study of a pre-Byzantine author,
Zosimos of Panopolis, and deal with the following questions : How,
from a purely material viewpoint, were Zosimos' writings handed
down during the Byzantine period? Did Byzantine alchemists have
access to his works and did they resort to them? Was Zosimos
known outside the alchemical Corpus; in other words, did Graeco-
Egyptian alchemists exert any kind of influence outside strictly
alchemical circles? When and how was the alchemical Corpus put
together? In a more general way, what evidence do we have,
whether in the Corpus itself or in non-alchemical literature, that
alchemy was practised in Byzantium? Answers (or at least partial
answers) to these questions should help us to understand and define
to some extent the place held by the 'sacred art' in Byzantium.
206
Mertens
INTRODUCTION
It is now usually accepted that alchemy came into being in Graeco-
Roman Egypt around the beginning of our era and that it originated
from the combination of several factors, the most remarkable of
which are (1) the practices of Egyptian goldsmiths and workers in
metals who experimented with alloys and knew how to dye metals
in order to simulate gold; (2) the theory about the fundamental unity
of matter, according to which all substances are composed of a
primitive matter and owe their specific differences to the presence
of different qualities imposed upon this matter; (3) the idea that the
aim of any technique must be the mimesis of nature ; (4) the
doctrine of universal sympathy, which held that all elements of the
cosmos are connected by occult links of sympathy and antipathy
which explain all the combinations and separations of the bodies.
The encounter of these different trends of thought brought about the
idea that transmutation ought to be possible, all the more so with
the addition of mystical daydreams influenced by gnostic and
hermetic currents and favoured by the decline of Greek
rationalism.
1
The texts about Graeco-Egyptian alchemy that have come down to
us are, in the first place, two collections on papyrus, which date
back to about 300 A.D. and contain a series of recipes for imitating
gold, silver, precious stones and purple dye;
2
I will not dwell on
'On the origins and development of Graeco-Egyptian alchemy, see A. J.
Festugtere, La rew!lation d'Hermes Trismegiste, I, L'astrologie et les sciences
occultes,_ 2"' ed. (Paris, 1950), 217-40; R. Halleux, Les textes alchimiques,
Typologie des Sources du Moyen Age occidental 32 (Tumhout, 1979), 6()-64;
tdem, 'Alche,Ty'. in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. S. Hornblower and A.
Spawforth: 3 rev. ed. (Oxford and New York, 2003), 52-3; ODB s.v.
.
0
and A. Cutler); C. Viano, 'Alchimistes greco-egyptiens', m
Philosophes, ed. D. Huisman, 2nd ed. (Paris, 1993), 52-5, and
eadem,_ Alchlmle greco-alexandrine', in Dictionnaire critique de /'esorerisme, ed.
Semer (Paris, 1998), 52-5.
Both papyri were edited and translated in Papyrus de Leyde. Papyrus de
Fragments de recettes, ed. R. Halleux, Les alchimistes grecs, I (Paris,
GraecoEgyptian Alchemy in Byzantium
207
them because they were not known to the Byzantines.
Next a body of texts generally referred to as the 'alchemical
handed down by a large number of medieval manuscripts,
among which three principal witnesses can be distinguished:
3
1. MS Marcianus graecus 299 (M), which, according to its
handwriting, probably dates from the end of the tenth or the
beginning of the eleventh century;
2. MS Parisinus graecus 2325 (B), of the thirteenth century;
3. MS Parisinus graecus 2327 (A), copied in 1478.
4
These three manuscripts differ from one another by the number of
texts they contain, by the organization of these texts and by their
state of preservation. Manuscript M is the most beautiful of our
alchemical manuscripts; the title of the first piece in it is inscribed
in a pyle, a magnificently decorated frame painted in four colours,
and the manuscript contains lavish illustrations;
5
unfortunately, it
was the victim of several accidents: it lost several quires and some
of those that remain were inverted by the binder. On the other hand,
it with a table of contents which corresponds only partially
to Its present content, but which is in fact that of the manuscript
before its various misfortunes.
6
Compared with M, B presents some
'Pem r
co i our,_ 1 takes mto account M_S graecus 86.16 (L),

ed m. 1492, but 11 IS not clear thts manuscnpt 1s a copy of Paris. gr.
d ?, or if both of them are gemelh: see the remarks in the introduction to Zosime
; Memoires authentiques, ed. M. Mertens. Les alchimistes grecs, IV .I
U 1995), XLII, and C. Viano, 'Olympiodore l'alchimiste et les presocratiques

de !'unite (De arte sacra, 18-27)', in D. Kahn and S. Matton.
8
Art h '
Societe d'E d d et mythes. Acres du 1" col/oque international de Ia
mars}
991
)t(Pu . e I HISiotre de I'Aichimie (Paris, College de France, 14-15-16
o th ans-M1lan, L995),95-ISO,esp.L37.
n ese three manusc t f h'
de Pano I' np s, rom w 1ch all the others seem to derive, see Zosime
s S po IS, ed. Mertens, XXI-XXXVIII
ee, e.g., 'Cleopatra's gold ak' M.
origines de l'alch. . p . m mg ( fol. L88v), reprod. in M. Berthelot, Les
f'l. pl. II). tmte ( ans, 1885), pl. I (= Zosime de Panopolis, ed. Mertens,
See the convincing demonst . .
ll\IIIJuscrit alchimi u d ra_tion by H: D. Saffrey, 'H1stonque et description du
q e e Vemse Marctanus Graecus 299', in Alchimie (cited
208
Mertens
important omissions; indeed, it looks as if the copyist of B was
more interested in the technical content than in the philosophical
and doctrinal texts, and that he organized the materials to make
them into a workshop handbook. As for A, it encloses a larger
collection than the first two manuscripts; it contains a number of
texts that are peculiar to it and whose origin is unknown. Lastly, it
is worth noting that the relations between those three manuscripts
have not yet been conclusively clarified even though they were
often and widely discussed.
7
As far as the content of the Corpus is concerned, it includes
writings of extremely varied periods ranging from the beginning of
our era to the fifteenth century, the chronology of which is very
difficult to establish. Three levels are usually distinguished. To the
oldest one belong the works of a Pseudo-Demokritos, as well as a
long series of quotations or of short treatises placed
names of prestigious authors whether historical or mythtcal like
Hermes, Agathodaimon, Isis, Cleopatra, Mary the Jewess, Ostanes,
Pammenes which seem to have been written between the first and
the third The second coincides with Zosimos of Panopol.is,
who may be said to have raised alchemy to its highest degree; ":'tth
him, alchemy appears as a subtle mixture of
preoccupations and mystical religion. The third and last level ts
made up of the so-called exegetes, the most famous of whom
Synesios (4th c.), Olympiodoros (6'h c.), Stephanos of Alexandna
above, note 3), 1-10, esp. 4. J. Letrouit is of the opposed opinion in
et alchimie: contribution a !'etude du Marcianus Graecus 299 (=M); ;.
C. Gilly and C. van Heertum, eds. Magia, alchimia, scienza dal '400 a/

l'injlusso di Ermete Trismegisto (Florence, 2002, 2"" ed. 2005), I, 85-104, esp .. g
7: he curtly rejects Saffrey's analysis, but he does not propose anything. sausfytn
instead. I wish to thank my anonymous reviewer for bringing the article to my
attention.
1 7
See bibliography in Zosime de Panopolis, ed. Mertens, XLIII, n. 96.

not
personally believe in a direct dependence. Cf. Viano, 'Olympiodore
les presocratiques', 137, on the relations between MandA: "ces deux manuscn 't
sont u-es probablement independants". On the other hand, J.
("Chronologie des alchimistes grecs", in Alchimie [cited above, note 3]. ll- '
esp. II) seems to have become certain that B and A derive from M and anno:ces
(in 1995) that his demonstration will soon be published, which, to my know! d
has not yet happened in 2005; no allusion to this question can be foun
1
Letrouit's recent contribution on the Marcianus (cited above, note 6).
GraecoBgyptian Alchemy in Byzantium
209
the further a commentator known as Christian (7'h or 8'h.c.),
(? .), h one called the Anonymous Phtlosopher, perhaps a httle
and anot er b
1 T the same period as Stephanos of Alexandna also e ong
later. aloh mica! poems ascribed to Heliodoros, Theophrastos,
four c e d' . . .
. h and Archelaos The alchemical tra ttton contmues m
Hierot eos th
t
. with Michael Psellos (11 c.) and Kosmas the Monk
Byzan tum th
(lithe. or Jater)
8
as well as Nikephoros Blemmydes (13 c.).
]. THE TRANSMISSION OF ZOSIMOS OF PANOPOLIS' WRITINGS
DURING THE BYZANTINE PERIOD
1 will deal in the first place with the transmission of the texts and
discuss as an example the case of Zosimos of Panopolis, whose
manuscript tradition is a beautiful illustration of the difficulties
raised by the editing of alchemical texts. Zosimos must have been
active about the year 300 A.D.; as for the oldest manuscript that has
come down to us, it might date from about 1000, which means that
we must cope with a gap of seven centuries of subterranean
transmission, during which it is difficult to know what was
happening.
Going through the three main manuscripts, I have spotted four
groups of works that can be attributed to Zosimos with a fair degree
of certainty. They are the Authentic Memoirs, the Chapters to
Eusebia, the Chapters to Theodore, and the Book of Sophe, which,
with the Final Count, makes up the last group. The four groups are
not in all the manuscripts, and I will return to this. In fact, locating
these groups is no easy task, for alchemical manuscripts constitute
large collections in which the authors' texts are interwoven with
one an?ther, contrary to what is generally the case in classical
Greek hterature, il) which the works of each writer are preserved in
perfectly distinct manuscripts. The different parts of Zosimos' work
are. dispersed among the different manuscripts. Locating his
IVritmgs h'
th
m t ts entanglement is further complicated by the fact that
e texts are cop' d f h .
te one a ter t e other wtthout any gap and that the
'A. J. AI h . ' . .
1967), 205-
29
' c ymica m Idem, Hermetisme et mystique palimne (Paris,
thellcentu
22
.
1
textes 62, date Kosmas in
ry lroUII, Chronologie, 69, places h1m in the 14'h -15"' centuries.
210
Mertens
manuscripts do not always distinguish between titles and
subheadings. As a result, it is extremely difficult to see where each
work begins and where it ends.
Let us now consider how Zosimos' writings appear in the
manuscripts and what the specific problems raised by each group of
works may be.
a. The Authentic Memoirs (rvi]ma il:rtOJ..LViJJ..Lata)
The title is suspect. The word iJ:rtOJ..LViJJ..Lata probably goes back to
Zosimos himself because we know that he sometimes referred to
his own writings by that name.
9
Let us note that iJ:rtOJ..LVl]J..LU may as
well mean "preparatory notes", "first draft of a book" as "memoir"
or even "commentary" .
10
Since it is not possible to determine the
exact sense of the term in Zosimos, I opted for "memoir", which
seemed to have a fairly wide import. As for the adjective that
characterizes iJ:rtOJ..LViJJ..Lata, I think it was devised by a copyist or a
compiler anxious to make it clear that he was reproducing Zosimos'
"authentic" text without making any alterations to it. If this
hypothesis is correct, we will see that this good intention was not
always carried out, far from it.
The Authentic Memoirs consist of a series of thirteen opuscules.
They contain an introductory text entitled On the Letter Omega, in
which Zosimos deals principally with the opposition between the
body and the intellect, as well as with the means of freeing
from the baleful influence of Fate. Several sections of the Authentic
Memoirs treat the technical apparatus, while others discuss a
puzzling substance called "divine water", which seems to play an
essential role in transmutation. Three of the thirteen opuscules are
known as Zosimos' 'Visions': the alchemical operations are
ritualized into symbolic expressions of torture, of death and of
9
See Zosime de Panopo/is, ed. Mertens, XLVIII. ?6-
10 SeeR. Devreesse,lntroduction a /'etude des manuscrits grecs (Paris, ,
8; cf. J.-M. Mandosio, 'Commentaire a1chimique et commentaire
in M.-0. Goulet-Caze, ed. Le commentaire: Entre tradition et innovatio.n.

col/oque international de 1'/nstitut des traditions textuel/es (Paris et Vlle;uif,
25 septembre 1999) (Paris, 2000), 481-90, esp. 481, n. I.
. Alchemy in Byzantium
oraeco-Egypuan
211
. . th alchemical utensils become temples and altars
rrectwn, e b h t b
resu t Is are represented as human emgs w o mus e
whereas base, metah yare brought back to life in the shape of noble
sacrificed betore e
metals.
h
u:emoirs are to be found, partly at least, in each of
The Aut ent1c "'' k all
anuscripts But not all the texts are ta en up m
the three mam m . .
'pts For instance, On the Letter Omega appears only m
the manuscn
1
d v
whereas the second and third so-cal e ISJOns are
the Marcwnus, .
I l
n Parisinus A. Some texts have come down to us m
present on Y . . h
k b
ly good condition, as IS the case, for mstance, With t e
remar a . .
treatise On the Letter Omega. Others, on the contrary, survive man
ailing state of preservation, considerably damaged by
app 1 b 'I S I
transmission and victims of the mampu atmn y comp1 ers. evera
pieces have manifestly been abridged, in a
Moreover, the Marcianus has the charactenst1c feature of mcludmg
some of the texts of the Authentic Memoirs in two distinct versions,
which sometimes diverge from each other considerably.
Occasionally, the two versions are abridged in different ways and
complement each other; at other times one of the two contains a
passage that cannot be found in the other, or vice versa. In some
instances the wording is almost identical in both texts. The most
striking feature is that the order of the pieces is not the same in the
two versions. We also have the example of a piece which suddenly
breaks off at the same place in both versions, probably following
the inversion of some leaves in their common model, but which the
copyists, feeling that something was missing, completed each in
their own way, independently in the two versions.
11
It seems that
copyist of the Marcianus or one of his predecessors had at his
two recensions of writings by Zosimos which he
transcnbed one after the other, most of the time without noticing
the common passages.
12
II SeeZo.t
"SeeZos;me de Panopolis, ed. Mertens, 141-22, n. 9.
me de Panopo/is, ed. Mertens, xux.
212
Mertens
b. The Chapters to Eusebia
13
Let us now examine the second group of texts attributable
1
Zosimos in the manuscripts, which, for the sake of brevity, I
call the Chapters to Eusebia. This title is itself problematic: the
table of contents in the Marcianus gives the title as By the
Philosopher Zosimos, 35 Chapters to Eusebia on the Sacred and
Divine Art. In the body of the Marcianus, no title is given for the
simple reason that the quire containing the title and the beginning of
this work has disappeared. In manuscripts B and A, the title
beginning this series of texts runs By Zosimos of Panopolis,
Authentic Writing on the Sacred and Divine Art of Making Gold
and Silver,
14
according to a summary by chapters. Eusebia's name
presents a problem, for it does not appear anywhere in Zosimos'
writings. It may be either a corruption of "Theosebia", Zosimos'
sister, whose name is well attested in his writings; or the name of a
lady to whom a Byzantine compiler may have dedicated his work.
This second hypothesis seems to me more plausible, since the
expression "according to a summary by chapters" (x.at'
X.E<j>aA.mci>&l]) instantly reveals that the work has been tampered
with. In fact, when closely scrutinized, these texts appear as a
collection of extracts on various subjects. It seems that a compiler,
starting from some of Zosimos' writings, took pains to collect some
passages he thought interesting and gave them a title mostly made
up of words found in the text itself. The compiler's interference is
further betrayed by the occasional presence of quotations from
writers later than ZOsimos.
c. The Chapters to Theodore
15
The third group of texts covers only a few folios and does not
appear in Parisinus B. In A, it has no general title. According to the
Marcianus however, there is no doubt that it must be attributed to
13
On the problems raised by this work, see Zosime de Panopo/is, ed. Mertens, LIV
LX,
: In fact, in this place, the manuscripts have the sign of mercury, not of silver, but
tt must be a matter of confusion of signs: cf. Zosime de Panopolis, ed. Mertens, LV,
n. 141-43.
the problems raised by this work, see Zosime de Panopo/is, ed. Mertens, LX
GraecoEgyptian Alchemy in Byzantium
213
Zo os: the table of contents in M announces: By Zosimos,fifteen
to Theodore, a title we find again in the body of the

The name Theodore also poses. a problem, for it is no
re attested in Zosimos' works than Eusebta. However, the name
mo h I h I
"Theodore" appears on two more occastons m t e a c emtca
Corpus: he is the author of the poem which, somehow, serves as a
preface to the Marcianus;
11
in addition, the manuscripts have
transmitted a letter, inserted between the second and third lectures
by Stephanos of Alexandria, which Stephanos addresses to
someone called Theodore. Given that the name was extremely
common in Byzantine times, it is impossible to decide whether one
and the same person is meant in both instances, or two different
personalities must be distinguished.
18
Be that as it may, "Theodore"
is probably the name of the person who applied to a compiler in
order to obtain an abridged version of Zosimos, as is the case with
the Chapters to Eusebia explained above.
As far as their content is concerned, these 'chapters' appear as a
series of short paragraphs beginning, in most cases, with llQL toiJ
otL "About the fact that ... ". In the best cases, a dozen lines of text
are transmitted after the heading, though frequently the heading is
all that has been preserved from the chapter. In its present state, this
work appears as the summary of a summary. It is probable that the
first using the method he had used for the Chapters to
ex!racted from Zosimos' writings a number of passages to
which he gave a title. A copyist or a later compiler may
then .have sktpped the text of several chapters, keeping only the
headmgs.
"W'th
17
1
the exception of no. 15.
See Saffrey 'Hist 8
of the younge; b thonque who thmks that the author in question might be one
11 A . ro ers of emperor Heraclius.
ctordmg to Saffrey ('H'
same as the ded' tstonque 8), the author of the preface must be the
(
' tcatee of Stephan 1 t h .
Chronologie' 6S) th . os e ter, w ereas accordmg to Letrouit
Col)lus im ' .e named Theodore appearing in the
perattvely distingmshed from one another.
214 Michele Mertens
d. The Final Count and the Book of Sophe
19
These two opuscules are neither in M, nor in B, but only in A; they
belong to the texts that appear in the second part of Parisinus A and
whose origin remains mysterious. They form a group inasmuch as
the Final Count is sandwiched between the two preserved extracts
of the Book of Sophe. Paris in us A was copied in Heraklion in 1478
by a Theodore Pelekanos originating from Corfu. On the other
hand, it is well known that in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
Crete was an important centre for copying and trading Greek
manuscripts in general.
20
Here we have here an indication that, as
far as alchemy is concerned, Crete also acted as an intermediary in
handing down texts after the fall of Constantinople.
Such are Zosimos' writings handed down in the manuscripts. In
order to form an idea of the proportion represented by the pieces
preserved in relation to the total production of the Panopolitan, let
us go through the indirect pieces of evidence available concerning
this work:
21
1. Zosimos himself occasionally alluded to some of his writings,
including, among others, treatises entitled Letter Omega,
Manipulations, According to Action and Letter Kappa. Only the
Letter Omega has been partly preserved.
2. Later alchemists often cite Zosimos, whom they seem to hold in
high esteem and of whom they speak most favourably. Among
other appellations, they call him "the crown of philosophers", "the
man whose language has the depth of the ocean", "the new
soothsayer", "the god-inspired one" or again "the friend of truth".
Among the works cited, we find On divine Water (partially
preserved), On Excellence (partially preserved: it is the title that
heads Zosimos' first 'Vision'), Final Count (partially preserved),
According to Action (not preserved), Letter Sigma (not preserved),
The Book of Keys (not otherwise attested).
19
On the problems raised by these works, see Zosime de Panopolis, ed. Mertens,
LXV-IX.
"'See, e.g., J.Irigoin, 'Les manuscrits grecs 1931-1960', Lustrum 7 (1962), 70.
21
On these indirect testimonies, see Zosime de Panopolis, ed. Mertens, LXXXVI-CI.
215
3
. Lastly, the Byzantine monk George Synkellos tells us that
Zosimos might be the author of a work the
Suda knows Zosimos as the_ of chemiCal wntmgs dedicated
t his sister Theosebia and divided mto 28 books, each denoted by a
alphabet and arranged in alphabetical order.
The problem is_ that if we st.art from the an_d
the various pieces of evidence I have JUSt reviewed, It IS
extremely difficult to imagine Zosimos' work as a whole. The
only source that seems _to take into Zosimos'
production is the note m the Suda; It Is hkely that the treatise
On the Letter Omega, which has been preserved, constituted the
introduction to the Book Omega, one of the 28 books
designated by letters the Suda refers to; the same for the books
entitled Letter Kappa and Letter Sigma. As for the other titles
preserved, it is impossible for us to estimate their relative
importance: some of them are probably no more than headings
of sections or of paragraphs, whereas others may correspond to
complete books. We have the frustrating impression that we
have in front of us only a few isolated pieces from an immense
puzzle and are unable to picture the preserved pieces within the
totality of the original work.
22
What seems to be certain is that
the hundred pages or so that have come down from Zosimos cut
a sorry figure compared with his entire production, which must
have been very wide. At least part of that production survived
into the first centuries of the Byzantine period. After that begun
its dismemberment, with the result .that what remains now is
on_Iy a few shreds. Zosimos really is a sad example of literary
shipwreck.
2. ZOSIMOS' INFLUENCE ON LATER ALCHEMISTS
1
now propose to examine whether Zosimos exerted any influence
on Byzantine alchemy. Did Byzantine alchemists have access to his
" The study of Zosim tr d'
..,1,., os a IliOn m Synac and Arabic may perhaps one day
"""6'tlen us by 'd' . '
Preserved in M provt mg mformauon on the states of the text earlier than what is
early stages.
8
Marc. Gr. 299; however, to my knowledge, this study is still in its
';.
216
Michele Mertens
works and, if so, from what perspective did they read them?
I have just emphasized that Zosimos enjoyed immense prestige
among alchemists of the third level who, manifestly, had for him
the greatest respect. Four of these late alchemists deserve special
attention: Olympiodoros, Stephanos, the Christian and the
Anonymous Philosopher.
Olympiodoros must have lived in Alexandria in the sixth century
A.D.
23
His identification with the homonymous Neoplatonic
philosopher is extremely likely, even if it is not perfectly
established. Olympiodoros is the author of a treatise preserved as
part of the Corpus of Greek alchemists
24
which presents itself as a
commentary on Zosimos' Kat'energeian (According to Action?);
25
it is, in fact, a collection of quotations from ancient alchemists
accompanied by sentences devised by Olympiodoros, among which
one finds extracts from Zosimos.
26
This commentary has a very
complicated and discontinuous structure; its analysis is rendered
even more difficult by the fact that it was probably meant to be read
in connection with Zosimos' work, which is lost. The sentences
commented on are arranged in an order which is difficult to follow,
and it is often impossible to distinguish the sentence that is being
23
Only Letrouit ('Chronologie', 56) sets him in the 4'h century. On Olympiodoros,
see the recent works of C. Viano: (a) 'Olympiodore ]' Alchimiste', in Dictionnaire
desphilosophes, ed. D. Huisman, 2"" ed. (Paris, 1993), 2157-59; (b) 'Oiympiodore
l'alchimiste et les presocratiques' (cited above, note 3), esp. 99-102; (c) 'Quelques
aspects theoriques et methodologiques des commentaires alchimiques greco-
alexandrins', in Le commentaire (cited above, note 10), 455-64, esp. 457-58; (d)
'Le commentaire d'Olympiodore au livre IV des Meteorologiques d'Aristote', in
C. Viano, ed. Aristoteles clzemicus. II N libro dei Meteoro/ogica nella tradizione
antica e medieva/e, International Aristotle Studies 1 (Sank! Augustin, 2002), 59-
79, esp. 76-79.
24
See Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, ed. M. Berthelot and C. E. Ruelle,
3 vols. (Paris, 1888; repr. Osnabrock, 1967), II, 69,12-104,7 (Greek text)= III,
75-113 (translation).
25
On the meaning of energeia, see Viano, 'Olympiodore I'Alchimiste', 2158, and
'Olympiodore l'alchimiste et Ies presocratiques', 133. On this title see also
Letrouit, 'Chronologie'. 33, who does not believe that Zosimos would have written
a work entitled Kat'energeian.
26
Among those extracts, one fmds two passages of a work by Zosimos which is at
least partly preserved under the title Final Count: see Zosime de Panopolis, ed.
Mertens, LXVI-VII.
commented on from the commentary. Moreover, numerous
interpolations and additions due to copyists can be detected.
Nevertheless, it is possible to see that Olympiodoros aims, in this
treatise, to show the relation existing, in his view, between
presocratic philosophers and our. alchemists. Among other things,
Olympiodoros sketches a companson between the doctrines on the
unique principle espoused by presocratic philosophers and those
held by the most important alchemists, including Zosimos, on the
same subject; his intention is to bring out the view that the
foundations of alchemy derive from Greek philosophy.
27
The next century, more particularly the reign of Heraclius, is
marked by Stephanos of Alexandria, under whose name a series of
lectures On the Great and Sacred Art of Making Gold has come
down to us.
28
In addition, Stephanos of Alexandria is known as a
commentator on Plato and Aristotle and as the author of
astronomical works and medical treatises. As is the case with
Olympiodoros, the identification of this Stephanos with our
alchemist, though not absolutely certain, is quite probable.
29
"See Viano, 'Olympiodore I' Alchimiste', 2158.
"OnStephanos of Alexandria, see particularly the paper ofM. K. Papathanassiou,
'Stephanos of Alexandria as Alchemist and Astrologer' in the present volume. See
also eadem, 'Stephanus of Alexandria: Pharmaceutical Notions and Cosmology in
his Alchemical Work', Ambix 37.3 (1990), 121-33; 38.2 (1991), 112 (Addenda
and corrigenda); eadem, 'Stephanus of Alexandria: On the Structure and Date of
his Alchemical Work', Medicina nei secoli 8.2 (1996), 247-66, and Viano
'Quelques aspects theoriques', esp. 458-60. To be seen, too;
M. K. Papathanassiou, 'Stephanos von Alexandreia und sein alchemistisches
. Dissertation Humboldt Univ. (Berlin, 1992), as well as eadem, 'L'reuvre
alc.hunzque de Stephanos d'Alexandrie: structure et transformations de Ia matiere
et pluralite, l'enigme des philosophes', in C. Viano, ed. L 'alchimie et se;
racmes philosophiques. La tradition grecque et Ia tradition arabe (Paris 2005)
The alchemical works of Stephanos were not included in Collec;ion de;
akhimistes grecs, ed. Berthelot and Ruelle, because they had already been
pu shed zn Physici et Medici Graeci minores, ed. J. L. ldeler, II (Berlin, 1842;
Amsterdam, 1963), 199-253
I
cdr. Vi.ano, 'Quelques aspects theoriques', 463: "En ce qui conceme Stephanus
es emteres
Letro . , es s. onentent de plus en plus vers ]'hypothese de J'identite".
categ ai!Chrono.Iogte.', 6?, expresses the opposite opinion and rejects
Y any tdentificatton: "II n'y a aucune raison d'attribuer a Stephane
q
ueiconunqsteS .. des textes contemporains ou posterieurs transmis sous Je nom d'un
ue tcphane ... " .
... -..:..,.
I
I.
218
Michele Mertens
Stephanos' alchemical work consists of a series of nine 'lectures'_
but it is likely that there were originally only seven of themlO-
among which a letter to a certain Theodore was inserted, a text to
which I will return. In these lectures one finds echoes from Zosimos
who, however, is not cited by name in Stephanos. Another point
worth noting: the last of the lectures is clearly dedicated to emperor
Herakleios.
Two more commentators must be mentioned: those who are known
as the 'Christian' and the 'Anonymous Philosopher', the latter
name covering perhaps several characters.
31
They are difficult to
date; they must probably be situated between the seventh and the
ninth centuries.
32
In the absence of a suitable edition, it is difficult
to form a clear idea about the writings of these writers;
33
they look
like collections of quotations from ancient authors, particularly
from Demokritos, Hermes, Mary, Agathodemon and Zosimos,
grouped by subject and linked up by longer or shorter sentences of '
commentary;
34
as always, it is difficult to know where the
quotations stop and where the. commentaries begin. What is
important for us is the manner in which the Christian and the
Anonymous Philosopher quote the ancient alchemists, because it
suggests that they still had their works, or at least long extracts from
them, before their eyes.
30
See indeed the new division proposed by M. K. Papathanassiou, 'Stephanus of
Alexandria: On the Structure', 253-7.
31
Letrouit, 'Chronologie', 63-64, distinguishes two of them.
32
Letrouit ('Chronologie', 62-64) dates the Christian to the 7 .. -8'' centuries and
the two Anonymous to the 8,.- 9,. centuries. Festugiere (La revelation, I, 240)
situates them all in the 7th century; Halleux, Les textes alchimiques, 62, places the
Christian in the 6 .. century and the Anonymous in the 7 .. or 8''. .
33
M. Berthelot, in his effort to restore the original books of the ancient alchelDlsts,
was led to dismantle the compilations of the Christian and of the Anonymous
Philosopher and to scatter their pieces in the different parts of his edition: see
Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, ed. Berthelot and Ruelle, III, 377-82.
Letrouit, 'Chronologie', 62-64A proposed to reconstitute original sequences of the
Christian and the Anonymous based on the Marcianus; however, Letrouit does 0?t
take into account certain texts by these authors that are transmitted only
10
manuscript A.
" For a brief analysis of these commentators, see Viano, 'Quelques aspects
theoriques', 460-62.
F' ally it is worth pointing out that at least some of Zosimos'
m ks 'seem to have been accessible in the eleventh century,
;or use in the indictment brought by Michael Psellos against
Michael Keroularios when the latter fell into disgrace, the

a h , . v , . 3s B h'
Cus
er alludes to our aut or s treatise nat energewn. ut t IS
ac h . 36
reference may simply mean that Psellos knew t e Marcranus.
J. ZOSIMOS' CULTURAL INFLUENCE OUTSIDE STRICTLY
ALCHEMICAL CIRCLES
We may now wonder whether Zosimos' works were known in
Byzantium outside the circles of alchemists. The answer seems to
be that they were.
In his Bibliotheca, Photios summarizes a mysterious work on
apologetics written in Constantinople after the reign of Herakleios
by an author whose name he does not know. That work gathered
quotations from books of all provenances in favor of the Christian
religion and-Photios writes-he even drew testimonies "from
Zosimos' chemical writings".
37
As I have already pointed out,
George the Synkellos quotes Zosimos; the text he uses seems to
have been more complete than the text we now have at our disposal
and it is likely that he had access to the alchemical Corpus, because
he also mentions Demokritos, Ostanes, Mary and Pammenes, who
were authors of the first level.
38
Lastly, the Suda knows Zosimos, to
whom it devotes an entry.
39
From these three testimonies, we may
35
Michael Psellos, Orationes forenses et acta, I, ed. G. T. Dennis (Stuttgart and
Leipzig, 1994), 97, l. 2673-75 = J. Bidez, Catalogue des manuscrits alchimiques
grecs [hereafter CMAG], VI, Michel Psellus (Bruxelles, 1928), 76-77. Cf.
1. Schamp, 'Michel Psellos a Ia fin du XX' siecle: Etat des editions'' L 'Antiquite
(1997), 353-69, esp. 367.
31
See Bidez, CMAG, VI, 22.
Photios, Bibliotheca, codex 170, p. 117a28 Bekker (ed. R. Henry, Collectanea
Byzantina, II [Paris, 1960], 163). Cf. Zosime de Panopo/is, ed. Mertens, XCVI-
xcvu.
:
7
George the Synkellos, Chronographia, ed. W. Dindorf, CSHB (Bonn, 1829), I,
A 11-20 = George Georgii Syncelli ecloga chronographica, ed.
M
. Mossharnmer (Leipzig, 1984), 297, 23-298, 2; cf. Zosime de Panopo/is, ed.
"ert?ns, XCU!-XCV!.
cf Lexicon, ed. A. Adler, 5 vols. (Leipzig, 1928-38), s. v. Zwatji.O>; (Z 168);
Sllne de Panopo/is, ed. Mertens, xcvu.
f . .
I.
220
Mertens
infer that the alchemical Corpus must have had some diffusion
Byzantium between the seventh and eleventh centuries. In
4. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ALCHEMICAL CORPUS
The alchemical Corpus was put together during the Byzantine
period. The building up of this set raises a number of questions that
are worth reviewing briefly.
As far as the date is concerned, all historians of alchemy agree in
situating it between the seventh and the early eleventh century;
40
the
first corpus cannot be earlier than Stephanos, because some
quotations from him were introduced into the works of the oldest
alchemists.
41
Therefore, Stephanos' lifetime must be considered the
terminus post quem for the constitution of the Corpus; the eleventh
century must be regarded as the terminus ante quem, because MS
Marc. Gr. 299 includes most of the texts. It is quiet possible that
some partial collections were already in existence in antiquity, as
"' See, e.g., M. Berthelot, Introduction a /'etude de Ia chimie des anciens et du
moyen age (Paris, 1889; repr. 1938), 203: "Vers le VII' ou le vm' siecle de notre
s'est constituee une premiere collection, qui semble avoir ete formee autour du
commentaire de Stephan us, avec adjonction des auteurs de !'Ecole Democritaine et
des premiers commentateurs. Cette collection . . . aurait servi il constituer le
prototype, duquel derivent Ia vieille liste de Saint-Marc et le manuscrit de Saint-
Marc. Cependant un certain nombre de memo ires d 'auteurs renommes, de recettes
partielles et plusieurs traites techniques n' etaient pas compris dans cette collection.
lis sont entres plus tard dans d'autres collections, fondues avec Ia principale dans
le 2325, et depuis, avec des additions plus etendues, dans le manuscrit
2327"; tdem, Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, ed. Berthelot and Ruelle, I,
VI : "Ce Corpus des Alchimistes grecs a ete forme vers Ie vm' ou IX' siecle de
notre ere, il Constantinople, par des savants byzantins, de l'ordre de Photius et des
comptlateurs des 53 series de Constantin Porphyrogenete, savants qui nous ont
des formes analogues les restes de Ia science grecque";
La revelatwn, l, 240 : "le Corpus lui-meme des alchimistes grecs a probablement
ete acheve ilia fin du Vtl' siecle (vers 675-700), peut-etre par Theodoros, disciple
de ,Stephanos": cf. !dem, 'Alchymica , 211; Saffrey, 'Historique', 8: "no us
qu II (sc. celm qui a rassemble Ia collection de ces textes alchimiques) etrut un
contemporain. de Stephane et du 'Chretien"'; Letrouit, 'Chronologie', 68: "les
textes alchtmtques constituant M ont ete rassembles entre Ia seconde partie du Ix'
et Ia date de redaction du manuscrit, a savoir le x'-xi' siecle".

e.g., Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, ed. Berthelot and Ruelle, II,
.- ,.
draeeo-Bgyptian Alchemy in Byzantium
221
'th the Hippocratic Collection
42
or with Plutarch's
was the case WI . Zo . I I
Ill L
. 43 especially since an alchemist hke stmos c ear y
Para e IVes, . h h'
h
. d'sposal the writings of hts predecessors; owever, t 1s
had at IS I h
t d
oes not seem strong enough to gtve us the ng t to
argumen . . d 44 A
stulate the existence of a collectiOn from that time on war s. s
ror knowing exactly what went on bet.ween the seventh and the
eleventh century, we are reduced to makmg hypotheses. But several
facts should be pointed out:
(a) A wide movement in favour study of alchemy seems
have marked the reign of Heraklews m the seventh century: he 1s
indeed the emperor to whom Stephanos of Alexandria dedicated the
last of his 'Lectures'; between the second and the third 'Lecture' by
this author a letter addressed to a certain Theodore was inserted; the
poem that serves as a preface to manuscript M is also the work of
one Theodore. It was then assumed that the first corpus could be
attributed to that Theodore, who may have been Stephanos'
disciple.
45
Moreover, the table of contents in manuscript M
mentions three alchemical writings of the emperor Herakleios
himself, writings that must have been in a quire now lost.
46
To this
may again be added that the Arabic alchemical tradition has kept
the memory of Stephanos: the text known under the name of
Morienus relates that prince Khalid ibn Yazid ibn Mu'awiya was
initiated into alchemy in Egypt between 675 and 700 by the monk
" on this subject J. Irigoin, 'Tradition manuscrite et histoire du texte :
iueques relatifs a Ia Collection hippocratique', Revue d'Histoire des
;tes. 3 (1973), 1-13, esp. 8-9, and idem, 'L'Hippocrate du cardinal Bessarion
269 [533])', inS. Bernardinello, ed. Miscellanea Marciana di
"
1
essarwne1 (Padua, 1976) 161-74 esp 174
1
Ia trad't. ngom, formation d'un corpus: un probleme d'histoire des textes dans
1
Ion des V1es parallel d PI , R . .
(1982-3)
1
_
12
es e utarque . d'H1stozre des Textes 12-13
" ,esp. 7.
Berthelot is an advo
1
f th' h .
semble av . . ca e
0
ts ypothests: cf. his Introduction 20 1 "Zosirne
otrconstttue v 1 r d , . '
... "; ibid.,
287
: "Les' a
10
u m. une sorted 'encyclopectie chimique
collection d'ab rd trrutes des alchtmtstes greco-egyptiens ont ete reunis en
temps , par Zosime au lll' siecle de notre ere, puis vers le vn' siecle, au
"CfF
8

cited above, note 40.
e loss, perhaps voluntary, of this quire, see Saffrey, 'Historique', 4.
r
f
i
I
l
fj
tr
.J!,
222
Menens
Morienus (Marianos), a pupil of Stephanos of Alexandri 47
" lh 'al a. The
.our a c ernie poems that were transmitted under th
. e names of
Hehodoros, Theophrastos, Hierotheos and Archelaos are als d
h
. . d I h " o ated
to t IS peno . t t ere.ore seems undeniable that the sacred
. d
enjoye some sort of vogue in seventh-century Byzant' .
I
. . mm,
c.onsequent y, tt ts not unreasonable to suggest that this was the
time when one or several collections were put together and that th
h
. d' ey
were t e m trect source of our main manuscripts.
(b) Another remarkable feature is that the state of preservation of
texts is extremely variable from one manuscript to the other: for
Instance, some complete treatises are found next to abridged works,
extracts, even extracts from extracts, and long commentaries
enclosing, in the form of quotations, some chapters from an
author's work. This seems to indicate that some texts must have
become the victims of several successive reworkings at the hands of
compilers.
48
The fact that manuscript M contains two differently ill-
versions of Zosimos' Authentic Memoirs reveals, in my
Vtew, both the multiplicity of manipulations and the plurality of
sources of the manuscript.
(c) Lastly, let us note that contemporary texts, particularly
technical recipes,4
9
were incorporated into these more or less
reworked and more or less ancient works, a fact that bears witness
to the liveliness of the Corpus.
In my opinion, these alchemical collections and compilations must
be connected with the wide current of encyclopaedic interest which
tenth centuries in Byzantium and resulted in
he constitutiOn of Innumerable other corpora of the same type:
excerpts compiled on the order of Constantine Porphyrogennetos,
the Geoponika, the Hippocratic Corpus, the Hippiatrica, of
"s
de
1
C:C
1
hn_ th_is subject Ha!ieux, Les textes a/chimiques 65. Cf. idem, 'La reception
ac uruearabee o 'd ' ' b
vol 3 h . n CCI ent m R. Rashed, ed. Histoire des Sciences ara es,
" c' r' pecLenologe, alchimie et sciences de Ia vie (Paris 1997) 143-54, esp. 146.
merleLe ' '
enseig ' premier humanisme byzantin : Notes et remarques sur
nement et culture a B 1971)
299 "Cett . Yzance des origines au X' siecle (Pans, '
. e pratique ge e a! > el
s'emmeJent est b' f . n r e
4
Byzance, des compilations qui s'enchainent
"See below,
pour decourager Ia recherche des sources".

223
collection of the Greek tacticians, the Hermetic Corpus, 50 and many
others, including the Palatine Anthology.
51
The collection offered
by manuscript M might represent the first outcome of such an
activity. Afterwards, later texts as well as collections that had, at the
beginning, remained independent also entered this alchemists'
corpus.
52
This is how we could explain, in my view, why
manuscript A contains a long series of texts that do not appear in
the two oldest manuscripts.
53
Another piece of information that could help us understand how the
texts were selected and arranged would be to know the identity and
motives of the compilers. The compilation of some works seems to
have been commissioned. This could be the case with Zosimos'
Chapters to Eusebia and to Theodore, Eusebia and Theodore bei!lg
in this instance the silent partners of the compilation. Sometimes,
we are even under the impression that the compiler did not
"'See A. J. Festugiere, 'L'Hennetisme', in idem, Hermetisme et mystique pai'enne
(cited note 8), 28-87, esp. 33, about the Hermetic Corpus: "Le premier
temoignage que nous ayons sur le Corpus actuel est de Psellos au xf siecle. On
peut done conjecturer ou bien que le Corpus a ete compile entre le vf et le XI'
siecle comme d'autres collections analogues (en particulier le Corpus des
alchimistes grecs) ou bien qu'il est dO a Psellos lui-meme qui aura voulu sauver
ainsi les restes disperses de Ia litterature hermetique savante". Cf. J.-P. Mahe,
Hermes en Haute-Egypte, II (Quebec, 1982), i 9. .
" On this trend, see Lemerle, Le premier humanisme, 267-300; Idem,
'L'encyclopedisme a Byzance a I 'apogee de !'Empire, et particulierement sous
Constantin VII Porphyrogenete', Cahiers d'histoire medievale 9.3 (1966), 596-
616; A. Dain, 'L'encyclopedisme de Constantin Porphyrogenete', Lettres
d'Humanire XII(= Bul/Bude 1953.4), 64-81.
"Let us quote, e.g., the letter of Psellos, which opens manuscript A (fol. lr-7r),_ or
the anonymous and untitled text also handed down by A (fol. wh.ch
can be dated to around the 12"' century; on this last text, see A. Cohnet.'
Travail des quatre elbnents ou lorsqu'un alchimiste byzantin s'inspire de m
I. Draelants, A. Tihon, B. van den Abeele, eds. Occident et
Contacts scientifiques au temps des Croisades (Actes du colloque de Louvam-la
Neuve, 24 et 25 mars 1997) (Tumhout, 2000), 165-90.
1 256
"Some of those texts are very old for instance, Isis' letter to Horus (A,
0
r-
258r), which can be dated to th; 2"' or 3"' century A.D. (see M. 'Une
scene d'initiation alchimique: La Lettre d'lsis cl Horus', Revue de I des
religions 205 [1988] 3-23) Letrouit 'Chronologie', 82 and 88, dates ths. work
' ' r tauonof
Wrongly, in my opinion to the 7"'-8"' centuries on the basis
0
a quo tak
Stephanos. This error generated from the fact that Letrouit refuses
10
e
manuscript A into consideration.
:
'l:
'ti
I{ ..
f
\:
224
Michele Mertens
understand much of the text he was working on, particularly when
he dealt with descriptions of technical appliances.
54
In other
instances, the copyist seems to have been himself an alchemist.
This is what we can deduce from the examination of manuscript B
which, as I have already mentioned, looks very much like a
workshop handbook: the copyist dropped the pieces that were too
theoretical and did not interest him in favour of technical recipes
which could be carried out at once. Similarly, manuscript A, riddled
with spelling mistakes, seems to be the work of a practising
alchemist.
55
As for the lavishly decorated manuscript M, H. D.
Saffrey has voiced the hypothesis that it was made for a high-
ranking person, perhaps even for the imperial library of
Byzantium,
56
which would explain why M devotes more space to
theoretical treatises.
Such is the complex tradition of the alchemical texts, which is
due, in my opinion, to the methods of compilation employed by
the Byzantines.
5. EVIDENCE FROM THE ALCHEMICAL CORPUS FOR THE PRACTICE.
OF ALCHEMY IN BYZANTIUM
Examining the alchemical Corpus reveals that the Byzantines di.d
not content themselves with commenting on ancient texts. Their
interest in the sacred art also finds expression in the production of
alchemical writings, whether academic or practical.
For instance, Michael Psellos (ll'h c.) wrote in his youth a letter. On
how to make gold, which heads manuscript A;
57
but the
included in this letter seem to be extremely academic, therefor.e 1t IS
impossible to claim that Psellos devoted himself to the pract1ce of
54
A brief survey of the specific problems raised by the transmission of the
of appliances can be found in M. Mertens, 'L'illustration :
Corpus alchimique grec', in M. Cacours et al., eds. Formes etfonctwnsde
dans les traites de contenu scientifique de 1 'Antiquire et du Moyen Age. Actps u
co/loque international de Strasbourg (3-4 novembre 2000) (forthcoming).
"See on this subject Festugiere, 'Alchymica', 221-5.
"'See Saffrey, 'Historique', 2. Is
" Michael Psellos, Letter on chrysopoeia, ed. J. Bidez, CMAG, VI (Brusse '
1928), 1-47.
225
alchemy.
58
This opuscule nevertheless bears witness to Psellos'
familiarity with the subject and shows that he believed in the
theoretical possibility of transmutation, a logical consequence he
thought, of the laws governing the four elements. 5
9
The collectlons
of recipes that passed down under the names of Kosmas the Monk60
and Nikephoros Blemmydes
61
also sound very academic, not tried
out.
On the other hand, several practical recipes and technical treatises
of Byzantine date can indeed be found among the texts of the
Corpus;
62
they deal, among other things, with the practices of
silversmiths and goldsmiths, the tempering and dyeing of metals,
glass-making, the colouring of precious stones, the manufacture of
pearls and the making of moulds, and must obviously be connected
with the luxury crafts of the time.
63
All this bears witness to the fact that alchemy was still cultivated
in Byzantium.
6, SOME GLEANINGS FROM THE NON-ALCHEMICAL LITERATURE
If we tum to non-alchemical literature, we also find some
indications along the same lines. I do not claim to be exhaustive but
simply to present a few pieces of evidence drawn from non-
: Psellos, Letter on chrysopoeia, ed. Bidez, CMAG, VI, 93.
See on this subject J. Grosdidier de Matons, 'Psellos et le monde de
Travaux et Memoires 6 (1976), 325-49, esp. 329-30.
See CMAG, II, 442,1-446,14. Actually, the text edited by Berthelot and Ruelle
Kosmas' name appears to be composite. It is likely that only 1-3 must be
attnbuted to Kosmas; the recipes of 4-8 are hardly altered extracts from
as Bidez showed (CMAG, VI, 16), whereas 9-11 present recipes
wntten m a much more modem language. I want to express here my deep gratitude
to A. Colinet for drawing my attention to the heterogeneous character of this
treause.
61 s
ee Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, ed. Berthelot and Ruelle, U,
!52,1-459,9.
B See the technical treatises edited in Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, ed.
., erthelot and Ruelle, II, 321-93.
10
Cf. C. Delvoye, L'art byzantin (Paris, 1967), 187 (on enamel "Les
P gres observes alors dans Ia fabrication des couleurs peuvent etn:llliS en rapport
:vee les experiences de chimie et d'alchimie auxquelles aimaient A proc6der les
onunes de cette
j.;
226
MicMie Mertens
alch.emical literature; these refer to alchem
reahty and seem to me to reflect th I y a contemporary
art' in Byzantinecivilization. e p ace occupied by the 'sacred
There seems to be no extant G k
alchemy before the end of the or Latin. text mentioning
before that date it must have b I which suggests that
' een re atJvely marginal.64 '
The first non-alchemical text in whic .
alchemy is Proclus' co h one fmds a reference to
about 500. Dealing Plato's Republic, composed
shows that very often th : theory of mimesis, Proclus
imitate nature he I'll' t e mmd does not do anything but
us rates this by us th
alchemists calling them "th mg e example of the
mixture of certain s ec ,o:Se who pretend to make gold from the
alchemy is familiar p Jehs . It must be observed that although
enoug to be quoted a 1
upon as somewhat suspect. s an examp e, It IS looked
At the same time, Aeneas of G . .
knowledge of alchem b aza
1
.n Theophrastus displays his
resurrection of the gloJou{ b a parallel between the
art and the ennoblement f b odJes on the last day by the Creator's
alchemist's art "th h
0
. ase metals transmuted into gold by the
e c angmg of matt
nothing incredible abo t . . er mto something better has
u It smce with
matter take silver and t' ' us too, those who know
1 m, remove app
co or, ennoble matter and d earance, melt together and
pro uce gold, even the most beautiful".
66
In his Chronicle John Mala!
John Isthmeos turned as tells the story of an alchemist called
' up at Antioch in 504, during the reign of
"' See Halleux Le 1
., p 1 s extes a/chimiques 61
com:c us, .In Remp., ed. W. Kroll, Pr;cli . .
C entaru, II (Leipzig, 1901)
234 17
Dadoch1 in Platonis rem publicum
ommentaire sur fa e. bl" ' ' ; tr A J p
alch . r pu 1que, III (Paris
1970
estug1cre, Proclus,
Pe mques, n. 11. Cf. A. Segonds p i ), !89. See Halleux Les rextes
pm and H. D. Saffrey, eds. /:c us: as.tronomie et in J.
mternationa/ du CNRS, Paris et mrerprete des Anciens. Actes du
33 and n. 51. ' octobre 1985 (Paris, 1987) 319-34
Aeneas of Gaza, Theophrasrus
(Naples, 1958) 62 27--63 ' ed. M. E. Colonna E .
e . '. ,2; PG 85, col. 992A- nea d1 Gaza. Teojrasto
Muylen?eus (Paris, 1836), 71, ;} B:issonade, Aeneas Gazaeus

a eux, op.c1t. erthelot, Les origines, 74-
227
Anastasios I. He tricked a lot of people and fled to Constantinople,
where he swindled many silversmiths. The emperor had him
arrested and exiled to Petra, where he died.
67
In the late eleventh century, in his poem entitled Dioptra, which is
in the form of a dialogue between body and soul, Philip
Monotropos resorts to a comparison with alchemy: just as an
alchemist changes lead into gold, so Christ will change human
nature.
68
The presence of alchemy is also reflected in the vocabulary: the
terms of the word family of xuJ.JECalxu!lia
69
are frequently used in
Byzantine texts.
70
67 See John Malalas, Chronographia, XVI, ed. L. Dindorf, CSHB (Bonn, 1831),
395,6--19; ed. H. Thurn, CFHB 35 (Berlin and New York, 2000). 323; tr.
E. Jeffreys et al., The Chronicle of John Mala/as: A Translation (Melbourne,
1986), 222; this story is also taken up by other chroniclers: cf. Berthelot, Les
origines, 76; Halleux, Les textes alchimiques, 62, n. 17; Letrouit, 'Chronologie',
56--7.
68 See Philip Monotropos, Dioptra, ed. S. Lauriotes, in '0 '1\llro, I, pts.l-2
(Athens, 1919-20), 134.
69 Or Xlll!&ia/xru.Lia; late Greek references to alchemy vary between different
spellings in which the phenomenon of iotacism prevents the original form from
being discerned. On forms and etymology of the word alchemy, see Halleux,
Les textes alchimiques, 45-7. Compounds in X&ll!- are also found: cf. following
note. As suggested by H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, Greek-English Lexicon
(Oxford, 1996), s.v. xul!&ia, it is very probable that the form with u is the right
one, for the Syriac tradition seems to have kept the form 'koumia', if we go by
what M. Berthelot writes in La chimie au Moyen Age, II (Paris, 1893; repr.
Osnabrock, 1967), 238. Now, the Greek texts must have been translated into
Syriac before the shift ofu to 1, which must have started around the 8th/9
1
h c. and
ended around the 10th/11th c.: see G. Horrocks, Greek: A History of the
Language and its Speakers (London and New York, 1997), 205; cf
R. Browning, Medieval and Modern Greek (London, 1969), 62; A. Mirambel,
Grammaire du grec moderne (Paris, 1949), XV; H. Pernot, D 'Homere a nos
jours: histoire, ecriture, prononciation du grec (Paris, 1921), 141; and
S. B. Psaltes, Grammatik der byzantinischen Chroniken (Gottingen, 1913),
226.
10 In addition to X&Lfi.W-rit meaning 'alchemist' in Malalas and derived chroniclers
(above note 67) and qualifying Zosimos' writings in Photios and in
the Suda (above, notes 37 and 39), xufi.WOL; occurs among others in Tzetzes (In
Hes. scutum, 122, ed. T. Gaisford, Poetae minores Graeci, II [Leipzig, 18231. 623,
25; cf. Etymologicum Magnum s.v. 6Qeixa>.xo), X&(fi.WOL in Eustathios, Ad A
It
1!':
1::
I:
il
I
:l,
:;r
.l
228
Michele Mertens
Lastly, in the first half of the fifteenth century one co
. . mes across a
passage m prruse of alchemy in John Kanaboutzes' co
Dionysios of Halicarnassos.
71
One can read in it that on
change th f emy may
. , n e properties o metals and their substances into what it
Wills . The probably reveals the influence of western alch
on the Byzaiitme world,
73
but this is quite another story, which
beyond the bounds of the present subject. g
CONCLUSION
Before 500 A.D., alchemy appears to be a rather marginal activity
as suggested by the absence of evidence outside the alche .
In the sixth . century, references to alchemy
m Byzaiitine literature, but some suspicion
. perceived With regard to the sacred art, a suspicion
remforced by the schemes of swindlers. From the seventh century
ohnwards . seems to have been perfectly well integrated into
t e official learnmg J'ud b h . . gmg Y t e vogue It apparently enjoyed
Herachus. evidence of the Marcianus (lO'h or ll'h c.), the
of which suggests that it must have been
e or a Ig -ranking person, points in the same direction.
The Byzantines showed th t .
eu m erest m alchemy in different ways:
1. They read the ancient texts, collected them, abridged or
25, ed. M. Vander Valk, Eustathii archie i . . . ..
Homeri J/iadem pertinentes III (L . d P scopl Thessa/omcens1s comment am ad
meaning 'enamelled' in enp
1979
), 142, 6, and )(ELf!EU'tO' apparently
Byzantinae, ll, 15, ed. J. J. Reiske orhyrogennetos, De cerimoniis aulae
cf. Reiske's commentary,II
18301

1829], 581,9-11, and passim;

the online edition of the Thesau;us L' ' 4-8). Research on )(Uf!EU-/)(eLf!EU- in
many more occurrences. mguae Graecae (www.tlg.uci.edu) yields
71
Cf. K. Krumbacher, Geschichte der byzant' . .
Ende des ostriimischen Reiches,

von Justinian bis
See John Kanaboutzes, Ad Principe A'
2
. ed. (Mumch, 1897), 231.
Halicarnasensem Commentarius, 13-!
4
, :. r.:."' et in Dionysium
12,14, esp. 11,7-9; cf. Letrouit, 'Chronolo
passage and provides a French translation gte '
9
-7 who quotes the whole
13
See Halleux, ibid., 62, n. 21. On the lnfluen f .
see also L'anonyme de Zuretti, ed. Latm on Byzantine
(Parts, 2000), XIV. met. Les alchtmistes grecs, X

229
Qraeco-Bgyptian Alchemy in Byzantium
summarized some of them; it is certain that the of.
ompilers contributed to salvaging part of these wntmgs, but 1t 1s
certain that their methods of working the of
the originals.74 Zosimos' wreckage is a particularly stnkmg
illustration of this process. This fact is all the more regrettable as
most of the ancient alchemical texts seem to have still been
available around the ninth and tenth centuries.
2. The Byzantines wrote commentaries, sometimes with a
definite intention, as is the case with Olympiodoros, at other ttmes
simply with the aim of gathering extracts while confronting
opinions of the ancients.
3. They also wrote original texts, whether theoretical or for
practical use (recipes), which were gradually integrated into the
existing corpus as the different collections were forming.
4. Last but not least, let us note that the alchemical texts seem to
have spread widely beyond the strictly alchemical circles, since
they can be traced in the writings of Photios aiid George the
Synkellos, as well as in the Suda.
74 Cf. Berthelot, Introduction, 300 (=Collection des anciens a/cilimistes grecs, ed.
Berthelot and Ruelle, III, 381), "Ia compilation du Chretien a ete faite a l'origine
en vertu du systeme general sui vi par les Byzantins, du vm' au X' siecle, periode
pendant laquelle ils ont tire des anciens auteurs qu'ils avaient en main des extraits
et resumes .... Ce procede nous a conserve une multitude de debris de vieux
textes ; mais il a concouru a nous faire perdre les ouvrages originaux"; cf. Dain,
'L'encyclopt\disme' (cited above, note 51), 65: "!'immense travail foumi par
Constantin Porphyrogenete et son equipe de chercheurs, au lieu d'assurer Ia
conservation des textes anciens, contribua efficacement a leur destruction: le zele
qu'on avail mis a resumer eta adapter les textes avail rendu inutile Ia conservation
des originaux"; cf. J. Irigoin, 'Survie et renouveau de Ia litterature antique a
Constantinople (IX' siecle)', Cahiers de civilisation medieva/e 5.1 (1962), 287-
302, esp. 297: "Ia production de nouvelles reuvres fondees sur les anciennes,
comme le Lexique de Photius, a contribue a Ia disparition d'ouvrages estimes
vieillis ou dt\passes; au siecle suivant, Ia constitution de vastes encyclopedies,
comme les extraits d'historiens de Constantin Porphyrogenete, a rendu inutile, aux
yeux des contemporains, Ia copie des ouvrages ainsi dt!pouilles". Cf. also
G. Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind
(Cambridge, 1986), 2: "Had it not been for the vogue which alchemy and astrology
continued to enjoy in Byzantium (and, indeed, meta-Byzantium), the texts would
have been lost completely, having no claim to preservation on literary grounds".
230
Michele Menens
The pieces o.f surveyed above indicate that the place held
by alchemy m Byzantme culture was in no way insignificant.
t David Pingree
Brown University
The Byzantine Translations of Masha'aiUih
on Interrogational Astrology
Mashli'allah ibn Atharr, a Persian Jew from Basra (his Persian name
was Yazdan Khwast, his Jewish name Manasse), was one of the
first astrologers to enter the service of the 'Abbasid caliphs in the
middle of the eighth century A.D.
1
He first appears in the historical
record as one of those involved in casting the horoscope for the
founding of Baghdad on 30 July 762.
2
Since he must at that time
have been well established as an astrologer, he probably was born
ca. 720-730. The end of his life can be approximately dated from
his Kitab ft al-qiraniit wa al-adyan wa al-milal (Book on
1
The articles on Masha'allah by David Pingree in Dictionary of Scientific
Biography, IX (New York, 1974), and by F. Sezgin, Geschichte des
Schri.ftums, VII (Leiden, 1979), 102-08, need to be updated.
D. Pingree, 'The Fragments of the Works of ai-Fazl!rl', Journal of Near Eastern
Studies 29 (1970), 103-23, esp. 104.
232
t David Pingree
Conjunctions and Faiths and Religions),
3
an astrological history
that he wrote in order to prove that, according to astrology, the
rulership of the Islamic countries was destined to be transferred to
the Persians in 815, the sixth year from the conjunction of Jupiter
and Saturn in 809.
4
Since the narrative of Masha'allah's history
begins to stray from reality in the period immediately after this
conjunction and does not mention that al-Ma'mun succeeded his
brother, al-Amin, as caliph in 813, but rather prophesized that the
rulership would be transferred from one house to another in that
year, it is likely that Mashii'allah died shortly after 809, though he
continued his history imaginatively down to the horoscope of 928.
5
So we can locate the date of Masha'allah's death in about 810.
The Arabic original and the Byzantine translation of one of
M!isha'allah's texts that I will discuss in this paper between them
preserve twenty-three horoscopes that can be dated between 12
June 765 and 17 June 768; these dates perfectly fit our chronology
of Masha'allah's life. In many cases these horoscopes provide
answers to queries posed by members of the caliphal court or by
wealthy and aspiring individuals; these fit nicely within the social
stratum that M!ishii'allah is elsewhere associated with. The close
connections between the several different texts that will be
discussed and their common reliance on Dorotheos, Valens, and
Theophilos
6
guarantee that they are all basically the work of
Mlisha' allah.
But before we turn to a consideration of the Arabic texts and their
Greek translations, I should say something about interrogational
astrology, since it was not a part of classical Greek science. It and
historical astrology, which was also practiced by Mlishli'alllih as we
3
Published by E. S. Kennedy and David Pingree with an English translation and a
commentary as The Astrological History of Mtisha'alltih (Cambridge, Mass.,
1971).
:Ibid., 112-13, fols. 218-218v.
Ibid., 122-24, fols. 224v-225.
D p 'M '
P asha'allllh: Greek, Pahlavr, Arabic, and Latin Astrology
erspectlves. et medieva/es sur Ia tradition scientijique et philosophique
grecque, Onentalia Lovaniensia Analecta 79 (Leuven and Paris, 1997), 123-36,
esp. 128-31.
,..

The Byzantine Transiations of Masha'allllh on Interrogational Astrology. 233
have just seen, came from the East.
7
Greek astrology of several
types had been translated into Sanskrit in the second century A.D.;
by 269 the Indians had transformed Greek catarchic astrology into
an interrogational form.
8
Catarchic astrology teaches one how to
choose the right moment for beginning an undertaking; it would
have been used by Mash a' allah and his associates, for instance, in
selecting the best moment for founding the city of Baghdad.
Interrogational astrology allows one to predict how an action
already undertaken or being planned will end up. The prediction is
made from the horoscope cast for the moment at which the client
poses his question to the astrologer. In catarchic astrology you look
in the future for a time when the horoscope cast for that moment
will guarantee success; in interrogational astrology, the moment for
which the horoscope is cast is determined by when the client gets a
chance to ask the astrologer for an answer. The astrological data
employed in order to arrive at a prediction in these two forms of
astrology may be the same, but the rationales for its use must in
each case be entirely different.
The Indians transmitted interrogational astrology, together with
their version of military astrology. and certain other elements that
they had added to the Greek science, to the Sasanians of Iran in the
fifth sixth centuries. To their resulting mix of Greek and Indian
astrology (the astrological works of Dorotheos of Sidon, Ptolemy,
Vettius Valens, and Varaharnihira, among others, were being read
in Pahlavi),
9
the Sasanians added Zoroastrian rnillenarianism to
produce historical astrology in which conjunctions of Saturn
Jupiter over the millennia provide a structure for accommodating
the histories of religions, dynasties, and individual rulers.'
0
;D. Pingree, 'The Varieties ofHoroscopy in Historical Perspectives', to
The Yavanajtltaka of Sphujidhvaja, ed. D. Pingree, 2 vols., Harvard Onental
48 (Cambridge, Mass., 1978), chapters 52-72. S .
D. Pingree, From Astral Omens to Astrology. from Babylon to Brkilner, eTie
Roma 78 (Rome, 1997), 39-50. ,
D. Pingree, 'Msha'allllh's Zoroastrian Historical Astrology to appear.
234
t David Pingree
The three early 'Abbasid astrologers- Theophilos of Edessa, a
Hellenized Syrian Christian;
11
Mashii' allah; an Arabi zed Persian
Jew; and 'Umar ibn al-Farrukhan al-Tabari, the son of a Persian
Zoroastrian who converted to Islam-relied for their interrogational
astrology on already existing Indian and Sasanian material in
Pahlavi books such as the translations of Dorotheos of Sidon and of
Vettius Valens, and on the Greek catarchic works of Hephaestio of
Thebes and of Rhetorius of Egypt
12
that Theophilos used himself
and apparently made available to Masha'alliih.
13
Thus the Byzantine
versions of Masha'alliih's books on interrogational astrology
contain many transformations of catarchic problems previously
discussed in Greek, some of which had already been presented in
interrogational form by Sasanian astrologers or by Theophilos,
while the rest were converted by Masha'allah himself.
There are two Arabic manuscripts of texts on interrogational
astrology that profess to be by Mashii' allah, though neither exists in
its original form;
14
parts of each can be identified with passages in
Byzantine manuscripts. The first, a manuscript of 37 leaves, is in
the Suleimaniye library in Istanbul, where its shelf-mark is MS
Laleli 2122b. Its colophon states that it was copied by Ayyub ibn
in July 1266 from a manuscript copied by Shaykh AbU al-
Fatl) ibn Hayyat ibn Mukthar in June or July 1172. On the
cover page it is called the Kitab Masha'alliih (i.e. The Book of
Mashli'allah, the title also in the colophon) and Masa'il
Mashli'allah (Questions to Masha'allah); I presume that the
original title of the work was Kitab masa'il Masha'allah (The Book
of Questions to Masha'allah). It must have been composed of 75
chapters, most of which begin with the words: "Mashi!'alliih says
... "However, the text in MS Laleli 2122b is not complete: chapters
21-24 are missing, and none of Masha'alliih's usual exemplary
horoscopes are found in it. In the preface to the surviving text,
It 0 p p . f
mgree, rom Alexandria to Baghdad to Byzantium. The Transmisston o
Astrology', International Journal of the Classical Tradition 8 (2001), 3-37, esp.
13-18.
12
lbid., 6-13.
13
Ibid., 18-20.
14
See note 6 above.
The Byzantine Translations of Masba'allllh on Interrogational Astrology.
235
Mash!!' allah refers to own J(_itab,al-usturlab, and in chapter 20
t "my four books on mterrogat10ns ; moreover, about a quarter of
th
o existing chapters are based in whole or in part on material found
e ' 1 . 1 ts h'l h
in the fifth book of Dorotheos astro og1ca . w
1
1 e
reflect the teachings in book 3 of Hephaestlo pote .
Valens is cited in chapters 37 and 45. The puzzlmg reference m the
preface to Abu Ma'shar's Kitab al-mudkhal (a work composed ca.
850, in other words a few decades later than the death of
Masha'allah)
17
must be due to a redactor who here expanded the
text, though his normal practice was to abbreviate it, as its
Byzantine translations demonstrate.
The second Arabic text is preserved in a truncated form on fols. 6v-
27 of MS Leiden Or. 891, copied by 'Umar ibn Mul)ammad ibn
'Umar ibn Khidr ibn Sulayman on 29 September 1481 from a
manuscript copied in 1265/6. The first part of MS Leiden Or. 891
contains what is apparently a fragment of Mashii'allah's Arabic
translation from the Pahlavi version of Dorotheos' Greek
15
E.g. one can compare chapter 14 with Dorotheos of Carmen
astrologicum, ed. D. Pingree (Leipzig, 1976), V.19; chapter 15 wtth Dorotheos
V.20; chapter 17 with Dortheos V.6; chapter 18 with Dorotheos V.7; chapter 25
with Dorotheos V.29; chapter 26 with Dorotheos V.ll; chapter 27 wtth Dorotheos
V.12; chapter 28 with Dorotheos V.13; chapter 29 with Dorotheos V.23;
37 with Dorotheos V.JO chapter 43 with Dorotheos V.l6; chapter 44 wt
Dorotheos V.l7; chapter '45 with Dorotheos V.18; chapter 48 with Dorotheos
V.20; chapter 49 with Dorotheos V.38; chapter 50 with Dorotheos V.8; and
chapter?! with Dorotheos V.9,5-7. 'th H h ti
16
Compare chapter 12 with Hephaestio III.30, 24-34; chapter 15 ep
Ill.28, 6ff; and chapter 36 with Hephaestio Ill.35, m Hephaesuo of Th
Apotelesmaticorum /ibri tres, ed. D. Pingree, 2 vols. (Letpztg,

1
"
0
. .
1
troductory treause to astro ogy.
n thts work a most tmportant and popu ar m . d' a1
. ' . . Ab M h himself and tiS me tev
and a bnef reference to tts abndgement by 0 a s ar . d
. . . M Ullmann Dre Natur un
translattons mto Latm and Greek, see ' AbO
Geheimwissenschaften im Islam (Leiden, 1972), 320-22;. for :::.ctorii
Ma:shar, Kitab al-madkhal al-kabrr i/a 'ilm a/tkilm .al-nu}Qm,

er.:;:e:al Latin
mawris ad scientiam iudiciorum astrorum, Arabtc text an 'd 'on see
translations, ed. R. Lemay, 9 vols. (Naples, 1995); for the abn g
the
Abo Ma'shar, The Abbreviation of the Introduction to Astrology, ; ett K.
Medieval Latin Translation of Adelard of Bath, ed. and tr. um '
Yamamoto, and M. Yano (Leiden, 1994).
236
t David Pingree
astrological poem;
18
this fragment consists in a section of book 2
(from the beginning of chapter 14 until chapter 16, sentence 18)
and breaks off abruptly on line 2 of fol. 6v in the
manuscript. At this point there begins, equally abruptly, a text on
interrogational astrology. No author or title is named in the
colophon. However, it is clearly the work of Mashii'allah: several
of its sections parallel chapters in the Kitab masa'il Masha'allah
(The Book of Questions to Masha'allah), though they are expressed
in different words;
19
there are eleven exemplary horoscopes which
can be dated to the years 765 to 768 (five of these horoscopes are
found in the Byzantine translation, accompanied by twelve
additional horoscopes dated between 766 and 768); and Sahl ibn
Bishr/
0
who frequently takes material from Masha'allah without
acknowledging his source, copies in his Kitab al-ikhtiyarat 'ala al-
buyat al-ithnay 'ashar (Book of the Elections according to the
Twelve Astrological Houses, medieval Latin tr. under the tite Liber
de electionibus) at least three chapters from Masha'allah's text
found in MS Leiden Or. 891
21
and one from the Kitab masa'i/
Masha'allah (The Book of Questions to Masha'allah),
22
though in
this case Sahl ibn Bishr deviates from his source toward the end of
the excerpt.
The Greek manuscripts containing translated chapters from
Miisha'allah fall into two groups. The first preserves the fragments
of the Greek version of the Kitab masa'il Masha'allah that was
made, I believe, in about A.D. 1000. Its main representative is MS
18
D. Pingree, 'Masha' allah's ( ?) Arabic Translation of Dorotheos', Res Orientales
12 (1999), 191-W9.
19
Compare, e.g., MS Leiden Or. 891, fol. 25 with MS Laleli 2122b, fol. 11
(chapter 14 ).
"' Sah1 ibn Bishr ibn l:lablb al-Isra'Tlr (d. ca. 845) was the most important
astrologer active. in lands in the course of the c. Fragments from his
works also survive m Byzantine translation. See M. Ullmann, Die Natur- und
309-ll.
Sahl Ibn B1shr copies the chapter on digging canals in MS Leiden Or. 891, fol.
23b; that o.n planting also in MS Leiden Or. 891, fol. 23b; that on handing over
r,ouths for Instruction, on the same folio.
MS 2l22b, fol. 24 (Chapter 45) on extracting the child from its mother's
womb if II IS dead.
The Byzantine Translations of Masha'alUih on Interrogational Astrology. 237
Vat. gr. 1056, a fourteenth-century co.dex of 244 leaves the contents
of which seem to be largely denved from a twelfth-century
source.2
3
The Vaticanus preserves just eight of the seventy-five
chapters in the Kitab masa'il Masha'allah six of those have phrases
like ebtev 6 Maaat..Aa, rendering the Arabic qa/a Masha'allah that
must have been a recurring standard expression in the Arabic
original; the other two, though they do not mention the name of
their author, are so close to the Arabic that they must be translations
from it. MS Vat. gr. 1056 also contains six chapters on
interrogational astrology attributed to Masha'allah that do not
correspond to anything found in MS Leiden Or. 891 or MS La/eli
2122b; though I previously thought that they represent chapters
now missing from the text preserved in MS Laleli 2122b, I now
believe that they are fragments from a third work out of the four
that Masha:'allah claims to have written in the twentieth chapter of
the Kitab masa'il Masha'allah. These Byzantine translations are so
far the only known surviving fragments of this work, the Arabic
original of which is lost. The fourth treatise by Masha:'allah on
interrogations is probably the text translated into Latin under the
title De receptione.
24
It contains six horoscopes that can be dated
between 12 February 791 and 30 November 794. If this
identification of the fourth work with the De receptione is correct
and if the reference was indeed made by Masha:'allah himself when
he wrote the Kitab masa'il (instead of being the insertion by a later
scribe who copied the text), it follows that this last book was
composed in about 800.
The translator whose work is preserved in MS Vat. gr. 1056 was a
scholar very familiar with classical Greek astrological vocabulary,
which he normally uses. However, one word for which he could
find no traditional Greek equivalent was the Arabic dalrl,
"indicator"; this he consistently translates with
Another word that was apparently not obvious to the translator was
lJDesc .
ribed by I. Heeg in CCAG, V.3 (Brussels, 1910), 7-64. This
also Preserves the By zan tine Iranslation of Masha' allah's introduction to one of his
works on genethlialogy; see c. Burnett and D. Pingree, The Liber Aristotilis of
of Santa /Ia (London, 1997), 203-{)4.
Edited by J. Heller (Noribergae, 1549), fols. Liiii- Riii v.
238
t David Pingree
thaqrl ("heavy"), modifying kawkab ("planet"). Though this
terminology was standard for Masha'allah, who uses it, e.g. in
chapter 6 of his Epistola de rebus eclipsium,
25
the translator writes
without explanation, UO'tftQ '
The third work by Masha'allah on intenogational astrology that
was translated into Greek is a longer version of the text found in
MS Leiden Or. 891. The translated portions are preserved in
manuscripts written by members of the school of John Abramius,
which flourished at the end of the fourteenth century,
26
and their
later apographs. I would conjecture that the translation was made
earlier in the fourteenth century. I have used two manuscripts from
the school of John Abramius, though neither has a complete set of
the fragments of Masha'allah's work. The first isMS Angelicus gr.
29, a codex of 346 leaves most of which were copied by Eleutherios
of Elis on the island of Mitylene in 1388. Eleutherios had forged
two astrological compendia that he attributed to Arabic authors and
incorporated into this volume. One he claimed to be by II6.A.xos;, a
"name" which is simply a transliteration of the Arabic al-Balkhi,
designating a person from Balkh; the most famous astrologer from
Balkh was Abu Ma'shar (787-886), the author of many influential
books, some of which had also been translated into Greek; excerpts
from these translations are presented in MS Angelicus gr. 29 under
the name Ano!J,6.oaQ, though he contributed only his ethnikon to
Eleutherios' forgery. The forger ascribed his second compendium
to a totally fictitious Achmet the Persian. The second of this work's
four books contains a collection of about 100 chapters on
interrogational astrology arranged in imitation of a similar work by
Theophilos of Edessa, his IlEQL xa'tUQXOOV OLa<j>6QWV, which
provided the model for the third book of Masha'allah's
genethlialogical treatise translated into Latin by Hugo of Santalla as
the Liber Aristotilis. The arrangement of the book is in accordance
with the aspects of human life controlled by each of the twelve
25
Ibid., fols. Fiii-Giii v, especially Gi where one reads: "planetae autem ponderosi
Satumus, Jupiter et Mars, quibus debes quoque adiungere Solem."
Concerning this school and its influence, see D. Pingree, 'The Astrological
School.of John Abramius', DOP 25 (1971), 191-215. For their use of Greek
translations from Arabic, see Pingree, From Astral Omens to Astrology, 74-76.
The Translations of Masha'allllh on Interrogational Astrology. 239
astrological places. Many chapters from this interrogational
compendium in book 2 of "Achmet" are scattered between fols.
152v and 261 in MS Angelicus gr. 29; some contain exemplary
horoscopes datable between 765 and 768. These chapters can be
securely assigned to the astrologer who wrote the interrogational
collection found in an abbreviated form on fols. 6v-27 of MS
Leiden Or. 891.
However, two of these horoscopes (which are more numerous in the
Greek than in the Arabic version) fall outside the narrow range of
the period 765-68, though they still fall within Masha'allah's active
lifetime; the first can be hesitatingly dated 21 January 750, and the
second securely dated 8 January 777. But both of these vagrants are
combined with horoscopes in the same chapters that do fall within
the aforementioned chronological bounds, chapters which have
their Arabic counterparts in the Leiden codex. Indeed, only five of
the eleven horoscopes preserved in the Arabic text are found in MS
Angelicus gr. 29, while the remaining six have no corresponding
horoscope in Greek; on the other hand, MS Angelicus gr. 29 has
fourteen horoscopes (including the two aberrant ones) that have no
counterparts in the Leiden manuscript but still appear to be
genuinely Masha'allah's.
The second Greek manuscript preserving part of Eleutherios'
interrogational compendium is MS Marc. gr. 324,
27
a codex of 329
leaves, also copied in the school of John Abramius in the late
fifteenth-century. On fols. 258-261 v it contains part of Eleutherios'
compendium devoted to the ninth through the twelfth astrological
places. This includes six horoscopes, all of which are also found in
the Angelicus; five are dated in 766 or 767, and the last is the
aberrant horoscope of, perhaps, 21 January 750.
The Byzantine translator of the Arabic text partially preserved in
the Leiden manuscript was certainly different from the person who
translated the Kitab masa'il Mashti'alltih (Book of Questions to
Mc'lsha'allah); his language is Jess Classical and more Arabized.
For instance, he renders the Arabic word dalrl with a simple
27
Described by W. Kroll and A. Oliveri, CCAG, II (Brussels, 1900), 4-
16

240 t David Pingree
transliteration, taAilA, or with but never with
The Arabic phrase akthar shahtida, "having more
witnesses", is a translation of the Classical Greek ex.wv n:A.etovas;
where A.6yo<; refers to the relative powers that the planets
receive from their lordships and positions; the second translator
transfers the Arabic words directly into f.IUQtUQ(m, even
though in the Classical terminology f.IUQtvga refers only to aspect.
One Arabic name for the fourth place in an interrogational
horoscope is burj a/- 'ttqiba, "the zodiacal sign of the outcome";
indeed, in Classical Greek catarchic astrology the fourth place is
sometimes said to indicate tijv

However, 'aqiba can
also be translated "end", a meaning that our translator chose when
he wrote to toil teA.ovs;. The lunar nodes in Classical
Greek astrology are called simply 6 "the
Ascending", and 6 "the Descending". But Sasanian
astrologers in the late fifth century received from India the notion of
Ra:hu, a celestial serpent whose head (siras) and tail (ketu) cause
eclipses. In Pahlavi Rlihu himself was called Gozihr, his head sar,
and his tail dumb; in Arabic the head and tail are ra's and dhanab
respectively; our Byzantine translator uses xe<j>a.A. iJ and ouga. In
Classical Greek a planet close to the Sun is said to be burned,
xexauflvos;. In Arabic, the participle is replaced by a prepositional
phrase, ft al-il;uirttq, "in combustion". The Arabic phraseology is
imitated in the Byzantine translation by the words to XUUJ.Ul
tou 'HA.ou. In one passage of the Byzantine translation Venus is
said to be gouovd<; to auti)s;. The best I can suggest as
an explanation of rhousnas is that it is the transliteration of a form
of the Arabic verb rasuna, "to be steady", in which case the Greek
would mean "Venus is steady in its light".
I have already written about some of the contents in MSS Leiden
Or. 891 and Laleli 2122b, including their relationships to the
Byzantine material;
29
in any case, I hope to publish all of the
unpublished texts by Mlishli' alla:h that I can identify in Arabic,
28
See, for example, Dorotheos of Sidon's Carmen astrologicum, ed. Pingree, V.20,
I.
29
D. Pingree, 'Masha'allah: Greek, Pahlavr, Arabic and Latin Astrology', 128-34.
The Byzantine Translations of Masha'allah on Interrogational Astrology. 241
Greek, and Latin in the not too distant future. Therefore, I will at
this point only describe a bit more fully the fragments of an Arabic
treatise (the original of which has not yet been identified) preserved
in MS Vat. gr. 1056. The beginning of this treatise may have been
the chapter on determining the question that the querist is about to
pose to the astrologer; it is found on fols. 48-48v of the Vaticanus.
The answer to this problem is provided by looking at the ninth parts
of the zodiacal signs, which are subdivisions, each 3; zoo long,
invented by the Indians and called by them navam.fas. This word,
meaning "ninth parts" was translated into Pahlavi as no bahr, a
term transliterated into Arabic as nuhbahr. The Byzantines used a
transliteration of the Arabic, usually voun:ax.ga.t. The rules based
on the voun:ax.gat that the Vaticanus provides are followed by a
horoscopic example too corrupt to be dated; even though this
horoscope is interpreted to determine the question of the querist and
is directly attributed to Mlishli' alllih, it makes no mention of
noupachrat. What is important is that, at the end of this example by
Ml!sha:'alllih, we have an explanation of it ascribed to the "wisest
'Paaf]x", whom I mistakenly assumed previously to be connected
with the treatise found in MS Laleli 2122b;
30
rather, Rashiq ibn
'Abdalllih al-I:Ia:sib probably commented on Ma:shli'alla:h's treatise
on interrogational astrology, fragments of which survive only in
MS Vat. gr. 1056. In a chapter by Rashiq on determining the
significant planet (dalrl) in an interrogational horoscope
3
'-a
chapter in which he quotes from al-KindT as well as from
Ml!sha:'alla:h-he presents as examples horoscopes that can be dated
I June 767 and 10 June 785. This suggests that Ma:shli'alla:h
composed this treatise in the late 780s,
32
a suggestion strengthened
by the fact that another chapter of the Byzantine translation of
30Ib'd
31 t P: 132.
32
Found m MS Escoria/ Arab. 938, fols. 59-61 v (also numbered 60-62v) .
. The chronology of Masha'allah's four works on interrogational astrology, then,
IS as follows:
I. The original of the treatise in MS Leiden Or. 891: circa 770.
2. The original of the fragments in MS Vat. gr. 1056: cin:a 787.
3. The original of the De receptione: cin:a 795.
4, The original of the Kitab masa 'il Mash4'a/lah: cin:a 800.
242
t David Pingree
Masha'allah's treatise, preserved on fols. 49v-50 of the Vaticanus
discusses the same topic and is related to Rashiq's chapter. '
I pass over several other chapters of this work's Byzantine
translation in order to consider the last piece of evidence
concerning its textual history. MS Vat. gr. 1056, fols. 68v-69,
contain a chapter on buried treasure that is not attributed to
Masha'allah. After its rather abrupt ending, the scribe writes: "If
you wish to understand and know accurately the place (that is,
where the treasure lies), read the chapter about this which
Masha'allah set out toward the end of his book. I passed over this
(chapter) as it (the subject) is made sufficiently clear here, but
because of it (Masha'allah's chapter) we left the present sheet
unwritten on so that, when we find the book of Masha'allah, we
may copy that chapter on it." Evidently the scribe never found a
(complete) copy of Masha'allah's treatise, since the remainder of
the page is filled with material that has nothing to do with buried
treasure. I hypothesize: therefore, that the scribe of this part of MS
Vat. gr. 1056 never obtained a complete copy of the second treatise
either because its text was never translated into Greek in its
entirety, or because only excerpts from it were included in the
twelfth-century manuscript from which the Vaticanus was copied.
In conclusion, I might contrast the rather meager use of
Mashii'allah's works in Byzantium and the relative neglect that his
works suffered in Islam with his profound influence in Latin, the
language in which most of his writings are preserved.
33
The reason
for the discrepancy in the Greek, Arabic, and Latin reception of his
works is not hard to identify. The early Islamic astrology of the
eighth century had become antiquated by the ninth, when Sahl ibn
Bishr and Abil Ma'shar revised and systematized Masha'allah's
inept and unintegrated borrowings from both the Greek and the
Indo-Persian traditions. In the Latin West, which received no
serious text on astrology from antiquity except for Firmicus
33
I have mentioned almost all the fragments of his works that are found in Greek
manuscripts: In r a b ~ c we have just a few incomplete texts (such as the first ~ d
fourth treatises mentioned above) and numerous brief citations, while in Latm
nearly two dozen complete works are preserved.
The Byzantine Translations of Masha'allllh on Interrogational Astrology. 243
Maternus' Mathesis, the earliest translators found Masha'allah to be
an interesting, novel, and fairly simple author to study. The
Byzantines, on the other hand, were interested in learning from the
Arabs about the modifications and expansions of the Classical
Greek science that had been introduced by the Indians and Persians
and had been combined with the Classical tradition by Theophilos,
Mlisba'alliih, and 'Umar ibn al-Farrukhan. However, the methods
and vocabulary of these authors had been superseded by the
authoritative works on genethlialogy and historical horoscopy
written by Sahl ibn Bishr and Abil Ma'shar, which the Byzantines
translated into Greek; for interrogations they turned to lesser
luminaries, including Masha'allah.
William Adler
North Carolina State University
Did the Biblical Patriarchs Practice
Astrology? Michael Glykas and Manuel
Komnenos I on Seth and Abraham
During the reign of Manuel Komnenos I (1143-1180), a monk at
the Pantokrator monastery composed a letter denouncing
astrologers as heretics. Rather than taking the criticism personally,
the emperor, whose devotion to astrology is well-documented,
decided that a pittakion in defense of astrology would better serve
his purposes. In the treatise, the emperor's only surviving work,
Manuel complained that the unschooled author of this polemic had
unfairly sullied the reputations of respectable practitioners of the
art. As long as astrologers understand that the stars, "lifeless,
unintelligent objects lacking perception", are signs of the divine
will, arrayed in the heavens for humanity's benefit, they need not
descend into idolatry, fatalism, the casting of nativities and other
abuses.
1
1
For the text of Manuel's letter and Glykas' response, see Glykas, ~ rd'
WroQ{a' <tf<; 8e{a<; TQaf/Jtf<; "erpd.Aata, ed. s. Eustratiades, 2 vols. (Athens, and
246
William Adler
What followed was a lengthy refutation from Michael Glykas, a
monk probably best known as the author of a universal chronicle.
Among the many contested points is the emperor's assertion that an
angel had revealed astrology to Seth, the son of Adam, and that
Abraham practiced a divinely sanctioned form of the art that
"apprehended the creator from the creations".
2
Even though
Manuel's reference to Abraham's connection with astrology was
only in passing, Glykas had little trouble recognizing its source,
which he accuses the emperor of misrepresenting. Had the emperor
disclosed the whole story about Abraham, he writes, it would have
become clear that his experience of the one true God, far from
validating astrology, led him to repudiate it altogether. As evidence
of his renunciation of astrology, Glykas reminds Manuel of
Abraham's later triumph in Egypt, when "at the time of Abimelech,
he went down to Egypt and completely put to shame those who
hold such beliefs".
3
The contributions of Seth, Abraham, Enoch and other early biblical
patriarchs to the discovery and transmission of the celestial sciences
are subjects treated at length in the Byzantine chronicle tradition
and the literature of Second Temple Judaism. The emperor's
shorthand appeal to these same traditions and Glykas' ready
familiarity with them suggest that by the twelfth century they had
become relatively well-known. My interest in the following
discussion is to examine their sources and stages of development
and their use in discussions about the origin and legitimacy of
astrology.
Alexandria, 1906-!2), I, l;\,'-n:6', 476-500. For an earlier edition of the two
documents, see lmperatoris Manuel Comneni et Michael Glycae disputatio, ed. F.
Cumont and F. Boll, CCAG, V.I. 108-40. Analysis and English translation of the
two works by D. George, 'Manuel I Komnenos and Michael Glykas: A Twelfth-
Century Defence and Refutation of Astrology', Culture and Cosmos 5.1 (2001), 3-
48; 5.2 (200 I), 23-51; 6.1 (2002), 23-43. For discussion of the correspondence,
see alsoP. Magdalino, The Empire of Manuel 1 Komnenos (Cambridge, 1993),
3
?7.-82_; and idem, L'orthodoxie des astrologues. La science elllre le dogme et Ia
divlnatwn a Byzance (VIr-XIV" siecles) Realites byzantines 12 (Paris, 2006),
114-26.
: Glykas, E ~ Td> WroQla>, ed. Eustratiades, I, n:. 23-n:a. 2.
Glykas, E ~ Td<; UZWQla>, ed. Eustratiades, I, 480.23-24.
.::.
Michael Glykas and Manuel Komnenos I on Seth and Abraham
247
THE BffiLICAL PATRIARCHS AND "AsTROLOGY" IN JEWISH
SOURCES OF THE SECOND TEMPLE PERiOD
If scholars are correct in identifying him with the notorious sorcerer
Michael Sikidites, Glykas himself may have dabbled in the occult
arts earlier in his career.
4
At the very least, the subject of astrology
interested him deeply. A large part of his chronicle consists of a
commentary on the hexaemeron, in the course of which Glykas
writes at length about the legitimate and illegitimate uses of the
celestial sciences.
5
In the same work, he takes up the disputed
question of the contributions of biblical patriarchs to the discovery
and propagation of these sciences. Both Seth and Enoch, he writes,
learned about astronomy through a revelation from the archangel
Ouriel. In order to ensure that it would survive the universal flood,
the Sethite line carved this revealed knowledge on a stone
monument, which was subsequently discovered and transcribed by
Kainan, one of the descendants of Noah.
6
Abraham was himself a
critical link in the dissemination of astronomy and arithmetic,
transmitting this learning to the Egyptians, who passed it on in tum
to the Greeks. But when at the age of 14 he began to learn about the
true God of the universe, he repudiated Chaldaean beliefs about the
divinity of the stars. During his subsequent stay in Egypt, Abraham
"put to shame the sages there and those who believe in nativity. For
after he received knowledge of God, he no longer wanted to attend
to stars".
7
As his authorities, Michael names Josephus and George the Monk,
the latter the author of a widely known universal chronicle from the
mid-ninth century. From their testimony, Michael concluded that
astronomy, while a perfectly legitimate pursuit originating in a
revelation from God, had nothing to do with the casting of nativities
or any other doctrines that ascribed sentience or autonomous
agency to the stars. This is the point of his reply to Kyr Alypios
'Glykas, El, Td' dJWQia,, ed. Eustratiades, I, a ~ ; 0. Kresten, 'Zur Sturz des
Theodoros Styppeiotes' JOB 21 (1978) 90-92 Magdalino, Manuel/ Komnenos.
380.
:Michael Glykas, Chronicle, ed.l. Bekker, CSHB (Bonn, 1836), 47.15-55.21.
7
Glykas, Chronicle, ed. Bekker, 228.6-13; 242.23-243.12.
Glykas, Chronicle, ed. Bekker, 246.7-247.2 .
248
William Adler
about the and The only
branch of the celestial sciences deservmg prohibition, Michael tells
him, is astrology, a misbegotten discovery of the Chaldaeans. Since
it "misleads the more simple-minded and compels them to attend to
nativity and fate", it was wholly despised by the fathers and
unsanctioned by God.
8
Those interested in discerning the mind of
God through his creation should thus confine themselves to
astronomy, the contemplation of "the placement and movement of
all the heavenly bodies, and their orderly conjunction and
separation". This was a science revealed by God himself. "For the
angel stationed among the stars, that is the most divine Ouriel,
descended to Seth and Enoch, and thereupon marked out for them
the seasons, and signs of the stars--this we have heard from ancient
history."
9
Michael's claims notwithstanding, the assorted Jewish writings that
collectively represent his "ancient history" do not always draw such
neat distinctions. Like other ancient authors, Jewish writers of the
Hellenistic age use the words astrology and astronomy almost
interchangeably. Nor are they fastidious in discriminating between
the pure astronomical pursuits of the biblical patriarchs and the
tainted practices of the Chaldaeans. In the cosmopolitan and
culturally competitive Hellenistic age, there was too much to be
gained by establishing the indebtedness of Chaldaean and Egyptian
science to a culture hero of the Bible. Writers of the early
Hellenistic period describe this borrowing categorically. A Jewish
or Samaritan writer identified by Eusebios of Caesarea as
Eupolemos and probably dating to the third century BCE states
without qualification that Abraham discovered both astrology and
the rest of Chaldaean wisdom. When Abraham subsequently
introduced this knowledge to the Egyptians, he informed them that
the original discovery of astrology was actually made long before
by the biblical patriarch Enoch.
10
There is no fine print here about
the difference between astrology and astronomy, or disclaimers
: Glykas, Td<; d;ro(!a<;, ed. Eustratiades, I, 470.7-11.
10
G1ykas: Td<; d;ro(!a<;, ed. Eustratiades, I, 468.7-13.
Praeparatio evangelica 9.17.3-9, ed. K. Mras, GCS 43 (Berlin, 1954-

249
about the dangers of Chaldaean wisdom. The important thing is that
Enoch discovered it first.
A comparison of Josephus' Antiquities and the Book of Jubilees,
two works extensively used by the Byzantine chroniclers, will help
illustrate the range of available opinions. Jubilees' views on
Chaldaean wisdom correlate well with those of Glykas. While
crediting Enoch with discovering the signs of heaven, it dissociates
his discoveries from Chaldaean wisdom, which it considers
demonic. In its narrative of post-flood history, Jubilees records how
Kainan, a forefather of the Babylonian nation, found on a rock
teachings dealing with the observation of the "omens of the Sun and
Moon and the stars". This was alien wisdom, part of the body of
occult learning revealed by the fallen angels responsible for the
universal flood. Kainan' s subsequent transcription of this lore was a
grave transgression, which he was ashamed to disclose to Noah.
11
In the ensuing narrative about Abraham's own dealings with
Babylonian wisdom, Jubilees leaves little doubt that after leaving
Ur of the Chaldees, the patriarch disowned the investigation of
celestial omens. When he arrived in Harran, he passed one night
scouring the heavens for clues about the amount of rainfall in the
coming year. On further reflection, however, he dismissed the
whole exercise as futile. Since the signs of the stars, the Moon and
the Sun are all in the hands of the Creator, Abraham would now
direct his mind only to God, the only one who can bring or
withhold the rains as he so chooses.
12
Jubilees, a work originally composed in Hebrew in the first century
BCE partly in reaction to Hellenizing reforms in Judea of the
second century, shows an almost xenophobic distrust of foreign
wisdom.
13
Josephus' own account of the contributions of biblical
patriarchs to the celestial sciences is, by comparison, far more
accommodating to the broader cultural influences of his age. One
example is his account of the stone and brick monuments erected by
11
Jubilees, 8.3-5, ed. and tr. J. C. VanderKam, 2 .vols., CSCO, Scriptores
510-11 (Louvain, 1989).
,: Jubilees, ed. V anderKam, 12.16-20. . , .
J. C. VanderKam, 'The Origins and Purposes of the Book of Jub1lees m M.
Albani et al., eds., Studies in the Book of Jubilees (Tilbingen, 1997), 16-2
2

250
William Adler
the offspring of Seth before the flood.
14
Underlying Josephus'
account is an ancient theory about the ages of the world, according
to which the universe is periodically destroyed by astronomically
determined cataclysms of floods and fires. Greek writers from as
early as Plato and Aristotle wondered which civilizations, if any,
managed to preserve their learning through these catastrophes.
Josephus' own explanation ascribed the survival of antediluvian
civilization to the care and prescience of the Sethite line. Because
of a prediction by Adam about the imminent destruction of the
world by either a flood or a fire, they preserved their learning about
the stars for future generations by carving it on two monuments. In
the event of a fire, the brick monument would survive; if a flood, it
would be the stone monument. The stone monument, Josephus
adds, is still to be seen in the land of Seiris, an exotic land to the
East described in other ancient sources as the site of the secret
learning of sages of old.
15
Josephos expresses here none of Jubilees'
misgivings about esoteric antediluvian learning carved on hidden
monuments. It is rather the legacy of a pious generation of men who
lived in peace and prosperity before the universal flood and devoted
themselves to the observation of the heavens.
16
In Jubilees, Abraham is a religious zealot whose repudiation of
Chaldaean science is the culmination of other more violent acts
against the customs and beliefs of his fellow countryman. While
still in Ur, he wilfully sets fire to a temple, thereby causing the
death of his own brother and the banishment of his family from
Ur.
17
Abraham' estrangement from the astral religion of the
Chaldaeans in Josephus' own narrative is less conclusive. His
Abraham stands somewhere between the model Chaldaean sage on
the one hand, and a religious reformer on the other. When the
Babylonian historian Berossus wrote of "a just man and great and
versed in celestial lore", he was in Josephus' mind obviously
14
Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, ed. B. Niese, F/avii Josephi opera, 4 vols.
(Berlin, 1877-82; repr. 1955), 1.68-71.
"See G. J. Reinink, 'Das Land "Seiris" (Sir) und das Yolk der Serer in jildischen
und
Traditionen', Journal for the Study of Judaism 6 (1975), 72-85.
17
See .M. Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism (Philadelphia, 1974), I. 242-43.
Jubrlees, ed. VanderKam, 12.1-15.
251
referring to Abraham.'
8
After his discovery of the one true God, his
estrangement from the beliefs of his fellow countryman _ and the
cause of his migration from Ur - was not over the objective value of
star-gazing for human existence. It had to do rather with his
discovery that the stars render these benefits not "in virtue of their
0\vn authority, but through the might of their commanding
sovereign, to whom alone it is right to render our homage and
thanksgiving".
19
Defenders of astrology could reasonably argue, as
Manuel evidently had, that Abraham had not abandoned astrology
tout court, just the kind that treated the stars as objects deserving of
veneration for their influence over human existence.
THE REWORKING OF THE TRADITION
When Glykas refers to "ancient history", he is actually describing a
heterogeneous body of Jewish traditions sewn together, refined and
reshaped through previous generations of Byzantine chroniclers.
We can identify several stages in this development, beginning with
the chronicle of the sixth-century Antiochene John Malalas.
Malalas' account of the discovery and transmission of the celestial
sciences constitutes one part of a broader discussion of illustrious
figures of the remote past who contributed to the evolution and
dissemination of universal civilization. In the tradition of universal
historiography to which Malalas belongs, it was common to link
cultural breakthroughs to specific figures from the past, later
recognized as deities for their achievements. The euhemeristic
theory that the gods of Greco-Roman paganism were once kings,
heroes and cultural benefactors found a receptive audience among
Christian universal chroniclers, chiefly because it enabled them to
historicize legends that would otherwise be consigned to the realm
of. myth and pre-history. Malalas falls in line with the same
rattonalizing approach. On the authority of Diodorus Siculus, he
reports that later generations revered warriors, leaders and those
Who "discovered something of benefit" and "sacrificed to them as if
they were heavenly gods and not mortal men who were born and
"J
19
osephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, ed. Niese, 1.158.
Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, ed. Niese,l.l56-7.
252
William Adler
suffered like themselves".
20
This was, he says, the common form of
religious observance up to the time of Abraham's monotheistic
reforms.
In enlarging upon this theme, Malalas organizes much of his
narrative of primordial history around the deeds and discoveries of
illustrious figures of the Greek, Assyrian, Egyptian and Jewish past.
His retelling of Josephus' story of the origins of astronomy reflects
the same perspective. Whereas Josephus attributes the discovery of
this science to the progeny of Seth, Malalas needed to attach this
discovery to a specific name. He thus credits Seth himself with
assigning names to the stars and the five planets, along with the
discovery of Hebrew letters.
21
Since Seth was the one who assigned
to the planets the names Kronos, Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite and
Hermeg, Malalas also established that those figures who were later
known by these names were only mortals.
22
Without further
qualification, Malalas then represents Seth as the first in a linear
succession of culture-heroes, each making his own contributions to
the science. Kainan's subsequent discovery of the monument
erected by the offspring of Seth assured the preservation of his
discoveries for post-flood generations. By fusing Jubilees' story of
Kainan's discovery of an antediluvian stone monument with the
parallel account in Josephus, Malalas casts it in a more favourable
light, that is as a critical link in the propagation of world
civilization. Other great astronomers ensued, among them Zoroaster
and the Indian astronomer Gandoubarios.
23
Notably absent from Malalas' mostly neutral treatment of this
subject are any fine discriminations between the pure astronomical
pursuits of biblical patriarchs on the one hand and the occult
wisdom of the Chaldaeans on the other. While account of
"'Ioannes Malalas, Chronographia, 38.13-39.24, ed. J. Thurn, CFHB 25 (Berlin
and York, 2000). For English translation, see E. Jeffreys, et al., The
f.hromc/e of John Mala/as. Byzantina Australiensia 4 (Melbourne, 1986).
Malalas, Chronographia, ed. Thurn, 4.13-22 (on the authority of an otherwise
chronographer named Fortunus).
See E. Jeffreys, 'Malalas' World View', io Studies in John Mala/as, ed. E.
et at., Studies in John Mala/as, Byzantina Australiensis 6 (Sydney, 1990),
23
Malalas, Chronographia, ed. Thurn, 7 .3-8.17; 9.39-40; 12.12-18.
253
the origins of universal culture and polytheism provided the basic
template, it was thus left to his successors to refine the distinctions
between the legitimate and illegitimate celestial sciences. One of
these works was the Chronikon of George the Monk. Because his
work is at the heart of the exchange between Manuel and Glykas, it
is worth examining his treatment of the subject at some length.24
A comparison between George and Malalas shows that George has
woven into the narrative an entirely new thread about the discovery
and defeat of astral determinism. To this end, George identifies four
stages in the evolution of the celestial sciences: l) Seth's discovery
of astronomy before the flood; 2) Nimrod's post-diluvian discovery
of astrology and related occult sciences; 3) Abraham's rejection of
Chaldaean polytheism and astrology; 4) Abraham's teaching of
astronomy to the Egyptians and his humiliation of the Egyptian
astrologers and magicians in debate.
In his discussion of Seth and his offspring, George reproduces
Malalas' description of his discovery of letters and astronomy and
Kainan 's discovery of the stone monument after the flood. A
euhemeristic elaboration of this legend links Seth's discoveries to
his deification. In acknowledgment of his piety and his
contributions to writing and the measurement of time by celestial
observation, he was called "god" and his children "sons of God".
25
One significant detail lacking in Malalas, however, is George's
delimiting of the scope and purpose of Seth's discoveries. Seth
conferred names on the stars and the five planets so that "they
would be recognized by men, and for this reason alone".
26
He calls
attention to this point in order to differentiate Seth's discovery from
the subsequent post-diluvian discovery of astrology and other
Cha!daean sciences. The latter he attributes to Nimrod, the
legendary hunter, giant and founder of Babylon after the Aood
(Gen. 10:8-10).
;tuGeorge the Monk, Chronicon, ed. c. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig. 1904;
Ugan, 1978). For general orientation to George's chronicle, see H. Hunger, Dre
profane Literat
11
r der Byzantiner (Munich, 1978), vol.l, 347-51.
26
george the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, I 0.5-24, 44.3-8.
eorge the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 10.5-10.
254 William Adler
Malalas' own description of Nimrod conforms to the conventional
pattern of a deified ancient hero. As tribute to his accomplishments
as founder of Babylon ruler of Persia, and the first to practice
hunting, the Persians accorded him the post-mortem honours of a
god, after which he became identified with star Orion. George
extends the list of Nimrod's achievements mto the realm of the
occult sciences. He is now the first man after the Flood to introduce
hunting, magic, astronomy and astrology, and along with it the
deification of the stars and the denial of free will and moral agency
to human beings. From Nimrod and the "Magousians", George
says, the Greeks subsequently learned "about the casting of
nativities and began to interpret the lives of those who are born in
terms of the influence of celestial movement".
27
All of this is prefatory to George's report of the religious practices
in Chaldaea on the eve of Abraham's religious reforms. In the
version of Abraham's conversion known to him from Malalas, the
object of Abraham's censure is the "Hellenic" of
worshipping images of human beings that had w1despr:ad
from the time of his great-grandfather Seruch. Tins
between Seruch and idolatry is an old one, found already m
Jubilees.
28
The seemingly anachronistic identification of this
practice as "Hellenic" was first introduced in Epiphanios'
Panarion. According to Epiphanios, the distinguishing feature of
the stage in history that he calls "Hellenism" was the practice, first
established in the time of Seruch, of making carved images
despots and sorcerers and paying homage to them as gods.
Malalas applies the same nomenclature to his own account of
Chaldaean religion in Seruch's time. Seruch was the first to
introduce the "Hellenic" belief of creating statues and monuments
to honour as gods those "fighting men, leaders of those who.
done something brave or virtuous in life worth remembenng
Repelled by the practice of worshipping statues of deified men of
27
.George the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 11.1-15. For Nimrod's
w1th astrology and magic, see also Epiphanios, Panarion, 177.6-8, ed. K. Ho
GCS 25 (Leipzig:, 1915); Ps.-Clement, Homilies, 9.4.1-2, ed. B. Rehm and J.
Irmscher, GCS 42 (Berlin, 1953).
28
Jubilees, ed. VanderKam, 11.1-7.
29
Epiphanios, Panarion, ed. HoU, 1.177.12-20.
255
the past, Abraham denounced his father, himself an idolater and
'
smashed the statues.
George's own version of polytheism on the eve of Abraham's
conversion expands upon the same theme. By the time of Seruch,
he writes, the veneration of mortal over-achievers had evolved into
the making of monuments to honour them. The practices introduced
by Seruch, he says, represented the first institution of the "Hellenic
doctrine" of making images of the gods in human form. Mankind,
"unaware of the intention of their forefathers to venerate them as
their ancestors and as inventors of good things for the sake of
memory and for this reason only, were worshipping them as gods
and were making offerings to them, and not as mortal
men".
31
Abraham's campaign against the idolatry rampant in his
native land and his proclamation of the true God were also a
crusade against the "Hellenic doctrine" of making images of the
gods in human form instituted in the time of his grandfather Seruch.
But George adds another dimension to Abraham's reforms, lacking
in Malalas. Abraham's revolt against the customs of his nation
targeted both the worship of images of mortal men and the mistaken
view that objects in the sky were gods capable of exercising control
over human affairs. "Watching all of humanity serving the created
order and giving the names of various gods to visible objects and
worshipping them", George writes, "he would go around each day
in distress, in search of the God who truly exists". In the throes of
despair and at the still tender age of 14, Abraham received from
God the reward of religious enlightenment.
32
ABRAHAM'S DEFEAT OF THE ASTROLOGERS IN EGYPT
The older sources from which George pieced together his narrative
of Abraham's conversion and its aftermath do not speak with one
voice about the contribution of Chaldaean science to Abraham's
:Malalas, Chronographia, ed. Thurn, 38.7-11; 41.3-10.
, George the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 57.15-58.4.
George the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 93.16-94.12. For the tradition that
Abraham was 14 at the time of his conversion, see Jubilees, ed. VanderKam,
11.16.
256 William Adler
discovery of the one true God. In Jubilees' decidedly negative view
on the subject, prayer, not observation of the stars, is the instrument
of Abraham's discovery of God. After migrating from Ur and
arriving in Haran, he completely renounces the practice of scanning
the heavens for signs. For Josephus, on the other hand, Abraham's
observation of the "course of the Sun and the Moon and all the
celestial phenomena" is the instrument of divine knowledge. A
similar characterization of Abraham's conversion is found in the
Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions, a work of historical fiction from
the second century and pseudonymously attributed to Clement of
Rome. Here, too, Abraham is an "astrologer" who learned from the
orderly motion of the stars about the creator of universe who
regulates everything by his providence.
33
Was Chaldean science a
decisive factor in Abraham's discovery of God? And if so, did he
continue to practice the science afterwards? For the chroniclers,
these were questions still in need of clarification.
George's own treatment of the subject disavows any suggestion that
Abraham's observation of the sky contributed anything of positive
value to his discovery of the God of the universe. Before his
conversion Abraham, an accomplished astronomer, vainly scoured
the heavens searching for evidence of God. But when the
and mutability of the sky and all the objects in it finally
him that none of them could be gods, he realized the futility of
seeking for God through the stars or "any other visible things."
Only when he abandoned the whole search and in despair earnestly
sought for God, did God reveal himself.
In the ensuing narrative of Abraham's dealings with the astrologers
in Egypt, George further dissociates the patriarch from any residual
connection with the astral religion of his homeland. In this case, the
point of departure for his narrative was an ambiguity raised
Josephus' report about Abraham's triumphs during his sojourn iD
Egypt. According to Josephus, Abraham demonstrated the errors of
Egyptian customs and introduced them to arithmetic and
astronomy, both subjects about which the Egyptians had previously
been ignorant. From Egypt, they were then transmitted to the
33
Ps.-Ciement, Recognitions, 1.32, ed. B. Rehm and F. Paschke, GCS 51 (Berlin,
1965).
257
Greeks. In casting Abraham as a conduit of Chaldaean learnin t
the Egyptians, Josephus thus left the impression that any misg)'
0
. h h . tngs
that Abraham mtg t ave pnvately harboured about Chaldaean
learning after his discovery of the one true God did not deter h'
34 tm
from passing that learning on to others. To forestall any inference
that his instruction might have included the occult wisdom of the
Chaldaeans, George appends to Josephus' report about Abraham's
instruction of the Egyptians an amusing episode about Abraham's
humiliation of the professional astrologers in the Egyptian court.
When Glykas would later charge Manuel with suppressing evidence
damaging to his case, this is the story he had in mind.
35
Recognizing Abraham as a Chaldaean adept in the observation of
the heavens, Abimelech, the king of Egypt, had asked to receive
instruction in astrology and magic.
36
For Abraham, this was an ideal
setting for a public refutation of the whole practice. In response to a
court astrologer's claim that it "is impossible for a man to be killed
or die contrary to his horoscope", Abraham points out that such a
belief is grounded in a politically subversive principle: it implicitly
undermines the power of a sovereign judge and king to exercise
unfettered authority in matters of life and death. Enraged at this
implicit challenge to his own rule, the Pharaoh confronts the
astrologer with a hypothetical case:
Suppose I summon one of my subjects and after performing an
investigation of his horoscope for us, you say that he has or
does not have time left to live. If I make it tum out the opposite
way, have you then not clearly exposed yourself as a liar? For
if you say that he still has time to live, I will immediately order
him to be killed. If, on the other hand, you say that he had no
time remaining except for the present moment, I will release
"Josephus Flavius, Jewish Allliquities, ed. Niese, 1.166-68. Cf. the version of the
Antiquities known to Eusebios, Praeparatio evange/ica, ed. Mras, 9.16.8, which
that Abraham instructed the Egyptians in "astrology".
For a condensed version of the same story, mainly based on George's
also George Kedrenos, Compendium historiarum, 1.53.19-56.8, ed. I. Bekker,
,. SHB (Bonn, 1838-39).
. the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 95.6-96.3. The erroneous
Identification of Abimelech, king of Gerar, with the king of Egypt may have arisen
from close similarities in Genesis' account of the Pharaoh's and Abimelech's
atiraction to Sarah (cf. Gen. 12:10-20; 20:1-7).
258 William Adler
him from the judgment against him. But as for you, I will at
once expunge you from life for being a liar - this, so that
henceforth your death might straight-away convince everyone
that this make-believe of yours about astrology and your other
nonsense has not even a suggestion of truth.
37
While Abraham's intervention spares the astrologer's life, he does
urge the Pharaoh to follow through on his proposed experiment.
Under orders to prepare a horoscope for a man already sentenced to
death by fire, the court astrologers determine that the condemned
man would indeed die by burning, only not immediately. The
Pharaoh readily confounds his horoscope by releasing him from the
sentence of death by fire and ordering that he be drowned instead.
The conclusion was self-evident. If the Pharaoh, the most powerful
man in Egypt, was able to rescind a decree of then did it
not follow a fortiori that the stars and all other VISible and created
objects were subject to the will of an even more ruler, the
invisible Lord of the universe responsible for their existence? God
has endowed human beings with free will and the power of thought,
Abraham argues, both of which make it possible to check the
influence of the stars in human affairs. These same divine gifts also
confer upon human beings a dominion over brute animals
even to matters of life and death. It is the same sort of sovereignty
that the Pharaoh wields over his subjects. By analogy, then, God,
the creator of the universe, exercises sole and unencumbered
dominion over all his creation, including the stars. Through this and
various other arguments against astrology, George says,
wins the approval of the king and attracts many Egyptians to behef
in the one true God. After receiving effusive praise from the
Egyptian king for his wisdom, Abraham returns home, rewarded by
the king with numerous gifts and servants.
38
George ascribes the whole interlude about Abraham's sojourn in
Egypt and his triumph over the Egyptian astrologers to Clement,
bishop of Rome and "a disciple of Peter".
39
By this, he must have
meant the Pseudo-Clementine literature. But in the surviving text of
the Recognitions and the Homilies, there is no mention of
:George the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 96.5-97.3.
George the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 97.6-100.9.
"George the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 95.4-7.
l.;'fl!i"
259
Abraham's dealings with Egyptian astrologers. Barely concealed
seams in the narrative, the content of Abraham's speeches, and
evidence of George's own editorial hand suggest that the story is a
composite, not the product of a single author.
40
One of the speeches
placed in the mouth of Abraham is in fact plundered from another
section of the Homilies. Most of Abraham's final oration, a tirade
against Hellenic culture, is virtually identical to an oration found in
the fourth homily of the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies. In the
Homilies, however, it is "Clement" himself who delivers the
oration, in this case to justify his abandonment of Hellenic customs.
Hellenic culture, Clement asserts, is a mass of unexamined
doctrines about god and fate, the effect of which is to promote
irresponsible moral conduct. As an illustration, he cites the example
of astral determinism. Since this doctrine teaches that no one "has
the power to do or experience anything contrary to nativity or fate",
it becomes a perfect alibi for unrepentant sinners.
41
These criticisms of fate and nativity were presumably what inspired
a later editor to reattach the oration to Abraham. But the editor
might have done a better job accommodating the oration to its new
context. Copied wholesale from the Homilies, most of the speech
has little bearing on its stated purpose of refuting the Egyptians'
"flawed knowledge and learning in astronomy, astrology and
magic". Sounding more like a Skeptic of the Pyrrhonian school than
the father of the Jewish nation, Abraham begins with an assault on
Hellenic education as an aggregate of untested customs, deemed
true not by the exercise of judgment but by preconception and
opinion.
42
From there, he veers off into a tirade against their
teachers for granting license to guilt-free sin. By subjecting their
gods to all kinds of debased passions, some of them, Abraham says,
offer a perfect example for the man who wants to act as badly as
they do. Only the last part of the oration addresses the moral
40
Ps.-CJement, Homilies, ed. Rehm and Irmscher, 4.11.1-13.2.
"Ps.-Clement, Homilies, ed. Rehm and Jrmscher, 4.12.4.
42
George the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 98.22-99.11. There are some
indications that an editor tried to remove wording inappropriate for its new
context. See, for example, 1.98.22, where Clement's address (Ps;-C!ement,
Homilies, ed. Rehm and Irmscher, 4.11.1) to "the men of Greece (w av<IQS
"EX>.T)ves)" has been changed to w liv<IQES.
260
William Adler
implications of the notion that the stars determine the course of
human existence. Those who profess such teachings, Abraham says,
allow the scoundrel to excuse his actions on the grounds that he was
forced to do these things by nativity. A belief in an unforeseeing
and godless destiny, "as if everything happens of its own accord,
with no superintending Lord and master", immunizes the
I
. h . 43
unrepentant sinner from mora improvement or c astlsement.
For George, who later quotes extensively from the Homilies'
narrative of Peter's defeat of Simon Magus
44
, Abraham's
vanquishing of the astrologers and magic.ians Egypt bot? a
useful amplification of Josephus and a fittmg c!Jmax to his narrative
of the patriarch's renunciation of the ancestral customs and beliefs
of his native land. In integrating the story into his own chronicle,
George seems to have made his own editorial improvements.
45
Even so, an inquisitive reader is still left to wonder about the
existence of professional astrologers in Pharaoh's court, if before
Abraham's arrival the Egyptians were ignorant of astronomy and
arithmetic.
46
43
George the Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 99.11-100.2. . .
" For George's use of the Homilies of Ps.-Ciement (Ps.-Ciement, Homrlzes, ed.
Rehm and Irmscher) elsewhere in his chronicle, see, for example, 1.366.\3-367.19
(=Hom. 3.38-39); 1.367.20-26 (=Hom. 3.42.4-5); 1.369.2-11 (=Hom. 3.42.7-
43.1); 1.369.11-370.5 (=Hom. 3.43.4-44.2); 1.370.13-371.9 (=Hom. 55.3-57);
see also 371.10-12; 371.18-372.7; 372.12-373.3.
" See, for example, 1.96.1-5, where George reports that the Pharaoh asked for
instruction from Abraham about "astrology and magic", since he recognized th?t
Abraham was a highly trained Chaldaean. He then adds that "astrology and magtc
originated with the Magousaioi and Persians; for the Persians were called Magog
by the local inhabitants". This statement, virtually identical to a notice that
earlier in George's chronicle (1.11.9-11), is probably a gloss from George htmself.
46
Cf. George !he Monk, Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 98.20-21, where George . on
lhe aulhority of Clement, states that Abraham corrected !he Egyptians' false bel!efs
about "astronomy, astrology and magic". That would suggest !hat !he Egypuans
already knew about astronomy prior to Abraham's arrival.
261
GLYKAS ON SETH, ABRAHAM AND "ANCffiNT HisTORY"
In formulating a plan to refute Manuel's claims about the
legitimacy of astrology, Glykas evidently decided that the best
approach was to challenge the emperor's representation of sources.
For the most part, this strategy served him well in the debate. But
even for a textual critic with the knowledge and demonstrated skills
of Glykas, it was no longer possible to sort out the tangled web of
older traditions about the origins of astrology and astronomy and
the contributions of the biblical patriarchs to them. Glykas was
deeply suspicious of the Book of Jubilees. In his chronicle, he
questions the book's authorship, dismisses its contents as a "joke"
and urges his readers not to read it.
47
But when in the same work he
attributes the discovery of astronomy to Seth and Enoch and its
post-diluvian discovery to a stone monument erected by Seth's
offspring in the land of Seiris and transcribed by Kainan, he could
no longer recognize that this report was itself a fusion of traditions
from Josephus, Jubilees and the Book of Enoch.
48
Nor does Glykas
express any doubts about the story that he learned from George the
Monk about Abraham's conversion and his subsequent rejection of
astrology. Here again Glykas had no way of knowing that it was a
pastiche cobbled together from Jubilees, Josephus and a later
addition to a work pseudonymously attributed to Clement. As far as
Glykas was concerned, this was part of an accepted body of extra-
biblical traditions about the life of the patriarch that he had received
from a widely read chronicle of the ninth century.
Glykas relished the opportunity to expose Manuel's faulty
recollection of the facts of Abraham's life as they were known to
him from George's chronicle. "I do not know", he writes, "whether
the narrative about Abraham will advance your stated purpose. I'm
afraid that the adage has been borne out: 'We had a dog, and he
used to help out the wild beasts"'.
49
It is striking, however, that
41
Michael Glykas, Annales, ed. I. Bekker, CSHB (Bonn, 1836), 206.20-22;
392.18-23.
48
See above, p. 3. 000 .
49
Glykas, <a, a;roela,, ed. Eustratiades, I, 480.14-481.2. On thts adage,_see
K. Krumbacher, Mittelgriechische Sprichworter, Sitzungsber. Bayer. Akad. Wtss.,
262
William Adler ,
Glykas chose not to press his advantage further. In response to
Manuel's claim that astrology enabled Abraham to "apprehend the
Creator from the creations", Glykas, had he wanted to, could have
easily pointed out to the emperor that George's narrative of events
actually said nothing of the kind. According to George, the
patriarch's observation of the heavens was wasted effort, because it
was not possible to find God "through the stars or any other created
objects."
50
But instead of calling attention to the discrepancy,
Glykas cedes the point, allowing that Abraham, "a trustworthy
astrologer, originating from the Chaldaeans, ... witnessed the Lord
from his creations".
51
All that Glykas insists upon is that Abraham's
post-conversion behaviour proved that he had subsequently
renounced astrology.
We should not assume that Glykas gave ground on such a vital
issue simply for the sake of argument. The reason why he could not
charge Manuel with distorting the facts was that Glykas himself
endorsed much the same position, namely that the motion of visible
objects in the sky revealed the providential mind that guided them.
It is worthwhile for believers, he writes in his chronicle, to observe
the orderly movement of the heavens, because in this way God
revealed his "ineffable power and wisdom".
52
He makes the same
argument, and in very similar language, in his exposition of the
purpose of astronomy to Kyr Alypios. What occasioned this treatise
was a question as to whether the study of the stars was a subject
that should be avoided altogether. Glykas reassures Alypios that
astronomy, a legitimate and divinely revealed branch of the
celestial sciences, offered real benefits to it practitioners.
53
But in order to carve out room for what was in his view the
legitimate practice of astronomy, Glykas found it necessary to fine-
tune the "ancient history" about Seth and Abraham. In the tradition
about the discovery of astronomy that Glykas had received from
Phii.-Hist. Kl. 1893,2.1 (Munich, 1893; repr. Hildesheim, New York, 1984), 105
(74), 125 (88).
:George the Chronicon, ed. de Boor, I, 94.10-12.
52
Glykas, Ei> ra, an:c(!ta,, ed. Eustratiades, I, 480.20.2-1.
, Glykas,Annales, ed. Bekker,48.13-14.
Glykas, Ei>Td' Ww(!ta,, ed. Eustratiades, I, 468. 13-14.
263
earlier sources, there is nothing said about God's revelation of the
science to Seth through the angel Ouriel. Glykas needed to
introduce the idea of revelation in order to supply a divine sanction
for a science whose legitimacy was under question.
54
He does the
same kind of creative rewriting in his retelling of the story of
Abraham's conversion. After providing in his chronicle a
reasonably accurate summary of George's account of Abraham's
conversion, Glykas adds a concluding remark lacking in his
predecessor's chronicle, and in fact quite opposed to the sense of
the whole story. Abraham's discovery of the one true God and his
subsequent trouncing of the Egyptians confirmed, he writes, the
words of the apostle Paul in Romans 1:12: "God's invisible nature
has since the creation of the world been perceived in created
objects".
55
To justify the practice of astronomy, Glykas often quoted this verse
from the epistle to the Romans. He cites the same verse in the letter
to Alypios and earlier in his chronicle to explain why those of faith
should not be ignorant of astronomy.
56
But in making this point so
forcefully, Glykas forfeited a weapon in his debate with the
emperor. When Manuel had written about Seth receiving astrology
from a divine revelation and Abraham apprehending God through
the stars, Glykas could not accuse him of misrepresenting the
tradition, without finding the same accusation hurled back in his
face.
" Glykas, Ei, nl, dJro(!{a,, ed. Eustratiades, I, 468. 9-13; Chron. 228.6-9. The
chronicle of George Synkellos [34.17-19, ed. A. A. Mossbammer(Leipzig, 1984))
reports an older Jewish tradition about Ouriel's revelation to Enoch found in the
of Enoch (72-82). Presumably, Glykas decided to extend this tradition to
Seth as well.
,. Olykas,Annales, ed. Bekker, 247.1-2.
Glykas, Annales, ed. Bekker, 48.12-16; Glykas, Ei' Td' cbwQia,, ed.
Eustratiades, I, 468.15-16.
...
AnneTihon
Universite Catholique de Lou vain
Astrological Promenade in Byzantium in
the Early Palaiologan Period
At the end of the thirteenth century and the beginning of the
fourteenth numerous witnesses attest to a growing taste for
astrology. From the most inane predictions to reasonable
discussions or polemics, astrology seems to have raised a great
interest in many different milieux. From the perspective of
Byzantine intellectuals, the distinction between astronomy and
astrology was quite clear: astronomy was the theoretical part and
astrology was the practical part.
Accordingly, George Lapithes asked Nikephoros Gregoras what
works he used for astronomy and astrology:
'hukot yaQ, of fAUXOflV OUVOLXEiV xu! xat' aiJ.CPw tel
IJkQl], tO 0EWQLX6V <jll]I-U X<ll tO 3tQ<1Xttx6v, fAnXWt<l tcj'l
lltOAEftU(<p XQWfU'VOL, tcj'l JtAE(W tOiS VEWtEQOIS
matEUOUOLV ...
For the Italians, with whom fate has decreed that we should
live together, make little use of Ptolemy in either of the two
266
AnneTihon
parts, I mean the theoretical and the practical, but rather put
faith in the modems.
1
Or again, as Theodore Metochites said, astronomy is concerned
with matters treated in the Almagest of Ptolemy, while astrology is
concerned with the matter treated in the Tetrabiblos. In the latter
work, Ptolemy distinguishes the astrology called 'universal'
(xa8oA.Lx6v), which concerns entire peoples, regions, cities, from
genethlialogy (yEvE8A.wA.oyLx6v), which concerns individuals. The
former includes natural phenomena (such as hurricanes,
earthquakes, or other natural disasters) as well as political events
such as invasions, wars, death, the overthrow of the sovereign.
In the traditional Greek astronomical treatises (following Ptolemy
and Theon) there is generally no interference from astrology, no
chapters devoted explicitly to the establishment of a themation, or
to any other astrological element.
2
During the early Palaeologan
period many Byzantine scientists showed a great interest and a real
competence in the field of mathematical astronomy. But the
relations maintained by those Byzantine scientists with astrology
were far from simple and obvious. It seems to us of interest to
enquire into this: what was the attitude of scientists vis-a-vis
astrology at the beginning of the Palaeologan period? Other
questions will also be asked: did astrological beliefs go hand in
hand with ignorance of scientific matters? Did they coexist with a
more advanced level of scientific instruction? Were they part of the
Ptolemaic tradition, or the teachings of the followers of Persian
astronomy, or did they have some other origin?
Our enquiry, naturally, cannot be exhaustive. One should analyse
not only all the writings of the numerous intellectuals of the period,
but also make an inventory of all the astronomical and astrological
manuscripts of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This paper
will be limited to a small selection of authors and texts: hence our
conclusions may not be definitive.
1
rewgy(ou wu Aarr8ou tx Kurrgou ei<; Ntxll<J>6eov -r6v fQllyoeav, in
Nikephoros Gregoras, Byzanrina Historia, ed. L. Schopen, 3 vols. CSHB 38
(Bonn, 1829-55), I, LIX-LX; also in Nikephoros Gregoras, Epistulae, ed. P. A.M.
2 vols. (Matino, 1982), II, 407.
treatises may include chapters on the horoscope and
culmmatlon, but for astronomical purposes.
palaiologan Period
1. AT THE COURT OF NICAEA : GEORGE AKROPOLITES
267
If we look back at the court of Nicaea, George Akropolites reports a
discussion that occurred in the presence of the empress Eirene
shortly after the solar eclipse of 3 June 1239. This eclipse was
nearly total (magnitude 0.97 at Constantinople, according to
Tavardon).
3
The young man - (aged 21, and so a pupil of
Nikephoros Blemmydes - ) was questioned by the empress Eirene
on the cause of eclipses. He launched enthusiastically into an
account explaining that the eclipse of the Sun was due to the
interposition of the Moon in front of the Sun. A physician of the
court contradicted him and the empress mocked the young man:
4
xett yae ex1>.e('\j)EW ytvoflivll, ftAou Tov Kaex!vov
liwliEi>ono mel f'wllflfleiav, btEIJtee auTo oiJTw
auflflav EV w( altfJ1>.8ov ( ... ), ytQOOTllXE fl TI]v
Tlj ex1>.El'\j)Ew alT!av xat auTO flv axelflwc; oux elxov
EQELV-UQ'tl xal yae -rGJv "tf] <j>!Aoao<J>ia yt'\j)clf.lllV 6Qytwv
rraea wu ao<j>ou BAEf.lf.li>liou litliaax6f.!EVO, Of.IW f.lv-rm
rrae' au-roil 0 "tO"tE oaov ELXO E1tlyYOU-TytV TE TIJ
ae1>.ftv11<; errJJtQ6a811mv ab:(av Tf} trrUJxlfxaEW J.eyov
elvm, xal ooxetv f.lllv ex1>.eCrrew -rov 01ix aA.118t) lit
elvm 1ijv ltJ <j>auaEw a-rte11atv, f.ld1>.1.ov f.lv"tot Toilw TI]v
ae1>.i1v11v rraaxetv, trrav 10 ax!Lxaf.!Un ef.11tean TIJ yt), lilii
To ts i)1>.(ou -ro q,tyyo auxetv trrel M 6 Myo em f.litx=ov
rraee-re(veTo, av-rt1>.eye lie -rot 1>.eyof!bou; 6 iaTQO
Ntx61>.aoc;, avi)e i]xtam f.lv <j>!Aoao<j>(a f.IE"taaxoov, UXQO<;
liE Tijv olxe(av TEXVllV xat f.ldl.ta-ra TI]v lilii rre(Qa
ytvwaxof.lllvllv m'lvu lie oum ftyarra-ro
axwuae(ou o ELXE 'tlf.lytV trrel youv UVTEAYEV OUTO,
au-ro 0 rrMov ea-rwf.1uAA6f.111V, v T0 f.IE"tasu Twv
J.eyof.lllvoov UrrEXUAWE f! i) f.IWQOV.
For an eclipse occurred when the Sun passed through Cancer,
towards noon, and since in fact it so happened that I had come
to the Palace( ... ), she asked me about the cause of the eclipse.
I was not myself able to say precisely- for I had barely
touched on the mysteries of philosophy, having been taught by
3
For technical data concerning the eclipses, we have used unedited tables made by
P. Tavardon, 'Les eclipses de Solei! visibles sur Constantinople 287-1453'. One
should also consult the following: Th. von Oppolzer, Canon der Finsternisse
(Vienna, 1887); J. F. Schroeter, Sonnenfinsternisse von 600 bis 1800 n. Chr.
(Kristiania, 1923); D. J. Schave, Chronology of Eclipses and Comets AD 1-1000
St Edmunds, 1984 ). . . .
Georgios Akropolites, Opera, ed. A. Heisenberg, revised edition by P. Wirth
(Stuttgart, 1978), 62-3.
268
AnneTihon
the savant Blemmydes, but however having learned from him
what was likely-I said that the interposition of the Moon was
the cause of the darkening, and that the Sun appeared to be
eclipsed, but this was not a real loss of its light: it was rather
the Moon which suffers it when it falls into the shadow of the
earth, because it reflects the light of the Sun. As my
explanation progressed the physician Nicholas countered my
remarks; he was a man who had very little to do with
philosophy, although eminent in his own technique which he
owed especially to experience (he was much loved by the
empress, and had the dignity of aktouarios); so as this
individual contradicted me, and I chattered on, the empress
called me a fool ...
Here we have a young scholar who knew the scientific explanation
of et;lipses and was opposed by a court physician. The author is
careful to point out that his challenger was only a practitioner
lacking a proper theoretical education. This anecdote seems to
indicate that non-scientific explanations were at that time widely
accepted. We will discuss later what might have been the non-
scientific ideas about eclipses in the Byzantine world.
What is interesting for us in this context is the conclusion that
George Acropolites draws from the exchange: this eclipse -just like
a comet- announced the death of the empress:
flkv, <be; Ecj>TJv, aihTJ, olfUIL lie xat Ti]v mil
'tov aini)<; lt:QO<JTJJ.!.Uvm 86.va'tov xat
lie lt:QO J.LT]Y<ilv !; 1tEQL 'tO j.U\QO<; avE<j>UYT] 'tOU
lie moywvLa<; xat J.Li)Ya<; 'tQEi<;, OUX Ev
f:vl't6n:cp 6./../..' EV litacj>6QOL<; cj>mv6J.LEYO<; ....
This empress, as I said, died, and I think that the eclipse of the
Sun announced her death; and a comet had appeared in the
north six months previously. This was a bearded comet that
three months, and not in one place, but appearing in
d1fferent places.
5
in his Tetrabiblos (II. 4) explains systematically the
predtcttons that may be inferred from eclipses: the place that will be
affected, the time (delay, duration), the class of beings affected
(people, animals, harvests, buildings, etc), and the quality of the
5
Akropolites, Opera, 64.
Palaiologan Period
269
predicted event or bad).
6
However, other manuals, such as
that of Hephaestio of Thebes, are much more explicit and concrete:
7
an eclipse of the Sun occurring in the Royal triplicity (Aries, Leo,
Sagittarius) announces the death of an Oriental sovereign or
government, an eclipse of the Moon in the same triplicity that of a
sovereign in the Western lands. Consequently, the death of a King
or illustrious person is often announced-after the event-by a
preceding eclipse. A well-known example is the death of Proclus,
announced, according to Marinus, by an eclipse of the Sun (14
January 484).
8
To predict the death of the sovereign ahead of time
was more risky, as demonstrated by Anna Comnena's narrative
about the Athenian astrologer Katanankes. The latter had twice
predicted the death of the emperor Alexios: the first time the lion in
the palace died, the second time the emperor's mother.
9
In associating the death of the empress with the much-debated
eclipse, George Akropolites only followed a well-established
tradition, and indulged in a little posthumous vengeance for the
mockery of the empress. After the reconquest of Constantinople,
the same George Akropolites was charged with the restoration of
higher-level teaching in the capital. For a long time he taught
philosophy, geometry, and rhetoric.
10
But his scientific training
and teaching did not prevent him from believing in the astrological
meaning of an eclipse as announcing the death of an imperial
figure.
6
Tetrabiblos. II. 5-10: Ptolemy, it:mneJ.wlmrlxd, ed. W. Hiibner, Opera quae
exstantomnia,lll.l (Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1998),124-47.
7
Hephaestio, I. 22 in Hephaestio of Thebes, Apolelestmatica, ed. D. Pingree
(Leipzig, 1973), 63-5. See A. Bouche-Leclercq, L'astrologie grecque (Paris, 1899;
1963), 356.
Mannus, Vita Proc/i, 37, ed. J. F. Boissonade, Marini vita Procli graece etlatine
(Leipzig, 1814; repr. Amsterdam, 1966), 29. On this eclipse, see Schove,
fhronology, 81-2.
Anna Comnena, Alexiad, VI. 7, 5: ed. D. R. Reinsch and A. Karnbylis, Annae
Comnenae Alexias, CFHB 40 (Berlin and New York, 2001), I, 182; for further
discussion of this passage and bibliography, seeP. Magdalino, 'Occult Science and
Power', above p. 000.
Georgios Pachymeres, Relations historiques, ed. A. Failler, u. V. Laurent,
CFHB 24.2 (Paris, 1984), II, 369. See C. Constantinides, Higher Education in
ByZantium in the Thirteenth and Early Fourteenth Centuries (1204-ca 1310)
<Nicosia, 1982), 33ff.
270

Before leaving the court of Nicaea, it might be useful to ask what
the non-scientific explanations of eclipses in the Byzantine
were. The young man appeared to be very proud of his scientific
knowledge,
11
and this should be compared with the level of
education of an ordinary citizen. Unfortunately, the author does not
provide any details of the discussion. The cosmology defended by
Cosmas Indicopleustes, according to which the world has the fonn
of Moses' Tabernacle, is in poor agreement with the scientific
explanation of eclipses, in spite of the efforts of Cosmas.
12
A partly
unpublished text attributed to a certain Peter the Philosopher shows
that this notion was still defended in the twelfth century: this
person wrote a letter to the Patriarch Loukas Chrysoberges (1156-
1169) regarding astrology and is the author of an astronomical
treatise.
13
Referring to the Bible, the treatise declares that the
heaven had the form of a cube, a cover or a vaulted room (the three
meaning the same shape) and that the earth had the form of a
cone.
14
In this setting he succeeded in explaining eclipses.
15
However, one does not know whether this cosmology was still
defended in the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries.
Another explanation is found in astronomical-astrological
compilations such as the theory attributed to the astrologer Ammon,
according to which the eclipse is caused by the interposition of a
11
Metochites later mocks people whose science is limited to knowing Ihe
phenomenon of eclipses: "Ces constatations sont des niaiseries et il est facile. de se
rendre compte des faits auxquels elles se rapportent. Peut-etre meme les p01ssoos
le diraient-ils, s'ils etaient doues de voix", quoted by I. Sevcenko, Etudes sur Ia
po/emique entre Theodore Metochite et Nicephore Choumnos (Brussels, 1962),
260.
12
Cosmas lndicopleustes, Topographie Chretienne, !, ed. and tr. Wanda Wolska
Conus (Paris, 1968), IV, II and 13. On this matter, see W. Wolska-Conus, [A
Topographie chretienne de Cosmas Indicopleustes: theologie et sciences au VIe
siecle (Paris, 1962), 236.
13
Published in CCAG, IV, 156-8.
14
Partial edition without the author's name in Anecdota Graeca e codd.
manuscriptis bibliothecae Regiae Parisiensis, ed. J. A. Cramer (Oxford, 183
9
;
repr. Hildesheim, 1967), 370--82. The text is found in MS Paris. gr. 3085, fols. Iff;
MS Oxoniensis Seldenianus 16 (= Seldenianus supra 17), fols. 170v-177 (cf.
IX.I,p. 72).
Anecdota, ed. Cramer, 373.
Palaiologan Period
271
'black star' between Sun and Moon.
16
Yet was this explanation
anything but a curiosity? At all events, this theory reappears, in a
slightly different form, in another compilation that was clearly
written by a Christian author: here the eclipse is caused by the
intervention of "a great star called head and tail".
17
It is hard to say
to what extent such explanations were current in Byzantine circles.
II. GEORGE PACHYMERES
Now let us tum to another savant, George Pachymeres (1242-
1307). We owe to him the composition of a manual covering every
subject of the quadrivium, clearly intended for the teaching of the
sciences: geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, music.
18
This work
exercised a great influence on later savants, mainly in arithmetic
and music. Manuel Bryennios, Theodore Metochites and Theodore
Meliteniotes all used it, even if they were little inclined to
acknowledge their debt. The astronomical part of the quadrivium of
George Pachymeres contains some definitions according to the
astrologers (ol a01:goMaxm):
19
houses, exaltation, decans, etc. But
the author condemns the astrologers who predict men's destinies
from their births:
Tailta tofvuv ta inpro,.una xal toile; llXavouc; t6'lv olxwv
toic; :rtAUV1]0L OUj.IJtAEXOvtE<; a<JtQoA6yot OUVI.O'tWOt tfrv
el!illQJ.1kv1JV xal tijv leyoflV1Jv yeveatv, xax6'lc; el.ll6tec; xal
l(av f:rttxtvllUvwc; ta t6'lv aotEQWV injl<iljillta tE xal
tOOtetV<iljillta 'tOi<; av8QW:7tot<; JtQOOVEJ!OvtE<;, xal avayxt]<;
e!vm milta QU8J!OU<; toic; av8Q<ilnatc; 1; auti)c; yeveoewc;
'tEQatEUOjlEVOI., Ent't'ljQOUvtE<; ael 'tOV <ilQOOXMOV, 6Jtotoc;
E:rtava'tEAAEt [6 ijlwc;],
20
Et't' aya86c; EO'ttV, ELtE <!Jauloc;.
16
The text is found in particular in MS Monacensis gr. 287, fol. 126r-v (cf. CCAG,
VIT, 20; ed. p. 123); MS Oxonimsis Holkhamicus llO, fols. 156v-157. See also
MS Oxoniensis Se/denianus 16 ( = Seldenianus supra 17), fol. 108.
17
MS British Library, Harley 5624, fol. 282v. On this, see Bouche-Leclercq,
grecque, 122-23. .
Georg10s Pachymeres, Quadrivium, ed. P. Tannery, rev. E. Stephanou. Studi e
T.esti 94 (Citta del Vaticano, 1940).
Ibid., 390ff.
20
The text appears to be defective because the horoscope is lhe point of lhe ecliptic
Ihat rises (on the horizon) at a given moment. The words 6:rtoloc; mavadi.AeL
seem to be a gloss explaining d>Qoox6:rtov and 6 ijlwc; has no sense m Ihe
sentence.
272
AnneTihon
i\:U' oirtoL EQQ(cj>Swv, <j>wvofloL yaQ tx ta
KEVU tE xal fU!tma 'tO a\l'tOltQO(llQE'tOV
lle ll'tU np MyV lltEl;tA.8w11V Myov.
Weaving together these exaltations and the decans of the
houses, the astrologers establish the destiny and the so-called
nativity; knowing badly and assigning to men quite
dangerously the exaltations and depressions, they falsely assert
that such are the rhythms of necessity for men from their very
birth, always observing the horoscope, the way it rises, whether
for good or evil.
These people are to be rejected, for they agree fundamentally
on empty and vain things, and exclude free will. As for
ourselves, having asserted what is suitable for this matter, let us
continue our account of these things.
The author therefore rejects individual astrological predictions
made by astrologers according to a nativity therna because it denies
free will. This is the argument of a number of Church Fathers (Basil
of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and others).
21
A little further on,
when describing the movements of the planets, Pachymeres notes
their effect on the seasons, and says that astrologers talk nonsense
when claiming that the stars are the cause of human joys and
miseries and pretending that Saturn brings about miseries and
sudden deaths, Jupiter joys and happiness, etc. As Pachymeres
mentions the effect of each planet, one cannot help realizing that, in
spite of his hostility to astrologers, the author gives his reader
plenty of information about astrological theories! In addition,
Pachymeres criticizes the astrologers who attribute to Jupiter and
the Sun numerous reversals for leaders and kings,
22
but in his
Historical Narratives this does not prevent him from seeing a solar
eclipse as announcing the death of Theodoros Laskaris (d. 16 Aug
1258)?
3
21
On Christian criticism of astrology, see Bouche-Leclercq, L'astrologie grecque,
609-27; M.-H. Congourdeau, Les Peres de l'Eglise et l'Astrologie. Les dans
Foi (Paris, 2003).
21
Pachymeres, Quadrivium, ed. Tannery, 397, 34-5.
Pachymeres, Relations historiques, ed. Failler, I, 58-9. One may quote Boucht!-
Leclen:q, L 'astrologie grecque, 623: "Les chretiens qui ne croyaient pas aux
horoscopes comme tout le monde, les eclipses et les cometes cause
des malheurs qu elles
Palaiologan Period
Historical Narratives I.l3 :
o llit xalltQOOf)J.Ll)VE tL Ol)IILoV yaQ txMA.oUtev t<j>'
<'ilQav, tQ(tl)v &Qav extll Knl to
miv xateiAf)<j>EL, WO'tE xal aotQO. <j>o.vf)vm xat' oUQav6v.
A sign announced in advance his death: in fact during the
course of an hour, at the thtrd hour on the Friday, there was an
echpse . of the Sun, and a profound darkness enveloped
everythmg, so much that the stars appeared in the sky.
7:13
Pachymeres shares with Akropolites the same theme (an ecli
announcing the death of an empress or an emperor) and the s!:.:
topos (the stars appearing in the darkened sky).
24
Pachymeres
probably refers to the solar eclipse of 30 Dec 1255.
25
In his
historical work Pachymeres does not make heavy use of celestial
signs, but does resort to numerology.
26
III. PERSIAN ASTRONOMY
At the end of the thirteenth century, the history of Byzantine
is marked by the introduction of Persian astronomy. The
amval of the Mongols changed not only the political map of the
East, but also the its cultural and scientific context. In 1259 the
grandson of Gengis Khan, Hiilagii, whose realm was established in
Persia, founded the famous observatory at Maragha, directed by
ad-Din at-TOsi.
27
Under the influence of the great Persian
astronomer, the observatory was intensely active, and its fame
attracted scientists from many different parts of the world.
Somewhat later Ghazan Khan (1295-1304) founded an observatory
at Tabriz.
28
The reputation of Persian astronomy soon reached the
Byzantine world.
24
The . appearance of stars during a solar eclipse is noted for example in
Thucydtdes, II, 27 (3 August 431 BC); Marinos, Vita Proc/i, ed. Boissonade, ch.
37 (14 January 484); Theophanes, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor (Leipzig, 1883;
repr. Hildesheim, 1980), 367 (A.M. 6186 = 5 October 693). On this last eclipse,
Schave, Chronology, 137-42.
26
Annular eclipse of magnitude 0.96 according to the tables of P. Tavardon.
See, for example Pachymeres, Relations historiques, ed. Failler, Ill, 23
of a comet announcing misfortunes); IV, 21 and VI, 36 (numerology
2
fPhed name of the Emperor Michael Palaiologos).
28
A.. Sayth, The Observatory in Islam (Ankara, 1960), 187-223.
Ibtd., 226-32.
274
AnneTihon
George Chioniades
According to the Preface of the Persian Syntaxis by George
Chrysokokkes (ca. 1347), the introduction of Persian astronomy
into the Byzantine World was due to a certain George Chioniades
(ca. 1300), who translated many Persian astronomical treatises into
a rather barbaric Greek. Indeed, an important corpus of Greek
adaptations of Persian astronomical material has been preserved in
thirteenth and fourteenth-century manuscripts,
29
and one may
suppose that Chioniades was certainly not the only Byzantine
scientist interested in Persian astronomy.
The course of Perso-Byzantine astronomy was, from the beginning,
closely tied to astrology. According to George Chrysokokkes (ca.
1347), George Chioniades sought to gain the knowledge of
astronomy and astrology useful for the practice of medicine.
30
At
least this is how one can understand the following passage from the
Preface of the Persian Syntaxis
31
:
e4ye 'tO(VUV EXELVO O'tL XLOVulClrJ 'tL Ev
Kwvm:uvnvoun6J..et tQU<j>El xut n6.v1:wv tv xmuJ..ij\j>et
J.LU9rlluhwv yev6f.!EVo EQOJ'tU neawv xul EtEQU
J.LU9i}oew 1\IUJ..Ex'tOu, IlL' oo<j>(uv JtOQLaUL'tO xut
axQL/lcil lisuoxijoeLev, liJteLiil] nuQa twwv
ijxouoev, W el J.LTJ el IleQo(l\u <i<j>(xoL'to, 'tOil noeouJ.tf.vou
29
D. Pingree, 'Gregory Chioniades and Palaeologan Astronomy', DOP 18 (1964),
135-60; Gregory Chioniades, The Astronomical Works of Gregory Chioniade$,
ed. Pingree, 1: The Zrj a/- 'A/a'r, part 1: Text, translation, commentary; part 2:
Tables, CAB II, 2 vols. (Amsterdam, 1985-86); A. Tihon, 'Les tables
astronomiques persanes a Constantinople dans Ia premiere moitie du XIV' siecle',
Byzantion 51 (1987), 471-87; R. Mercier, 'The Greek Persian Syntaxis and the
Zrj-i llkhanr', Archives lnternationales d'Histoire des Sciences, 34, n 112.3
(1984), 35-4l.
w L. G. Westerink, 'La profession de foi de Gregoire Chioniades', Revue des
etudes byzantines 38(1980), 233-45; B. Byden, Theodore Metochites' Stoicheiosis
Astronomike and the Study of Natural Philosophy and Mathematics in Early
Palaiologan Byzantium, Studia graeca et latina Gothoburgensia 66 (Gtiteborg,
2<J?3l: 246. Byden, Theodore Metochites, 244, understands from this passage that
Cluomades sought to learn Persian medicine. My own understanding is that "the
o_ther remarkable science" refers to astronomy, which would allow him to practise
ngorously astrological medicine.
31
H. Usener, 'Ad historiarn astronomiae symbol a' Kleine Schriften ID (Leipzig
and Berlin, 1914), 356-57. '
pa(aiologan Period
oil 'teUSE'tUL, JtUV'tOJV XU"tU<j>Qovijoa TI tUXOU e!xe til
61\oO er-xeto ...
The latter (i.e. Manuel) then said that a certain Chioniades
educated at Constantinople and brought to an understanding of
all the sciences, also fell in love with another remarkable
science, through which he could acquire wisdom and practice
medicine rigorously. As he had heard from some that unless he
would not obtain what he desired unless he went to Persia he
dropped everything and set off with all haste." '
A vir doctissimus in MS Vat. gr. 191
275
Another devotee of Persian astronomy and apparently also of
astrology is a Constantinopolitan scholar who wrote the following
note in MS Vat. gr. 191 (end of the 13'h c. ), fol. 319v:
32
Ml'Jvl touv(ou JtQW't!J i)J.tf.Qc;t naQaoxeuft liOJteQU iilQc;t
'tQL't!J tl],; VUX'to,; lvlitxtuilvo,; a E'tou,; ,wli' OtE xal
l]v xut naaxa XUQtou <J.LUQttou xe'>
33
auvol\eUOUOl'J "tl'JVLXUU"tU TJAUp oeAi}Vl'J, OEL(JjW J.tliya
xat yey6vL el Kwvm:avnvounoALv . . . JtQO
1\exanf:v<e lit i}J.LEQWV EXAEL\j>L til oeAi}Vl'J EyEvE'to ...
The first of June, a Friday, in the evening, at the third hour of
the night, Indiction 9, in the year 6804, when the year was
bissextile and the Pascha of the Lord <25 March>, while the
Sun was in conjunction with the Moon, an enormous and
frightening earthquake occurred in Constantinople . . . fifteen
days earlier there was an eclipse of the Moon ...
Indeed an eclipse of the Moon occurred on 18 May 1296.
This note, of which we cite here only a part, implicitly associates
the lunar eclipse with the earthquakes. Here we find ourselves on
the margin between astrology and natural science, because it was
not only astrologers
34
who associated lunar eclipse with
earthquakes. For Aristotle, too, lunar eclipses were a possible cause
32
The complete text is reproduced and edited in A. Turyn, Codices Graeci
Vaticani saecu/is XIII e XW scripti annorumque notis instructi (Vatican City,
}?64), 91-92 (tab. 54).
The text must be incomplete because the date of Easter cannot fall on I June. In
1
296, Easter fell on 25 March. The conjunction did not occur on I June, but on 2
June.
34
Hephaestio of Thebes, Apote/esmaticorum libri tres, ed. Piogree,l.22.
276
AnneTihon
of earthquakes, which he explains as physical effects.
35
However, the copyist of this note is of interest to us here because,
as A. Turyn describes him, he was a vir doctissimus who assembled
this particularly important volume, MS Vat. gr. 191. We owe to
this scholar (called R by Turyn) not only the note on earthquakes
quoted above, but also the astronomical calculations using the
Persian Tables and dated to 1302 (fols. 108-111 v, 170v-172v). MS
Vat. gr. 191 contains a remarkable collection of scientific texts
copied during the reign of Andronicus II (1282-1328): Euclid,
Theodosius, Aristarchus, Autolycus, Hypsicles, Eutocius, Vettius
Val ens, texts and tables of Persian astronomy, the Geography of
Ptolemy, the Hypotyposis of Proclus, the Treatise on the Astrolabe
of John Philoponus, works by Aratus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus,
Paul of Alexandria and other astrological texts, a series of
musicological texts (Gaudentius, Cleonides, Euclid, Aristoxenus,
Alypius, Ptolemy) and the Arithmetic of Diophantus. Three of the
subjects of the quadrivium are covered here : astronomy, music,
arithmetic-only geometry is missing. This impressive table of
contents led Turyn to attach the reviser to the circle of Maximos
Planoudes,
36
while D. Pingree suggested that the hand of
Chioniades himself is at work here/
7
though this hypothesis does
not stand up to palaeographical scrutiny.
38
The cohabitation of purely scientific with astrological treatises in
manuscripts of this period is not unusual, and it would be of interest
to make a more precise inventory.
Astrological books and almanacs (ephemerides)
With the vogue for Persian astronomy, astrology seems to have
enjoyed enormous success. A letter from Constantine Akropolites

3
s Meteora, II, 8 (367b): Aristotle, Meteorologica, I-11, ed. and tr. Pierre Louis
(Paris, 1982), 95.
36
One fmds here two treatises which were the special object of attention by
Maximos Planoudes: the Geography of Ptolemy and the Arithmetic of Diophantus.
See also N. Wilson, Scholars of Byzantium (London, 1983), 232.
37
D. Pingree, 'The Byzantine Tradition of Vettius Valens' Anthologies', Harvard
Ukrainian Studies 7 (1983), 532-41, esp. 533; idem, 'Gregory Chioniades and
f.alaeologan L. G. Westerink, 'La profession de foi', 234.
A. Tihon, Les tables astronomiques persanes', 474; B. Byden, Theodore
Metochites' Stoicheiosis Astronomike, 246.
Palaiologan Period
277
to Theodora

speaks of a book-clearly an astrological
work-on whtch foretgners depended to predict unusual events
while disdaining Byzantine savants. The author of the letter
that rather than consigning the work to the flames, it would be
better to refute it so that those who read it make an informed
judgment concerning the dispute; he returns the book to his
correspondent along with a refutation:
:rrugt li' Oj.Wl ava/.wom Mov mix ouf!EVoiiv,
0
,:,
-roii rr6vou <jlELoaJ.teVO wii ouv8eJ.tkvou 'x
yag -ro 'ljJEiilio xal c1JtwA(a rraga('ttOV, EUtEQ xal
wii 'ti'J arrw/.e(a ltQol;evou, 00 EliLMX8f]f!EV, eyyovov-
ai.A' LVU 'tWV 'tLVE ES af.Aoli<Xlti'j bttlif]IJ.OUV'tWV
'tfl 'tOlV Xa'tO<jlQ1JWV'taL
oo<jlwv, J.teya/.a rregl llievm rnayyeA6)!Vm xal
xa1:' EltLOTIJf.LfJV liij8ev 'tEQa'tEUOf!EVOL ... 'tOU'tOU 11v ouv
oux EXQLVa liEiv lita<jJOagi)vm, aV'tL!thtof.t<Pa 1i
001! 'tfl 00 OltEQ 1\v OOL xal ftf]
trr'au-rfl yevot'to ...
However, I have decided that it <i.e. the boob should not be
consumed by fire, not because I have consideration for the
labour of the one who composed these vain things -for lies are
vain and worthy of perdition, and even the offspring of the
agent of Perdition.'
0
as we have learned-but so that people
from foreign lands who have come to live among us and take
pride in this book, may not be arrogant towards our scholars,
declaring that they know great things about future events, and
indulging in absurd predictions, presumably according to
scientific principles ... For this reason I decided one should not
destroy this book, but I return it to you with a refutation, so that
whatever you like be done with it. ...
The letter of Constantine Akropolites gives only a few details: the
authors of such predictions came from foreign countries, and their
predictions concern great events. An echo of this is found in a letter
of Nikephoros Gregoras, sent to George Pepagomenos and
dateable to July or August 1329.
41
In this letter, Nikephoros
39
Constantinides, Higher Education, 108, 164. 6-18; also in Conslantine
Epistole, ed. R. Romano (Naples, 1991), no. 60. ,
Expressions like Oava'tou 6/.8gou ltQ6!;Vo,, WtWAea,
ltQ6!;evo are commonly used in Patristic literature. In this context it clearly refers
to the Devil.
41
Nikephoros Gregoras, Correspondance, ed. and tr. R. Guilland, CoUByz (Paris,
1967), 72-5; Gregoras, Epistulae, ed. Leone, II, 134-9.
278
AnneTihon
Gregoras mocks the absurd prophecies spread everywhere by
"people who claim to possess the sciences of the Persians and
Chaldeans". We will return to this later.
It appears that just at the beginning of the fourteenth century,
important astrology was produced at Trebizond. Ephemerides
calculated for Trebizond for the year 1336 have been preserved in a
Munich manuscript, the Monacensis gr. 525.
42
Ephemerides are
tables in which one finds all the calculated positions of the Sun,
Moon, planets, and the lunar nodes, generally at ten-day intervals.
The aspects of the planets and other elements used by the
astrologers are also indicated. Such documents are rare in the
Byzantine world, but their principle goes back to antiquity.
43
The astronomical calculations of the ephemerides of Trebizond are
based on Persian tables, especially the Zrj al- 'Ala'r and the Zfj-i
llkhtinr.
44
In the margins of the Ephemerides are found quite
picturesque astrological predictions. These predictions concern
every social class: kings, nobles, archons, soldiers, grammarians,
merchants, musicians, actors, women, prelates etc. The events
predicted are of every sort: meteorology, agriculture, commerce,
local politics, wars, conspiracies, sicknesses, incursions by
dangerous animals etc. The ephemerides of 1336 are dedicated to
Constantine Loukites, an official at the court of Trebizond. The
author may be Manuel of Trebizond, the teacher of Chrysokokkes.
It was probably such prophecies that excited the mockery of
Nikephoros Gregoras in the letter to Pepagomenos mentioned
above, and perhaps also the criticism of Constantine Akropolites in
his letter to Theodora Raoulaina. Andrew Libadinos in his
Periegesis
45
also attests that Trebizond was the place where one
would find the best predictions based on astronomical treatises.
42
An Almanac for Trebizond for the year 1336, ed. R. Mercier, CAB Vll
(Louvain-la-Neuve 1994).
43
Almanac, ed. Mercier, 159; see J.-B. Delambre, Histoire de /'astronomie
ancienne, IT (Paris 1817), 635-37. Such ephemerides, which require demanding
calculation, will reappear late in the 15th century.
Almanac, ed. Mercier, 17.
45
Almanac, ed. Mercier, 14.
Palaiologan Period
George Chrysokokkes
279
George Chrysokokkes is the author of a Persian Syntaxis, written
around 1347 and based on the Zrj-i llkhanr of ad-Drn at-
TUsi.46 This work was enormously successful and became the main
reference for all those who wanted to use modern astronomical
tables rather than the superseded tables of Ptolemy.
At the end of his work, Chrysokokkes added some material useful
to the astrologers, such as chapters on how to calculate the
ephemerides, the aspects, the exposition of a themation, etc. He
then explained his own motivation at length. Based on Hippocrates
and Galen, he emphatically insisted on the ties between astronomy
and medicine:
47
Outo<; toCvuv 6 oo<jlwtato<; latQ6<;, 6 9elo<; 'I=xQa'tlJ<;,
oil f!(>vov ex WU'tl]<; tfj<; (/f)oew<; 1\etxviloov XQlJOLfll]V elvat
'ri}v 'ri}<; clO'tQOVO!lia<; 'tEXVl]V el la'tQIXTJV, a'J..)..iJ. xal e;
a;\.'J..wv TCOAA<iJV, iht 1\E xal 6 'tOU't(jl xata rcavta frc0f1VO<;
fUAt]VO<; 6 9UUJWOIO<;, bteti\Tj XU'tCt 'ttV' aya9Tjv tUXt]V xal
UU'tO<; 'tel tfj<; lU'tQIXfj<; rtat1\EU6f1EVO<;, 'tOi<; 'tOU'tWV
ouyyQCtl!flUOIV Ev'tUXWV, xat lOoov OOOV el la'tQLXTjv 'tO
XQTJOII!OV EX tfj<; XU'tUAfJ'IjiEW<; 'tOJV TCAUVWflEvWV XlvlJOEW<;,
rcaQa fiEv 0 exe(v f)J!6>v
1\tbaoxa'J..<p orceuoa<; &orcEQ otoea f1Ei!Ct9tJxa.
Thus the wisest physician, the divine Hippocrates, not only in
this passage, but also in many others, demonstrates that the
science of astronomy is useful to medicine; likewise does the
admirable Galen, who follows him in everything. Since by
some good fortune I, too, have studied medicine and have
chanced upon their treatises, I realized what great benefit it is
for medicine to understand the movement of the planets and
have studied enthusiastically, as you know, with this priest of
Trebizond (i.e. Manuel), my teacher.
There follows a justification of astrology
48
that refers to the Letter
in defence of astrology by the twelfth-century emperor Manuel I
46
47
See Mercier, 'The Greek Persian Syntaxis'.
48
Read in MS Vat. gr. 210, fol. 35r,l. llff. , . . .
Only the very end of the text is edited in H. Usener, Ad hstonam astrono011ae
symbola', Kleine Schriften III (Leipzig- Berlin, 1914), 323-71: 371. I _read the
text in MS Vat. gr. 210, fols. 34v-35v. I also used an unpublished memmr by Ph.
Dachy, 'La Syntaxe Perse de Georges Chrysococces' (Louvain-la-Neuve, !98
6
),
chapters 14-16,31-35,43,48.
280
AnneTihon
Komnenos.
49
Chrysokokkes' arguments can be summarized as
follows: Each creature has its own energy; that of the stars was
willed by God. The role of the two luminaries was explained in
Genesis (1,14-16) and the signs handed down there are necessary
for life (there follow some meteorological examples). All the stars
are creatures of God and, just as the luminaries (Sun and Moon)
have the power to give signs (but not the power to act), the stars
have the same power. God could not have created certain things
empowered with energy and others without. Since the stars are
without souls and insensible, they received their power and physical
energy by order of the creator. This energy is suited to indicate
events both present and future in the universe contained within the
celestial sphere.
There follows a eulogy to Chrysokokkes' master (the emperor
Manuel of Trebizond) who became patron to the operation of
calculating the ephemerides for the whole year, as well as a
justification for Chrysokokkes' own undertaking: it is necessary to
know how to precisely calculate the positions of the stars and all the
elements required for accurate predictions, and he who has
acquired this knowledge will not only be admired by all, but will,
moreover, admire the Creator. If his predictions are incorrect, it is
not the method that ought to be reproached, but the deficiencies of
the author. Alternatively, the error may be due to a divine miracle,
for God can change Nature and perform miracles, as He did for
Joshua, or at the time of Christ's passion. Chrysokokkes concludes
by reaffirming that the stars, bodies without soul and insensible,
take their power from God.
Therefore, by repeating several traditional arguments and using as
cover the patronage of emperor Manuel Komnenos, Chrysokokkes
clearly asserts that his adaptation of the Persian Tables is meant to
serve the purposes of astrology.
IV. THEODORE METOCHITES
In spite of the growing success of Persian astronomy, many eminent
Byzantine scholars remained devoted to Ptolemy's astronomy and
further reflected on astrology. Such is the case of Theodore
49
Manuel I, lmperatoris Manuel Comneni et Michael Glycae disputatio, ed. F.
Cumontand F. Boll, CCAG, V.l, 108-25.
paJaiologan Period
281
Metochites. In the introduction to his Stoicheiosis (ca. 1316), he
demonstrates that astronomy is the first among the sciences. He
insists that the scientific pursuit of astronomy (i.e. studying the
Almagest) causes no harm to one's Christian faith, at least no more
th
an the harm caused by talking about it as an uninstructed amateur
. m ,
like his contemporanes do.
However, he says, concerns may be raised by the astrological part,
the one that regards predictions and claims to demonstrate that
powers acting in the stars and their aspects are the causes of
everything happening in the world and human affairs. This is surely
unacceptable to Christian faith. However, Metochites defends a
natural and reasonable astrology by drawing inspiration from the
Tetrabiblos of Ptolemy. We see, he says, that the Sun and Moon
have an influence on nature; so it is reasonable to suppose that the
Sun, the Moon, and the planets, in their movement through space
and their aspects have a great causal power on generated nature:
5
t
a'A'A' OlWQ wi! Myou OX01t0, fWv mpuj>opa
xal xal nilv ii.'A'Awv ameQWV, xat
xat 1tQO A6you
xat OXfJJ.WTLOfWU, :rto'A'Aijv ouvafUV fxELV xat
ev Wi ouOL xat Tfl YfVfJ't'fl
O.'At]Omm6v xat oij'Aov !;uvO(/clV
xat ouoev xaO'
MyJ.Wn ...
But that which was the aim of the discussion, the fact that the
revolutions of the Sun, the Moon, and other stars, their
displacements and their mutual relations and configurations
possessed a great power and governing cause in what concerns
beings and generated nature, that is very truthful and evident to
all who want to understand it, and in no way blameworthy
according to our Christian religion ...
Thus it is not contrary to Christian doctrine to predict the conditions
of events knowing that the stars are in the service of and
their power derives from Divine authority; this argument IS found m
the writings of all Christian astrologers.
On the other hand, to imagine that something that happens by
chance, whether by a decision, or from free will, is controlled by
:: Stoicheiosis, I. 5, !Iff. (published in Byden, Theodore Metochites, 46
5
ff.).
Stoicheiosis, I. 5, 25 (ibid., 471).
282
AnneTihon
the stars, is vain and contrary to Christian faith. Therefore, it is
reasonable and true to think that everything found under the stars
both the simple and compound bodies, is subject to their
influence. But to predict that one man will be a master and another
a slave, or that one woman will be quarrelsome, or the opposite, or
that one will be at war against his neighbour, or will conclude
peace, and so on, and that all this results from astral necessity, is
contrary to the Christian faith.
Metochites, naturally, combats the idea of "necessity" that underlies
the whole of astrology as applied to human affairs, an idea that has
always been denied by Christian religion. Further, the stars play a
role only by Divine Will. His attitude is "reasonable" (a word
which he frequently employs): since the stars have a physical action
on nature, it is not absurd to think that they produce conditions
under which such and such a natural event will be realized. Note
that he does not follow Ptolemy in making the distinction between
"universal" and "individual" astrology. According to Metochites,
whatever proceeds from nature is subject, by divine will, to the
natural influence of the stars (and he speaks expressly of "cause");
everything that depends on free will (marriage, profession, war,
peace treaties, etc), cannot be the result of astral necessity, which
would be absurd and impious to suppose.
Unfortunately, Metochites does not give a sufficient number of
precise examples. Thus, he does not explain whether the birth, life,
and death of a human being, king or individual, are to be counted
among the natural phenomena subject to the causal influence of the
stars. Instead of clear terms, he uses very abstract formulae, such as
"the being" (or "the things"?), "simple bodies", or "composed of
elements". As a result, we cannot be certain what his thinking was
regarding. this point.
V. NIKEPHOROS GREGORAS
In the writings of Nikephoros Gregoras
52
we find more explicit
material concerning astrology. Three of his letters deal with
'
2
On. astrology in the work of Gregoras, see A. Hohlweg, 'Astronomic und
Gcschtchtebetrachtung bei Nikephoros Gregoras', in W. Seibt, ed., Geschichte und
paiaiologan Period
283
astronomy and astrology: a letter to George Pepagomenos, written
in August 1329;
53
a letter to John Chrysoloras, written in August
1330
54
and a letter to Michael Kaloeidas, written in 1332 or the
' 55
start of1333.
In the letter to Pepagomenos, Nikephoros Gregoras mocks the
stupid predictions from the East; he then refutes the predictions
coming this time from the South-by which we understand "from
Calabria". This is about the violent winds that cause the destruction
of people. Gregoras does not reject the theory that a solar eclipse
associated with the conjunction of Mars and Saturn could produce
"whirlwinds, the destruction of cities and the uplifting of
mountains".
Here, one finds again Metochites' idea that celestial movements
have a causal power on generated nature. What Gregoras criticizes
in light of his own calculations is the astronomical basis of the
aforementioned predictions: there will not be a conjunction of
Saturn and Mars in the same sign, there will not be an eclipse of the
Sun, and therefore there will not be a storm. Gregoras was very
proud of his capacity to calculate eclipses. It seems that he was
responsible for making this sort of exercise fashionable. The
calculation of eclipses must have been particularly interesting at
thanime, given that at the beginning of the fourteenth century there
had been an exceptional series of solar eclipses visible at
Constantinople. But Gregoras was far from being the only. one
capable of calculating them. The following table shows the eclipses
mentioned by Nikephoros Gregoras in his correspondence:
Ku/tur der Pa/aiologenzeit (Vienna, 1996), 51-63. According Hoh1weg,
Nikephoros Gregoras could be the author of the dialogue Henmppus or De
astro/ogia; see A. Hohlweg, 'Drei anonyme Texte suchen einen Autor',
15 (1995), 13-45. .
1
ed Leone
'
3
Gregoras, Correspondance, ed. Guilland, 73--83; Gregoras, ae,
IT, 134-9. All the passages of Gregoras containing astrononucal elements
been checked against the manuscripts. E tulae ed
'
4
Gregoras, Correspondance, ed. Guilland, 135-45; Gregoras. prs '
Leo,, ne,II, 164-9. E 1 e ed
G ed Gu1
.1land, 147-55; Gregoras, prstu a '
regoras, Correspondance, .
Leone, n. 265-70.
284
AnneTihon
Letter Noted by Type Date Magnitude
Calculation
Gregoras of at Cple
56
eclipse
preserved
'
Letter to 131hindiction Moon 5 4.3 digits
Pepagomenos
5 January
January
1330
13'hindiction Moon 30 June 7.8 digits
30 June 1330
Ibid. 13'hindiction Sun 16 July 0.98 Gregoras
16 July 1330
+ anon
57
Letter to Under Sun 19 July 0.97
Chrysoloras Theodosius 418
II, Sun:
Cancer 24
Ibid. Basil the Sun 8 August 0.93
Macedonian 891?
Sun: Leo
15
Ibid. 15'h indictior Sun 30 0.56
next 30 Novem.
November 1331
Ibid. "63 years Sun 25May 1
ago" 1267
Ibid. A second ... Sun 14May 0.93 Barlaam
58
1333
56
See Nicephore Gregoras, Calcul de /'eclipse de Solei/ du 16 juillet 1330,
J. Mogenet, A. Tihon, R. Royez, A. Berg, CAB 1 (Amsterdam, 1983).
. The only eclipse with the Sun at Leo 15 according to Ptolemy's tables
ts the solar echpse of 8 August 8 891, but it does not fall in the reign of Basil I
There was also a solar eclipse on 17 August 882, but hardly visible at
Constat_ttmople (magnitude: 0.37). The eclipse of 891 is widely attested in
Byzantme sources; see Schove, Chronology, 205-207.
paJaiologan Period
285
Letter to
14 May, I" Sun 14May 0.93 Barlaam
Kaloeidas
indiction 1333
Ibid.
"another" Sun 3 March 0.72 Barlaam
59
1337
In the letter to John Chrysoloras, composed towards the end of the
summer of 1330, Gregoras made an allusion to the eclipse of 14
May 1333 without, however, giving the date. Gregoras invoked the
order of the emperor not to reveal his predictions. The same letter
indicates that he was jealously protective of his astronomical
predictions and afraid that people would steal them to spread them
around town. Based on his calculations, he said, these make
predictions for the government, and for individuals. One finds
here a number of well known themes: criticism of stupid
predictions spread everywhere, spies and rivals who steal Gregoras'
calculations. Did emperor Andronikos III really forbid the spread of
astronomical predictions? Though one must never believe
Gregoras' unconfirmed remarks, it is certain that any government
would be disturbed by the successful forecast of eclipses that, when
they finally occurred, were accompanied by serious natural
disasters. We have already seen that people like George Akropolites
or George Pachymeres did not hesitate to associate solar eclipses
with the death of an emperor or empress. At Trebizond, the eclipse
of 1337 was followed by a popular insurrection, as related in the
Chronicle of Michael Panaretos.
61
Gregoras concludes with his profession of faith in astrology:
Ka(wL mil\' ij,.U:v nav'ttl:rtaoLV Um]y6QEUtm 1\ijkoomv
EXEt6Ev ELVaL 'tOOV EltLyECwv yaQ; or l:uf!EV
58
Barlaam de Seminara, Traites sur les eclipses de Solei/ de 1333 et /337, ed. J.
Mogenet and A. Tihon, with D. Donne! (Louvain, 1977).
S91bid.
10
Gregoras, Correspondance, ed. Guilland, 142-3; Gregoras, Epistu/ae, ed. Leone,
168-9.
61
Mercier, Almanac, 79.
["
\ '
I .
' 1
,
f '

286
AnneTihon
6eo0, n)v ouQaVLOV lhax60f.LllOLV, fl yev6f.LEVov xat
o6f.LEVOV futav bnytyQWt'taL!'
However, even for us, it is by no means forbidden to derive
from this science a clear indication of facts here below. Why?
Because we know the book of God, that heavenly ornament,
where everything there is and will be is written ...
But Gregoras rebels against the predictions of trivial, inane, and
stupid things.
In his correspondence one finds no prediction associated with
eclipses. However, in his Roman History eclipses, often associated
with natural disasters, announce every kind of calamity. For
example, the death of Andronicus II (12 February 1332) was
announced by the eclipse of November 1331:
63
Kal{?o(; bE ij<'\11 xat 1tEQL wil YllQ<XLOil <'iLESEA9Etv
tEAEUti')(;, l)v 9EOO!lf.LELUL :n:oA.A.al 1tQOEf.Li]vuoav ai:
tOLUUIE rnLOX6tllOL(; 1tQWtOV i)AL<Xxi) tooauta(; i)f.lfQa(;
1tQOtA11<j>Uta ti')v autoil tAeun)v ooa xal auto(; ih'lj ta
:n:Uvta PePLWXOO(; tailtllv n)v i)A.L<Xxi)v t:n:LOx6tllOLV
exAeLijll.(; liLEc">t!;ato OA11VL<Xxi)v xat taUtllV aMI.(; OELOfLO\;
Yi\(; tv ta:n:EQQ.
The moment has come to speak of the death of the old emperor,
which numerous divine signs announced in advance. These
were the following: first, an eclipse of the Sun that occurred as
many days in advance of his death as the full number of years
that he had lived. An eclipse of the Moon followed that of the
Sun; and this was immediately followed by an earthquake
during the same evening.
Other dramatic events were also tied to the eclipses. The eclipse of
1267 announced pillages and massacres by the Turks; the lunar and
solar eclipses of I337 foreshadowed the invasion of the Scythians
into Thrace; the eclipse of the Sun in 1341 and the eclipses of the
Moon in 1342 foretold further misfortunes, as shown in the
following table:
62
Gregoras, Correspondance, ed. Guilland, 142-3 Gregoras Epistulae, ed. Leone,
169.
6!
Gregoras, Byzantina Historia, IX.14.1, ed. Schopen, II, 460.
. 'I
pa)aiologan Period
Hist.Rom.
Eclipse Date Magnitude
atCple
IX, 14, I Sun 30 November 0.56
I33I
XI, 3, I Moon 15 February 4.5 digits
1337
(Sun: ca.
Pisces!
0
)
Ibid. Sun 3 March 1337 0.72
(Sun: ca. Pisces
15)
IV, 8, 2 Sun 25 May 1267 1
XII, 15, 3 Sun 9 December 0.53
1341
(Sun:
Sagittarius 1 )
Ibid. Moon 20/21 May 15.5 digits
1342
(Sun: ca.
Taurus)
287
Event
Death of
Andronikos II
12February
1332
Invasion of
Scythians into
Thrace
ld
Great misfortunes
and murders
caused by the
Turks
Misfortunes (due
to civil war)
Other more
terrible ills
64
Gregoras, who seems at times reticent or perplexed in his
correspondence, grows more credulous with age:
OtL lie lii)AOJOLV rnLyewv :n;aewv ta tWV ougav(oov
<j>Woti')QOJV tOIUUta 1tQOava<j>wvo00LV,
64
Gregoras specifies that, according to the colour of the eclipse.. terrible
misfortunes could be foretold. In the Tetrabiblos (II. 10), Ptolemy fact of
the colour of eclipses, which must be taken into account in making predtcllons.
I
I
'I
;\
il
:]
;I
Jj
1
h
I\
I .,
I. \
I
I
288
AnneTihon
a!J4llj3a).).nv ot!JUt 'tOlV :rtUV'tOlV oubEva, :rtA1lV et 001:1.
E:n:e<j>il1tEt IJ.UnJV EQ(l;eLv .
65
And that such events concerning the celestial luminaries reveal
an announcement of earthly ills, I think no one doubts, except
if one squabbles in vain.
Such an attitude somewhat justifies the ironic views that Nicolas
Kabasilas expressed in his In Gregorae deliramenta:
66
... elbEvm E:n:ayyf.).).e'tm 1:a ,. oV'ta, 'ta 1:'
:rtQO 1:' oi6vm
67
xat yaQ xat XQ1JOIJ.OAOYO 'tl. eLVUL
lioxeiv < ... > Kat aO'tQOVOIJ.WV, oiv y/,waan
oMoiv <j>EQEL a<j>ai{)OlV 1> EIJ.:rt(IJ.:rtA.ljOl
otxlav, xat :n:avm YEIJ.EL xal liLayQal-l.IJ.U'toov, xat
xal 6Q6<j>ou rnLiie(xvum
xat :n:avm IJ.UI.A.ov i\ n)v 'lj!uxi]v.
... this man professes that he knows what is, what will be, and
what has been; he wishes indeed to appear as an oracle ... And
when he pursues astronomy, he makes no use of tl1e language
of science, but fills his house with spheres, stuffs it with books
and diagrams, shows sofas and floors full of wisdom,
everything rather than his soul!
In spite the mockery by Nicholas Kabasilas, it is only fair to
emphasize that Nikephoros Gregoras was consistently opposed to
stupid and trivial predictions and in particular genethlialogy.
68
As far as astronomy is concerned, it is useful to point out that after
1337 solar eclipses were again visible from Constantinople: those
of7 July 1339 (0.97), and 7 October 1344 (0.94). However, all the
experts in Persian astronomy would give the same calculation for
the solar eclipse of 7 August 1347, an occurrence hardly visible in
Constantinople (magnitude 0.1). This seems to indicate that interest
in an observable phenomenon and its prediction had disappeared. It
will reappear at the end of the 14th century.
69
65
Gregoras, Byzantina Historia, IV .8. 2, ed. Schopen, I, 108.
66
Published in the introduction to Gregoras, Byzantina Historia, ed. Schopen, I,
LXI-LXII.
67
The man who "knows that which is, that which has been" is the diviner Calchas
(Iliad I.70).
68
See the passage cited by Hohlweg, 'Astronomie und Geschichtebetrachtung' 57,
note44.
69
A. Tihon, 'Calculs d'eclipses byzantins de Ia fin du X!Ve sii\cle', Le Museon 100
(1987), 353-61.
Palaiologan Period
VI. THEODORE MELITENIOTES
289
In 1352, in his Astronomical Tribiblos Theodore Meliteniotes
mounted a vigorous attack on astrology.
70
While quoting almost
literally passages of Metochites, Theodore Meliteniotes is far from
accepting astrology" as Metochites did. Astrology in
every form IS reJected, and the author congratulates himself that its
practitioners, along with the magicians, had been expelled from
"our court".
71
Some of the terms in this profession of faith that
unequivocally condemns astrology bring to mind the formulation of
Pachymeres or Metochites. Theodore Meliteniotes continued with
an enthusiastic praise of astronomy, which was even in the service
of religion, since it proved God's omnipotence-God who marked
the death of the crucified Jesus by producing a miraculous eclipse,
72
a phenomenon that according to the laws of astronomy would have
been impossible at the time of a full Moon.
In contrast to George Chrysokokkes, Meliteniotes found himself
aligned with the teachings of the Church Fathers, notably Gregory
of Nazianzus:
73
astronomy should serve to glorify the Creator, not
to predict the future from the course of the stars.
This rigorous condemnation allowed Meliteniotes, the director of
the Patriarchal School, to introduce Persian astronomy into the
advanced educational curriculum offered by the church. Until that
time, as we have seen, Persian astronomy was spread mainly by
means of the Persian Syntaxis by George Chrysokokkes, and had
been strongly oriented towards astrology. Now, freed of any
astrological interference, Persian astronomy as explained in the
70
R. Leurquin, Theodore Meliteniote, Tribiblos Astronomique, livre I, CAB IV
(Amsterdam, 1990), 88-89.
71
This formulation is found in Christian teaching. It seems that Meliteniotes is
alluding not to a recent measure but to a more general prohibition like the one
referred to by Michael Glykas in his response to Manuel Komnenos, lmperatoris
Manuel Comneni et Michael Glycae disputatio, ed. Cumont and BoU, CCAG, V.I.
134, 9ff.
72
The miraculous eclipse at the death of Christ goes back to Eusebius: see. W.
Wolska-Conus, La topographie chretienne de Cosmas Indicopleustes: et
sciences au VIe siec/e (Paris, 1962), 236 n.2; on the eclipse at the Cruclliluon, see
Schave, Chronology 6-1.
73
See the reference's given in Imperatoris Manuel Comneni et Michael Glycae
drsputatio, ed. Cumont and Boll, CCAG, V.l, 134.
,.
I
290
AnneTihon
third book of Meliteniotes' Tribiblos would be studied at the
highest level of courses taught at the Patriarchal School. As a
consequence, several churchmen at the end of the fourteenth
century and the beginning of the fifteenth would develop real
competence in mathematical astronomy.
CONCLUSION
This rapid overview cannot pretend to give a definitive idea of how
Byzantine intellectuals considered astrology. Yet at least one
conclusion can be drawn: the debate was still active at
Constantinople at the beginning of the fourteenth century. By
taking up hackneyed arguments, often combining or interpreting
them in a different way, Byzantine intellectuals attested their
conviction or perplexity in the face of astrology; they accepted or
rejected it in whole or in part, each according to his own shade of
opinion.
Astrology was a sensitive matter, not only for the Church but also
for the secular authorities: the exceptionally high frequency of solar
eclipses visible in Constantinople in the 1330s and the growing
aptitude of scholars in predicting them could have been-if we
believe Nikephoros Gregoras-the cause of trouble and agitation, a
circumstance that generated an imperial prohibition to spread
astronomical predictions. But no prohibition could prevent
astrology from thriving nor astrological treatises from being
diffused. The number of preserved astrological manuscripts from
the fourteenth century shows that astrological books did not fall
victim to the purifying flames, even if, as the letter of Constantine
Akropolites shows, the temptation must have existed at times.
Astrology would be seen to flourish more than ever in the 1370s
and until the end of the Byzantine Empire.
Joshua Holo
Hebrew Union College -Jewish Institute for Religion, Los Angeles
Hebrew Astrology in Byzantine Southern
Italy
I. INTRODUCTION
It is a commonplace that our modem, tidy distinction between
astronomy and astrology does not apply to the Middle Ages. The
celestial sciences shared a great deal, not merely in the basic fact of
stargazing but also in terms of methods and applications, and this
broad overlap blurred the line between them. Even following the
definition of Maimonides (1135-1204), who strongly opposed
astrology and distinguished it sharply from astronomy, a certain
structural similarity emerges. According to this definition,
astronomy measures the movements of celestial bodies, observes
their influence on the natural world (such as the tides), and
calculates their cycles in relation to the passage of time.
judicial astrology (henceforth, simply "astrology") rehes on Jts
cognate science, but additionally claims to interpret, and frequently
to predict, the influence of those bodies on future events and moral
292
Joshua Halo
determinations.
1
On the one hand, given this complex overlap, an
author's body of work-or even a single work in itself-frequently
defies characterization as either astrological or astronomical.
2
On
the other hand, as Maimonides' position instantiates, certain
medieval Jewish perspectives distinguished between the two forms
of heavenly investigation, and treated them, accordingly, as two
separate pursuits with differently defined religious and cosmic
applications. To be sure, not all Jewish points of view disconnected
the two sciences, but the mere fact that some did is sufficient to
prove that a retrospective merging of astrology and astronomy
poses the same historical and intellectual problems as does an
anachronistic separation between them. In tracing the contours and
problems of that distinction between the celestial sciences as it
played out in certain Byzantine Jewish texts, a religious outlook
takes shape as a possible explanation for the apparently paradoxical
fact that the Jews were aware of the potentially occult
characteristics of astrology, even as they overwhelmingly embraced
its validity.
Two well known, Hebrew-language, Byzantine-Jewish literary
sources of tenth- and eleventh-century Southern Italy engage
intensely with the celestial sciences, and they provide one possible
framework for addressing this apparent paradox, in the context of a
well defined period and location. Hebrew culture in Byzantine
Southern Italy flourished in this period, the culmination of a shift in
linguistic orientation first manifest in the increased use of Hebrew
1
Moses Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed, tr. M. Friedlander, 2"" ed. (New
York, 1904), 164-66 and idem, 'Epistle to Yemen' and 'Letter on Astrology', in A
Maimonides Reader, ed. I. Twersky (New York, 1972), 453-54,467. Compare to
the definition of Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford,
1911), 3:24, 27. Helpful commentary on Maimonides' distinction by G.
Freudenthal, 'Maimonides' Stance on Astrology in Context', in Moses
Maimonides, ed. F. Rosner and S. S. Kottek (Northvale, NJ and London, 1993),
77-90; H. Kreisel, 'Maimonides' Approach to Astrology' (Heb.), Proceedings of
the Eleventh World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, June 22-29, 1993 C/2
(Jerusalem, 1994), 25-32.
2
Y. T. Langermann, 'Some Astrological Themes in the Thought of Abraharo ibn
Ezra', in I. Twersky and J. Harris, eds. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra: Studies in the
Writings of a Twelfth-Century Polymath (Carob ridge, Mass., and London, 1993),
65-74; G. Freudenthal, 'Maimonides' Stance', 77-84.
Hebrew Astrology in Byzantine Southern Italy
293
on headstones in eighth-century Apulia.
3
Some of the notable
compositions of tenth- and eleventh-century Byzantine Southern
Italy include the Sefer Yosippon, a Hebrew abridgement of
Josephus' histories;
4
Shabbetai Donnolo's (c. 913 to c. 982) Sejer
hakhmoni, a commentary on the Sefer ye$irah, which is a late-
antique, mystical cosmogony based on the Hebrew alphabet;
5
and
the Chronicle of Ahimaaz, penned by Ahimaaz b. Paltiel in Capua
in the year 1054, recounting his mythical and magical family story,
which stretches back to ninth-century Oria-the hometown of
Shabbetai Donnolo-and which is frequently cited in the context of
Byzantine-Jewish history.
6
The last two works, the Sefer hakhmoni
and the Chronicle, deal very explicitly with the stars, and crucially,
they attribute their study to contemporary Jewish personages.
7
Additionally, both texts unambiguously embrace astrology, even as
3
S. Simonsohn, 'The Hebrew Revival aroong Early Medieval Jews', in the Salo
Wittmayer Baron Jubilee Volume, 3 vols. (Jerusalem, 1974), 857-58; G. I. Ascoli,
lscrizioni inedite o mal note greche, Iarine, ebraiche di antichi sepo/cri giudaci del
Napolitano (Turin, 1880) (originally published in Atti del IV Congresso
lnternazionale degli Orientalisti tenuto a Firenze, 1878 [Florence, 18801); and H.
J. Leon, 'The Jews of Venusia', Jewish Quarterly Review 44 (1954), 284; R.
Bonfil, 'Cultura ebraica e cultura cristiana in !tali a meridionale,', in Tra due mondi
(Naples, 1996), 17-18.
' The Josippon (Heb.), ed. D. Flusser, 2 vols. (Jerusalem, 1980), 2:79--89 in
particular for the time and place of the publication of the Yosippon.
' Sh. Donnolo, Sefer hakhmoni [11 commento di Sabbetai Donnolo su/libro della
creazione], ed. D. Castelli (Florence, 1880), in Sefer (Jerusalem, 1965),
121-48. Other notable compositions by Donnolo. Sefer ha-mirqahot, ed. S.
Muntner, in Rabbi Shabbetai Domwlo (Heb.), 2 vols. (Jersusalem, 1949), 1:7-23;
idem, Sefer mazzalot, embedded in z. Frankel, in 'Der Kommentar des R. Joseph
Kara zu Job', Monatsschrift for Geschichte zmd Wissenschaft des Judentums 6-7
(1857-58), 273; 260-62, 348-50. Notable also, on the periphery of the current
subject, is the eleventh-century lexicon by Nathan b. Yehiel, Arukh shalem [Aruch
Comp/etum], ed. A. Kohut (Jerusalem, 1970).
6
All references to The Chronicle of Ahimaaz, ed. and Eng. tr .. M. Salzman (New
! ork, 1924 ). Other important editions: Sefer Yuhasin: libro delle discende?ze,
tntrod. and It. tr., C. Colafemmina (Cassano delle Murge, 2001); Megzllat
Ahimaaz, ed. B. Klar, 2"" ed. (Jerusalem, 1973). J. Starr, The Jews in the Byzantine
Empire (Athens, 1939), 149, citing Donnolo, Sefer hakhm01ti, 123; Sharf,
Donnolo, vii.
1
In for exarople, to the wisdom of the stars attributed to
Great m the version of the Alexander Romance appended to the Joszppo?, 1.
46
,,'
describing Alexander as accomplished in "every science and the constellauons .. "
294
JoshuaHolo
they betray a keen awareness of the problem of occult practice
within Judaism.
At the same time, despite their shared orientation, these texts differ
markedly in their expression of two key relationships: that between
astrology and the occult and that between astrology and astronomy.
This stark variance between the two texts, together with the fact that
they nevertheless share a fundamentally positive outlook on
astrology, begs at least two questions about their ability to maintain
orthodox Jewish positions and still to attribute a relatively high
degree of moral and factual determinism to the stars. First, how do
they reconcile astrology with Judaism's uncompromising claims to
God's omnipotence and human free will? And second, given that
both texts do indeed resolve that apparent paradox in very different
fashion, is there a single religious framework that we might
attribute to both of them?
From the starting point of some recent scholarship, a model
emerges for understanding Jewish astrology in the context .of
ambivalence. Here, the scientific overlap between astrology, wtth
its potential challenge to Jewish doctrine, and astronomy, which
enjoyed elevated religious status as the vehicle for calendatio?,
causes tension. The two sciences' common ground defies, m
technical terms, a distinction that mirrors the Jewish ideological
one, and as a result, the indeterminacy of that scientific boundary
tests Jewish sensibilities. The problem with this model is that,
though it applies to the Sefer hakhmoni, it does not apply to the
Chronicle of Ahimaaz; the former expresses tension, the latter,
insouciance. A single model that comports well with the view of
both texts cannot, therefore, rely on ambivalence as a defining
element. If instead we redefine astrology and astronomy in terms of
homily (aggadah) and law (halakhah), respectively, astrology
recedes to a non-binding conceptual realm that cannot impinge on
the more demanding and authoritative category of law. In fact, it
turns out that both of these Southern Italian Hebrew texts invoke-
perhaps unconsciously-these traditional categories of Jewish
thought, and through them, they can share their embrace of
astrology on terms that also allow for varied approaches to the
science's occult associations.
295
II. THE TECHNICAL PROBLEM OF "FUZZY BORDERS"
Not surprisingly, astronomy and astrology exhibit what Shlomo
Sela has termed, in other Jewish medieval contexts, "fuzzy
borders". Sela traces the contours of this relationship in the theory
and practice of the celestial sciences, by illustrating with technical
precision how astronomy and astrology were variously paired and
distinguished in Jewish medieval texts, depending on scientific
context and convention.
8
The Hebrew language captures this
complexity, as a partial sampling of medieval usage demonstrates.
Some words apply primarily to one science or the other, while other
words belong to both but with varying application among authors.
Hebrew expresses astronomical methods mostly in terms of
calculation (/.leshbon).
9
Meanwhile, words linked with interpretation
tend to refer to astrological methods; for example, one understands
(mevin) the hidden message of the stars.
10
The act of observation
(l;laz.ot), logically common to both undertakings, appears in
Abraham bar Hiyya's work in association with "the order, measure,
and reckoning" of celestial motions, that is, astronomy, while for
Maimonides, the term has the distinctly negative overtones of
pseudo-science.
11
A related verb, habit, to see, similarly refers, _in
the Chronicle, to earthly predictions based on celesl!al
observation.
12
Hebrew terms for the scientists themselves and the celestial bodies
they studied also pose similar difficulties. Mos_t
Maimonides' use of the Talmudic word i${agnin (pl. l${agmmn)
embodies the simultaneity of the overlap of, and distinction
8
S Sela 'The Fuzzy Borders between Astronomy and Astrology in the Thought
and Work of Three Twelfth-Century Jewish Intellectuals', Aleph I (2000), 80,94-
11 (Heb.); Starr, Jews, 208-09. Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah,
ed. T. Preisler (Jerusalem, 1985), Laws of the Moon,

trology in Late
10
Ahimaaz, 16 (Heb.); K. von Stuckrad, 'Jewtsh and Christian s n-olo is its
Antiquity', Numen 41 (2000), 6, argues the sens; of
determination of the quality of time, as well as tts corresposn,,ences
1
ha are 4-5
11 s 1 . . Ab ah m bar Hiyya e1er sura -
e a, 'Fuzzy Borders', 90, cttmg r a p do-Science' Aleph I
S. Stroumsa, '"Ravings": Maimonides' Concept of seu
(2000), 146, 163.
12
Ahimaaz, 16 (Heb.).
2%
JoshuaHolo
between, astronomers and astrologers. In his exposition of the laws
of calendation, Maimonides uses this term to refer to those whose
calculations confirm the calendrical cycle as observed in the phases
of the Moon; here, the judgment of the istagninin's study is clearly
positive. But he also connects the istagninin to those who attribute
propitiousness to certain times, and in this case, Maimonides
unambiguously disparages them as celestial diviners (bovrei
shamayyim).
13
Also multivalent, words that denote the celestial
bodies and their groupings may additionally connote the power they
exert over this world.
14
Such is the case with the word mazzal (pl.
mazzalot), which may mean either star or constellation, and kokhav,
which includes the concepts of both star and planet.
15
At the lexical
level, therefore, Hebrew offers ample opportunity for confusion
between the sciences, but also real opportunity for distinction
between them. The latter is panicularly true when the terms are
contextualized, at which point even the only-partial specificity of
the vocabulary may legitimately justify a functional distinction
between the two sciences, despite the obligatory commonality of
the sciences themselves and of the words that represent them.
16
Sela's apt concept of "fuzzy borders" therefore helps to concretize
the problem of understanding astrology in a Jewish context, and it
also leaves room for another, complementary view of the problem.
Unlike natural astrology, which, as per Isidore of Seville, is simply
occupied with sublunar bodies in the same fashion that supralunar
bodies fall to astronomy, judicial astrology relates to astronomy on
entirely other terms.
17
Judicial astrology is, by its very definition, a
composite science, one that necessarily relies on raw astronomical
data, and then proceeds from that data to offer an earthly
13
Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of the New Moon, 2:4, as against Laws on
Idolatry, II :9-10; Sela, 'Fuzzy Borders', 67-80.
14
Donnolo, Sefer hakhmoni, 123a-b; Maimonides, Guide, 164; W. M. Feldman,
Rabbinical Mathematics and Astronomy, 3'' ed. (New York, 1978), 79.
"Maimonides, Guide, 168.
16
Feldman, Rabbinical Mathematics, 63-79, provides a list of the zodiacal signs,
as does Donnolo, Sefer hakhmoni, 141 a-b. The opposite contexts of these texts
render the distinction clear.
17
Cf. Isidore, Etymologiae, 3:27, where he defines two categories, astronomy and
the latter itself being made up of two components, the natural and the
JUdlclal, the latter necessarily building on what we would today call "astronomy."
2fJ7
interpretation. From t?e point of view of judicial astrology, any
distinction between Itself and astronomy belies their logical
identity. Conversely, astronomy limits itself to the science of
observation and calculation, and eschews the type and degree of
interpretation that characterizes astrology. On its own terms
astronomy occupies a distinct place, without any reference
astrology and not serving as its handmaiden, at which point we can
fairly speak of it as a distinct undertaking. There is, therefore, in
addition to fuzzy borders, a prevailing asymmetry between the
celestial sciences that only further complicates their relationship in
technical terms. So it is fitting that Byzantine-Jewish texts from
Southern Italy should offer a comparably complicated ideological
relationship to the sciences.
III. THE IDEOLOGICAL PROBLEM OF FUZZY BORDERS:
ASTROLOGY AND THE OCCULT
Andrew Sharf, in his major work on Byzantine-Jewish astrology,
imputes to the Jews the following ideological distinction between
the two sciences: astronomy was mandated by God, and astrology
was simply another foreign import with which the Jews had to find
a modus vivendi.
18
In other words, the ubiquity of astrology
overwhelmed Jewish qualms about it, which were based on its
implications of an intermediary power in the universe, especially in
terms of moral predetermination and free will.
19
Though decades
prior to Sela's technical argument, Sharf's exposition nevertheless
echoes it from an ideological perspective. As per Sela, the boundary
between the sciences, though discernible, suffers from a notable
lack of definition, which ultimately bespeaks underlying technical
similarity. In corresponding fashion, ideological rejection, which
necessarily distilled the judicial astrology out from astronomy
merely responded to overwhelming Jewish acceptance of both
18
A. Sharf, The Universe of Shabbetai Donnolo (New York, 1976), 16-17;
'Shabbetai Donnolo as Byzantine Jewish Figure', in Jews and Other Minorities m
Byzantium (Rarnat-Gan, 1995), 171-72. d
" A. Marx, "The Correspondence between the Rabbis of Southern France an
Maimonides about Astrology' Hebrew Union College An11ual 3 (1926), 354-
58

T
' ad' d' arages m H Ben-
o a lesser degree, about the prediction of events, as Sa ta !Sp
Shammai, 'Saadia's Introduction to Daniel', Aleph 4 (2004), 70-74.
298
JoshuaHolo
sciences, which conflated or married them as natural truths of a
larger system.
20
In short, Sharf's description of ambivalence largely
depends on the tense simultaneity of two of astrology's qualities: 1)
its association with meritorious astronomy and implied dissociation
from the occult, and 2) its distinction from astronomy and
concomitant association with the occult.
In general terms, it is not at all clear that astrology necessarily falls
under the heading "occult" from the Jewish perspective, though it
undoubtedly may. Consequently, the underlying uncertainty of
astrology's occult status opens up the possibility for conflation
between it and, as Sharf points out, unimpeachable astronomy. The
astrologer's claim that the stars and planets affect us at a spiritual
and moral level by its very nature flirts with the occult, if we
understand occult as embracing two defining elements: esotericism
and a challenge to traditional Jewish doctrine of God's omnipotence
(by virtue of the apparently competing power of astral
determinism).
21
Nevertheless, this flirtation represents a threat-a
potentiality-that may or may not be realized, so that the occult
status of astrology defies easy determination.
22
Supporting the
argument of ambivalence, a brief survey of sources on the subject
concludes that the Jewish legal position regarding astrology, from
Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages, was inconclusive.
23
Even
Maimonides' halakhic expression against astrology may be read as
w On the distinction between astronomy and astrology, for r,he purposes of
condemning the latter, the newly published commentary on Daniel by Saadia
Gaon, edited by Ben-Shammai, 'Saadia's Introduction to Daniel', 21-22, 68-70;
also of note, ibid., n. 47, is Qirqisani's distinction between astronomy and
astrology, for the same purposes.
21
E. Urbach, The Sages (Cambridge, Mass. and London, 1979), 277-78; Sela,
'Queries', 89-190.
21
Kreisel, 'Maimonides' Approach', 29.
23
See the concise survey by Y. Schwartz, 'Jewish Implications of Astrology',
Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society 16 (1988), 6-23. Also, examples
from Abraham ibn Ezra in R. Jospe, 'The Torah and Astrology According to
Abraham Ibn Ezra', Proceedings of the Eleventh World. Congress of Jewish
Studies, Jerusalem, June 22-29, 1993 C/2 (Jerusalem, 1994), 17-24; not to
mention the concerns of the rabbis, and their citation of the Geonim
Sherira and Hai, in S. Sela, 'Queries on Astrology Sent from Southern France to
Maimonides, Critical Edition of the Hebrew Text, Translation, and Commentary',
Aleph 4 (2004 ), 99-10 I.
299
the exception that proves the rule of acceptance.
24
In this vein, it is
particularly telling that the letter from the sages to
Maimonides, which inspired his famous reply known as the "Letter
on Astrology," inquired about the legitimacy of astrology in terms
of the reliability of its information. The French sages apparently
took for granted that no legally binding prohibition pre-empted their
question.
25
In parallel fashion, other speculative realms exhibit similar
indeterminacy in Judaism. Even magic, broadly conceived of as the
invocation of supernatural forces, falls under the occult only
sometimes. Many forms of mystical theurgy and wonderworking
walk a fine line between the occult and the orthodox, insofar as they
appear to call on competing deities and forces, but claim to rely
only on God. Depending on his orientation, a given Jewish
authority may view such magic with horror or approval. The
Chronicle, for example, condemns transfiguration and resurrection,
but it embraces magical travel and astrology.
26
Admittedly, at least
in Jewish circles, astrology was occasionally guilty-or perceived
to be guilty-of association with those less ambiguous activities of
the occult such as the invocation of the divine Name for personal
24
Maimonides, Sefer ha-mi$VOt, ed. T. Preisler (Jerusalem, 1985), no. 32, where
astrology is defined as the ascription of propitiousness to a given day or hour.
25
Sela, "Queries," 122-23, "If there is foolishness in our questions and the
conclusion of our utterances is silliness ... ", though the sages consider, PP 224-25,
Maimonides' awaited-for response to be authoritative, as "halakhah to
Moses on Sinai", and they recognize serious halakhic considerations in the orbit of
astrology, such as the fear of saying a prayer in vain, 103--D5. But, though these
problems derive from astrology, they do not necessarily inhere in it.
26
Ahimaaz, 65-66 (Eng.), 4-5 (Heb.), on the sin of magical resurrection, as well as
the generally positive quality of Aaron, who "made use of his wonderworkmg
wisdom, to do very difficult and astonishing things"; 75, 77, on the acceptable use
of the Divine name for magical travel; G. Scholem, Major Trends Jewtsh
Mysticism (New York, 1961 ), chap. 4; M. !del, Kabbalah: New (Ne:
Haven and London 1988) chaps 7-8 M. D. Swartz, Scholastic Magtc (Prmceto
' ' ' 'M deval
1996), 18-22. R. Brody The Geonim of Babylonia and the Shapmg o, e
1
b
r '
8
) 144 'tes a famous reference Y
Jtwtsh Culture (New Haven and London, 199 Cl t
Hay Gaon, the leader of Baghdadi Jewry in the first half of the mo
th
. . al Maimonides 1s unequ1voc
e credulity of Byzantine Jewry m matters magic p
1
d 333
h
. . h. Guide for the erp exe ,
IS condemnation of judicial astrology m IS A trOlogy
Mishneh Torah, Laws on Idolatry, 11:9-10; and his famous 'Letter on s '
463-73.
300
JoshuaHolo
gain, certain types of healing, divining, '1:1
Add
. . all I . , etc.
. 1.twn y, astro ogy. rehed heavily on pagan sciences and
1mphed some powerful mtermediary between God and man wh h
. d f I . al' 28 ' IC
reqUire care u ratiOn 1zation. Astrologers thus inspired s
'h hi'! ome
we1g ty t eo og1ca challenges, most notably those of Maimon'd
ds
.
an aad1a Gaon But. it is worth noting that they only
:arely faced a accu.satwn of illegality .
29
The key legal
1ssue, Star-worship, an unamb1guous contravention of basic Jewish
law, behind astrology; scholarly arguments, including
protestatiOns both against and in favour of astrology, frequently
betray appreciation peril. But the mere fact of astrology's
accept.ance md1cates that it passed muster among the
maJonty of Jews; It appears to fill some, but not all, of the criteria
for occult status in terms oftheology.
30
27
Mishnelz. Torah, Laws on Idolatry, II :9-10. Magic and astrology frequently
went hand-m-hand; seeR. Barkai, 'Significado de las aportaciones de los judfos en
el terreno de Ia medic ina, Ia astrologfa y Ia magia', in A. Saenz-Badillos, ed.
Judfos entre arabes y cristianos (Cordova, 2000), 84--85. Byzantine Jewish magic,
as we can discern it-fits at least two of the three components of
magtc, for Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages by Swartz,
Scholastzc Magzc, 20. Medieval interpreters of the Talmud, Pesabim 113b,
translated "Chaldeans" as either necromancers or astrologers.
28
The very pointed effort to distinguish oneself from the idolatrous astrologers of
the pagan past reflects the consciousness of the connection see Barkai
'Significado', 82. ' '
"' Maimonides' famous polemical letter presents a rationalistic argument against
folly. of, astrology and the halakhic problem it raises. See Freudenthal,
Matmontdes Stance', 87 and R. Lerner, 'Maimonides' Letter on Astrology',
Hzswry of Religions 812 (1968), 147. Halevi's Kuzari, 1.79, does invoke heresy in
relatton to.astr<;>log.y's association with divination, as does Babya ibn Paquda, The
::o; of Dzr.ectwn m the Duties of the Heart, tr. M. Mansoor (London, 1973), 282-
: . nterestm?ly. Mansoor notes that the section on astrology occurs only in the
ongmal Arabtc, and is absent in all the mss of the Hebrew version by Ibn Tibbon.
contra.st, Saadia, in, his Introduction to Daniel, see Ben-Shammai, 'Saadia's
ntroductt?n to Dante! , 27-28, restricts himself to the rationalistic charge and
stlent on the halaklzah, as does Maimonides in other contexts.
capture.s the fine line between astrology's orthodoxy and heresy better than
1998
)
1
The Kuzari: tr. N. D. Korobkin (Northvale, NJ and Jerusalem,
both roo whe.re celestzal speculation contributes to a matrix of ideas that are
celestial al \
fatth and the root of heresy". If its source is divine revelation,

History
/u .7e otherwise, they are erroneous. Cf. c. Sirat, A

ewiS I osophy m the Middle Ages (Cambridge, 1985), 127.
301
Equally weak is the sense of esotericism that surrounds astrology.
The persistent popularity of astrology among both the educated and
uneducated classes implies a certain degree of public access that
somewhat vitiates the notion of esotericism-even if the specific
skill-set of celestial interpretation was not available to all (as a
probable etymology of the word i$(agnin implies)?
1
Similarly, the
thriving of astrology under the noses, as it were, of religious
officialdom indicates that its audience was indeed a public one. In
all, judicial astrology seems to hover somewhere on the line
occult, perhaps straddling orthodoxy and heterodoxy, esotenctsm
and public access; and this ambiguity seems to have a
clear-cut distinction between it and astronomy, thereby smoothmg
the way, at least in some measure, for its broad acceptance.
This background evidence of ambiguity supports Sharfs inference
of ambivalence in the aggregate, but individual opinions may
evince no ambivalence whatsoever. In the present examples, the
Sefer hakhmoni and the Chronicle of Ahimaaz, ambivalence in the
former contrasts with unburdened credence in the latter. Donnolo,
for his part, propounds astrological study, even as he betrays
an awareness of Jewish rejectionism and, further, obliges h1mse.lf to
offer an apology. In contrast, the Chronicle pointedly differentiates
between astrology and unacceptably occult practices.
Donnolo reveals his quandary in at least two interesting ways, both
of them within the larger context of the foreign origins of the astral
sciences, including both astronomy and astrology. First, in his
introduction Donnolo acknowledges the dubiousness of astrology
from the perspective, using the concept of foreignness as
code for idolatry:
. . . A few Jewish sages were wont to the books by
Jewish authors on the constellations as wtthout substance,
because [these sages) did not understand them. They argued
that the books dealing with the wisdom of the stars and
. f th ntiles and that these
constellations are the provmce o e ge . . h
books were not written in accord with the worldvteW of JeWIS
literature."
. . J Le Worterbuch uber die
31 S Sela 'Queries ' 133 6 <TtEYav6!;. cztmg vy, . . ,
Ta/;,.udim,und (Darmstadt, 1963), 1:118,
32
Donnolo, Sefer hakhmoni, i23b.
302
JoshuaHolo
As if buying in to this view, Donnolo gives up on those incredulous
Jewish sages, but remains determined "to learn, to travel and to
seek out the wisdom of the Greeks and that of the Muslims, and the
wisdom of the Babylonians and Indians." In other words, Donnolo
acknowledges that Jewish intellectuals viewed astrology with
suspicion; and more than that, he hints that he, too, originally
accepted the fact of astrology's associations with idolatrous
peoples, Muslims notwithstanding.
33
In his second expression of ambivalence, Donnolo goes to great
lengths to correct this perception of astrology as a foreign science.
His method is simply to preempt this ideological challenge, by
reversing the common wisdom regarding astrology's origins. In the
course of his studies abroad, Donnolo recounts that he
33
Ibid,
discovered that those [foreign books] were congruent, in every
matter concerning the astral sciences, with the books of the
Jews.... Furthermore, I realized from these books that all
science of the stars and constellations is based on the Baraita of
Samuel the Interpreter, and even the books of the gentiles
agree with it. Samuel, however, purposely obfuscated in his
book; so after I finished copying the books, I travelled the
world in search of gentile sages, knowledgeable in the science
of the stars and constellations, in order to leam from them ....
Eventually I found among them one Babylonian sage by the
name of Bagdash ... , all of whose wisdom jibed with the
Baraita of Samuel, with all of the books of Israel and with the
books of the Greeks and the Macedonians. But [in contrast to
the Baraita of Samuel,] the wisdom of this sage [i.e., Bagdash]
was clear and accessible in the extreme.
34
" Ibid. This baraita, or rabbinic tradition extraneous to the canonical Mishnah, is
attributed to Mar Samuel (c. 177-257), student of Judah the Prince (who compiled
the Mishnah, c. 220), leading light of the Babylonian academy of Nehardea and
eminent legist and astronomer. The Baraita of Samuel is briefly quoted by Sharf,
Universe, 185, from edition in J. D. Eisenstein, O$ar midrashim (New York,
1915), 542-47. I infer "purposely" from the gist of the sentence, which implies
that Samuel was being coy in the sensitive matter of mysteries.
Donnolo argues that the real roots of astrology lay close to the
bosom of Israel, and he thereby attempts to reassure his readership
that there is nothing about which to feel ambivalent. If astrology-
lost to the Jews as part of the punishment of their exile-appears
pagan, it is only because nobody in his generation had apprehended
the Jewish Baraita of Samuel as the root of all astral science.
35
So
Oonnolo defends his research, but in presenting this apology he
both confirms the prior problem of suspicion among his co-
religionists and seems to fear the same attitude among his
readership. As such, Donnolo's introduction to his patently
astrological commentary on the Sefer yesirah confirms Sharf's
overall impression of Jewish ambivalence towards to the topic.
The Chronicle of Ahimaaz also muses on destiny and the stars, and
also embraces astrology, but, unlike the Sefer hakhmoni, the
Chronicle evinces no tension whatsoever with the occult. Quite the
contrary, it differentiates astrology from other, more explicitly
occult pursuits, which the Chronicle openly criticizes. For instance,
whereas Paltiel, a "master of astrology," earns accolades for his
astrological acuity, other figures are chastised for their magical
indiscretions.
36
An "accursed sorceress" who turned a boy into a
mule is called a "wicked woman." In another example, a young
man who cheated death by manipulation of the divine Name is
required to confess his sin upon succumbing to death.
37
Hananel,
one of the story's other heroes, also missteps in this regard; he
preserves a body-accidentally revivifying it-by placing the
divine Name under the corpse's tongue. An angel comes in a dream
to condemn Hananel's action, asking "why do you vex the Lord
God?"
38
In its attitude toward these occult sciences, the Chronicle
does not present a fine, porous line between them and astrology.
Rather, it seems to confer legitimacy on astrology in direct measure
" D 6 273 arti'all repr and tr. in Sharf.
onnolo, Sefer mazzalot, m Frankel, : , P Y
Donnolo, 45, 184 ..
36
Ailimaaz, 16 (Heb.), 88 (Eng.): V11' C1'J?OJ. below
of Pal tiel's astrology p 310 n 56 Salzman, m h1s mtrO. to Ahtmaaz,ti
2
' . th
Paltiel as "so exceptlon.ally that his is the most conspicuous gure
10
e
chronicle."
37
Ibid., 3-5 (Heb.), 64-66 (Eng.).
38
Ibid., 10 (Heb.), 77 (Eng.).
304
JoshuaHolo
to its condemnation of unauthorized magic, implying a firm and
unambiguous boundary between astrology and the occult.
In brief, even though both Donnolo and the Chronicle remove
astrology from the realm of the occult, they do so in very different
ways. The former is subject to considerable ideological tension,
while the latter accepts astrology without reservation. In order to
dissociate astrology from the occult and neutralize its ideological
threat, the Chronicle does not acknowledge the connection, whereas
the Sefer hakhmoni faces it and defangs it. In these different
approaches to the difficulty raised by astrology, the two texts do not
adequately corroborate the general impression of religious
ambivalence; they place, rather, ambivalence side-by-side with
more naive acceptance.
IV. THE IDEOLOGICAL PROBLEM 01<' FUZZY BORDERS:
ASTROLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
Just as Sefer hakhmoni and the Chronicle of Ahimaaz relate
astrology to the occult on the basis of very different assumptions, so
too, do they relate astrology to astronomy. Donnolo implicitly links
astronomy with astrology, but the Chronicle clearly differentiates
between prognostication and calculation, even though they both
relate to the stars and both predict, in effect, future events. In their
incongruity on this topic, Sefer hakhmoni and the Chronicle of
Ahimaaz again provide very dissimilar models for absorbing and
neutralizing astrology's inherent ideological difficulties.
Much of Donnolo's work functions in the overlapping sphere that
occupies both astrology and astronomy; most notably, perhaps, he
relates the so-called "dragon", i.e., the path between the lunar
nodes, to moral values. Donnolo explains that
when God created the firmament above us, which is divided
into seven flrmaments, he also created the "dragon" from water
and frre, in the form of a great monster like a great curved
serpent. .. , and he extended it through the fourth celestial level,
which is the middle firmament.. .and all the stars, luminescent
bodies and constellations are fixed in it.... Indeed, it is
appointed king over all of these [bodies], to guide them, in
goodness and evil. ... "
39
305
Donnolo's work interweaves observation with interpretation of the
celestial bodies' effects on matters of moral concern. Building on
these premises, Donnolo produces an entire cosmology in which the
stars correlate to the human character and body.
40
This
correspondence, in tum, justifies Donnolo's claims to zodiacal
melothesia, according to which the movements of these celestial
bodies ultimately govem human physical and spiritual affairs.
41
Donnolo's system depends on a daring interpretation of Scripture,
by means of which he establishes that there are divine, disembodied
forces that complement physical ones. Both sets of forces
administer the human condition, in that the divine force ultimately
moves us while the physical forces constitute the stuff of our
existence. Accordingly, our physicality distinguishes us from God,
while our higher spiritual and moral plane (in diminutive measure
as compared to God's) distinguishes us from the beastsY Thus
framed, Donnolo's cosmology affirms orthodox Jewish
monotheism, but cannot avoid walking the tightrope between
heresy and orthodoxy in regard to the potential problem of
dualismY His scriptural basis for this cosmology (Genesis I :26,
"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness") does not shy
away from that dualism, but seemingly pushes the envelope even
further. Donnolo clarifies:
"Donnolo, Sefer hakhmoni, 146a; cf. above, p. 303, n. 35. .
.. For a partial parallel in Midrash, in which homologies relate natural phenomena:
including celestial ones, to the human body, see The Fathers
10

Nathan, tr. J. Neusner (Atlanta, 1986), 189-90; Hebrew verston: Avot deRabbl
Nathan, ed. S. z. Schechter (Vienna, 1887), chap. 31,91-92. t'
" ' I A Sharf 'Notes on a sec ton
For a full exposition of Donnolo s homo ogy, see h M' '( s
from Shabbetai Donnolo's Sefer hakhmoni' (Heb.), in Jews and Ot er mon"
in Byzantium (Ramat-Gan, 1995), 19-34.
42
Donnolo, Sefer hakhmoni, 125a-126b, 127b. acity of
"Sharf, Donnolo, 73-93; Genesis Rabbah, 8:3, inspire
the biblical passage, "Let us make man in our tmage and tradition)
?eretical dualism: "R. Samuel bar N ahman [handed d?wn. t!'e he was
m the name of R. Yonatan: in the course of wntmg 'And God said
Writing each day's act [of Creation]. When he arnved .at the are giving the
"Let us make man ... ,"' he said, 'Master of the Umverse, w Y
heretics an opportunity to argue?"'
306
JoshuaHolo
Here is the explanation for the verse, "Let us make man in our
image". After God created the entire universe, the supernal
heavens, the angels, all the ministers of His glory, the land, the
firmament, the waters, the trees, the grasses, the lights, the
stars, the fish, the sea monsters, the fowl, and the animals that
creep in the waters ... [etc.], He took counsel with His holy
spirit to create man, who would be the appointed guardian and
lord over all the creatures ... to rule over the world, to reign and
oversee all of created heaven and earth, and to praise Him. So,
He said to His [newly-created] universe, "Let us make man in
our image, after our likeness. In My image and in your image,
after My likeness and after yours".
44
In this extraordinary argument, Donnolo claims that the created
universe joined God as partner in the creation of human beings,
with each partner defining one component of our nature and
abilities.
God, the initiator and senior collaborator in the project of man's
creation, defines our position in the universe:
Just as God is superior to and rules over man and the entire
universe above and below, so too shall man do, as long as he
follows his Creator's will. Thus, for example, to our master
Moses, peace be upon him, the Blessed Creator said regarding
the [Golden] Calf, "Allow me, and I will destroy [the Children
of Israel] .... ""
By invoking the divine aspect of our constitution, Donnolo
illustrates two critical aspects of the divine-human relationship.
First, he explains that human propagation into perpetuity is
dependent on conformity to God's will. Our success in living up to
the standard of the divine within us can be measured in terms of our
ability to "use the evil inclination to transform those things
normally generated by it into [acts characterized by] the fear of
God, without sin or offense .... "
46
When we do so we act as the
deputies of God, which is the second of the
relationship as Donnolo sees it. Quoting Deut. 9:14, Donnolo
argues that God needed to confer with Moses before destroying the
.. Donnolo, Sefer hakhmoni, 126b.
"Ibid.
.. Ibid., 127b, 129a.
HebreW Astrology in Byzantine Southern Italy 307
Israelites for the sin of the Golden Calf. In the end, God deferred to
Moses, not only in asking him beforehand but also in subsequently
honouring His prophet's preference to preserve the Israelites. God
respects, in effect, the extension of His own authority that He
delegated to us. The health of that relationship relies, however, on
our success in living up to God's aspirations for us.
The correlation between the human body and the universe that
created it accounts for our physical and mental makeup and, by
extension, whether or not we live up to those expectations.
Accordingly,
God made for [man] a spherical head, like the firmament of
heaven that is above the firmament of this world. He gave him
the upper palate above the mouth, in which the teeth and jaw
are planted, in the likeness of the firmament of this world,
above us. And just as He separates this firmament that is above
us between waters- between the upper waters and the lower
waters- so too, does the upper palate of the mouth separate
between the humour of the head and that of the upper digestive
tract, called the stomach. Similarly, just as God rested His holy
presence in the upper heavens, which covered the waters, as it
says in Scripture, "He who roofed the waters with His rafters"
(Ps. 104:3), so too, He placed the animated soul, knowledge,
and discernment in the membrane of the brain, which is
wrapped around the brain and its humour. This is evident,
because if the brain is ruptured, a person will die immediately,
for there resides the life-force .... [Further,] just as God placed
the two lights ... in the heavenly firmament, so too, he put two
eyes in man's head. The right eye is like the Sun and the
resembles the Moon .... And just as God made the celestial
dragon in the universe and stretched it out over the firmament,
from east to west, from end to end, as well as the stars and the
constellations and everything in the universe that is branchmg
from it, so too, He made the spinal cord inside the vertebrae,
extending from the brain to the pelvis."
Here it is the microcosmic analogy of the physical universe to man
that for the relationship of celestial bodies to our ow?,
h
. b d. r us 48 This power, m
w tch shapes the power of those o tes ove
"Ibid., 127b; Sharf, Donno/o, 55, 170-72. "J the universe is full
"Donnolo, Sefer hakhmoni, 127a-b, 129b. From 12
9
b: ust de among secrets
of God's glory, as it is written (Jer. 23:24), '"Man cannot
1
308
JoshuaHolo
the form of the celestial dragon, reigns "in the universe like a king
on his throne", and below it, a descending hierarchy rules "over the
two bodies of light, the five planets, and over every deed in the
universe, both good and bad".
49
Thence, each part of the body, as
well as our appetites and inclinations, reflects the motions and
qualities of celestial bodies.
50
So it is that, by dint of its
participation in our creation, the physical or celestial universe exerts
significant power over us-on the face of it a rather audacious
reading of the creation of man and one that seamlessly interlaces
the observational and the interpretational, like "the warp and weft
on 'the weaver's beam"'.
51
In very different fashion, the Chronicle of Ahimaaz treats judicial
astrology and astronomy as separate undertakings, with different
methods, purposes and results. Equally as bold as Donnolo in many
respects, the eleventh-century Chronicle presents side-by-side
portraits of the astronomer and astrologer for ready contrast.
Although the Chronicle, from the social-historical point of view,
poses many challenges inherent to its legendary content, from the
perspective of cultural history it provides an unselfconscious
account of this distinction between the celestial sciences.
52
Two relatives, protagonists of the Chronicle, play the all-but-
unrelated roles of seer and scientist. The elder of the two, Hananel,
was the second son of the family patriarch, Amittai, and lived in the
latter half of the ninth century. He, like his brothers, looms large in
the Chronicle as a pious wonderworker and learned mystic. One
without My seeing him," says the Lord; "Do I not fill both heaven and earth?" says
the Lord.' Thus is the living spirit of man, which is like a microcosm, from his feet
to his head, from end to end, to the tips of his fingers and toes." Though this
appears to be a spiritual comparison, it is in fact a physical comparison of the
universe to man, insofar as both are analogously filled with God's glory. Cf. Sharf,
Donnolo, 31, 52.
Donnolo, Sefer hakhmoni, 147b.
"'!hid., 147a.
"!hid., 146a, 147b, referring to I Sam. 17:7; Sharf, Donnolo, !83.
" Historical analysis of the mythological aspect of the Chronicle by R. Bonfil,
'Mito, retorica, storia: saggio sui "rotolo di Ahima' az"', in Tra due mondi (Naples,
19?6), 121-33; and idem, 'Can Medieval Storytelling Help Understanding
Mtdrash? The Story of Paltiel: a Preliminary Study on History and Midrash', in
The Midrashic Imagination, ed. M. Fishbane (Albany, 1993), 228-54.
story, however, ignores the mystical and presents, rather, a very
this-worldly picture of astronomical calculation. In an encounter
with the local archbishop, Hananel finds himself in a
discussion of the calculations that were prescribed for
detennining the appearance of the new Moon. On the morrow
of that very day there was to be a new Moon, which according
to Israel's custom, was to be held sacred. [The archbishop]
asked [Hananel] in how many hours the new Moon would
appear. R. Hananel answered by naming a certain hour, but he
was mistaken. The archbishop disputed his opinion and said,
"If that is your calculation on the appearance of the Moon, you
are not skilled in calculation". R. Hananel had not given
thought to the time of the appearance of the new Moon, but the
archbishop had calculated it and knew; he had cast his net for
R. Hananel, and would have caught him in his snare had not
the God of his salvation come to his aid.
Still unaware of his error, Hananel takes the archbishop up on a bet,
according to which he agrees to apostatize if proven wrong. Then,
Hananel goes home, where
he went over his calculation and found his error, by which he
had failed in his reckoning.... As the time of waxing
approached ... he called, in distress and tears, upon Him that
hears the supplications of His beloved, "0 God, Ruler of the
universe nothing is hidden from You. I have not been
presump;uous, but have innocently erred and committed
folly .... Forgive my error and pardon my wrongdoing.""
God obligingly intervenes to save Hananel, by shifting the Moon's
phase to vindicate his erroneous calculation and to o n ~ u t e t ~ e
archbishop's correct one. God's intervention notwithstandmg, thts
anecdote deals in objective, astronomical reality that respects
. . . t mpinge on matters
ne1ther rehgwn nor man, nor does 1t presume o t
of moral or spiritual orientation.
. fu d entally from that
Hananel's astronomical problem d1ffers n am . "b d
. 'k H 1 who IS desert e
wh1ch his descendant later faces. Unh e anane ' d Paltt"el
h eat gran son
as a legal expert as well as a mystic, IS gr -
" Ahimaaz, 78-80, 94 (Eng.); 11-12, 19-20 (Heb.), where be feels that the
scholars should not defer to him.
310
JoshuaHolo
engages in lexically-and narratively-marked astrology, and bears
the soubriquet "understander of mysteries", without corresponding,
explicitly rabbinic credentials. 54 In fact he seems to enjoy a position
of privilege expressly distinct from that of the scholars. As his story
develops, Paltiel's astrological prowess, like the astronomical skill
of his great-grandfather Hananel, comes out in relation to a non-
Jewish leader.
55
In the mid-tenth century of the Chronicle's
reckoning, al-Mu'izz, the future caliph of Fatimid Egypt, invades
Southern Italy, including Oria. There he encounters the Chronicle's
protagonists, and Paltiel, prominent among them, rises to a position
of trust in al-Mu'izz's entourage. Now the conqueror's advisor,
Paltiel takes an evening stroll with his master, and gazing at the
stars they see
the commander's star consume three stars, not all at one time,
but in succession. And al-Mu'izz said to [Paltiel], "What
meaning do you find in that?" R. Paltiel answered, "Give your
interpretation first." The commander replied, "The stars
represent the three cities Tarentum, Otranto and Bari, that I am
to conquer." R. Paltiel then said, "Not that, my lord; I see
something greater; the first star means ... Sicily, the
second ... Africa, and the third, Babylonia". Al-Mu'izz at once
embraced him and kissed him, took off his ring and gave it to
him, and took an oath saying, "If your words come true, you
shall be master of my house and have authority over my
kingdom" .
56
When al-Mu'izz dies after realizing the prophecy, Paltiel stays on
as vizier to the new caliph, and together they repeat the evening
stroll:
R. Paltiel and the king were walking in the open and they saw
three bright stars disappear; in an instant their light had
vanished. R. Paltiel said, "The stars that have been eclipsed
represent three kings who will die this year; and they will soon
54
Ahimaaz, 62 (Eng.); 3, 20 (Heb.): nmo )'JI:lS. Benin, 'Jews, Muslims, and
Christians in Byzantine Italy', in Judaism and Islam, Boundaries,
Communications, and Interactions: Essays in Honor of William M. Brinner, ed. B.
et al. Boston, 2000), 30-31.
. the. considerations of the family tree, see the most recent translation and
h1stoncal mterpretation of Paltiel and al-Mu'izz in C. Colafemmina's introduction
to Sefer yuhasin: libro delle discendenze 31-38
56
Ahimaaz, 88-89 (Eng.); 16-17 (Heb.).' .
be taken off. The first king is John the Greek, the second, the
king of Baghdad, in the north", then the king hastening to
interrupt him said, "You are the third, the king of the south",
but [Paltiel] replied to the king, "No, my lord, for I am a Jew;
the third is the king of Spain". But the king said, "You are in
truth the third as I say". Sure enough, in that year Paltiel died."
311
The patently astrological nature of these accounts requires only
brief comment.
58
From the point of view of narrative, the
indeterminacy of interpretation comes through in clear distinction
from the natural fixedness of Hananel's astronomical calculation.
Al-Mu'izz's deputizing of Paltiel is conditional, pending the
realization of the latter's prediction. Similarly, the narrator does not
telegraph Paltiel' s death as predetermined truth in the same way
that he categorically defines Hananel's calculation as error. The
protagonists discover the truth and error of Paltiel's respective
prophesies at the same time as the reader does, whereas Hananel's
mistake constitutes a narrative fact of the story, established before it
even dawns on Hananel himself. The Chronicle grants that the stars
have real power, no doubt, but humans interact with that power on
terms unrelated to those that govern astronomical calculation.
Taking the Sefer hakhmoni and the Chronicle of Ahimaaz with their
very different understandings of astrology's connections to
astronomy and the occult, the thesis of fuzzy borders proves too
limited. The Sefer hakhmoni works within an astrological set of
assumptions that directly and seamlessly relies on astronomy; the
Chronicle of Ahimaaz only implicitly recognizes the overlap, a?d at
every tum treats the two sciences as utterly separate undertakm?s.
In parallel fashion, the Sefer hakhmoni engages in astrology with
religious ambivalence towards its occult associations-perhaps
even revealing the author's own misgivings. Meanwhile, the
Chronicle casts no occult shadow on the science of astrology
"Ibid., 96-97 (Eng.); 21 (Heb.). . h 'b 't and the
58
On the lexical indicators, in the first case the Chromcle uses
1 1
'
. d both subject to contextual
second .hozim, both referring to visual perception, an . to other
. 1 y For companson
mterpretation as regards either astronomy or og
1
of Maimonides; for
usage, see S. Stroumsa, '"Ravings"', 146,
10
the sense. see above,
Abraham bar Hiyya's use of the second word 10 the astron
n.II.
312
JoshuaHolo
whatsoeve_r. In sum: _if the . geographical, linguistic,
chronologiCal and rehg10us ongms of both texts justifies a search
for some shared sensibility regarding ASTROLOGY AND
ASTRONOMY, WE MUST LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR IT.
V. HALAKHAH AND AGGADAH
We can only surmise a religious worldview that accounts at once
for the divergent attitudes of the two texts and their shared
conclusion in favour of astrology. Still, within that limitation, we
might imagine a radical conceptual break between the celestial
sciences, instead of attributing religious ambivalence to astrology as
a function of scientifically fuzzy borders between it and astronomy.
Such a break may be drawn along lines that correspond to the
border between two deeply engrained modes of Jewish thought
known as halakhah (pl. halakhot; binding legal norms of behaviour
and ritual) and aggadah (pl. aggadot; non-binding, non-legal,
speculative or homiletical interpretations and literature). Such a
heuristic redraws and solidifies the border between the sciences,
beca_use is unconcerned with the technical and ideological
mamfestat10ns of ambiguity and ambivalence. Halakhah, as
correlated to astronomy, is concerned only with calculation as the
tool th: measurement of time; aggadah embraces everything
mcludmg not only astrology but also astronomy that feeds into
It (as opposed astronomy that serves the calculation of time). The
merit_ of this halakhah-aggadah heuristic is that it provides a
plausible model, in which both the Chronicle's unburdened
embrace of, and the Sefer hakhmoni's ambivalent accession to,
astrology make sense. This, because in either case, astrology-as-
aggadah allows significant theological latitude without encroaching
on the halakhic demands of astronomy.
59
A. Rosenak, 'Aggadah and Halakhah' (Heb.), in A Quest for Ha/akha, ed. A.
(Jerusalem, 2003), 286--94; L. Silberman, 'Aggadah and Halakhah', in
of the Covenant, ed. J. Ede1heit (Chicago, 1986), 223-34; Y. Nafua, 'On
Aggadah'.(Heb.), Derekh ephratah 3 (1993), 183-203; z. Kagan,
18 (200
d Aggadah. The Paradoxtca1 Connection' (Heb ) Mehkere mishpat
2), 213-18. .
313
Halakhah and aggadah, though frequently associated with
particular genres of literature, also function as primordial
epistemological orders of relevance. In this hierarchy, halakhah
reigns unchallenged; it is the this-worldly enactment of divine Law
in all its possible permutations, applicable to every eventuality in
life, including, for example: diet, worship, sexual relations, ethical
behaviour, and the religious calendar. As Jacob Neusner puts it, "I
assign priority to the Halakhah for the same reason everyone else
who has ever studied Rabbinic Judaism does. The Halakhah defines
the practice of the faith, the norms of conduct, and these bear the
message, the professions, of the faith as well, embodying belief in
concrete behaviour."
60
It spells out, in other words, the Jews'
specific contractual obligations in their unique covenant with God.
Halakhah, therefore, by its very nature enjoys immediate and
compelling relevance, not only as a system of religious values but
also as a guide for daily life; and among the various realms of
halakhah, none touched upon the lives of individuals and
communities in the Middle Ages more directly and universally than
the measurement of time. In serving this halakhic function as the
metronome of Jewish time, with its myriad implications for social
organization, the calendar embodied the social and spiritual
function of halakhah as a compulsory code of life. Many of the
divine Commandments are time-bound, in particular the celebration
of the Sabbath and holidays; their proper observance entails not
only detailed ritual, but also dietary restrictions, such as the Yom
Kippur fast and abstinence from leaven on Passover. Additionally,
work and travel are strictly forbidden on holidays, a fact that
directly governed commercial and communal interaction. In
addition to these underlying the social and legal concerns, the
Pentateuch, beginning with Creation, clearly describes the
as the existential rhythm of the cosmos, which lends time a
numinous quality. For all these reasons, the calendar
inspired a desire for uniformity among the Jewish people, to whtch
they responded in the ninth century and definitively in tenth,
with the development of a standardized calendar-one which pre-
"' . . F urth Series. Category-
]. Neusner, Major Trends in Formative JuuaiSm, o
Formation, Literature and Philosophy (Lanham, MD, 2002), 66.
314
JoshuaHolo
empted regional halakhic diversity that applied to other matters of
similarly quotidian bearing.
61
Jewish leadership, during a long and complicated process, gradually
replaced direct lunar observation with astronomical calculation, for
the purpose of determining the lunar cycles and intercalating them
with the solar cycles.
62
In this way, since the fourth century c.E.,
astronomy played an increasing, if controversial, role in
predetermining the Jewish lunisolar year.
63
And though the precise
mathematical formulae and the applications remained in flux for
some centuries, the principal of calculation based on astronomy
prevailed.
64
The final stage of standardization took the form of a
fierce dispute between Saadia Gaon, the pre-eminent Iraqi
authority, and Aaron ben Meir, his Palestinian counterpart,
ultimately settling in favour of the former.
65
The bone of contention,
i.e., the determination of the length of the year A.M. 4682 (C.E. 921-
922), utterly presumed both the common principles of astronomical
calculation and the fact of their applicability as Law to the entire
61
S. Stem, Calendar and Community (Oxford, 2001), 232-41. E.g., one of the
most glaring aspects of lzalakhic diversity, the question of polygyny came to the
fore as a legal matter around the tum of the first millennium in the Rhineland but
not in Muslim lands. In custom, European Jewry had abandoned polygyny some
time prior. but de jure, only in that period did R. Gersh om, 'Light of the Exile',
outlaw it; L. Finkelstein, Jewish Self-Government in the Middle Ages (New York,
1924; repr. 1964), 20-36.
62
Stem, Calendar, 241-75.
63
S. Gandz, Studies in Hebrew Astronomy and Mathematics (New York, 1970),
74, dates the shift to calculation to 359, according to a reference by medieval
Hebrew astronomer Abraham b. Hiyya, Sefer lza-ibbur, 3:7. Stem, Calendar, 139-
54; idem, 'Fictitious Calendars: Early Rabbinic Notions of Time, Astronomy and
Reality', Jewish Quarterly Review 87 (1996), 103-29, examines the dissonance
between empirically erroneous calculations and the assumptions and claims that
they reflected reality, demonstrating the difficulties of the undertaking and the
gradual process of codification into the Middle Ages.
64
For the Talmudic evolution of the calendar, see Feldman, Rabbinical
178-210; the Babylonian Talmud itself reflects the problems of
Jtbmg the computed with the observed lunar phases in one of its most famous
passages, Rosh Hashanah 24a-25b. Most importantly S Stem Calendar 98 170-
75,254. ' . ' ' '
65
H. Malter, Saadia Gaon (Philadelphia, 1921), 69-88; Stem, Calendar, 264-68;
M.D. 'About What Did Saadia Gaon and b. Meir Dispute?"'(Heb.), in
Rav Saadta Gaon, ed. J. L. Fishman (Jerusalem, 1943), 333-64.
315
Jewish world; the disputants merely challenged one another's
determination of the mathematically-defined threshold of the
Jewish New Year. That the prestige and power of the disputants
hinged directly on this debate merely reflects its centrality for the
entire Jewish world, crossing all boundaries of geography or class.
66
Thus, by the tenth century, and the lifetime of Shabbetai Donnolo,
astronomical calendation under girded the very functionality of
Jewish life, so that, despite the patent overlap between the celestial
sciences, medieval Judaism necessarily distinguished between them
in terms of the indeterminacy of astrology's occult status, on the
one hand, and astronomy's halakhic necessity on the other.
67
The legal and practical implications of astronomically based
calendation find eloquent and pithy expression in the Karaite-
Rabbanite debate.
68
The Rabbanites, the large majority of Jewry and
heretofore referred to simply as "Jews", constituted the mainstream
of Judaism and defined themselves by their adherence to both
Scripture, also called the Written Law, and Talmud, or the Oral
Law. Their opponents, the Karaites, had coalesced in ten_th-century
Palestine into an important dissenting group that reJected the
69 bb .
authority of the Talmud, its adherents and Its Ra_ . amtts
and Karaites recognized one another as Jews ethmcally, y,
nationally, and linguistically; but the stumbling block of dtffenng
religious authority prevented mutual acceptance in many matters of
66 f h th century The eminent
Later stages only ratified the conclusions o t e ten . d. t d
. . M 'd Rabad of Posqu1eres. 1spu e
twelfth-century /zalaklzist and cnt1c of a1mom es, . . f c . (read
h uestwn o ,ore1gn
questions of astronomy, unafraid of engagmg m t e q d th
1
dar See
bl
. h. the law an e ca en
idolatrous) astronomy, in for the sake of esta IS mg . M
1962
) 264-
the analysis of I. Twersky, Rabad of (Cambndgetlve
68. Though later, the example of IS also 'alculate the years
positive commandment no. 153: "To sanct1fy the months an. to c (Ex !22)
. a1 rt as Scripture says
and months only by the power of the rabbtniC cou. . g the months
'This month is for you the first of the months; first IS It for you arnon
of the year"'.
6's
68
tern, Calendar, 264-68. . . .
8
wntium (New York and
For an apt discussion, see Z. Ankon, Karmtes
111
yz
Jerusalem, 1959), ch. 7.
1970
esp. the repr. of the
69
See P. Birnbaum, ed., Karaite Studies 't' Sa'adiah Gaon'.
classic articles by S. Poznanski, 'The 129-234.
89-128, and 'The Karaite Literary Opponents of Sa a '
316
JoshuaHolo
d
. . d 70
octnne, practtce an law. One emblematic point of dispute was
the calendar. The Karaites reckoned their calendar based on direct
observation of the new Moon associated with Passover and the
arrival of agricultural spring in the Land of Israel, in accordance
with ancient practice and the biblical text.
71
Meanwhile the
Rabbanites increasingly, and by the tenth century completely, relied
on uniform astronomical calculation of the phases of the Moon and
intercalation with the solar calendar.
Various primary sources, including a Byzantine letter from the
Cairo Genizah, capture the deep rift between the two factions
especially as relates to the ongoing struggle of each side to justif;
its own calendar.
72
A Hebrew, Rabbanite missive dated to the
eleventh century on paleographic grounds and attributed to
Byzantium on the basis of its mention of the Byzantine coin, the
hyperpyron, illustrates the practical and legal implications of this
longstanding debate. In it, the unnamed author complains of Karaite
politicking, pointing out that
... the Karaites again fought against us last year. They
desecrated the divine festivals, and celebrated the New Year in
the eighth month [i.e., one month late by Rabbanite reckoning],
for they had received letters from Palestine stating that the
barley-ripening had not yet been seen in Nissan [the appointed
month of Passover], so the Passover had to celebrated in lyyar
[the following month]. A violent enmity developed between us,
and many disputes took place. The Karaites slandered [us,] the
Rabbanites, and [our] congregation was fined almost one
thousand dinars hyperpyra.
73
70
J. Olszowy-Schlanger, Karaite Marriage Documents from the Cairo Genizah
(Leiden and New York, 1998), 4-7.
71
Exodus 9:31, 34: 18.
:See L. Nemoy, An_thology (New Haven, 1952), 5, 38.
Cambndge Umversity Library, Taylor-Schechter 20.4. First published by J.
Mann, Texts and Studies in Jewish History and Literature, 2 vols. (Cincinnati,
1931-35), 1:51. Present translation adapted from Starr, Jews, 182-84; Starr reads
('YPRNYYR),
which does not correspond to unQmJQa. However, close examination of the
clearly reveals the letters which correspond nicely
With UltllQJtiJQ.
317
This fortuitous document not only captures the halakhic immediacy
of the calendar, but more trenchantly, places astronomical
calculation in the forefront of competing claims to orthodoxy.
Echoing the irreducible demands of calendrical adherence, the
Chronicle of Ahimaaz approaches physical astronomy in a way that
highlights its halakhic function. Lexical and narrative elements of
the story of Hananel reflect both a purely astronomical orientation
and a specific set of legal associations. First of all, the language of
calculation, as opposed to interpretive stargazing, is quite precise,
and matches terms that appear in other texts on astronomy.
74
Second, the story treats a situation in which objective knowledge is
either right or wrong; that is, a natural set of truths applies to the
cosmos independently of religious claims. More to the point,
adherence to the natural order of time imposes particular strictures
on the Jew, and indeed, the stakes are higher than at first they
appear. Hananel brings the quandary of apostasy on himself, insofar
as he accepts the bet, but this self-imposed peril actually sets the
stage for the real crisis, namely, the commission of a sin. Hananel
errs in a matter of law, and he must submit himself to God's mercy,
by means of a formal prayer, "forgive my error and pardon my
wrongdoing".
75
Ignoring such legal concerns, astrology as described by both the
Sejer hakhmoni and the Chronicle of Ahimaaz falls to the very
different mode of aggadah. Aggadah constitutes
7
:n
looser and less authoritative category than halakhah. Late-antique
and medieval Talmudic authorities, the primary tradents of ?oth
h
" h 1 khah can be denved
halakhah and aggadah, agree t at no a a .
from aggadot", thereby freeing individuals to a;cept or non-
h lakh
. . . h . demands And thts freedom
a tc tradttlons as t etr consctence .
correlates to aggadah's great breadth; all lore that falls
essential and binding category of halakhah may be satd to
. Seta 'Fuzzy Borders'. 72.
74
In reference to both Maimonides and Bar Hiyya. see N Moon 17:24.
82. Specifically. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of the ew
"Ahimaaz, 78-80 (Eng.); 11-12 (Heb.). .
21
Z2
76
J. Frenkel, Midrash and Aggadah (Heb.)
Hai Gaon in B. M.
n Pe'ah 2:6, 17a; Ma'aser Sheni 3:9, 51 a; Shabbat '
Lewin, O$ar ha-Geonim (Jerusalem, 1928-43), 4:59-60.
318
JoshuaHolo
under the category of aggadah.
78
Aggadah is also identified
imprecisely, with the genre of late-antique, rabbinic
known as Midrash, though Midrash in fact includes both aggadic
and halakhic texts, just as aggadah also peppers the predominantly
halakhic of Talmud.
79
More than merely a literary genre,
therefore, thts catch-all refers to the affective mode of Jewish
thinking that is characteristic of legends, homilies, ethical lessons,
parables, mysticism, etc.
8
Cast thus, astrology is cordoned off and
comparatively unmoored as aggadah. It cannot possibly speak to
the basic and obligatory considerations of law, and cannot,
therefore, inspire any response-either positive or negative-of
comparable moment.
81
Aggadah certainly has the capacity to
challenge and test orthodoxy by means of risky ideas, but if
anything, it functions as a safe context for daring theological
speculation, because once distinguished from halakhah, it cannot
materially menace it. As an aggadic approach to interpreting the
78
H. L. Strack and G. Sternberger, Introduction to Talmud and Midrash
(Minneapolis, 1996), 237-40.
79
A typical example is Pesiqta Rabbati, ed. R. Ulmer (Atlanta, 1997), 408-19, in
which Creation unfolds in terms of the zodiacal year and each constellation's
characteristics. J. H. Charlesworth, 'Jewish Astrology in the Talmud,
Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Early Palestinian Synagogues',
f!arvard Theological Review 70 (1977), 183-88, describes the variety of opinions
m the Talmud. This variety does not, in and of itself, correlate to either halakhah
aggadah, insofar as both leave ample room for disagreement. The difference
hes m what one does with the disagreement. In matters of halakhah, one cannot
abstain from opining; a choice must be made regarding the course of action
m fulfilment of the Law. In matters of aggadah, by contrast, one may expatiate,
challenge, or simply ignore. Charlesworth also briefly discusses a Shabbat 156a-
156b where the topic arises in typically aggadic mode. Other well known passages
include Nedarim 32a and Bava Batra 16b.
"'There are points at which halakhah and aggadah seem to overlap, see D. Gordis,
Scnpture and Halakhah in Parallel Aggadot', Prooftexts 5 (1985): 183-91, even
though the categories are generally invoked as fundamentally different.
" Cf. who attacked astrology in public and halakhic contexts, in an
effort I? frame his argument more forcefully and perhaps to hide his secret agenda,
ru;,<:<>rdmg to Freudenthal, Maimonides' Stance', 85, 87. But, even taking his
o JCCUons to astrology at face value as simple rejections of judicial astrology, they
can do no more than establish astrology as a danger to halakhah or a slippery
slope. Idolatry proper is not identified, wholesale and halakhical/y, with astrology,
but It does to it; see Y. T. Langermann, 'Maimonides' Repudiation
of Astrology ,m Mazmomdean Studies (New York, 1991), 2:128-9.
319
heavens, astrology opens a space for ambiguity, ambivalence and
. 82
even heterodoxy.
In stark contrast to astronomy and the halakhic concerns that
surround it, aggadah defines the astrology of Donnolo and the
Chronicle alike. Donnolo is aware of the fact that his case for the
collaborative generation of man at the hands of God and His created
universe risks offending Judaism's core monotheistic sensibilities.
So he tempers his reading with an unobjectionably orthodox
exposition of God's ultimate power and free will.
83
But in any case,
all of his astrological and cosmological daring never leaves the fold
of the established interpretive tools of aggadah. Genesis Rabbah, a
classical, verse-by-verse, aggadic reading of Genesis compiled as
early as the fifth century, already addresses the same scriptural
problem in similarly bold terms and by means of the same
exegetical methods.
84
The rabbis, the interlocutors of text, test
out various interpretations to account for the troubling plural
subject of the Genesis verse, "Let us make man in our image":
ask "With whom did God take counsel? R. Joshua b. Levt srud,
with the created heaven and earth did He take counsel"'. The
continuing exposition then goes in a very different direction
that of Donnolo, but the exegetical infrastructure of
rabbinic aggadah obviously underlies his own. Equally exphcttly
and directly aggadic is Donnolo's fragmentary, largely
astronomical work, Sejer mazzalot. There he the m?uons
of the Pleiades and Ursa Minor by means of a mythtcal
Genesis and the book of Job.
85
Additionally, Joseph Kara,
10
hts
y T L rmann Acceptance and
82
On similar lines to those proposed by ange '
1
h Thought
Devaluation: Nahmanides' Attitude towards Science'
accepted
and Philosophy 1/2 (200 I), 223-45. Rabbis variOusly threjett . rejection of
judicial astrology Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat I56a, IS e c assic . R bbah
astral powers the Jews, "Israel has no constellation", but Genesis a .
11 . th t empowers It to grow.
10:6 attributes to every blade of grass a conste ation . a f th Biblical Flood. see
83
On God's repositioning of the stars to call off the rams
0
e
Donnolo, Sejer mazza/ot, 2:261-62, and below, n. 85. .
84
Genesis Rabbah 8:3; Strack and Sternberger,

d be He. brought
85
Donnolo, Sejer mazza/ot, 7:349: "When the Holy
and the tlood

forth the flood on the earth, He took two stars from b H sought to remove the
broke forth on the earth. When the Holy One, Bless1 Minor and he tiUed
waters from the face of the earth, he took two stars roF th treason Ursa Mm<"
in the vacant spaces of the two stars in the Pleiades. or a '
320
JoshuaHolo
commentary on the book of Job (the only extant source for the Sefer
mazzalot) takes Donnolo's astronomy in precisely this aggadic
sense, and specifically quotes Genesis Rabbah-in the same section
of that midrash where R. Simon avers that "no blade of grass exists
except as under its constellation"- in order to interpret, together
with Donnolo, the movements of the Pleiades.
86
In brief, Donnolo
explicitly frames his entire cosmology and judicial astrology in
these standard and familiar aggadic terms, where ambivalence and
theological daring can flourish, without encroaching on the
fundaments of Jewish doctrine and law.
The Chronicle, in similar fashion, casts Paltiel as the interpretive
astrologer, whose skill profits him, but whose interpretations do not
impinge on the realm of divine law.
87
His endeavours as an
interpreter of the heavens belong to that broad category of
aggadah-not in the sense of Donnolo's classical exegesis, but
rather in the default sense of aggadah as all that which is not
halakhah. Paltiel's readings are indeterminate, and the concept of
transgression, which befits the breaking of the law, does ,not apply
to his failure. Unlike Hananel's calculations, Paltiel's interpretive
leeway removes astrology from astronomy's halakhic PURVIEW:
VI. CONCLUSION
If the heuristic lens of aggadah offers one model for understanding
the complexity of astrology's place in both the Sejer hakhmoni and
the Chronicle of Ahimaaz, it is not because aggadah and astrology
are necessarily or exclusively linked. That is to say, in other
contexts, legal issues do arise around the topics of prognostication
and the reading of the stars, even if they do so with considerable
collective ambiguity.
88
Tractate Pesahim, ll3b, asks: "How do we
follows after the Pleiades and demands the two stars back, saying 'Give me my
children, give me my children.' The prooftext comes from Job [38:32]: 'Can you
Ursa Minor with her sons?'" Donnolo is probably making a pun on nmo,
can mean "Will you lead?" but pointed differently, can be read as "Will she
[1.e., Ursa Minor] be consoled?"
:Ibid., 350, citing Genesis Rabbah, 10:5.
See above, p. 310.
"J. Halbronn, Le monde juif et l'astrologie (Milan, 1979), 239.
321
knoW that one should not consult Chaldeans [i.e., necromancers or
astrologers]? Because of the Biblical passage (Deut. 23: 13) that
states 'You shall be perfect with the Lord,. your God'". Echoing this
attitude, a document from the Cairo Genizah denounces astrology in
terms reminiscent of Maimonides, explicitly prohibiting the
practice.
89
Other considerations in the Talmud, however, enter the
debate as though into an aggadic matter, with correspondingly
varied opinions and without the determinative judgments of
halakhah. Such is the claim of Rava, who argues that "three things
are dependent, not on merit but on Mazza/ [zodiacal sign]: lifespan,
offspring, sustenance".
90
The matter is further complicated, moreover, by the fact that in the
Palestinian Talmud, which historically enjoyed primacy over its
Babylonian counterpart in the context of Roman Jewry, also
equivocates in the matter of astrology. R. Eliezer b. grants
that one should '"neither divine nor augur' (Lev. 19, 26) And yet,
"even divination may convey an accurate omen, especially after
three occurrences of the sign".
91
This indeterminacy only grows, as
the argument proceeds along a more aggadic path. The _of
R. Hanina go out to cut wood, when an astrologer (
declares that they will not survive the excursion. It turns out that his
prediction would have been realized, had the students not

1
h
92
In sum 1f the
the decree by an act of char1ty a ong t e way. '
Palestinian Talmud passes judgment on astrology, it also gr_ants. the
stars' power-albeit a power subordinated to divinely msp!red
deeds, such as those of loving kindness.
d t n
omy distinguished
Further clouding the matter, astrology an as ro .
ther contexts. Such 1s
or elided may serve yet other purposes m o
' d' M onides' stance on
the case as argued by Josef Stern, regar mg a1m .
. . ndments that reSISt a
astrology. According to th1s v1ew, comma . . r ht of the
logical rationale "are explained in the Gmde ml

1
ted the
historical context in which the Mosaic Law was egis a '
. . The Jew in the Medieral
., Joseph b. Judah ibn Aknin, Cure of S1ck t'
1999
) 431.
World, selected and tr. J. R. Marcus, revised ed. (Cmcmna
1
'
"' Mo' ed katan, 28a.
" Shabbat 6:9, 8d.
92
Ibid.
322
JoshliaHolo
Sabian culture centred on star-worship".
93
Being the first step on the
slippery slope to star-worship, judicial astrology therefore becomes
a hermeneutical tool in halakhic investigation. In similarly complex
fashion Maimonides, in his monumental halakhic work, the
Mishneh Torah, details celestial and earthly phenomena of only
peripherally halakhic interest.
94
The argument, therefore, is not that aggadah necessarily defines
astrology, rather that Donnolo and Ahimaaz b. Paltiel wrote as
though it did. Donnolo and the Chronicle steer clear of the
Talmudic ambiguities, and in marking the sciences as expressions
of prevailing modes of Jewish thought, they obviate, rather than
resolve, any potential tension. Their application of the line between
halakhah and aggadah to the sciences does not merely cleave
observation from interpretation but more pointedly between
observation for the purpose of calendation and everything else.
Donnolo, who engages with astronomy as a component of
astrology, subsumes both of them under the Baraita of Samuel and
describes the astral forces in unmistakably-even classic-aggadic
terms. Meanwhile the Chronicle counterpoises fortune-telling to the
astronomical calculation of the new Moon, which in turn invokes
expressly legal concerns. The firm and familiar distinction between
aggadic, affective and optional astrology on the one hand, and
halakhic, essential and compulsory astronomical calculation on the
other, not only precedes any scientific similarity, but it also pre-
empts astrology's potentially-occult aspect from threatening
orthodoxy, and thereby at least partially accounts for its general
" J. Stem, The Fall and Rise of Myth in Ritual: Maimonides versus Nahmanides
on the Huqqim, Astrology, and the War against Idolatry', The Journal of Jewish
Thought and Philosophy 6 (1997), 201-03.
"' Even the descriptive, non-computational aspect invoked Jaw, according to
Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws on the Foundations of Torah, 3. In this
halakhic work par excellence, Maimonides gives a brief outline of the physical
universe. Though he attributes a quasi-angelic consciousness to the higher celestial
bodies, he clearly treats the universe in a descriptive manner, without attributing
any judicial power to the bodies; see Langennann, 'Repudiation', 93, argues that
Maimonides did not intend his condensed cosmology in this section to be
definitive.
HebreW Astrology in Byzantine Southern Italy
323
e
95 In the larger ongoing question of monotheism and its
acceptanc ' . .
1
hip to astrology, the Chromcle and the Sejer yewah add a
re at10ns d h" 1 h
rich and organically Jewish dimension when v1ewe m t IS 1g t.
J
Charlesworth, Jewish
presented by s on
" Thus obviating the probl:m,. as d . concilability of the pos,uon
Astrology', 199, of the polarization an i1TC
astrology in the Talmud.
Charles Burnett
The Warburg Institute
Late Antique and Medieval Latin
Translations of Greek Texts on Astrology
and Magic
1
It is generally considered that Latin astrology and magic in the
Middle Ages are based on translations from Arabic. One can trace a
continuous tradition of translation from Arabic or adaptation of
Arabic doctrine, from Catalonia in the late tenth century, through
Northeast Spain and Southern France in the early twelfth century, to
Toledo from the mid twelfth to the early thirteenth century.
2
Through these translations, the corpus of texts that were the basic
fare for students of astrology throughout the Middle Ages, and that
Were printed in the Renaissance, as well as a more shadowy corpus
1
I am grateful for the help of Aurelie Gribomont, Wolfgang HUbner. Klaus
Dietrich Fischer, David Juste, Paul Kunitzsch, Emmanuelle Toulet and Hanna
Vorholt.
2
For these translations see F. J. Carmody, Arabic Astronomical and
Science in Latin Translation (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1956) L
and P. Kibre, A Catalogue of fncipits of Mediaeval Scientific Wmwgs
111
uum. -
ed. (London, 1963 ).
326
Charles Burnett.
of texts,. were _established.
3
The impression of the
dommance of Arabtc texts IS enhanced by the bibliography of text
on astrology and magic provided by the Speculum astronomiaes
written in the mid-thirteenth century:
4
the texts listed
overwhelmingly Arabic in origin. This picture, however, fails to
account for the significant Greek contribution to Medieval Latin
astrology and magic-a contribution that has largely been
underestimated and neglected. These Greek sources include both
original texts, and texts that were themselves derived from Arabic
sources. Since the Latin translations are often extant in manuscripts
considerably older than the extant manuscripts of the Greek source
texts, and sometimes preserve texts that are lost in Greek, their
study is relevant also to Byzantinists. In this article I would like to
present a brief classification of the texts on astrology and magic
known to have been translated from Greek into Latin from Late
Antiquity to the end of the Middle Ages, and to follow this with
three examples of Latin texts of Greek provenance, which merit
closer study.
In discussing Latin translations from Greek, it is dangerous to
pretend to be exhaustive. The following list includes, I hope, the
most significant texts, and their general characteristics. 5 First, there
are the translations of the Late Antique and Hellenistic period.
3
For the collections of magical texts see D. Pingree, 'The Diffusion of Arabic
Magical Texts in Western Europe', in B. Scarcia Amoretti, ed. La diffusione delle
scienze islamiche nel medio evo europeo (Rome, 1987), 57-102.
'P. Zambelli, The Speculum Astronomiae and its Enigma (Dordrecht, etc., 1992);
A. Paravicini Bagliano, Le Speculum Astronomiae, une enigme? Enquere sur les
manuscrits (Turnhout, 2001 ).
' For a more complete account of Greek texts on astrology and magic known in
Latin one would have to consider also certain quotations included in Censorious's
De die nata/i, Firmicus Maternus's Mathesis, the Alexander Romance, Pseudo-
Clement's Recognitiones and Pseudo-Galen's De spermate: see C. Burnett,
'Astrolog(, in F. A. C. Mantello and A. G. Rigg, eds., Medieval Latin: An
Introduction and Bibliographical Guide (Washington, D. C., 1996), 369-82. Not
considered here are (a) those divinatory sciences that have no astrological content
(such as physiognomy), (b) the medical tradition of "critical days", in which the
a role. A useful table of the major translations from Greek into
Latm IS given m the English version of W. Bersch in's Greek Letters and the Latin
Ages, translated by J. C. Frakes (Washington, D. C., 1988), 384-96;
m, however, does not mention a single text that concerns astrology or
magic.
Late Antique and Medieval Latin of
Greek Texts on Astrology and Magic
327
A ng these are the Asclepius, being the revelations of Hermes
translated from a lost Greek original probably in the
ns 6 'b f
I t t: urth century; the De lapidibus et eorum vmutz us o
a e o . h
Damigeron (Evax), concerning the magical powers m erent m
different stones, translated from a lost Greek pr?bably m the
fifth century;' Thessalus, De plantis duodeczm szgms et septem
plane tis subiectis (De virtutibus herbarum), . a book on
medicinal uses of plants assigned to the twelve signs of the
and the seven planets, translated in the late fifth early
century;
8
and the Preceptum Canonis Ptolomei, a Latm translatiOn,
' See B. Copenhaver, Hermetica: The Greek Corpus Hermeticum and the
Asclepius in a New English Translation (Cambndge, 1992), and P. Lucenllm
y Perrone Compagni Jtesti e i codici di Ermete nel Medwevo (Florence, 200 I),
1i-18. For the between the 'magic' of the and
C Burnett 'The Establishment of Medieval HermetiCism , m
Hermetic magic see . N y k
P. Linehan and J. L. Nelson, eds., The Medieval World (London and ew or
2001), 111-30. L l 'd grecs
7
The text has been edited by R. Halleux and J. Schamp m es
(Paris 1985) 230-97. For studies see V. Rose, 'Damigeron De , e(rme
3
s
' , f f A b'c Magical Texts n.
9 (1875) 471-91 and Pingree, The Dif us10n o ra 1 . . f
a1 rs of mscnbed stones o
above) 59-64. For two books on the magic powe . fro th d half

1
L uscnpts m e secon
apparently Greek origin, but extant on y m ann man . u d Azareus's
of the twelfth century onwards-Techel (Zethel)'s Liber slgl orum an
De lapidibus-see ibid., PP 64-67. . .
1
s in Thessalos von
8
Edited with other Greek and Latin versiOns, m parallel co u"'? ' h . am Glan
. . h d H y Friedrich (Meisen elfll
Tralles griechisch und lateuusc e .- . b g "Herbarum
1968). For the fifth/sixth-century dating of the vefSIOIIn egemrrnai:tium que quid
. . d' d tratio necnon et ste arum
smgulorum s1gnorum zo . . duzione del testo greco del De
possit. .. ", see S. Sconocchia, Problemi di tra . 'b ito a Tessalo di Tralle: i
planris duodecim signis et septem plane/IS sub.ectls an; latina medioevale',
rapporti tra Ia traduzione latina tardo-antlca e Ia .tra

e
1984
) 125-51, and
. . d G Sabbah (Samt-c 1e n .
Textes medicaux /a/Ins anllques, e . b. ( anribuito a Tessalo d1
idem 'II De plantis duodecim el septem plane/IS .ec IS d' vale' in A. Garzya
il testo greco e Ia traduzioni latine e me. IeAIIi /! convegno
. d . d . lesti medici grecl.
and J. Jouanna, eds., Srona e ec el N
1 1996
), 389-406. For the
internaziona/e (Parigi, 24-26 maggw,
1994
! ( rranslationum er
manuscripts, see D. Pingree, 'Thessalus astrol?gus ' m wtin Translations and
commenrariorum: Mediaeval and Renmssahn.ce D C ) vol. 3 1976, 83-
. d G 'd s (Was mgton, ' .
Commentaries Annotated Lists an
111
e. 'La Pivoine dans les herb1ers
86, and vol. 7, 1992, 330-32, and A. Gnbom?ntB lgica Bulletin de /'Jnstilllt
astrologiques grecs', Bo/letino de a useful tabular
historique de Beige en Rome 14 (200
4
), . al h rbals) For a discussion of the
comparison of this text and other astrologic T:all Cultural Exchange'. in
context of the work, see I. Moyer, 'Thessalos of es
328
Charles Burnett
probably made in the year beginning 29 August 534, of some
canons to the Handy Tables of Ptolemy, one of whose main
purposes was to enable an astrologer to cast horoscopes.
9
These
works appear to have been made in a context in which Greek was
familiar. All four works employ a Latin that is liberally interspersed
with Greek words, and these words are usually not followed by an
explanation in Latin. The saturation with Greek is greatest in the
Preceptum Canonis Ptolomei, which is almost unintelligible to us
as a result.
10
In Thessalus, Greek words are kept in headings to the
chapters, and many of the terms in the text are left untranslated.
11
In
Damigeron, the dedication letter includes Greek transliterations,
12
and all the stones retain their Greek names, without Latin
explanations. The Asclepius is headed with a Greek title and keeps
key terms in Greek, such as "huH:" ("matter"), "ousiarkhai" (the
title of celestial rulers), "ousia" ("essence"), and "heimarmene"
("fate"). This kind of translation method is summed up in the
preface of the anonymous, probably late fourth century work, the
Liber de physiognomonia "Ex tribus auctoribus": "certainly, where
the translation or interpretation was difficult for me, I put the Greek
names and terms themselves."
13
S. Noegel, J. Walker and B. Wheeler, eds., Prayer Magic and the Stars in the
Ancient and Late Antique World (University Park, Penn., 2003), 39-56.
9
See D. Pingree, 'The Preceptum Canonis Ptolomei', in J. Hamesse and M.
Fattori, eds., Rencontres de cultures dans Ia phi/osophie medieva/es (Louvain-la-
Neuve and Cassino, 1990), 353-75. The canons have been edited by idem,
Preceptum Canonis Ptolomei, CAB VIII (Louvain-la-Neuve, 1997). The extant
tables deal only with the movements of the Sun and the Moon.
10
E.g., Preceptum Canonis, section 2: mecos civitatum et hiperoce earum
computatio (a heading); isemerinam; ortho mecei; section 3: themelios; section 4:
icosapenteeterida etc.
11
I give the column and line numbers of Friedrich's edition corrected from
Sconocchia, Problemi (n. 8 above), followed by the equivalent ;erms in the later
translation of Thessalus in brackets: p. 87, I (heading) Tauri peristereon orthos
(verbena ... ); p. 87,7 epiphoram (malas dispositiones); 92, 12-13 pterygia quoque
et sycoses, chalazia (omitted in the later translation); p. 107, 2 rhegmata (rapturas);
P 107, 10 anabrosis (comestiones); p. 127,6 catapotia (pillule); p. 258, 3 acopum
etc. ,
See ed. Halleux and Schamp, 230-231: "allophylis" and "hieratika."
" "Sane ubi difficilis mihi translatio vel interpretatio fuit graeca ipsa nomina et
verb "An '
SO. a posUJ: onyme latin traite de physiognomonie, ed. J. Andre (Paris, 1981),
329
A different situation, a couple of centuries later, is indicated by a
rsion of Aratus's Phaenomena. Three poetic adaptations of this
poem on the constellations the.
of stars as weather signs) had been made m Classical times, but. m
the first half of the eight century a verbum e verbo prose translatiOn
was produced by an anonymous author in

This
gives the impression of being merely a transcnpt of the Lat.m
written above each word of the Greek text, in a context m w tc
Greek was no longer understood and no Greek speaker was
available for consultation.
In the mid-twelfth century a group of texts on the magical
properties of animals, plants and stones translated, by
Pascalis Romanus working in Constantmople. Pascalts certamly
translated the of Hermes and Harpo.kration. in 1169, and
may well have been responsible for the Latm verstons of other
works in the same genre that appear on the scene at the
time-Alexander Magnus's Liber de septem herbis, the medteval
... translation of Thessalus's De plantis duodecim sig.nis et
,. . Fl Af 's CompendiUm aureum.
planet is subiectls, and accus ncus . .
One may add to this group of texts
(1165) a book on dream interpretation conststmg
' k d b ks of Artemtdorus and
chapters translated from the Gree ream
00
. . . which
'Achmet' (the Oneirocriticon); the complete ..
. a!
1
t d from Greek mto Latm m
is based on Arabic maten was a e 16 All these
1176 by another resident of Constantmople, Leo Tuscus.
. A Re/'quiae (Berlin, 1898), 175-
14 Edited by P. Maass, Commentariorum m ratum
1
H Le Bourdelles,
306. For the dates and the characteristics of the sedeans. le Nord de Ia
I 1
Ia langue anne
L'Aratus Latinus. Etude sur la rure e .
1 1985
), esp. 136-47. and the
France au VIlle siecle (Umverstte de Ltlle
11
S:..brid e
19
97), 52-55.
summary in Aratus, Pltaenomena, ed. D. Ktdd (C . /g ' (
3
4-44 The works of
"For these texts see Lucentini and Perrone
.testhl,e introduction to his

. ed by Pasca ts m if
Alexander and Thessalus are menuon k' Studies in the History o
translation of the Kyranides: see C. H. Has

219
. The pseudonymous
Mediaeval Science, 2nd ed. 'which betrays the Arable
"Flaccus" describes himself as a puptl of Be Ail these works are edtted by
form of the name of Apollonius of Cyran ides and Par1s.
L. Delatte in Textes latins et vieuxjranftltS relatl
1942). . . .
12
Jahrhundert (Leiden. 1998),
"See T. Ricklin Der Traum der Phllosophle B k n Dream /nterpretatum:
chapter 3, 247-270; and M. Mavroudi, A Byztlnltne
00 0
330
Charles Burnett
translations are written in a utilitarian but idiomatic Latin
f?llowing sense of_ the _Greek rather than giving a slavish!;
literal rendenng. TransliteratiOns of Greek words are avoided or are
accompanied by a Latin gloss.
17
In the case of the translation of
Thessalus, many of the words which, in the late Antique translation,
were retained in Greek, now appear in Latin or are absent, while the
translation is altogether more free.
18
Pascalis himself describes his
method of translation in his preface to the Kyranides: "I have
striven faithfully to make <my translation> as good as the Greek
book throughout, by picking up not the words, which are <in
themselves> of a barbarous sterility, but rather the sense, which is
useful."
19
The mid to late thirteenth century saw the completion of the
translation of the works of Aristotle (including several
pseudepigrapha) directly from Greek into Latin, along with several
of the Greek commentaries. Probably as a result of the same zeal
for completeness in respect to astrology, we find translations of
astrological works, by Stephen of Messina and William of
Moerbeke. Stephen, who dedicated his works to Manfred, king of
Sicily from 1258 to 1266, translated from Greek the substantial text
on anniversary horoscopes by Abo Ma'shar-the Liber de
revolutionibus nativitatum
20
- and perhaps also the anecdotes
the Oneirocriticon of Achmet and its Arabic Sources (Leiden, 2002), 112-16. See
also the introduction to, and edition of, the Liber thesauri occu/ti, by S. Collin-
Rose! in Archives d'histoire doctrina/e et/iueraire du Moyen Age, 30 ( 1964), 111-
98.
17
This is necessary in the Kyranides, in which the Greek terms for the plants,
animals, birds, and fish, have to be retained because the work is arranged
alphabetically according to them.
18
See II above. For a detailed comparison of the late Antique and medieval
ofThessalus, see Sconocchia, Problemi (n. 8 above).
L1brum Grecum ... fideliter per omnia emulatus sum ... non verba, que de
sterilitate barbarica sunt, sed sensum utilitatis recolligendo:" see Haskins Studies,

"'The text of this work has been edited by David Pingree (Leipzig, 1968);
the Arabic and Latin versions are currently being edited by Keiji y amamoto and
the present author. A Renaissance edition of the Latin text by H. Wolf is printed
the brevis compilatio Hermetis Philosophi de revolutionibus
natiVItatum hber pnmus translatus de graeco in latinum" in
... = In Claudii Ptolemaei quadripartitum
narrator tgnoti nominis, quem ramen Proclum fuisse quidam existima/11. Item
331
d
by Abu
- Ma'shar's pupil, Shl!dhl!n: the Liber
recollecte
a
tionum.
21
William, in turn, translated Ptolemy's
rememor 22
1

.,. b'blos from Greek before 1281. These trans allons are
Ietra I . L . . I t f
h a
cterised by a careful attention to findmg a atm eqmva en or
car I' . ) A
every word in the original text (Greek trans. IteratiOns are . s
M f d himself wrote in a letter announcmg new translations of
G an {eand Arabic works of Aristotle and other philosophers to the
of Paris University, the Latin provided new cl_ot_hes
for texts which had long languished m their unchanged ongmal
dress.
23
Of uncertain, but presumably a late-medieval, date are the
substantial astrological work, the Liber de triginta sex decants that
is attributed to Hermes and based directly on Greek sources, extant
in one Latin manuscript of 1430 A.D. and an early fourte_enth-
century Picard translation of chapters 24 and 25;24 (b) the et
virtutes herbarum secretarum septem p_lanetarum
Ptolemy, and extant in only one manuscnpt of the seco
.. Ph .
1
so hi introductio in Prolemaei
Porphyriou philosophou Eisagoge ... Porphyrll
0
p{/ hi De revolutionibus
opus de effectibus astrorum. Praeterea Hermells 'osop
nativitatum libri duo, incerto imerprete

hen calls "the Centilvquiwn
21
This is the main source of the compendmm that ,/. h Arabic Greek. and
. , S a' AM IYia s ar 10
of Hermes": see D. P10gree, The aymgs " ed Ratio et Superstitio
Latin', in G. Marchetti, 0. Rignani and V. Sorge, s.,
(Louvain-la-Neuve, 2003), 41-57. .
1
of this translation: see L.
"There is one completeand one fragmentary de Moerbeke du
Anthonis, '/udicia/ia ad Synun: une traductron We V hamel eds . Guill<wme
J Bamsand an
Quadripartitum de Cl. Ptolt!mee
10
r . d
700
anniversaire de sa mort
de Moerbeke: Recueil d'hudes ii u :. of Anthonis's licenlialc
(1286) (Leuven 1989), 253-255. Ths article IS a sumk ary een anonieme latijnse
. I . h onderzoe over
dissertation: 'Tekstkritisch en
1984
). .
vertaling van Cl. Ptolemaeus' Tetrabrblos (Leuven. deb t (1225-40) du premer
23
The letter is edited in R. Gauthier: sur 66 (1982): 321-
Averro'isme' Revue des sciences plu/osophtques e
1
from Arabic into Luun
74 (see pp 323-4) and discussed in Burnett, S G Lofts and P. W.
in the Middle Age's: Theory Practice, and CnUcism '
111
.' de nrethodc>logie
' . . terpriter: essau
Rosemann eds Edirer, rradurre. m
67
8)
. .' N 1997) 55-78 (esp. - . . <leamis
phtlosophtque (Louvam-la- euve, . t De sex . '
24
Latin and Picard texts edited in Hermes (in both '-'
ed. S. Feraboli (Tumhout, 1994). Chapter
2
.
0
k der Tierkreiszeichen. 2 'ols.
edited in W. HUbner, Grade und Gradbeztr e
(Stuttgart and Leipzig, 1995).
332
Charles Burnett
the fifteenth century;
25
and (c) the latromathematicum attributed to
Hermes Trismegistus and addressed to Ammon, dealing with the
diseases caused by the Moon in each of the twelve signs of the
zodiac and their cures, translated anonymously before 1489.26
Aside from the preceding translations, which have been listed in
roughly chronological order, there is the large and murky field of
untechnical prognostica, including lunaria, zodiologia,
d1vmat10n by planetary days, onomantic texts and parapegmata.
21
Most of these would seem to derive ultimately from Greek
prototypes: Greek words are frequent, and several parallels between
Greek and Latin texts can be adduced. In the case of the onomantic
text, the Letter of Petosiris to Nechepso, very similar Greek
analogues are extant.
28
This Letter explains the use of a table that
"tv.'S Vat. lat. 11423, fols. lr-33v (acephalous; begins "De prima herba Solis quae
pan stella vocatur ... "). A. Pazzini provides a detailed introduction to, and an Italian
translation of, the text in Virtu delle erbe secondo i sel/e pianeti: l'erbario detto di
Tolomeo e quelli de altri astrologi (Milan, 1959). Pazzini considers the Latin text
to be a translation of a lost Greek text, first written before the eighth/ninth century
:u'd then revised between the thirteenth and fifteenth century (during which time
mformatmn from Arabic alchemy was incorporated): see ibid., 139. The Latin text
has not yet been edited. The work lacks its first folio, but within the text there are
several. apostrophes of Ptolemy to his daughter: foL 9r "Cara filia cognitionem
hums ttbt ostendam ... ;" fol. l6v-l7r "Filia dulcissima secretum huius <h>erbe tibi
fol. 28r "filia dulcissima unica nata ut videas et cognoscas quod sub
velamme met cordts te habeo radicatam:" Pazzini, 131. The presence of vernacular
elements and apostrophes of this kind are reminiscent of the Judicia of Ptolemy
discussed below. This needs further investigation.
26
See Lucentini and Perrone Campagni, /testi, 53-54. This text is extant in three
manuscripts, and was published in Johannes Stadius, Ephemerides novae et
;xactae ab amw 1554 ad annum 1570 (Cologne, 1556), sig a3r-b3v.
See D. Juste, Les Alchandreana primitifs: Etude sur les plus anciens traites
astrolog1ques latins d'origine arabe (Xe siec/e) (in press).
"' The Latin translation is found in manuscripts from the ninth century onwards,
and ":as mcorporated into the earliest Latin astrological corpus to include Arabic
matenal: the Alchandreana: see D. Juste, 'Les Doctrines du Liber Alchandrei', in
I. Draelants, A. Tihon and B. van den Abeele, eds., Occident et Proche-Orient:
Contacts s:ientifiques au temps des Croisades (Turnhout, 2000), 277-311 (esp.
284), and tdem, 'L' Astrologie latine du VIe au Xe siecle' (These de maitrise,
Brussels, 1997), 127-9 and Plate VII. For transcriptions of a Latin manuscript and
several Greek . of the text, see E. Riess, 'Nechepsonis et Petosiridis
fragmen.ta rnagtca , Phi/ologus 6, Supplementband (Gottingen, 1892), 383-87; for
the text see Patrologia Latina, 90, cots 963-6, T. Tolles, 'The Latin
l.radttion of the Episto/a Petosirldis', Manuscripta 26 (I 982), 50-60 and Juste,
Gteek Texts on Astrology and Magtc
333
redicts the outcome of an illness, and other events, by means of
number-equivalents of the letters of the client_'s name .and the
days of the Moon.
29
But, in the of. the Latm (each
taking the form of predictions and mstruct10ns on activities for each
of the days of the calendar month) and zodiologia (a similar
based on the position of the Moon in the signs of the zodtac),
there are some striking similarities am?ng the
Greek selenodromia, no Latin version can be descnbed as a direct
translation of a Greek version (or vice versa).
30
The purpose of the remaining part of this article is to in_vestigate
three texts which fall within this last field, the first of which deals
with choosing activities (including the making of talismans)
according to the position of the Moon in its "mansions"/' and the
second and third of which are two versions of ultimately the same
Greek parapegma. In no case is there a Greek text that .can be
shown to be the origin of the Latin text, but it is my contention that
'L'astrologie latine' 128-29. Other Latin onomantic texts dating from the same
' . k al e g the Sphere ot
P
eriod as the Letter of Petosins also have Gree an ogues. k .
h bl the Sphaera Demo ruon
Apuleius (or Plato, or Pythagoras), whtc resem es . ., Jahrbuch
edited by A Dieterich in 'Papyrus magica musei LugdunenSIS Batavl
898) 813 14 and the
'"r classische Philologie Supplementband 16 (I - ' .
1
' t. 1
J" . ) h' h combmes e emcn s o
subiectum (also somellmes attnbuted to Pythagoras w tc
1
.
1
130-
. J te 'L'astro ogre aune
the Letter of Petosiris and Sphere of Apulems: see us ' d ts Latin
33. The Letter of Petosiris, however, is the most literary of these texts an
1

f th ther onomanttc texts.
and Greek versions are closer than those
0
e
0
. h i. engaged in a
29
The Letter of Petosiris uses for the divisions of
contest, and the Greek names of the planets;
11
keeps th bl 'tself In the text
. . . . h G k letters on the ta e ' .
the table m Greek, wh1le retrumng t e ree 'kra thanatos megas,
the Greek is transliterated as "zoe megale, mese zoe, zoe

'k .. J
1
'L'astrologte latme .
meso thanato, thanato mt ro: see us e, . . v m Fortleben anuker
30
This was the conclusion of Max Forster
10
hts h ? Anglia 67/68 (194-l).
Sammellunare im Englischen und. in anderen ;n Svenberg. De /atinsko
l-171 (esp. 35-7), which has smce been nuanc d (Gothenbutg.
lunaria (Gothenburg, 1936), 142-52, E. 'tina Gothenburg. !963). 5-6.
1942), 19-20, E. Svenberg, Lunaria et Zodwlogw La kh <, lunar (Pattensen/Han ..
and C. Weisser, Studien zum mittelalterlichen Kran e s
1982), 80-83. . . h's Lunaria et Zodiologia
31
Svenberg included a text on the lunar manstons m
1
82
, (12" c.) fols. 11v-
Latina 45-59 but this text [MS British Library,

and "nativities", which
'th "chotces
24r], deals only with "nativities" rather than

art of the Alchandrean rex I known
are the subjects of the text discussed here. ltts P
from its incipit as Benedictum (= ch. 18).
334
Charles Burnett
all three texts are based on a Greek Vorlage, and that their study
illuminates the processes whereby a Greek text is dressed in Latin.
* * * *
The first two texts accompany each other in the manuscripts and in
a Renaissance printed edition. They will be referred to as De Luna
secundum Aristotilem (= DL) and De temporum mutatione (= DTM)
respectively. The context of these two works is as follows:
H London, MS British Library, Harley 5402 (12'h century).
Fols. lr-15r, Pseudo-Ptolemy, ludicia, including, on fol. 14v, DTM
(after the chapter on "whether you will form a friendship with
someone," and before the last chapter "whether you will have a
wife whom you love"); fols. 15v-16r, two astrological tables; fols.
17r-69r, Sahl ibn Bishr's astrological collection; fol. 69r-v,
astrological and divinatory notes; fols. 70r-104v, a later codex.
32
C Chantilly, MS Musee Conde 322 (641) (14'h century). Fols.
121 v-124v, texts from the Alchandreana; fols. 125r-136r, missing;
fols. 137r-138r, DTM; fols. 138r-139r, DL; fol. 139v, the chapter
on the fixed stars from the De utilitatibus astrolabii, fols. 140r-
14lr, Spheres of Pythagoras and Apuleius with an onomantic
alphabet.
33
32
See Burnett, 'Latin Alphanumerical Notation and Annotation in Italian in the
Twelfth Century: MS London, British Library, Harley 5402 , in M. Folkerts and
R. Lorch, eds., Sic itur ad Astra: Studien zur Geschichte der Mathematik und
Naturwissenschaften. Festschrift fiir den Arabisten Paul Kunitzsch zum 70.
Geburtstag (Wiesbaden, 2000), 76-90.
33
De utilitatibus astrolabii, c. xvii, in N. Bubnov, Gerberti postea Silvestri II
papae Opera mathematica (972-1003) (Berlin, 1899), 136-38. Only the works of
Sacrobosco, Bartholomew of Parma (his Geomancy) and Alcabitius are adequately
described in the fullest catalogue description of this manuscript: L. Delisle.and G.
Macon, Chantilly, le Cabinet des livres: manuscrits, 3 vols. (Paris, 1897-1900), I,
258--00. This catalogue describes the manuscript as having been written in Italy at
the end of the fourteenth century. The date 29 November 1438 has been written on
one of the flyleaves.
Greek Texts on Astrology and Magtc
335
K Copenhagen, MS Kongelige Biblioteket, Gl. Kgl. Sam/.
3499 (15th century). Fols. 92v-95v, DL.
34
M Madrid, MS Biblioteca naciona/10053 (13'h century). Fols.
27r-32vb, Pseudo-Ptolemy, ludicia; fol. 32vb, DL.
35
T Munich, MS Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, elm 18927 (13'h
century). Fols. 76v-77r, 92v-93v, 97r-98r and 120v-129r, Pseudo-
Ptolemy, Iudicia; fols. 129r-129v, DL (breaks off after mansiOn
12).
L Peter Liechtenstein, Sacratissime astronomie Ptholomei
liber diversarum rerum, printed Venice, 1509. Fols.

Pseudo-Ptolemy, Iudicia; fols. 13r-13v, DL; fols. 13v-14r, DTM.
DL and DTM have both been edited by the present author in
publications.
37
However, these editions have failed to take. mto
account the Chantilly manuscript, which provides the most reliable_
readings for both texts, and is the only witness to the second of
DL (lunar mansions 15-28). Hence editions based on the Chantilly
manuscript have been provided in the Appendix.
. . ,
1
ar mansions 2-13 into the
34
This manuscript inserts DL's prescnpttons ,or un . . d P
. . . H siB I nus see Lucentml an errone
L1ber 1maginum Lunae attnbuted to erme e e
Campagni, I testi, 71. . entales en los
" Described in J.-M. Millas Vallicrosa, Las tradu_ccwnes o;;0-
202
manuscritos de Ia Biblioteca Catedral de Toledo (Madnd:

, Add 10775.
,. . d t MS Brlllsh 1 rar).
The whole of this imprmt has been cope tn TM fols 330v-332v).
fols. 298r-329r (for DL see fols. 329r-330v; for D . Albertus Magnus
Nicolas Weill-Parot has pointed out that the DIM ts also ctNt Wyll-Parot Magie
. . . . . see . et ,
m h.ts Scripta super quattuor l1bros Ia magie astrale (Xlle-XVe
solatre et magie lunaire: le soletl et Ia lune dan
siocle)', Micrologus 12 (2004), 43-133 (esp. t69-
7
0). k Astrological Magic
37
For DL see Burnett, 'Arabic, Greek, and Latin ;, eds .. Pseudo
attributed to Aristotle', in J. Kraye, W F. Ryan an . Magic and Dil'immon
Aristotle in the Middle Ages (London, 1986), 84-
96
relpr ..
10
nd Christian World.<
. h the Is am1c a .
1
.
m the Middle Ages: Texts and Tee mques Ill An Unknown Latin Verston o
(Aldershot, 1996), article III; for DTM see S in the /udicia of Pseudo-
an Ancient Paraplgma the Weather-Forecastmg tars nts Count Essars ""
M k'ng Instrume
Ptolemy', in R. G. W. Anderson et al., eds., a
1
Gerard L'Estrange Tumer
Historical Scientific Instruments presented to
(Aldershot, 1993), 27-41.
336
Charles
The first text, De Luna secundum Aristotilem (DL), is ultimately
based on an Arabic work of which the most complete form is
described as being the kitab al-makhzan ("the book of what is
stored/the treasure") of Hermes. This work is included in a text
called kittib al-ustuwwaras, which purports to be Aristotle's advice
to Alexander the Great-hence the attribution of this text to
Aristotle.
38
DL gives instructions on which talismans to make, and
other things to do and avoid doing, and the character of the
newborn girl or boy, when the Moon enters each of its 28 lunar
mansions. The information on the characters of children in the
Greek MS Oxoniensis, Cromwell 12, derives from the same Arabic
source.
39
No equivalent has yet been found in Greek for the rest of
the prescriptions in DL-in particular, the making of talismans-
but there are several reasons for thinking that the Latin text has
been transmitted via Greek rather than directly from Arabic.
The first feature that one notices is the use of the word "selini" for
Moon. This is not only Greek (selene) but exhibits Greek
vernacular pronunciation. A Byzantine context is suggested by the
use of "basileus" (with the Latin accusative ending "basileum") in
addition to its Latin equivalent "imperator". It is noticeable, also,
that the translator uses, by preference, Latin words of Greek origin
throughout the text: e.g. "astrum" for "star/constellation" instead of
the more usual words "stella", "sidus" or ''constellatio"; "idolum"
for "talisman/statue" instead of the more usual "imago" or "statua";
"angelus" instead of "spiritus"; and "scandalum" for "harm" instead
of "impedimentum". These features may suggest that the text is
based on a Greek version of the Arabic text, in which the Greek
cognates of these words may have been used, though one could also
ascribe them to a Latin writer's predilection for Greek words, and
the fact that a Latin vocabulary for talismans had not yet been
forged. More striking is the evidence provided by the syntax.
The formula for the Moon entering each of its mansions consists of
a verb of motion ("descendere", "vadere", "ire", "pertransire", or
38
_see Burne!' 'Lunar Astrology. The Varieties of Texts Using Lunar Mansions,
With EmphaSIS on Jafar Indus', Micrologus 12 (2004), 43-133 (esp. 47-9, and 51).
39
See the edition of S. Weinstock in CCAG, llCI (Brussels, 1951), 141-56, and
Burnett, 'Arabic, Greek, and Latin Works on Astrological Magic', 95-96.
Greek Texts on Astrology and Mag1c
337
"venire") plus the Arabic preposition "bi"_ which_ become
similated into the Arabic name of the mansiOn (as tt ts m Arabtc
e.g. vero descendit.,beltubarii (Ar.: b_i'l-dab_aran), ut
utem descendtt beltarfa (Ar.: bt Harf), cum vadtt belctbe (Ar..
etc. The formula "quando descendit be-", in
is reminiscent of the Arabic "idhii !)alia bi" ("when it alights m"),
the primary meaning of "!)alia" being to alight from one's. camel
when one arrives at one's destination. On the only two occaswns on
which the Arabic names of the lunar mansions do not appear,
however, the author uses, respectively, a normal Latin expression
(mansion 3: "Cum hec astra

and, ... a direct
equivalent in Greek of the Arabtc expressiOn: m_anst?n I 8. Quan_do
vadit stincardiam scorpii" < "Quando vadtt ezs ten kardzan
scorpii".
41
The transliteration of a Greek phrase here wo_uld suggest
that an Arabic text has been transmitted via Greek to Latin.
The Latin of DL is crude, and appears to be written by
who does not know the language very well. This may
'b " "gratia Det
unidiomatic expressions-"Aristoteles plemor artt us
ubique" "infans aut mulier" (for "boy or girl"), "uxorem non
' 'f after words of
tollas," etc-and the absence of Latm prepost tons
motion.
. T'M "th arapegma of Pseudo-
The De temporum mutatzone (D or e P h. h
. f pegmata w tc
Ptolemy") belongs to the Antique genre
0
para
1
' d the
. . rm that corre ate
were calendars in eptgraphtc or wntten o . . .
'th th nsmgs and settmgs
days and months of the civil calendar WI e . t d with
. . . d th weather assocta e
of conspicuous stars, and mdtcate e
1
d d that DTM
these dates.42 In my earlier article I had cone u e d by Aetios
. th t was also use
denved from a lost Greek parapegma a
.. tra" may imply an alternative
40
Paul Kunitzsch has pointed out to me that hec as
1
"a! naim" ("the
"al th yya") name Y '
name for the Pleiades (usually ura ' Sternnomenk/amr der
star/asterism"): cf. P. Kunitzsch, Untersuchungen zur
Araber (Wiesbaden, 1961), no. 186. . h t s found in the manuscripl.
41
This seems to be the most likely explanauon of w to the following deftnlle
and shows that the preposition in Greek been attac . .
article+ noun,just as happens in the ArabiC. h t'cal Astronomy (Berhn elc ..
" 'A cient Mal ema
1
ec L
See 0. Neugebauer, A H1story o, n. . f ancient paraptgmata. s
1975), 587-89. For a useful recent
2003
), 20--26.
Taub, Ancient Meterology (London and New
338
Charles Burnett
of Amida (early sixth century) in his Greek medical encyclopedia
the Tetrabiblos,
43
but DTMs immediate Greek source (1) had
revised to accommodate it to the Byzantine year, which started on 1
September;
44
and (2) had incorporated an Arabic element: the star
name "Alferat" (=Pegasus).
That DTM is a translation from Greek is indicated by the fact that
all the star names are Greek. Some Greek star and constellation
names had already been incorporated into Latin texts in the
Classical period, but DTM includes many more, and the
transliteration used indicates that the Latin author was simply
transcribing the Greek words according to their Byzantine
vernacular pronunciation.
45
Evidence for this vernacular
pronunciation is the writing of Greek "e", "ei", "oi" and "u" as "i"
(lampetes (?) > lapsidis; pleiades > pliades; protrugeter >
protrigintis; eriphoi > erifi; stakhus > sichis; kuon > cion; hudra >
idre gen.);
46
the writing of "ai" as "e" (aiga (?)>ega; khelai > kele);
the vocalization of unvoiced consonants (lampetes (?) > lapsidis),
and the dropping of the aspirate (hyades > yades; hippos > ipos).
The colloquial nature of the Greek is also possibly indicated by the
variants in the star/constellation names, implied by the Latin
transcriptions: lapsidis < lampetes ="the lustrous one", rather than
Iampros = "the bright (sci!. star)";
47
esion/egon/exion < aigeion =
43
In Burnett, 'A parapegma', an English translation of the corresponding text of
Aetios (Tetrabiblos, I, 3, ch. 164) is printed opposite the edition of DTM. This
parapegma was evidently well known in Greek, since a version (again beginning
in March), written in colloquial Greek in MS St Petersburg, Academy of Sciences,
XX Aa-8, is printed in CCAG, XII, 109-12, and it was one of the sources of the
text in MS Escoria/I.R.l4, printed in CCAG, IX. I, 129-37 (beginning in January).
See also Lydus, Liber de Ostentis, ed. C. Wachsmuth (Leipzig, 1897) and F. Boll,
Griechische Ka/ender II. Der Kalender der Quintilier und die Oberliefenmg der
Geoponica, Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften,
Philos.-hist. Klasse, 1911, I (Heidelberg, 1911).
44
I owe. this observation to D. Pingree. In Aetios the paraptgma begins with 19
March (t.e. supposedly the Spring equinox).
45
This does not necessarily suggest dictation, because most non-learned Greek
and magical texts at the time were written down as they were spoken.
Thts can be seen from glancing at the apparatus criticus of any volume of the
CCAG.
46
The only exception to this is kele < khelai.
Cf. in the Katowice and Prague MSS (discussed below).
Lampros ts the techmcal description of the "bright star of the Hyades" (= ex Tau,
339
"the goat-(star)", rather than "aix" = "the goat", and frictos <
briktos for Hydra. The term used throughout the text for
e tting"-"ponere" ("to put")-may be explained as a calque on
se . . . " ,
the Greek "dunein", whose pnmary meamng IS to put on ,
combined with the vernacular use of derivatives of "ponens" for the
West.
48
The unidiomatic Latin of the text suggests that it was by
someone who was not well schooled in Latin. This exp.lam the
use of expressions like "ut" + the perfect subJ.unchve. for
"since/because"; "usque in" for "for" (expressing durah?n of
" arulum" used as a diminutive of "parum"; "anhcanus for
p . . f" . " d" t"
antecanis"; and the random vanatwn o pomt an pone
At some stage (either when the text was translated, or afterwards),
Latin equivalents to the Greek star/constellation names were added.
Some of these show evidence of knowledge of the traditional
literature on the constellations, especially of the
10
. VIII fr hich a phrase- stella
Pliny's Natural H1story, bk X , om w . , .
L ccidit matutma -has
regia appellata Tuberom 10 pectore eoms o
d 'fi d 'th the
been quoted.
49
Hence, too, the Pleiades are I enh
1
e WI
. h " 1 " In other cases,
"virgilie" and the Hyades With t e sucu e
' b d for the Greek word
however, the Latin author seems to e prov1 mg
. ' Tetrabib/os in the fomls
Aldebaran), which appears m s AI gest: Die Synwxis
"Lampadias!Larnpauras:" see P. Kumtzsch, Derh l "!ascher Oberliejerrmg
Mathematica des Claudius Ptolemaus in arablsC ateml . k II 7 However.
. G d und Gradbezlf e, .
(Wiesbaden, 1974), 267 and W. HUbner, ra . t n the constellation ot
Aetios and the Katowice manuscript are descnbtng a s ar
1
ly for the Pleiades on
Leo (Jan. 15), which DTM appears to have substituted wrong
6 Nov. . " . " back-formation appears in ,the
48
E.g. Italian "ponente", Spantsh pontente, a .
0
, rd MS Bodleian. (an.
. ' L 'b rticu/arls ( x,o ' .
Italtanate Latin of Michael Scot s ' er pa ik ) "a Ievante usque '"
misc. 555, fol. 2ra, transcribed by Oleg :;;esense of"is calm" (cf.
ponentem." The use of "obscurari" for "kathtstas
10
) 1 s exphcable. ...
"serenare" in the Katowice manuscnpt ts es . t rm used for "setnng
., d' t d by the dtfferent e . 1. P
That this is an insertion is also m tea e
1
d m my earlier arttc <
istrans ate f h
"occidit" rather than "ponit". (The phrase was m I' b Tubero in the breast
0 1
'
40. The correct translation is: "the star called 'roy a lyustr't" is mentioned in lh<
th " ustos P a \
Lion sets at dawn"). That Icarus. was e c , Phaenomena: see Bumen. '
scholia to Germanicus's translatton of Aratus. h
parapegma', 38. I owe the correction to Paul Kumtzsc
340
Charles Burnett
a translation that has no equivalent in Latin astronomical literature:
e.g. "stakhus" = "suboles," "lampetes" = "lucidus," and "phriktos"
= "<h>orridus." The single Arabic star-name-Alferat (i.e. al-
faras)-is also translated literally, as "the horse" ("equus"), rather
than identified with the constellation Pegasus. 5
At some stage both DL and DTM became associated with Pseudo-
Ptolemy's Judicia. This is shown not only by their occurrences
adjacent to, or within copies of, the Judicia/' but also by phrases at
the beginning and the ends of the texts, which recall phrases of the
Judicia. The last sentence of DL is the same as a chapter within the
Judicia,
52
while the opening words of DTM recall phrases in the
Judicia in which "Ptolemy" addresses his son "Aristo/Eriston" in a
familiar way,
53
and the terminology in the final section of DTM
(provided by MS Conly) is that of the Judicia.
54
Further examples
of this phraseology and terminology can be found in certain texts
within the tenth-century Latin astrological corpus of the
Alchandreana, to which Pseudo-Ptolemy's Judicia is related.
55
In
the Chantilly manuscript, as it presently stands, DTM and DL
immediately follow some texts which reflect an early stage of the
Alchandreana, but a gap in the foliation indicates that 12 folios
once separated them from these Alchandreana: these folios may
have contained further Alchandreana, or even Pseudo-Ptolemy's
Judicia.
"' This Arabic star-name does not occur in any of the Greek texts of this
paraptgma listed above (n. 43).
" See above 334-335.
"See apparatus criticus ad lac.
" Judicia, MS H, fol. 2r: "Si enim hec, ftli mi, non ignoraveris, sine
<h>esttattone ad preterita, presentia, futura tempora dicenda pervenire poteris";
and fol. 6v "hec regula que tibi dicetur ab animo tuo non labatur."
"E.g. "turris" for sign of the zodiac. "Puncta" for "minutes" is also a characteristic
of older Latin texts on astronomy (give examples), but, as far as I can see, minutes
are never mentioned in Pseudo-Ptolemy's Judicia.
" E.g., _the phrase "hec regula ab animo tuo non labatur" (vel. sim.) occurs in
Proporhones 16.1, 42.1 and 56.1. Another text of the A/chandreana is headed 'De
iudiciis vitae per XII turres' (I owe these references to David Juste, whose
Les plus anciens traites astrologiques latins d'origine arabe (Xe
&lecle) ts m the pressi
A t
. ue and Medieval Latin Translations of
Late n1q . 1
Greek Texts on Astrology and Mag1c
341
The Alchandreana are the. earliest Latin texts to describe Arabic
I
cal doctrines whtch were probably drawn from Arab1c
astro ogt ' .
n Catalonia or al-Andalus. One text denved from Greek-
sources 1 .
the Letter of Petosiris to Nechepso.- was added to th1s corpus by
the scribe of Paris, Bibliotheque nauonale de France, MS lat. 17868
in the tenth century. It is plausible that DL an? DTM were also
added to this corpus, perhaps at the same time that Pseudo-
Ptolemy's Judicia was composed. The provenance and sources of
this substantial work on judicial astrology have ?,ot yet . been
ascertained.
56
The presence of Arabic terms such as 1d
gradibus" (Arabic "daraja" = "degree"), and "borges . est turres
(Arabic "burj" = "tower") as well as the specific doctnne of the te:t
indicates an ultimately Arabic origin. That the DL ?oes n tf
however, derive from the same Arabic source as the Arabic parts o
the Alchandreana is indicated, inter alia, by the fact that the
for the lunar mansions differ considerably from those found m t e
h h d close to those m the
Alchandreana; they are, on the ot er an ' . . f DL
Greek MS Oxoniensis, Cromwell 12.
57
But the
with this corpus has one further implication: t at It IS ak
1
.
. . prescnpt10ns for m mg
to be the earliest text m Latm concemmg
talismans.
a translation was made
Sometime before the mid-fifteenth century, f DTM
rar to the source o
of a Greek parapegma that was very stmt m turbantes in
Aetios, under the heading "Sequuntur air in each
singulis mensibus" ("The fixed stars dtstur mg
-------------. . . . Ra mond of Marseilles's iudicia,
" The earliest known use of the Judtcta ts m . Y rrently engaged on a
completed in his native city in the year 11
4
1. Davtd Juste ts cu
project of study of this text and its siblings. . t names in the Alclumdreatw
" Mansions 1 5 8 19 and 26 in DL have dfferen
1
d' ) but are the same
' ' ' ' d -Ptolemy's
11
tcw' . ,
(lunar mansions are not menuoned m Pseu
0
3
9 above). The names '
1
(with the exception of 8) as in MS Cromwe/1
12
(see nftransliteration used in the
b tray the system o . a1 t. of the
the lunar mansions do not, however, e
9
o-
9
3 The equ1v ens .
th
CCAG V 3 h. ry a > 1
Cromwell manuscript nor ose m ' ' g the text's tsto
Arabic letters in DL 'may give some hints > c (5, 6); 'ain > c (2llb<;;
(mansion 10) or a> e (21, 26); u > o (2, ll, ' . > gw (13). Unexplmna ..
'ain > g (24); ghain > s [?] (15); sh > s 19!,bi'l-nathra" (8), while
through scribal error is the name "belsule
1
or tive for "batn al-bOt" neverh' h't
(28) may be a corruption "bi'l-risha' ",an a_temally found in Greek (lowe t < '
th
. . . . f but occastOna
o erwtse m Latm transcnp . m paul Kunitzsch).
statement to a personal commumcatton fro
342
Charles Burnett
month are as follows"). 5
8
This text is found in two manuscripts. In
Prague, MS Narodnf Knihovna Ceske Republiky 1144, it has been
copied on fols. l02r-v, within a collection of weather-forecasting
texts, including al-Kindr's De mutatione temporum,
59
which was
copied by Andreas Ruczel in 1447. In Katowice, MS Biblioteka
Slqska, "Miscellanea astrologica", copied in ca. 1493, the text is
found on fols. 146v-147r.
60
In contrast to all the other variants of
this parapegma known to me (see n. 43 above), the fixed stars are
described here as causing the changes of the weather, rather than
merely being the signs of those changes. The Latin translator, or a
Greek redactor, has made the parapegma an astrological text,
probably to accommodate it to the context of astrological works in
which the planets and the fixed stars have an active role in affecting
the weather.
61
The text begins with the month of January, as does
the Greek version in the text printed in CCAG, IX.l, pp. 129-37. As
might be expected from a fourteenth-century text, the Latin is of a
higher quality than that of DTM. But the writer betrays some
idiosyncrasies, among which are the tautological "in occidente"
with "occidit/cadit" and "in oriente" with "oritur", the use of "altera
dies" for "the next day", and a tendency to add prepositions where
they are not necessary ("in ante", "in mane", "de/in vespere/ad
vesperam", "per duos dies"), and to vary between using present and
future forms of the verbs. The Greek names of the stars and
" Paul Kunitzsch first drew attention to this text, as it is found in the Katowice
manuscript, in his 'Zur Tradition der Unwettersterne', Zeitschrift der deutschen
morgenliindischen Gesel/schaft 122 (1972), 108-17, repr. in idem, The Arabs and
the Stars (Northampton, !989), article XVI. I am grateful to him for sending me
printouts of the two pages containing the text in the Katowice manuscript and for
sharing his readings of the Katowice and the Prague manuscripts with me.
" See G. Bos and C. Burnett, Scientific Weather Forecasting in the Middle Ages:
The Writings of A/-Kindr (London and New York, 2000), 77-78.
60
I have not been able to ascertain the other contents of this manuscript. It is not
clear whether this manuscript is the same as that described as "R 51 II" in P. 0.
Kristeller, Iter ltalicum, IV (London and Leiden, 1989), 40 I. This is a paper
manuscript of the c., written in a northern hand, containing various
astrological and alchemical pieces, some of which are briefly described by
Kristeller.
" See Kunitzsch, 'Zur Tradition der Unwettersterne', and Bos and Burnett,
Scientific Weather Forecasting in the Middle Ages, 77-78. The only hint of direct
stellar influence in is in regard to 14 September, on which "Arktouros rises
and changes the air on the next day."
. d Medieval Latin Translations of
AnUquean . ,
Late T ts on Astrology and Magtc
Greek ex
343
. e so garbled (possibly because of the copyists), that
ar d t t any vernacular elements, aside from the
. . dtfficult to e ec . I . . .
11 IS . " , (" , for "hippos") and the occas10na wl!ctsm
droppmg of h ypo.s
("hyriphy" for "eriph01").
APPENDIX
DE LV
. NA DE TEMPORUM MUTATION AND STELLE
AN EDfl'ION OF
FIXEAEREMTURBANTES IN SINGULIS MENS/BUS
d De temporum mutatione are based
The editions of the De an . f m other manuscripts and
on the Chantilly manuscnpt; orrect obvious errors in
the printed edition have been gtven ? Y
0
c ut between angle
c (additions from other than c is provided
brackets). A full list of readmgs for . ks on Astrological
. G k d Latm wor
in Burnett, "Arabtc, ree ' an " F the manuscript sigla see
Magic," _and idem, "A parapegma. or culiar to the Chantilly
above p. 334-336. In DL a t the word "idolum" or
manuscript is that, for the first half
0 1
e e.x 'th scn'be's exemplar
d' t that m e
"idola" is omitted; this may m tea e .
1
symbol or spaces
th a specta
the word for talisman was wntten WI . k In DTM it is clear
d
d different m .
had been left for it to be ad e m a . t d by Liechtenstetn (Ll
that the Chantilly text is closer to that pnn e
than to the Harley copy (H).
t
n square
d letters are pu t
For all three texts redundant an n Latin that can stand for
brackets 'a' indicates the abbrevJattonft ner'tc abbreviation JS
.
0
age
either 'an' or 'am'. The realtzatton
indicated by round brackets.
344
Charles Burnett
Text I. Chantilly, MS Musie Conde 322 (641), fol. 138r-139r.
<De Luna secundum Aristotilem>
62
Aristotiles plenior artibus dixit:
Selini clare videtur habere .xx viii. astra per que transgreditur, et
unumquodque astrum stat horis .xxiiii. Propterea sic ordinans, ut
inferius prospicies, nomina locorum clare nominando mo<n>stravit
et quicquid in hiis locis contineri ostendit, gratia Dei ubique.
63
'
l. Quando vadit Selini, id est Luna, Sarta, fac pro amore,
vestimentum novum non induas, neque vadas coram
potentibus
64
huius mundi. Si autem uxorem aliquis cep<er>it, et
amor est inter utrosque. Compara, non semines neque negotium
facias. Nulli medicari [non] incipias neque aliquam viam
incipias. Si autem infans aut mulier natus fuerit, luxuria
habundabit. ii Arietis, xxvi gradus minus ii. septimas.
65
2. Quando <descendit> Albotaim, fac ad dominatores
66
terre,
<idola> confla, <angelos> ad te clama, coram dominis terre
intra, ux(orem) non accipias, non compares, non novum
vestimentum induas. Si aliquis natus fuerit, erit bonus, sapiens;
fernina meretrix.
3. Cum hec astra pertransit, fac causa amoris, <idolum> fac, iter
incipe, ante dominum intra, compera (sic), vestem novam
indue, angelos iube venire, ux(orem) accipe. Si masculus aut
fernina natus fuerit, erit dives.
4. Ut autem descendit beltubara, fac pro inimicitiis, non intres
ante dominum, compara, vestem novam induas, non sernines,
non accipias uxorem, non incipias iter. Si quis natus fuerit,
" This. is the title in T. There is no title in C, but the text is separated from the
p,recedmg one by a space, and begins with a large capital "A."
Tbe lunar mansions are numbered in the margin.
64
potestatibus LT
:This value should be at the end of mansion 2.
arnorem dominatorum LT
345
cupidus masculus; femina similiter. Tauri .viii. gradus minus .ii.
septimas.
67
Cum vero descendit belcata, venenum fac, 'et .flagra:
S. <angelos flagita>, non non acctptas. S1
masculus fuerit natus, malus ent; femma bona./138v/
<Si> intrat helcana, fac ad amandum atque <idola>, ux.(orem)
6
' accipe, compara, intra ad regem, semina, viam incipe. St homo
vel mulier nati fuerint, boni erunt.
7. Ut intraverit aldiroan, fac pro amore, ante
semina, compara, vende, viam incipe. Si qu1s natus uen , en
bonus et sapiens.
8. Quando vadit belsule, venenum fac et a
<idolum>, non novam vestem induas, Iter ac, m r .
dorninum terre semina, ux( orem) non to lias, non Sl
: . t femina amab1tur ab
quis natus fuent, penculosus m v1a en , Sl
omnibus.
. f datum linguam Iiga
9. Ut autem descendtt beltarfa, ac scan .
cui vis novam vestem non induas, ad imperatorem non!! mtress:
' . . non vadas ad be urn.
1
ux(orem) non acc1p1as, non compares,
quis natus fuerit, fornicator erit.
. <'dolum> fac ad regem
10. Cum vadit belcibe, absolve hgamma,
1
f 't
1
.'nfans fiet
Si natus uen '
intra, semina, ux(orem) acctpe.
68
" t absco<n>se amat.
absque veri tate; s1 ,emma es ,
. f ro amore, <idolum> fac,
11. Cum autem pertranstt beldobra, ac P vam induas. Si
. . compara vestem no
coram dommo mtra, semma, ' . .
11
m sequetur.
aliquis natus fuerit, erit bonus et prospentas
1
u
. dalum non semines, non
12. Quando erit belsarf, flaglta scan 'am vestem induas,
intres ante dominum, non emas, non nov
. . .. > septimas"-is found at
" A more correct value-"Tauri .ix. gradus mmus <.m.
the beginning of mansion 4 in T.
" LT add "nubere."
346
Charles Bumett
viam vade. Si natus fuerit homo, est dissimilis spiritu; si femina
est, mala
69
est.
13. Et ut erit belugua/
0
fac pro amore, semina, non preliare
intra ante dominum terre, viam perge. Si aliquis natus fuerit'
erit malus; femina amatur ab omnibus. '
14. Quando descendit belscemel, fac pro scandala, <non semines>,
non intres ante dominum, non compares, non incipias iter. Si
aliquis homo natus fuerit, raptor et malus erit.
15. Cum ierit belsafre, fac pro amore et absolve ligamina, vade iter,
et ad regem intra, uxorem accipe, novam vestem indue. Si
aliquis natus fuerit, erit bonus.
16. Ut autem transit belroham, liga et absolve ac semina, viam non
facias, intra ad dominum, novam vestem non induas, ux(orem)
accipe. Si quis natus fuerit, erit ydoneus, set femina mala erit.
17. Cum autem vadit bellasil, fac inimicitiis gignendis et venenum
fac, idola non facias, ad imperatorem non intres, non semines,
non viam facias, vestem novam non induas, non compares. Si
aliquis natus fuerit, est bonus apud parentes suos.
18. Quando vadit stincardiam
71
scorpii, in amorem fac amantis,
absolve, idola fac, intra ad basileum, semina, indue novum
vestimentum, accipe ux(orem). Si quis natus fuerit homo aut
femina, erunt amatores hominum.
19. Si fuerit bessaule, fac ligamentum, ido(la) confla, viam fac,
semina, non intres ad regem, non compares, vestem novam non
induas. Si natus fuerit quis, malus erit et non est que amet eum.
69
LT add "lingua."
10
belsanga C
71
In the first syllable, the "i" has been written above the "t" (which could also be
"c").
347
Late Antique an . 1
d
vadit belnam pro amore fac et liga quicquid vis,
20. Quan o ' . . .
ido(la) fac, ad imperatorem mtra, vtam vade: compara,
novam vestem indue. Qui nascitur est bonus m ommbus.
U

1
bebelde fac pro inimicitiis, non facias <idola>, non
21 t ten d
non
1
ntres ad regem non novum vesttmentum m uas.
semmes, . ' .
Qui natus fuerit, fiet malus m omm tempore.
22. Si ierit belsacd, fac ido(la) et liga, non intres ad terre,
ux(orem) non ducas nee iter novam non mduas.
Qui nascitur, sodomita est; femma meretnx.
23 Quando vadit belbula, fac pro inimicitiis, liga, fac
. ido(la), in viam perge, ad regem intra, ux(orem) non acctptas,
non compares, vesti quid vis.< >
24 Cum vadit belfugat, fac causa amoris, fac
ovam mdue semma, m
intra ante dominatorem terre, vestem . '
viam vade, compara. Si natus fuerit qms, ent bonus.
d
1
do (Ia) non facias, iter
25. Quando vadit belsat, fac pro scan .a
0
'
1
s quis natus
non facias, ante dominum non eas, non compares.
1
fuerit, erit malus omnibus modis.
fac absolve semina, ante
26. Ut iverit belmogden, pro am?re . ' bonus fiet in
potestatem intra, ido(la) fac. St qms natus '
omnibus.
. . . . . itias fac, liga, intra
27. Cum autem tent belatacer, tmmtc ndue Si qu1s
novam vestem t
imperatorem, ido(la) fac: ientia plena.
natus fuerit, erit malus; st femma, bona, sap
. ocia (?) absolve.
f > causa amons,
28. Cum venerit beltaxn, < ac . t ad dominum terre.
ido(la) fac, semina, per iter vade,
10
Si quis natus
. estimentum
1

ux(orem) acctpe, novum v .
mnibus modts.
fuerit, erit sapiens et bonus o
348
Charles Burnett
Cum autem scire vis in qua harum (?) turrium sit Luna, incipe ab
Ariete dando cuique turri .xiii. minus septimam partem, et ubi
numerus defecerit, ibi erit Luna.
12
Text II. Chantilly, MS Musee Conde 322 (641), fol. 137r-138r.
De temporum mutatione
13
Ut autem de temporum mutatione particulariter nosse
74
verum
desideraveris,
75
regule que iam dicentur ab animo tuo non labantur.
Prima die mensis Septembris, Icarus, custos plaustri, apparet cum
Solis ortu, et mutatur aer in . 7. horis. Hoc fit inter diem et noctem.
Septima die
76
mensis <
ventum.
>
77
vespertinus apparet, et mutatur aer in
Quarta
78
decima die mensis eiusdem Arcturus,
79
i.e. Septemtrion,
apparet cum Solis ortu, et mutatur aer in crastinum.
Nonadecima die eiusdem mensis Sichis, i.e. subole<m> quam
Virgo tenet in manu, apparet. Tunc mutatur aer infra
80
duo dies.
Vigesima quinta die eiusdem mensis Alferat, i.e. equus, ponet, et
erit tunc calida mutatio.
81
72
This corresponds to Pseudo-Ptolemy, ludicia, <68>, MS H, fol. J4r: "Cum
autem scire desideras in qua turrium sit Luna, incipito ab Ariete, dando unicuique
turri .xiii. <minus> . vii. partem et ubi numerus defecerit, ibi est Luna."
73
This title is a later addition in the top margin.
"nosceC
" descideraveris C
76
HL add "eiusdem."
n The parallel passage in Ai!tios indicates that the star "Aix" is the subject.
18
C omits.
79
Arturus C.
80
anteHL
. and Medieval Latin Translations of
[..ate AnUque . 1
Greek Texts on AstrOlogy and Magic
349
82 . t t 183
d
. mensis Octubris Stephano, I.e. corona, appare e es
Sexta 1e
nimia mutatio aeris.
. d' e mens is Erifi 84 i e <h>edi, vespertini apparent,8s et tunc
Septima 1 . . ' ..
fit86 magna turbatio aens.
Vicesima tertia die illius i.e. Virgilie, cum Solis
ortu ponunt, et fit magna turbatw aens.
Novembrl
s Lapsidis, id est lucidus, ponit, et
Sexta die mensis
incipit tunc obscurari aer.
Tertia decima
87
die eius Lira apparet.
d I
'd est sucule,88 ponunt et mutatur aer
Vicesima prima dieYa es,
crastinum.
. . . . . d < > 89 vespertinus apparel et
VIcesima septlma d1e ems em
Stephanon, id est corona, ponit, et mutatur aer.
90 apparet,
91
et tunc
Prima die mensis Decembris Cwn, Id est
fit turbatio magna aeris usque in aliquantos dies.
Decima die mensis eiusdem Erifi,
92
id est <h>edi, ponunt.
81
HL add "aeris."
82
Stephania H
83
Comits.
84
ErisiC
"apparetC
16
Comits.
81
C omits.
18
facule L, H omits.
89
Orion should be the subject. din of H.
"'"Canis" written above "cinis", which is the rea g
"Comits.
350
Charles Burnett
Vicesima prima die Echon, i.e. aquila, apparet, et Esion, id est
Eridanus, ponet, et erit turbatio aeris post unam diem.
Vicesima tertia die Ega, i.e. caper,
93
apparet, et mutatur aer.
Quarta die mensis lanuarii Delphinus apparet.
Quinta
94
die Cetus vespertinus ponet.
Vicesima quinta die Ectos, i.e. aquila, ponet, et stella regia appellata
Tuberoni, in pectore Leonis occidit matutina, et turbatur aer ante
tres dies.
Vicesima octava die Delphinus vespertinus ponit
95
et mutatur aer.
Vicesima nona die Lira vespere ponet.
96
/fol. 137v/ Sexta die Februarii Zephirus
97
flat.
Vicesima secunda die Ipos, i.e. equus, vespertinus ponet.
Vicesima tertia die Arcturus,
98
id est septemtrion, apparet.
Vicesima quinta die Kele,
99
i.e. Libra, apparet et mutatur aer.
92
erisi C.
93
cap. CHL.
94
Quinta HL, Sumpta (supra "septima") C.
"' apparel L.
96
A later hand inC adds "fiunt (?) diversa mutatio et ventus magnus."
97
rafilus C.
91
Arturus C, Acturus H
99
Kle H, Kale L
LateAnllque an M . ,
on Astrology and agtc
.. C aret tot
Quartatoo die mensis Martn ancer app
d
. eJusdem mensis Piscis Aquilonius.
102
Octava Je
Nona die eiusdem Orion 103 apparet.
104
Octava decima die <Kele> vespere ponet.
351
106 b .
. . . dJ'e lpos id est equus 105 <apparel> et est tur allo
v
1
ces1ma pnma '
aeris.
dl
e elusdem equinoc<t>ium fit et erit nimia
Vicesima quinta
turbatio aeris.
107
.
1
1
108
apparent.
Prima die Aprilis Pliades, Jd est VJrgl Je, paru urn
109
<19 die mensis eiusdem Pliades vespere ponunt>.
fit gna turbatio aeris.
Vicesima prima die Pliades appare<n>t, et
1
ma
]
110
. PI' des vespere ponunt.
[Vicesima nona die eiusdem mens1s Ja
. . onit et mutatur aer usque
Vicesima septima die Onon vespertmus P
in .ix. horas diei.
100
Quinta HL.
101
Aquilonis HL .
102
Aquilonis HL . . . ndatio aquarum. Tonal
'" C adds in margin: "Orion dictus ab unna, td m;e scholia to Gennantcus s
tempore hyemis." The first phrase is found m Catasterismorum re/iquwe.
translation of Aratus' Phaenomena: see Eratosthenes,
ed. K. Robert (Berlin, 1878), 164-66. aret H eiusdem Esion id est
104
eiusdem Libra vespere pone! id est Eridanus app '
apparel L.
Hends here.
106
All witnesses omit "apparel"
107
L omits "Vicesima quinta ... aeris." mably
108
paulum L ged "19" to "29" (presu
,.. to have chan tence later.
C (or one of its ancestors) appears . . ") and puts the sen
because "setting" would seem to come after "nsmg '
110
Lomits.
352
Charles Burnett
Prima die Maii Yades, id est sucule, cum Solis ortu appare<n>t, et
mutatur aer usque in .4. horas diei.
Quarta die Lira vespere apparet, et mutatur <aer> nimis una die.
111
Die sexta eiusdem Esion, id est Eridanus, apparet et mutatur aer
nirnis.
112
Die septima cum Solis ortu Pliades cum Esion appare<n>t, et
incipit aer obscurari.
Decima
113
.ix. die eiusdem Lapsidis, id est lucidus, apparet, et
mutatur aer ante duos dies.
Vicesima
114
.iiii. die Exeon
115
vespertinus ponet, et movetur aer ante
unamdiem.
Secunda die Iunii Ectos, id est aquila, vespertinus apparet, et
116
movetur
117
aer.
Die .v. eiusdem Ar<c>turus
118
ponet, et mutatur aer in duos dies.
Die .ix. vespertinus apparel Delfinus, et mutatur aer usque in .x.
horas diei.
Decima quinta die Orion incipit apparere, et mutatur aer nimis ante
tres dies.
111
aer nimis una die] nimis una die C, aer nimis L.
112
L has wrongly placed this prediction on 18 March.
113
Decisima (sic) C.
"'Decima C.
115
C corrects from "Egon."
116
L adds "et fit calliditas (sic)" (cf. July 3).
::: C corrects from "mutatur", which is L's reading.
Arturus C, Arctus L.
l)ate,AntiQUe an . ,
(lreek Texts on Astrology and Magic
353
al
'd' . 119
.
1 11
.
1
. Orion plenus apparel, et fit c 1 1tas m aere.
Die tertia u
Die quarta Prochion, id est Anticanus, apparel, et est mutatio aeris.
Oc
X dl
e Cion id est canis, plenus apparel, et fit magna
tava . .
turbatio aeris ante duos dies.
Vicesima .v. die Tetos'2o ponet, et movetur aer ante tres dies.
Quinta decima die Augusti Lira ponet,l21 et mutatur aer.
. t F 'ctos id est
122
De/fol. 138r/cima nona <die> Delfinus ponet e n ,
Idre pars prior, id est <h>orridus, apparet.
. . ... . 'd st <Antevendemor>,
123
apparel
V1ces1ma .vm. d1e Protngmtls, 1 e
et Oystos, id est < >
. . . d st Canis ante unam
E<te>sie des<in>unt, et est fims C1orus, I e
diem.
124
. t Martis omnia signa
Notandum est quod cum est annus Saturn! e
mutationis validiora, in ceteris mi[c]tiora.
. fi .
1
bane certissimam
Ut autem ratio inveniendi anm .non 'Martii quot gradus
damus regulam. Caute scias in tertia

1
e tribuas sex
t de bus que reman
P1scium et puncta Sol pretenent, e di 'dium faciunt unam
bonis diei et .xv. puncta. Nam duo puncta . nu Libre et sic de
ent tnbUIS .v.
horam. Reliqua puncta que reman
'" Ariete L.
'"' Teros L (Aetos or Ketos).
'" apparel L.
113
etL.
113
Lacuna in C.
124
Lends here.
354
Charles Burnett
ceteris, et ubi numerus defuerit, ibi est caput anni, et [si] planeta
illius turris habetur dominium totius anni.
Text III. Stelle fixe aerem turbantes in singulis mensibus.
P = Prague, MS Ndrodnf Knihovna Ceske Republiky 1144, ca.
1447, fols. 102r-v.
S =Katowice, MS Biblioteka Slqska, 'Miscellanea astrologica', ca.
1493, fols.146v-147r.
In the following edition, the Greek names of the stars have been
added in brackets. Italics indicate passages not in Aetios.
Sequuntur stelle fixe aerem turbantes in singulis mensibus
In Ianuario quarta die oritur stella Delphin (Delphin),
et in quinta die, occidit stella Arctos
125
(Aetos) in vespere io
occidente, et fiet turbatio et tempestas
126
in aere et ante per tres
127
dies mutabit aerem,
et in die 28 stella De1phin (Delphin) occidit de vespere et pariter
stella Lira (Lura) in occidente,
et in 25 die Lampadas
128
que
129
mutat aerem per 3
130
dies ante.
'" Orctos S
126
tempestatis S
127
Aetios gives "2 days".
121
Lampades S
129 et s
110
S's reading is unclear.
t.are Anttque an . 1
. (Jteek Texts on AstrOlogy and Magtc
355

. xta die Zephirusl31 (Zephuros) flabit,
In Februano se
. . 1132 II Icirosl33 (Oistos) occidit vespere in occidente,
et m die 2 ste a
et erit tempestas in aere,
135 (Arktouros) oritur in vespere in
etl34 25 die stella Adictiron
oriente,
et 26 die apparent irundines.
.
11
y 136 (Hippos= Pegasus),
InMarcio in 18 die mane ontur ste a pos
. in septima nocte
que in 23 die apportat magnam tempestatem aens,
jlabit ventus magnus,
et erit initium veris.
137
IJS Pleyad(um)
In Aprili in prima die extremitates ungu!arum
apparent,
d t
1
40
Pleyades,
et in 18
139
die in vespere abscun un ur
"' Sapherius S
'" Aetios: 22.
m lares S
134
S adds "in."
'" This word has been corrected.
136
lpos S m" is a
137
et erit initium veris P] S unclear. th
1
"exuemitates ungul:. ("with
'" Wolfgang HUbner has pointed out night") as akr(Jnu
01
mistranslation of akronukhoi ("at the begmmng
0
the tips of one's nails").
'" Aetios: 19,
''" absconduntur P
356
Charles Burnett
et in 24
141
die oritur (sic) pariter cum Sole, et erit tempestas magna
in aere,
et in 26 die stella Lira oritur in oriente et multum disturbat aerem.
In Mayo in sex to die mane oritur stella Y cos (Aix) que valde
disturbat aerem,
et in 7 die iterum apparent Pleyades (Pleiades) incipientes aerem
serenare,
et in 19 die
142
apparent stelle Yades (Huades) in mane, incipientes
turbare aerem sepe unum diem vel duos in ante,
et in 24 die
143
absconditur Y cos (Aix) et per duos dies <in ante>
disturbat aerem.
In Iunio stella Arctos (Aetos) in secunda die
144
oritur ad vesperam
in oriente,
et in 6 die stella Arctos (Arktouros) occidit in mane,
et in die nona stella Delphin (Delphin) oritur in vespere,
et in 28
145
die stella Yrion (Orion) incipit oriri in mane, et tunc duos
dies et tres in ante et post disturbat aerem.
141
Ai!tios: 21.
142
S omits.
143
S omits.
144
die secunda S
145
Ai!tios: 25.
Late Antique an M . 1
(J!eek Texts on Astrology and aglc
d' tertia stella Orion (OriOn) oritur ex integro,
In Iullo m Je
. di arta
146
stella Prothrios
147
(ProkuOn) oritur in mane,
etm e qu
357
et in 28148 die stella Chyon K ~ o n ) oritur in mane et erit tempestas'49
magna et sepe in ante unum d1em vel duos,
et inl50 25 die stella Arctos (Aetos) occidit in mane et'5' post duos
dies movet aerem.
A t
281s2 die stella Lira (Lura) occidit in mane, unde
In ugus o m ,
153
parumfrigiditatis in seculo patet,
154 F (' )155 occidit in vespere
156
et stella
et eodem die stella ng1t IS
Hystos
157
(Oistos) similiter,
d h .. d' Ius aliis
et Chion (Kuon) incipit evanescere propter quo u les p
habent calorem.
spere
In Septembre in die 7 stella Y cos (Aix) ontur m ve '
. . nte et in crastino
et in die 4
158
stella Arctos (Arktouros) ontur m one
aer mutatur,
'" Aetios: 14.
147
Prothtios P.
'" Aetios: 19.
"' intempestas S
'"'Somits.
151
S omits.
'" Aetios: 15.
'" The reading in P is unclear. s!F . s
"' S . Cf Fricto ncco
om1ts. . th manuscripts).
"' Frigid(is) S (the last syllable is unclear m bo
(=Hydra) in a neighbouring context in DTM.
156
The reading in S is unclear. . ts
"' Histis P (last letter unclear in both manuscnp ).
"' Ai!tios: 14.
358
Charles Burnett
. di 18
159
11 .
et m e ste a Macahs (Stakhus) oritur in mane et mov b't
d d
. . e 1
aerem uos 1es <m ante>,
et in 25 die estas finitur ac subversio aeris exoritur [ et] sepe in ant
duos vel tres dies, unde necesse est
160
sanguinem non minuer:
<a>ut ventrem purgare eo tempore aut ullo modo corpus evacuare
et ista custodia servetur 18 die usque ad 28 diem.
161
'
In Octobre in die 6 oritur stella Zopherios (Stephanos) in mane et
erit valida mutacio aeris,
et in die Septima die stella Hyriphy (Eriphoi) oritur
162
in vespere,
et in die 16
163
stelle Yades (Huades) oriuntur similiter in vespere,
unde fiet magna tempestas,
et in die 23, quando Sol oritur, Pleyades (Pleiades) vere cadunt in
occidente, et erit in ante
1
>64 uno die mutatio aeris.
165
In Novembre in die 6
166
occidunt in mane Pleyades
167
(Pleiades),
incipientes iterum celum serenare,
et in die l3 stella Lira (Lura) oritur in mane,
et in die 21 stelle Yades (Huades) cadunt in occidente in mane,
congregantes tempestatem in altera die,
168
159
Aetios: 19.
160
S adds "in."
161
Aetios gives "from the 15th to the 24th day."
162
septima die oritur stella Hiriphi S
163
Aetios: 17.
164
S omits.
,., aeris mutacio S
166
S adds "ortum."
167
Pliades S
161
tempestates in alteram diem s
_ A t'que and Medieval Latin Translations of
J,ateDI I
(lreek Texts on Astrology and Magtc
359
zgt69 die stella Andiares (Orion)
170
oritur in vespere in oriente
etln d' . .
et stella Stichimos (Stephanos) ca 1t m onente.
In Decembre in die prima stella Chyon
171
(Ku.on) cadit in
occidente[m], et plures sapientes probant pnmus
dies sit, sive serenus sive tempestuosus, SIC permaneb1t usque ad
36
112
diem,
et in die decima stella Hersa (Eriphoi) cadit in mane,
et in die 21 stella Y cos (Aix) similiter cadit in mane et tempestas et
subversio aeris fit.
173
169
Aetios: 27. nated by a neighbouring
170
Andraris/ Andraus p. The Latin word might be
6.
"Antares" which rises on November 6; cf. CCAG. '
171
ChionS
172
Aetios: 37.
113
Pomits.
George Saliba
Columbia University
Revisiting the Astronomical Contacts
Between the World of Islam and
Renaissance Europe: .
The Byzantine connection
INTRODUCTION
It was the late Otto Neugabauer who first drew attention to the
possible connections between Arabic and Renaissance astronomy,
!" his now famous appendix to his Exact Sciences in Antiquity.' In
It he remarked that one of the mathematical devices that was used
by Copernicus (d. 1543) to generate linear motion from a
combination of two circular motions had already been discovered
some three hundred years earlier by al-Oin al-Tosr, the
Muslim astronomer who first proposed it as a theorem in 1247 A.D.
It was this same Tilsi who later became the director of the
Observatory, which was founded in 1259 A.D., in the ctty of
Mariigha, in modern-day North West Iran. This observatory,
10
1
O. Neugebauer, Exact Sciences in Antiquity (Providence, 1957),
191
-
207

362
George Saliba
tum, became the most influential
:e:ore undertaking the building of Islamic times
e ?re assum.ing its directorship, Tilsi ar g a Observatory and
fruitful years m the Isma'-II-I " . had already spent
h . . ,ortress of' AI many
muc of his mtellectual work. And it w am,ilt, where he produced
proposed the theorem now k as at Alamilt where he fi
The theorem itself is rathe as the Tilsi Couple. IrS!
spheres [Figure 1]. one !\states that if one took two
spheres to be internally tangent t . IZe ho the other, and allowed the
allowed the larger sphere to oter at one point, and then
any direction while the II ' m p ace, at any speed and .
sma er spl m
twice the speed in the opposite d' Jere moved, also in place at
oscillate along a straight then the point of
big sphere. me w ch forms the diameter of the

zk.
F . F
tgure I. The full statem
Vat. arab 3!9 ent and proof of the T Courtesy of the B 'bJ" ilsi Couple as it appeated in MS
I wteca Apostolica Vaticana
In a separat .
Tnsr w e publication, I have de
as first proposed monstrated that this theorem of
m a rudi mentary form in 1247 A.D. in
Revisiting the Astronomical Contacts Between the World of Islam and 363
Renaissance Europe: The Byzantine connection
connection with Tilsi's critique of Ptolemy's theory on the
latitudinal motion of the planets; in that version the spheres were
represented by circles.
2
The reason TOsi had to resort to such a
theorem was necessitated by Ptolemy's statement, in the thirteenth
book of his astronomical masterpiece, the Almagest [XIII.2]. that
the inclined planes of the lower planets Venus and Mercury
oscillated up and down as the planets' epicycles moved from the
northernmost point to the southernmost point in their yearly
rotations around the earth as he thought then. In order to allow for
this oscillation, Ptolemy proposed to attach the diameters of the
inclined planes to little circles, whose planes were, in turn,
positioned perpendicular to the ecliptic plane, such that the tip of
the diameter of the inclined plane would move along the
circumference of those little circles, thus forcing the whole plane to
oscillate up and down with respect to the plane of the ecliptic.
What Ptolemy neglected to note is that the same plane that was
forced to move up and down as a result of having its diameter
pegged to a little circle, also had to wobble, due to the motion of the
tip of its diameter along the circumference of a circle, rather than
move up and down along a straight line. This wobbling would in
effect destroy the longitudinal computations which had been
painstakingly determined by Ptolemy in the preceding books of the
In his redaction of Ptolemy's Almagest, called ta/Jrfr al-mi}is(T
Almagest.
[Redaction of the Almagest], Tilsi reserved his most critical, and yet
polite, comment to this very wobbling of Ptolemy's configuration.
After narrating Ptolemy's description of the behavior of the inclined
plane, which was pegged to the little circles that would cause Its
oscillation up and down, Tilsi went on to say: "this kind of talk falls
outside the craft of astronomy [htidhii kalam"" khilrif' .'an . al-
$inil'a]."3 In response and in order to preserve the longitudinal
' 1 a
computations, as well as account for a seesawing actiOn a ong
2 G Medieval Arabi<
. Saliba, 'The Role of the Almagest Comrnentanes m . AI . t'
Astronomy: A Preliminary Survey of TOsr's Redaction of PtolemY s magesG.
A 37 (t987) 3-20, repr.
10

rchrves lnternationales d'Histoire des Scrences '. h G /den Mr
Saliba, A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories Durrng
1
e
0
'
(New York, 1994), !43-60. . BN arabe 2485. fol.
Nw;tr al-Drn al-Tosr (d. 1274), Ta/lrrr al-mijistr. pans. MS
95r.
364
George Saliba
straight line, TUsi proposed then the rudimentary fonn of hi
theorem that accounted for both the longitudinal as well as th
8
latitudinal motions of the planets. e
Some ten years later, and certainly by 1259/60, the year when the
Marllgha was founded, Tiisi came to realize the full
power of h1s new mathematical proposition and the full
implications it could bring to bear on other, related astronomical
problems. For instance, the theorem could be generalized so that it
could be used in any instance when linear, and in this case
oscillatory, motion was to be produced as a result of simple circular
motions.
With the full statement of the theorem in terms of spheres, rather
than circles, Tiisi went ahead and applied the theorem first to the
model of the Moon, where such linear motion was also needed to be
produced by simple circular motions, and later on applied it to the
model of the upper planets, in order to generate the same
phenomenon. From then on, most astronomers who succeeded
Tilsi, including Copernicus, were to use this theorem for that very
same purpose.
Tnsi himself did not address the direct philosophical implications of
this theorem to the Aristotelian cosmological distinction between
the celestial and the sublunar motions. According to Aristotle, the
celestial bodies moved "naturally" in circular motion, and thus
remained unchanged over time because circular motion had no
contraries. Sublunar elements on the other hand moved "naturally"
in linear motion, and thus exhibited the phenomena of generation
and corruption as a result of linear contrary motions. Generating
linear motion from circular motion, as Tilsi proposed to do with his
theorem, meant that the Aristotelian distinction regarding the nature
?f motion that pertained to various bodies was at least put in doubt
If not altogether contradicted. But Tilsi did not make any claims in
that regard. His commentators, however, made sure that this point
was singled out, and went on to discuss the more general
c?nditions (some of them mechanical) where continuous simple
Circular motion could produce linear motion.4
4 .
E: S. Kennedy, 'The Spherical Case of the TOsi Couple', Arabic

c1ences a,.., Philosophy 1 (1991) 2 N
Po ad' 85-91, repr. with minor mistakes m
Ul)av 1 et;z. Vesel eds .. r
1
D ...
e 1e (T h na$ r a rn ai-Tasr Philosophe et savant du xme
Sl c e eran, 2000), 105-11. See also G. 'Aristotelian Cosmology and
. . . the Astronomical Contacts Between the World of Islam and
ReVISitmg . .
Renaissance Europe: The Byzantme connectiOn
365
As far as Copernicus was concerned, he also stressed the simple
thematical feature of the theorem [De Revolutionibus, III.4],
that which produced _oscillatory motion as a result of
Jar motions, and used It later on, for example, [De
h . h"
Revolutionibus, V.32] for exactly t e sai?e purpose m Is
construction of the Mercury model. Here agam no word was s_atd
about the implications of such a theorem for the cosmologtcal
assumptions of Aristotle. . .
The complete break with the Aristotelian cosmology was not to
m
e until the work of Newton (1643-1727). who was born a full
00 d .
century after Copernicus's death. But one should not un eresumate
the role of such early doubts against Aristotelian cosmology m
empowering others to do away with that cosmology altogether.
CONNECTION WITH RENAISSANCE EUROPE
On the level of the mathematical theorem itself, its first appearance
towards the middle of the thirteenth century in widely read and
commented upon Arabic texts, and its later appearance some three
. th writings of the
hundred years later m such Latm texts as e .
venerable Copernicus naturally excited much debate smce 19
5
7;
. fi bl" hed by Neugebauer.
when the connectiOn was 1rst esta IS .
"II d in attemptmg to
Naturally much ink has already been sp1 e .
, . f thi theorem directly or
determine whether Copernicus knew o s . d Th
. . h t to be deternune e
through some mtermed1ary text t at IS ye . h
1
& t Copernican sc o ars.
latest studied Judgment of the two ,oremos h
1
.
1
1 text Mat ema zca
Swerdlow and Neugebauer, in their no:-" assic
1
. that it "is not
Astronomy in Copernicus's De Revoluuombus, c rumf s h' Muslim
th
suit o IS
whether [Copernicus knew of e re
d h
,6
predecessors] but when an ow. bl of connections
In his usual. methodical attack of the uer must have
when looking for evidence of contacts, euge a
. ed De Unon d"E/te tl
Arabic Astronomy , in R. Morelon et A. Hasnawt, s., .
Poincare (Louvain, 2004 ), 251-68, esp. N Swerdlow. 'Aristotelian
5
On the wide use of this theorem in La!l_n :ttis;a Amico's HomocentriC
Planetary Theory in the Renaissance: G!Ovan;r
1972
) 36-48. . .
Spheres', Journal for the History of Astronomy (. [Astronomy in CoperniCUS s
6
N. M. Swerdlow and 0. Neugebauer, Mathemauca
De Revolutionibus (New York, 1984), 47.
366
George Saliba
reasoned as follows: Copernicus was a Renaissance man, and
therefore must have been able to read Greek and of course could
read and write Latin. As far as Neugebauer knew then, and as we
now know, none of the Arabic texts in which this theorem was
discussed were translated into Latin. Therefore it remained to
determine if those Arabic texts were ever translated into Greek, the
only other language Copernicus could read, for there is no evidence
that he ever read Arabic. Since the Byzantine civilization continued
to produce Greek astronomical texts, although different in quality
and. sophistication from the earlier classical Greek texts, and since
some of the later Greek Byzantine texts, already surveyed by
Neugebauer in his Studies in Byzantine Astronomical Terminology,'
had already exhibited Islamic influence, both on the technical as
well as the linguistic level of Byzantine Greek, then it stood to
reason that Neugebauer would scour the surviving Byzantine Greek
manuscripts in search ofthis specific connection.
Sure enough, his search gained tremendous importance when he
established beyond doubt the existence of such a Byzantine
manuscript, MS Vat. gr. 211, which included the Greek version of
an astronomical treatise that was composed towards the beginning
of the fourteenth century by a Byzantine astronomer, Gregory
Chioniades, who expressly stated that he had sought the latest
astronomy of his time from Islamic lands, and that he recorded in
this Byzantine Greek text what he had heard from his masters in the
east. On fol. 116r of the same Vatican manuscript, Chioniades's
text included, among other things, a clear drawing of the TOsi
Couple without much commentary [Figure 2].
But the very existence of the drawing itself allowed Neugebauer to
publish that page
8
by way of directing attention to the possible
solution of the riddle regarding the connections between TOsi and
Copernicus through a systematic investigation of the Byzantine
astronomical texts, especially the later ones, for the clues they could
contain about these connections. The next page of the same
manuscript
9
contained an additional drawing directly related to
7
0. Neugebauer, 'Studies in Byzantine Astronomical Terminology', Transactions
ff the American Philosophical Society, New Series, 50.2 ( 1960).
0. Neugebauer, A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy (New York, 1975)
flate IX, and Swerdlow and Neugebauer, Mathematical Astronomy, Figure 5.
Swerdlow and Neugebauer, Mathematical Astronomy, Figure 6.
. 'tin the Astronomical Contacts Between the World of Islam and
g Europe: The Byzantine connection
Renrussance
367
TDsi's spherical version of the same couple, also without much
comment.
h If ff 1 !16r MS Vat.
Figure 2. The TOsi Couple as it appeared on the a
0 0

gr. 211, Courtesy of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vat1cana
. f t' n about those
All this kicked off a long search for more m ormah
10
ch These
Jved m t e sear
connections, and several people were mv? . n astronomy.
activities produced a renewed interest m ublication of
which, during the following two decades, .led .to t work. the
. . f C pemtcus s ear 1
the editiOn and commentary o
0
to the most
I
10 nd later on .
Commentariolus, by Swerd ow, a my embodied m
comprehensive study of the mathematical astronbo er 11 In !973,
. dl nd Neuge au . .
the De Revolutiombus by Swer ow a . if the Amencan
and in the same issue of the Proceedmgs
0
I
...... Th<Ol'Y
fC pernicus's Pan-, h
10
N. Swerdlow 'The Derivation and First Draft
0 0
,.,.. proceedings of
1
'
' . 'th Commen-,
A Translation of the CommentariOius WI
3
_
512
.
American Philosophical Society 117 (1973),
42
omy
11
Swerdlow and Neugebauer, Mathematical Astron
368
George Saliba
Philosophical Society where Swerdlow's translation of the
Commentariolus was published, Willy Hartner drew attention to yet
another important feature of the connection between Tosr and
Copernicus which had, until then, gone unnoticed.
12
By comparing
the proofs of the TOsi Couple theorem in the original Arabic
manuscripts with Copernicus's proof of the same theorem in both
the autograph version of the De Revolutionibus and the published
edition, he arrived at the following remarkable realization: that the
alphabetic letters given to specific geometric points in the Arabic
texts were identical to the Latin phonetic equivalents as used by
Copernicus except in one case [Figure 3]. That is, wherever the
Arabic text had an a/if, Latin had "A"; when Arabic had ba', Latin
had "B"; and so on, except where the Arabic had the letter zain, and
the Latin had the letter "F". Hartner did not dwell on his important
finding, except to say that he was convinced that it constituted a
case of direct "borrowing". So far, no one has revisited this feature,
as far as I know, until now.
Since the publication of Hartner's finding, a new edition and
translation of the Byzantine text of Chioniades has become
available, and thus one hoped that some more attention could be
devoted to this specific connection.
13
When I did that, the results
were slightly disappointing. To start with, it became immediately
obvious that the original Byzantine manuscript, though it included a
drawing of the TOsi Couple, did not contain the specific picture
illustrating the proof of that theorem, nor any mention of it in the
accompanying text. This finding sheds an immediate light on both
the nature of the Byzantine text itself and the likely source for the
proof that Copernicus used in the De Revolutionibus.
Regarding the Byzantine manuscript itself, it became obvious that it
did not exhibit any interest in the proof of the theorem, which must
mean that Chioniades was either only interested in a qualitative
description of the theorem as he supplied the diagram, or the
version that we now have of Chioniades 's work was left incomplete
as he may have intended to revisit it and insert the proofs which
were left out in the present text.
12
W. Hartner, 'Copernicus, the Man, the Work, and its History', Proceedings of
Philosophical Society 117 (1973), 413-22. .
E. A. Pascbos and P. Sotiroudis, The Schemata of the Stars: Byzannne
Astronomy from AD 1300 (Singapore, New Jersey and London, 1998).
...
.. in the Astronomical Contacts Between the World of Islam and
gee Europe: The Byzantine connection

369
of of the rosi Couple as it
Figure 3. A comparison between the formal pro . f ight
appeared in the original Arabic, left, and the Copernican proo 'r .
. . .
Tius second possible explanation IS not unus d been subjected to
medieval astronomers, whose works have alrea t same route by
some cursory study, demonstrably followed .t. a with the later
bl
. h' . . than one edJtJon, d
pu 1s mg the1r works m more . 14 Shoul one
. . h th earlier ones.
ed1t10ns being more elaborate t an e
G Saliba. Tht
14 f th' phenomenon, see.
11
c nturv
For a relatively detailed discussion o ,
18
rt/T (d. J266): A Thirtttnl
Astronomical Works of Mu 'ayyad ai-Drn al- U
370
George Saliba
hope that some other Byzantine astronomical manuscript w ld
then contain a version of Chioniades's work and
proof of the TUsi Couple?
As the facts now stand, and given the absence of such a later
version among the surviving Byzantine manuscripts of
Chioniades's text, all we can conclude is that Copernicus must have
gotten the proof directly from some Arabic source as Hartner's
finding had already indicated. The only discrepancy that has to be
accounted for still, and which was not confronted by Hartner, is the
main difference between the two proofs. That is, in TUsi's Arabic
Proof there is a geometric point which is designated with the Arabic
letter zain and the corresponding point in Copernicus's Latin text is
designated with the letter "F" instead of "Z" as one would have
expected. All the other five points, a, b, g, d, h, have the correct
corresponding Latin phonemes, all designating the very same points
in the proof.
The answer to this problem is very easy to all those who work with
the Arabic orthographic tradition. For anyone who is familiar
enough with Arabic hand-written manuscripts, and who has enough
familiarity with the manner in which medieval writers used the'
Arabic alphabet to designate geometric points, could easily
convince himself that the Arabic letters zain and fa', as they usually
appear in Arabic manuscripts, indeed look very similar, and thus
could very easily be confused [See Figure 4]. Is it then possible
that either Copernicus himself, or someone helping him decipher
the Arabic text, which is more likely, misread the letter zain for its
similarly written counterpart fa' and thus rendered the Arabic "Z'
with the Latin "F"?
By accepting the viability of this route, a new area of
would immediately become relevant, namely, whether Copernicus
himself could decipher Arabic texts; I do not know of any evidence
for that, nor that he depended on one of his contemporaries to help
him with it. However, the latter possibility is not to
document. We already know of people like the Venetian physician
Andreas Alpagus (d. 1525) who lived in Damascus for an extended
period of his life. There he translated such technical texts frolll
Reform of Ptolemaic Astronomy 3,. revised edition (Beirut, 2001), Bngllsh
Introduction, 31-36. ' .
.. in the Astronomical Contacts Between the World of Islam and
g Europe: The Byzantine connection
Renrussance
371
. t Latin as the medical and philosophical works of
Arabic m o h
. . h returned to Padua around the year 1503 to assume t e
Av1cenna, e . .
1
d
. f ed
1
c
1
ne at the UmversJty there. He apparent y staye tn
chrur o m . , ..
. t'll he died We also know of Copernicus s viSitS to
that position I . 496
b University of Bologna in Italy between the years I
his return to Padua between 1501. and 1.503, and his
nt of a degree in canon law from the ne1ghbonng
attamme
b' manuscripts demonstrating the
Figure 4. Illustrations from several Ara IC dfi<7'
similar representations of the Arabic letters zam an .
15 Could Copernicus have come in
University of Ferrara, m 150
3
rth rn Italy?
contact with Andreas while he was (l;I0-!5Si), the younger
We also know of Guiiiaume Pos frequent traveler
10
. ho was also a . t
contemporary of Copernicus, w . f Arabic manuscnp s.
Italy and the Islamic world. Islamic world. has
which he collected during his vanous tr p an collections of today:
Europe ol
apparently survived in the varwus of the benefictanes
. J'b becrune one
In particular, the Vat1can I rary
------------ . I Astronomy, 30...31.
"Swerdlow and Neugebauer, Mathematca
372
George Saliba
some of those manuscripts, for among its collections there is the
famous Postel copy of Tnsi' s tadhkira, which is now kept under the
shelf number MS Vat. arab. 319. This work of TOsi includes the
most mature version of the TOsi Couple, full with clear statement of
the theorem and the detailed proof that was used by Hartner for the
comparison with the Copernican proof. Moreover, it appears that
Postel obviously could read Arabic very well, as he has left his own
handwritten annotations on the margins of this particular
manuscript as well as the margins of other Arabic manuscripts that
are still extant in various other libraries. In one instance, in the
manuscript now kept at the Bibliotbeque Nationale in Paris, BN
arabe 2499, which is heavily annotated on the margins by Postel,
he even corrected the original Arabic text of the manuscript when it
skipped the name of a month in the Hebrew calendar.
16
Could Copernicus have come in contact with either of those
gentlemen, or with others like them whose names are still to be
determined? Or could he have known their older colleagues who
taught them Arabic in the first place and got them interested in their
journeys to the Islamic world in order to collect the manuscripts?
Could those collectors of manuscripts then translate them into Latin
as was done by Andreas, or simply add marginal Latin annotations
to the Arabic texts as was extensively done by Postel? Could
someone like Leo Africanus, originally al-I:Iasan b. Mui)ammad al-
Wazzlin (1485-1554), who converted to Christianity after his
capture and who taught Arabic at Bologna, the first Italian
university visited by Copernicus, have been one of his collaborators
in deciphering Arabic texts?
There are many such people with whom Copernicus could have
come in contact. There are others, from other European cities,
some of them older contemporaries of Copernicus like Andreas and
Leo, who knew Arabic well enough to write their own grammars of
Arabic as was done by Postel and Widmenstatter (1506-57) and
who could have also helped Copernicus decipher such texts. At this
point nothing can be said for certain. But there is enough evidence
to indicate that a deepened research in this area will eventually
prove to be very rewarding.
; the annotations on the margins of the MS Vat. arab. 319, an.d the
ans astronoiDlCal MS BN arabe 2499 where Postel even corrects a mistake 1D the
original Arabic text. '
373
.
1
Contacts Between the World of Islam and
. . . the Astronomica .
ReVJSIIing . The B yz.antine connection
Renaissance Europe.
b
rta
.tn the intellectual environment in
. eems to e ce
One thmg s I the corridor extending from Florence to
northern Italy, a ong b n in close contact with the contemporary
Venic.e, seems to by then digested all those astronomi.cal
Islanuc world whtc . . ulat'ton for more than two centunes.
h h
d been m ctrc h
ideas t at a I t find Italian or other Arabtsts w o
Thus, it would not ?e scattered along this northern
. th vartous umverst 1 d
worked m e C . s lived for close to ten years an
Italian corridor where
obtained his university trammg. C . s's own works reveals a
'd f om opermcu '
Since the textual evt ence, r . 'cal material the answer
. 'th Arabtc astronomt '
definite acquamtance WI b ht t'n the context of the
f
t ts has to e soug .
to the problem o con can hope that by tracmg the
northern Italian universities. One h 'ther lt'ved in Italy or
I
t lists w o et
interests of those ear y onen a . ' d'd and by re-examining the
. . Coperntcus 1 , d
visited its umverstties as . th t are still preserve m
. f Ar b manuscnpts a
huge collections o a IC arth even more compelling
l
.b one may une .
several European J ranes, 'th Islamic sctence.
E
n contact WI d d
documentation of uropea h
1
ts own uninten e
h can ave . 'fi
Furthermore, such researc d d I'ght on the sctentJ JC
h d much nee e
1
II th
consequences as It may s e . orthern Italy. A e
I
ssance m n 'fi
environment of the ear Y ki g the latest sctenU IC
. f sctence see n ce
evidence pomts to men b 'ld their own scten
. ld n order to Ul th
results from the Islarmc wor I h . scientific theories on e
upon them, and not to reconstruct t etbr th n become obsolete.
that had Y e '
basis of ancient Greek sctence '
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Wolska-Conus, W., 'Stephanos d' Athenes (Stephanos d' Alexandrie)
et Theophile 1e Protospathaire, commentateurs des Aphorismes
d'Hippocrate sont-ils independents l'un de !'autre?', REB 52 (1994),
5-68.
Wolska-Conus, W., 'Stephanos d' Athenes
d' Alexandrie. Essai d'identification et de biOgraphte 'REB 47
(1989), 5-89.
Wolska-Conus, W., La topographie de
Indicopleustes: thiologie et sciences au VIe szecle (Pans,
1962).
435
.. b h w ke in das lateinische
Wiistenfeld, F., Ubersetzungen ara zsc er . .
seit dem XI. Jahrhundert, der .
Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottmgen 22, 5 ( )
Yates, F. A., Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (London,
1964).
ae and its Enigma:
. Zambelli, P., The Speculum_Astro_norru M nus and his
Astrology, Theology and Sczence m
Contemporaries (Dordrecht and Bos '
Index of Proper Names and Important
Terms
'Aiarnat, 362
Aaron ben Meir, 314
Aaron, 24
abacus, 40
Abbasid Caliphate, 32
'AbMsid caliphs, 231
Abbasids, 48
Abgar, 23
Abimelech, 246,257
A
Abraham b. Hiyya, astronomer, 295,311,314
Seferha-ibbur, 314
Sefer sural 295
Abraham Ibn Ezra, 62,88,298
Abraham, Biblical patriarch, 36,133,245-263
Abramios, John, 25,72,238,239
Abo Al;lmad Khalaf ibn Al;lmad, 34
Tul,ifar al-mulak, 34
Abo Ma'shar, astrologer, 32,49,138,190,235,238,:i42,330,331, see also ai-Balkhr,
Ilal.xo,, A.:n:ofL(xoaQ,
Albumasaris de revolutionibus nativitotum, !38
Kitab al-madkho/ al-kabrr i/a 'ilm al;kilm al-nujam, Liber introductorii moioris
ad scientiam iudiciorum astrorum, 235
Achmet,.24,32,34, 60,78,84, 329,330
Oneirocriticon, 24,34, 60,75,78,84,160,329,330
. Achmet the Persian, 238
Ad Principem Aeni et Samothraces in Dionysium Ha/icamasensem
Adam, 246,250
Adelard of Bath, 62,235
Aeneas of Gaza, 226
Aetios of Amida, 23,338,339,341,342,348,354-359
Africa, 55
Africanus, 17
Agathodaimon!Agathodemon, 208,218
aggadah/aggadot, 294,312,313,317,318,319,320,322
aggadic, 318,319,321,322
agriculture, see also geoponika, 22,41,60,81,222,278
Cornelius, 29
Ahimal!Z b. Paltiel, 293,295,299 ,303,308-3ll
3

3
JO 31 1 ,3 12,3 17,3 I 9,
Chronicle of Ahimoaz, 293,294,295,299,301, '
320,322
Ainos, 26,73
Akathist Hymn, 24
j
j
j
j
j
j
j
j
j
j
j
j
j
j
j
j
438
Index of Proper Names and Important Terms
Akropolites, Constantine, 277,278,290
Akropolites, George, 267,268,269,273,285
aktouarios, 268
al-Amrn, caliph, 232
AlamO!, 362
al-Andalus, 341
al-BalkhT, 238, see also Abo Ma'shar, Tial.xo<;
Albertus Magnus, 335
Liber de septem llerbis, 329
Alc/wndreana, 332,334,340,341
Alchemical Corpus, 205,207,208,213,216,219,220,222,224,225,228
alchemical(manuscripts,texts,etc.) 44,45,73,82,86, 163,165,169,170,171,172,174,
175,180,182,184,186,187,188,191,194,195,196,198,202,207,209,210,217,218,
219,221,222,224,225,226,229
alchemist,s, 13, 205,214,215,216,217-221,223.224,226,227
alchemy, 11,13,18,21 ,25,32,36,37,41,73,81,82,86,98,139,165,169,173,188,194,
196,197,205-208,214,215,217,220-222,224-230
alchymica, 209,220,224
Alexander Magnus, 329
Alexander of Aphrodisias, 16,33
Alexander ofTralles, 83,84
Alexander Romance, 293,326
Alexander the Great (336-323), 75,293,336
Alexander (912-913), 126,127,129
Alexandria, 25,36,163,165,187,190,197,201,216
Alexandrinos, Theodore, 89,142
Alexios Axouch, protostrator,l46,148,150,155
Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118), 76,78,89,121,140,141,142,145,146,150,154,
156,269
Alexios II (1180-1182), 147,151
Alexios III (1195-1203), 151,152,153
al-FaZlil'!, 231
Alferat, 338,340,348
al-Hakam, caliph, 130
al-l:lasan b. Mul)ammad al-WazZlin, 372
Air b. Ri<;lwiin, 62
al-Kindr, 43,241,342
De mutatione temporum, 34
De radiis, 44
al-Ma'mnn, caliph, 232
al-Mahdr (r. 775-785), caliph, 87,128,193
Labors Concerning the Beginnings of Wars, 87
al-Mamun, caliph, 123
almanacs (ephemeredes), 276
(754-775), caliph, 169
ai-Mu'izz, caliph, 310
ai-Mutawakkil, caliph, 85
ai-Yabrndr, 53
Alypios/Alipius, 262,263,276
Amittai, 308
Ammon. 270,332
amulets, 12,46
Anastasios I (491-518), 14,227
Anastasios of Sinai, 85
Disputatio contra Judaeos, 85
Anaxagoras, 16
Alpagus Andreas, 370,371,372 54 !55 160
Andronikos I Komnenos (1182-1185). 135,147,149,150,151,153,1
Andronikos II Palaiologos (1282-1328), 75,276,286,287
Andronikos J11 Palaiologos (1328-1341 ), 72,285
Andronikos IV Palaiologos (1376-1379), 12
Andros. 125 269
Anna Comnena, 27 ,76,121,140,141,142,143,144,145,
Tile Alexiad, 121
Anonymi Chronologica, 73
Anonymous Philosopher,209,216,218
Antichrist, 160
Antigonus ofNicaea, astrologer, 167
Antioch, 52,61,62,89,226
antipatheia, av1:13tU8elll, I 09
Antiphonetes, II 0
Aphrodite, 252
apocryphal, a:n:6xQu<j>o<;, 15 '
Apollo, 133, see also John the
Apollonius ofTyana, 130,133, 135,3
Apotelesmata, 130,134,135
aporrheta (os), rut6QQf]'tU (O<;), !
6
20

107
!IO
Apuleius, 334
Sphere, 333
439
Apulia, 293
Aquarius 178183,199,201
606162
636667,73,74,82,85,86,
Arabic, 3J5,J36:337.3J8,340,341,343,361.
87,88,89,91,93,325,326,327,3
29
33
'
363,364,365,366.368,369,370,371,372.373
Arabs,47,63,75,127,I29,132,143 I
Aratos/Aratus, 82,89,276.3
2
9
339
35
Phaenomena, 82,89,329,3
51
22
Archelaos, poet-alchemist, 173,209,2
Ares (Mars), planet, 252
Aries, 178,181,183,184,186,198,269
Aristander of Telmessos, 75
Aristarchus, 276 94 196 202 365 37 J64
Aristotelian (cosmology etc.),
17
;:
75
'
197
2t6,217,250,276,330.335,3
36
3
'
Aristotle, !6,33,34,49,
84
114
16
' ' '
365
De anima, !15
440
Politics,99
Meteorologica, 114,276
Kitilb al-ustuwwatlls, 336
Aristoxenus, 276
Index of Proper Names and ImpOrtant Terms
arithmetic,s, 158,194, 247,256,260,271,276
arrheta (os), 16-20, 107, 110, 115
Artemidoros, 22
Oneirocritika, 22
Arsenios, monk, 82
art of jewelry-making, 169
Artemidoros/Artemidorus, 34,75,78,84,87,
Onirocriticon libri, 22,34
Asclepius, 327
astral religion, 250,256
astrolabe, 23,192,196,198
astrologer,s, 13,23,26,29,67 ,71,75,89,90,91,93,120,126,132,135-139,141-143,
147,150,151,155-157,161 ,!66 -169,189,193,202,217,231,233,236,238,241'
245,253,255,256-260,262,270-272,275,278,279,282, 296,300, 321,328 see
321
astrological (herbals,poem,texts, treatises etc.), 21,25, 44,62,67 ,68,72,80,82,87,
94, 120,125,127 ,128,!30,132,134,135,138,139,140,141 '145,156, 163,165,166,
167,169,172,!86,189,190,191 ,192,193,194,202,236, 266,269,270,272,274,276,
277,278,281,289,290,292,295,301,303,310,311,319,327
astrology, 11,13,19,21,24,26,27,32,36,37, 40,41 ,43,45,48,49,54,55,59-71,73,
74,81,83,87-89,91-94,98,102,120,121,124,126-128,130,132,133,135-144,146,
147,149,150,153-157,161, 165-169,181,189,!93,194, 231-238,240-242,245-
248,251 ,253,254,257-263. 265,266,269-272,27 4,27 5,277,278,280-283,285'
289,290,291,293-304,308,310-3.!2,3!5,317-323, 325,326,330,336,341
astronomer,s, 14,23, 45,72,82,137,140,141 ,202,252,256,273,296,361 ,364,366,369
astronomical(treatises,etc.), 163,164,165,172,180,183,184,185, !86,187 ,188,193,
194,195,198,199,200,201,248,252,266, 270,271,274,276,278,279,283,285,290,
292,295,2%,309,311,314,316,317,319,322, 363,364,366,370,372,373
astronomy, 27,32,36,42,43,51,62,63,64,65,71 ,86,124,127,135,137,158,166,191,
194, 200,202' 247,248,25 2,253,254,256,259,260,261 ,262,263. 265,266,271 ,273'
274,275,276,277,279,281 ,283,288,289,291 ,294-298,301,304,308,311 ,312,314,
315,317-322,337,361,363,365-369,371
astrum, 344
Athenagoras, 99
Athinganoi, !59
Attaleiates, Michael, 122,137
Historia, 137
auguries, olwvooxwtlm, !59
augury, 16,26,98
Autolycus, 276
Avicenna, 370
Ayynb ibn Al)mad, 234
Azareus, 327
441
B
Babylon, 31,33,253,254
Baghdad, 32,48,53,61 ,62,80,81 ,91 ,!23,125,132,135,231,233,311
Bahya ibn Paquda
The Book of Direction in the Duties of the Heart, 300
Balaam, 133, see also John the Grammarian
BiilTnOs, 329, see also Apollonius ofTyana
Balkh, 238
Balsamon, 160
Bar Hebraeus, 62
Bar Hiyya, 317
Bardas, Caesar, 125
Bari, 310
Barlaam of Seminara, 285 89 202 284
Basil I (867-886), ' ,
Basil II (960-1025), 52, !38
Basil of Caesarea, St, 69,272
Basil,eparch, 145
Basilakios, hermit, !54
Basra, 231
Berossus, 250
Beziers, 62
bird-seers, 26
Blachemae Palace, 152
225 267 268
Blemmydes, Nikephoros, 24,159,
209
: ' ;one istula universa/ior, 159
Autobiographia sive curriculum vtae,
body ,ies, 31,99, I 00,101,1
,292,295,296,
188,206,207,210,212,213,226,227, ' '
303,304,305,307,308,322,364
Bohemond, 145
Bologna, 372
Botaneiates, Nikephoros, 137
books on making gold and Silver,
165
botany,41 ,
Brachamios, 89 . f th tcome 240
burj a/- 'aqiba, the zodiacal sign e ou '
Branas, Alexios, 153,154
Bryennios, Joseph, 69,70
Bryennios, Manuel, 66,27
1
Cairo Genizah, 316,321
Cairo, 53,61,62,91
Calabria, 283
c
442
Index of Proper Names and Important Tenus
calendar, 313,314,315,316,317,333,337,372
calendation, 294,296,315,322
Cancer, 178,183,198,199,200,201,267,284
Canabutzes, John/Joannes, 26
Capricorn, 178,183,198,200
Capua,293
Cassius Dio, 120
Historia Augusta, 120,121,122,136
Catalonia, 325,341
celestial diviners, 296, see also i)ovrei shamayyim
celestial (lore, phenomena, sciences etc.) 26, 246-251,253,262, 291,292,295,297,
300,301,304,305,307,308,312,315,322
Censorious, 326
De die natali, 326
Chaldaea, 21 ,254
Cha/daean Oracles, 15,17,27,30,31 ,104,105,106,113
Chaldaean,s, 15,17,27,30,31 ,36,48,104 -108,113,133,139,161,247,248,249,250,
253,254,255,257,260,262,27 8,300,321
charms, 12,30
chemical writings, 215,219
chemistry, 42
Chioniades, George, 366,368,370
Chloros, Demetrios, 85
Choirosphaktes, Leo, 132
Choniates, Niketas, 121,122,!35,146,147
Historia Nicetae Choniatae! Historia!History, 121,146-162
Panoplia Dogmatike, 149
Chora,66
Choumnos, Nikephoros, 270
Chronicon Pascha/e, 73
Chrysoberges, Loukas, Patriarch, 270
Chrysokokkes, George, 82,274,278,279,280
Persian Syntaxis, 274,279,289
Chrysokokkes, Michael, 26
Chrysoloras, John, 283,285
Chrysostom, John St, 24,69,70,98
Homilies, 112
chrysopoeia, 224,225
Church of the Holy Apostles, 158
Cicero, 101
De divinatione, 10 I
Clement of Alexandria, 98
Clement of Rome, 256,258,259,261
Cleonides, 276
Cleopatra, 73,207,208
cloud-chasers, v$o6LiiJK"tat., !59
Codex Justinianus, 168
comet,s, 76,79,128,!36,138,145, 267,268,272,273
443
Constans II (64!-668), 75
Constantine Doukas (1057-1078), 127
Constantine the Great (307-337), 168
Constantine V Kopronymos (741-775), 74,169
Constantine VI (780-797), 75 siP h rogenitus (945-959), 70,76, 122.127.
Constantine VII Porphyrogenneto orp Y '
128,130,131,132, 220,222,223,228,229
De administrando imperio, I 90,199
De cerimoniis aulae byzantinae, 22
Constantine, son of Basil I, 126 24 129 130 131,134,135,136,138,143,151.
Constantinople, 14,24,35,109,120,12i\83 184187,188,189,197.200,201,214,
153 154 !58 160 161 163,167,168,17 '
219:220:227:229:267:269,274,275,284,288,290.329
Constantius II (337-361),
71
304 307 31
8 319 320 336
constellation,s, 293,296,30l,
302

36
/
368
:
37
o',37t',37Z,373
Copernicus, 37,361 ,364,365,366, '
Commentario/us, 367
De Revolutionibus, 365,367,368
copper, 169,!76,!77,!80,!88,195
Cordoba, 130
Corfu,214
Corinth, 90
cosmic, 17,19,20,29,31,36,292
cosmological, 32, 364,365
74 195 217
305,320,322,365
cosmology, !6,20,29,!01,!05,1
7
' '
cosmos, 20,146,156,206,313,31
Council in Troullo, 69,159
Council of Laodicaea, !58
06
also God and Lord
Creator, !16,191,226,280,28;,
3
see
creator, 246,249,256,258,2
6
Crete, 214
Critodemus, astrologer, 16
7
Crusade, 53,79,140
Crusaders, 63
Cyprus, !50
Damascus, 53,370
Damaskios/Damascius, 113
De principiis, 175
D
In Philebum, 113
Damigeron (Evax), 3
27
. rutibus, 327
De /apidibus et eorum vrr
Daniel, 297,298,300
daydreams, 206 Ar' totilem. 334,336.344
De Luna secundum IS
444
Demiurge, 103
Demochares, 138
Demokritos/Democritus, 16,218,219
demon/daemon,s, 15,17,29,30,31,34,103,105,106.107,108,109,111,113,114124
149,150,151,157
demonic, 130,131,146,149,153,154,155,249
demonology, 24,30,31,35, 45,64,111
Demophilos, 138
determinism, 67
Deukalion, 87
Diocletian (284-305), 165,166
Dionysios of Halicamassos, 26,73,228
Dionysius the Areopagite, 70
Diophantus, 276
Arithmetic, 276
Dioscorides, 22, 83
dish-divining, AxaVOfL<XV1:Ea, 123,124,129
dish-scrutiny, 26
divination, (by earthquakes, planetary days, from birds, sacrificial victims
grains ofbareley etc.), 11,16,17 ,20,21,23,28,30,37,40,41,43,45,46,54,57,60,67,68,
69,70,75,81,82,91' 121,124,129,131,133,139,147,150,152,153,159,160,161,332,
335
divinatory sciences, 326
Divine (authority, Intellect, Power, Will etc.), 103,104,105,106,108,109,110,111,
112,113,115,116,212,282
diviner,s, 26
doctors, 26,28
Shabbetai Donnolo, 293,297,301-308,315,319,320,322
Sejer hakhmoni, 293,294,296,301,303,304,305,306,307,308,311,312,317,320
Sefer maWJiot, 293,303,319,320
Dorotheos of Sidon, 167,233,234, 232,235,236
Carmen astrologicum, 138,235, 240
Dositheos, monk, 154
Dositheos, patriarch, 151,160
Doukas, Theodore, 28
Theodori Ducae epistulae,28
dream interpretation, 21,25,26,32,33,34,35,37 ,45,74,77 ,79,83,84,87,98
dream interpreters, 26,37
dream,s, 54,60,61,66,71,76,78,82,83,86,90
drugs, cpclQfL<lXU, 19,146
E
earthquake,s, 125,136, 266,275,276
eclipse,s, 14,70,76,267,268,269,270,272 273 275 276 283 284,285,286,287,
288,289,290
Bgg of the philosophers, 178
Egypt, 21,31,32,33,57 ,62,73,91 ,119,165,206,221,246,247,255,256,257,258,
260,310
Egyptian,&, 31 ,48,54,56,57 ,247,248,253,256,257,258,259,260,263
Eleutherios of Eleia, 143,238
Eleutherios of Sidon, 239
Empedocles, 16
enchantment, 123,148
England, 62
Enoch, 246,24 7,248,249,261 ,263
Ephemerides, 278,279,280
Epiphanios, merchant, 192,196,198,199
Epiphanios, monk, 84
Epiphanios/Epiphanius, 24,254
Physiologos (attributed to), 24,
Panarion, 254
epistemology, 20
Eprios, 145
Eratosthenes, 276
Erythraean Sibyl, 161
eschatology, 45
esoteric antediluvian learning, 250
esotericism, 206,298,301
Euclid, 276
Eudoxos, astrologer, 141
Eulogios, patriarch,
152 153
Euphrosyne,wife of AleXIOS nr (1195-1205), '
Eupolemos, 248
Europe, 43,47,49,51,55,59
Eusebia, 212,213,223
Eusebios of Caesarea, 248,257
Praeparatio evangelica, 248,257
Eustathios ofThessslonica, 156
Eutocius, astrologer/astronomer, 16
7
276
Exaltation of the Cross, 150 d xa
extraordinary phenomena, 13, see also para
0
fatalism, 67
Fatimids, 53
filioque, 83
Firmicus Matemus
Mathesis, 243, 326
Flaccus Africus, 329
Compendium aureum, 329
flood, 253,254
Florence, 3 72
F
445
446
folk, 39,42
folk-lore, 39
Forum of Arcadius, 127
Forum of Constantine, !52
Fourth Crusade, 151,153
France, 62,72,325,329,341
Gabala, 143
galaktites, 108
Galen, 22,83,279
Gandoubarios, 252
Gaudentius, 276
Gemini, 178,183
Genesios, 122
Genesis Rabbah, 319,320
Genesis, 88,257,280,305,
genethlialogy, yeve8At.aAOyLx6v, 266
Gengis Khan, 273
geography, 42,49,55,56
geomancy, 21,24,45,98
Index of Proper Names and Important Tenns
G
geometry, 27,28,136,158,194,269,271,276, 269,271,276
George the Monk, 81,131,133,247,253,254,255,256,257,258,259,260,261,262,263
Chronicon/Chronikon, 133,253,254,255,257,258,259,260,262
George the Synkellos, 215,219,229
Chronographia, 219
Georgius Monachus Continuatus, 122,132
Ghazan Khan, 273
Giordano Bruno, 29
Glykas, Michael, 245,246,247,248,249,251,253,257,261,262,263
Chronicle, 247
E ~ Ta, dJW(!ta,, 246,247,248,261,262,263
Annates, 261,262,263
Gnostic, 17, 206
God, 34, 75,85,88,101,102,103,104,106,107,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,
137,141,150,153,157,168,185,191' 195,246,247,249,251 ,253,255,256,257 ,258,
262,263,280,282,286,289,294,297,298,299,303,304,305,306,307,309,313,317'
319,321
gods, 251,254,255,256,259
gold, 165,169,172,174,176,177,180,182,195, 206,224,226,227
goldmaking, 207
goldsmiths, 169,206,225
gramma, YQ<ljl.f.l.a, Ill
grammarians, 26
Great Palace, 126,149 ,
Gregoras, Nikephoros, 45,66,72,75,98,265,266,277,278,283,284,285,286,287,
288,290
Epistulae, 266,278,283,285,286
Ca/cul de I' eclipse de Solei/ du 16 juillet 1330, 45,284
Byzantina Historia, 266,286,288
Gregory of N azianzus, 289
Gregory of Nyssa, 69,98,272
H
h lakhah 294 300 312 313,317,318,320,321,322
h:lakhic, ,298,Z99 .3oo.3!2,313,314,315,317 ,318,319,320,322
Hananel, 303,308,309
Harpokration, 329
Harran, 249,256
Hay Gaon, 299,317
heavens 245 249,250,256,257,262
Hebrew: 293:294,295,297,298,300,305,314,316
Hecate, 105
Heliodoros, 167,173,209,222 d . ommentarium (attributed to),
Heliodori ut dicitur in Paulum Alexan rmum c
167
Hellenes, 133
Hellenic, 254,255,259
hepatoscopy, 124 275
Hephaestio of Thebes, 24,26,235,
236
269

Apote/esmatica, 26,138,235 5 126 129 164,167,170,171,172,173,183,
Heraclius!Heracleios, (610-64!), ~ j
8
;
19
Z2l Z28 see also Hiraql
184,186,189,197,199,202,213,2!7, ' ' '
Heraklion, 214
heresy, 300,305
heretics, 245 .
1 208 218
,
22
9,327,331,332,335
Hennes Trismegtstos, 16,10 ' '
De triginta sex decanis, 331
Hermetica, 327
latromathematicum, 332
Kirab al-makhzan, 336 .
31
Liber de triginta sex decams, 3
Liber imaginum Lunae, 3
35
Hennes,god, 252
Hermetic Corpus, 15,22
3
2
06
hennetic(thought, tradition),
17
29
'
Henneticism, 327
3
Hennetism, 14,208,209,
22
hexaemeron, 247
hibit, 311
hidden arts, 27
hieratic art, 17,27,3lh. . t
17
3 209,222
Hierotheos, poet-ale tnus ' '
447
448
Hipparchus, 276
Hippiatrica, 222
Hippocrates, 172,197,279
De alimento, 99
Hippocratic Collection, 221
Hippocratic corpus, 99
hippocratic, 202
Hippodrome, 123,126,142,152
Holy Land, 62
Holy Theotokos of Dorothea, church, 197
homily, aggadah, 294
Horace, 78
horoscope,s, 43,70,125,126,130,132,136,138,143,144,147, 156,165-168, 189,
190,191,192,193,198,199,200,201,202, 231,232,233,234,236,237,239,240,
241,257,258,266,271,272,328,330
Horus,223
(wvrei sluunayyim, 296, see also celesta! diviners
Hugo of Santalla
Liber Aristotilis, 237,238
Hiilagii, 273
l:lunain ibn lsbaq, 62
hurricanes, 266
Hyades, 338,339
Hydra, 339,357
Hypsicles, 276

lamblichosllamblicus, 34,134
De mysteriis, 34,113
!annes, 128
I
iatromathematica, medical astrology, 166
Ibn Abl 53,62
Kitab 'uyan al-anba' ft tabaqat a/-a(ibba', 62
Ibn al-Nadim, 173
Kitllb ai-Fihrist, 171,173
Ibn ai-QiftJ, 62,91 '
Ibn Bu!lan, 53,61,62,91
Ibn Qutayba, 89
Ibn Rldwan of Cairo, 53,62,91
Ibn Tibbon, 300
Icarus, 339,348
idolatry, 245,254,255
idolum, 343,344,345,336
Ignatius, patriarch, 131
imago,336
TbeOccu1tSciences in Byzantium
]mouth, 215
impedimentum, 336 . 8 280
. M uel Comneni et Michael Glycae drsputatw, 16 "'
Jmperatons an
incantation, 13,18
India, 240
Indians, 302
Indicopleustes, Cosmas, 270,289
Interpretation of the twenty-four letters, 17
Iran, 233,361
Irene/Eirene (797-802), 75,267
iron, 180,181,195
Isaac Aaron, 89,148,149,155,161
Isaac Argyros, 66
5
5 160
Isaac II Angelos (1185-1195), 151,152,153,154,1 '
Isaac I Komnenos (1057-1059),150
Isaac Newton, 174
Isauria (Cilicia), 150
449
Isidore of Seville, 60,292,296
Isis, 208,223
7 90 126 127 167
,
170
,
1
73,190,191,192,193,194,198,
Islam, 21,33,41,46,54,68,73,8 ' '
199,201, 234,235,242,273,310 46 47 49,51,52,55,56,57,59,60,61,65,85,88,90.91,
Islamic (world, etc,) 32,33,35,
41
' '
119,232,242,335,362,366,371.
372
373
Isma'III fortress, 362
Israel, 302,303,306,309,316,319 AI dria 173
Istafllnos, see also Stephanos of exan '
Istanbul, 234
Isthmeos John, 226
Italikos, Michael, 17,27,105,!
39
142
Lettres et discours, 27
Italos Johnlloannes, 34,140
quodlibetales, 3
4
Italy, 371,373
Jabir ibn l:layyan. 173
Jehudah Halevi, 300
J
Kuzari, 300
33
231
95
296 297,298,299.
Jew, 32,37
'
Jewish, 37,231,247,248,
0 3
j2,3
13
,314,316,318,319, '
300,301,302,303,305.3
1

Job, 125 nnum !570, 332
Stadius, Johannes. 332 ctae ab anno }554 ad a
Ephemerides novae et exa
John and Niketas,

Sl,l36,145
John I Tzimiskes (96
9
-
9
' '
450
John II Komnenos (1118-1143), 146
John of Damascus, St, 98
John ofNikiu, 120
Chronicle, 120
John the Cappadocian, 71
John VII the Grammarian, patriarch, 35,81,89,123,124,128,129,132,133,135
John V Palaeologos (1332-1391 ), 72
John, astronomer, 127
John, son of Andronikos I, 150
John, St, Evangelist and Theologian, 112, 145
Joseph Kara, 293,319
Josephus, Flavius, 247,249,250,251 ,252,256,257,260,261,293
Antiquities, 249,250,251,257
Joshua, 280
Jubilees, 249,250,252,254,255,256,261
Judah the Prince, 302
Judaism, 246,250,294,299,310,313,315,319
Judea, 249
Julian the Chaldaean, 17
Julian the Theurgist, 17
Julius Africanus, 22
Kestoi, 15,22
Jupiter, 137,180,183,186,199,200,201,232,233,272
Justinian I (527-565), 71,73,75,120
Kabbalah, 299
Kabasilas, Nicholas, 288
In Gregorae deliramenta, 288
Kainan, 247,249,252,253,261
Kaloeidas, Michael, 283
Kalydonian boar, 126,152
Kamateros, Johnlloannes, 77,156
Eisagoge astronomies, 156,
Kanaboutzes, John, 25,228
Commentarius, 228
Karaite,s, 315,316
Kariye Djami, 66
Katanankes, 142,269
kawktJb (planet), 238
Kedrenos, George
History, 199
K
Keroularios, Michael, 18,81 ,90
ibn Yaz:rd ibn Mu'awiya,prince, 171,221
Kinnamos,John, 78,90,122,146,122,146 155 156161
Epitome rerum ab Joanne et Alexio 78,122,146,156
Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus, 122
Kitllb Hiraql al-akbar (=Book ofHeraclius the Great), 173
ldedon, 159
knowers of secret things, 27
kokhav, 296
Konrad III, 79
Kosmas the Monk, 83,209,225
kritriai, prophetesses who frequented icons and churches, 159
Kronos, see also John the Grammarian, 133
Kronos, 252
Kyr Alypios,247, 262
Kyranos, 74
Kyranides, 25,74,84,85,160,329,329,330
L
lapidaires, 41,327
451
Laskaris, Theodoros, 272
333 334 335 336 3
37 338,339,340,341,342,
Latin, 325,326,327,329,330,331,332, ' ' ' '
343,359,366,368,370,372 167 294 300 313,314,315,316,317,318,
law,halakhah, 42,52,68,80,120,158,159, ' ' '
320,321,322
lead, 169,180,188,195
lecanomancy, 21,45,133,155,159,160
Leo Africanus, 372
Leo IV (775-780), 128
Leo the Deacon, 121,136,137,145
Leo Grammaticus, 122,131,132
Chronographia, 131 l29l32
Leo the Mathematician, 80,124,125,l
28
'
Leo the Philosopher, 125,130,160
Leo v (814-820), 123,130,135,154 132 145 160
Leo VI (886-912),

' '
Leo, zodiacal sign, 178,198,2
1
269
2
Letter of Petosiris,
"bus auctoribus", 328

Liber de physiognomoma Ex tn
88,178,198,201
33
5
L1echtenstem, Peter, 335
1
'lr'ber diversarum rerum.
. . ie Ptho ome1
Sacratssrme astronom 133
Life of St Theodora the Empress, .
Liudprand ofCremona, 13
161
Opera omnia,l30 also God and Creator
Lord, 258,260,262,303,3
8
321
see
Lucca, 62 . . l65 u.t
Lucius Domitius DonuuanusJ04
333
,335,336,337,341,.,-.-.
lunar (mansions,nodes),
278
'
lunaria, 332,333
452
Lydos, John, 75
Lydus, 338
Liber Alchandrei, 332
Uber de Ostentis, 338
Ma'aser Sheni, 317
Macedonia, 152
Magi/magoi, 12,13
M
magic, 11,12,14,19-23,26,30,37, 39,40,41,44,46,57,63,65,68,69,82,84,90,
97 ,98,104,!05,107 ,I 09,!15,123,130,134,135,157 ,162,178,254,257 ,259,260,299,
300,304,325-328 ,335 ,336,343. .
magical (practices,tradition etc.), 97,98,104,105,107,108,109,111,113,!14,115,
293,299,303,326,327,329,338
magician,s, 14,26,29,106,128,131,169,253,260
Magog,260
Magousaioi/Magousians, 254,260
Maimonides, Moses, 270, 291,292,295,296,297,298,299,300,305,306,311,
315,317,318,321,322
Epistle to Yemen, 292
Guide for the Perplexed, 292
Letter on Astrology, 292,299,300
Mishneh Torah, 295,296,299,300,317,322
Sefer 299,315
Malalas, John, 14,73,226,227,251,252,253,254,255
Chronographia/Chronicle, 227
Mamalos, 151,!55,161
Manasse, 231
Manetho, astrologer, 141
Manfred, king of Sicily, 330
Manganeios Prodromos, 147
Mantua,62
Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180), 55,73,74,77,78,80,81,!42,145,146,!54,!56,
!57 ,168,245,246,247,251,253,257,261,263,280,289
Letter in defence of astrology, 280
Manuel II Palaeologos (1391-1425), 72,74
Manuel of Trebizond, 278
manuscript,s, 15,17 ,21,22,23,24,25,27 ,30,37 ,41,44,48,49,54,70,82,130,132,135,
139,143,144,165,167,169,172,185,189,191,198,199,207,208,214,218,220,222,
223,224,!65,!69,172,185,189,191,198,199,234,236,238,242,331,332,334,335,
337 ,339,340,341,342,343,366,368,370,37!,372,373
Many, 167,175
Mar Samuel
Mishnah (attributed to), 302
Mar&gha Observatory, 361,364
Mar&gha, 361
Marciana, 83
Maria, 86
Marianas, monk, 86,87
Book of the Monk, 86
Marin us, 269,273
Vita ProcH, 269,273
Mars, 27 ,180,181,!82,!83,184,185,186,199,200,201,283
Mary the Jewess, 208
453
Mary, 218,219 al Yazd Kh ast
MnsM' allah ibn Athari, astrologer, 36,231-237,239-243 see so nn w
Manasse, Maad.Ua, 231 ,
Kittlb nwsa'il Mtlsha'al/tlh (The Book of Questions to Mnsbn allllh),
236,237,241
Kittlb al-usturlilb, 235 . nd Faiths
Kittlb ft al-qirtJntlt wa al-adytln wa al-milal (Book on ConJunctwns a
and Religions), 232
De receptione, 237,241
Epistola de rebus eclipsium, 2
38
k if the Elections
Kittlb al-ikhtiytJrtlt 'alii al-buyat electionibus), 236
according to the Twelve Astrological Houses, t.
mathematicianslmathenwtikoi, 26,136,141,!
58
mathematics, 18,32,42,296,314
Maximos, Patriarch of Constantinople, 82
mazzal, mazzalot, wdiacal sign, 176 197 201,202,274,275,279
medicine, 21,24,31, 40,41,43,53,84,8 ' ' '
Meliteniotes, Theodore, 271,289
186 198 199
,200,201,363,365
Mercury, 26,180,18!,182,183,184,185, ' '
Mesarites, Nicholas, !58
Mesopotamia, 62
Messina, 91
metallurgy, 18
Metaphrastes, Symeon, 76,13
6
5 196 206 21
!,225,226,228
metals, 176,177,179,180,182,19 ' '
meteorologoi, 71
meteorology, 42,108,278,337 270 271 274,276,28!,282,283,289
Metochites, Theodore. 66,266, ' '
Stoicheiosis, 274,276,281
Methodios, 123,!33
4
Michael! Rangabe (811-813),
131
13
Michael IT (820-829), 123,1
29
Michael III (842-867), 125,!
28
159
Michael V (104!-1042), 13
6
139
137
Michael VII Doukas (1071-I0
78
)
282
273
Michael VIII Palaiologos <
1259
"
1
),
Michael the Syrian, !28
Midrash, 305,308,317,318
mimesis, 206,226 .
342
354
Miscellanea astrologlca, '
4:14
Mitylene, 238
monastery of the Hodegoi, 72
monk, 245,246
monophysite, 202
monotheism, 64,67
monothelite, 202
Monotropos, Philip, 227
Dioptra, 227,
Moon, 14,27,70,126,144,150,180,181,182,183,184,185,186,187 ,198,199,200,
20 I, 249,256,267,268,269,271,275,278,280,281,284,286,287,289,295,296,307,
309,316,317,322,326,328,332,333,336,364 see also selene
selene, 336 see also Moon
Morienus (Marianas), 221,222
Morning Star, 185 see also Venus
Morocco,62
Moschos/Moscus, John, 78,197,198
Leimonarion, 197
Moses, 128
Mu'ayyad al-Drn al-'Un;II, 369
Mubammad, 192
music, 40,42,77,158,194,271,276
Muslim world, 33,47,68,90
Muslims, 32,67 ,86,94,133,192,302,31 0,361,365
N
Narl>onne, 62
N ~ r ad-Din at-Tnsi, 273,279,36!,362,363,364,366,368,370,371
Tal)rrr al-mijis(T, 363
Nechepso, 332,341
necromancers, 300,321
necromancy, 26,97,124
Nehardea, 302
Neoplatonic (philosopher etc.), 13,19,20,29,36,105,115,139,216
Neoplatonism, 35,175
Neoplatonists, 31,36,103,104,105,106,107,108,109
Nestorius, 70
Newton, 365
Nicaea, 267,270
Nicholas, physician, 268
Nikephoros, patriarch
Shon History, 189
Niketas, deacons, 82
Niketas the Paphlagonian, 131
Vita lgnatii, 131
Nimrod, 253,254
Noah, 247,249
Nomokanon, 158,160
numerology, 21,273
455
0
observatory at Maragha, 273
occult (science,s, etc,), 11,12,14,15,16,19,20,21,22,25-32,35,36,37,39,40,41,44.
46,47,54,57 ,58,59,60,63-70,73,74,75,80,83,86,89,90,92,98,99,121,133,162,165,
119,120,122,125,126,127 ,128,!32,135,138,139,142,144,146,148,151,153,154,
!61 ,206,247,249,252,253,254,257,292,294,297 ,298,299,301,303,304,311,315,
322 see also apocryphal
Old Testament, 134
Olympiodore, 207,208,216,217,229
omoplatoskopia, 23
oneiromancy, 78
onomantic texts, 332,333
optics, 40
oracle, XQ1JOJ.i6, !41
Oracles of Leo the Wise, 135
oracular incantations, 28
oracular method, fl8obo XQ111J.<ilv,
143
odless heretics 69
Oration on pseudo-prophets, pseudo-teachers, and g '
Oria, 293,310
Oribasios, 83
Orion, 349,351,352,353,357
omithoscopy, 160
Orpheus, 16
Orphism, 14
Ostanes, 208,219
Otranto, 310
Ouriel, 247,248,263
Ovid, 78
p
69 27
1 272 273,285,289
Pachymeres, George, 2 ' '
73

Relations historiques, 269,
272
,2
Padua, 370
PaJamas, Gregory, 53
Palatine Anthology, 223
Palchus, astrologer, 167
palmistry, 94,159
palmomancy, 24,45
Paltiel, 310
Pammenes, 208,219
Panaretos, Michael, 285
456
Index of Proper Names and I
Chronicle, 285
Pantale<:m, metropolitan of Synada, 70,126,129
Pankrabos, 120,135
Pantokrator monastery, 168,245
Papyri Graecae Magicae, 113
paradoxa, 13
parapegma, 332,333,335,337,338,339,340,34l,
343
Parastaseis Syntomoi Chronikai 14
134
Parmenides, 16 ' '
Pascalis Romanus, 84,160,329
Liber thesauri occulti, 329
Patria of Constantinople, 129,130,131
Paul of Alexandria, 132,167,276
Eisagogika, 167
Paul, apostle, 263
Pe'ah, 317
Pegasus, 338,340,355
Pelagonia, 152
George, 277,278,283,284
37,254,273,275,273,275
Perstans, 124,129,143,254,260
Pesahim, 300,320
Pesiqta Rabbati, 318
Peter the Philosopher, 270
Petosiris
Letter, 332,333
Petra,227
Pharaoh, 128,257,258,260
pharmacology, 23
pharmacy, 40,42
Philebus, 112
Philo Judaeus, 103,104,
De specialibus legibus, 103
De opificio mundi, 103
_De migratione Abrahami, 104
phtlomatheia, 139
Philopatris, 130
Philoponus, John, 175,276
mportant Terms
_Treatise on the Astrolabe, 276
phtlosophers 1314171820
141 164
17
5'
17
6
19
7 2
02
214
21
26
32
.33,34,51,83,98,1oo,lo7,112,116,134,135,
. ,217,331
stone, 17 5
phtlosophy 13 14 17 18 19 2
68,125,139:14i,
1
64.i
67
:
170

Philostratus, 7S 79,194,201,202,268,269
Phokaia, 26
Ph"
81,98,131,133,219 220 227 229
wt eplstu/ae, 132 ' ' '
phylacteries, 46
Physio/ogos, 23 see also selenodromion
Pisa, 62
Pisces,178,181,184,186,287
Pizimentius, Dominicus, 173
plttakion, 245
457
planet,s, 21,112,113,169,177,178,180,181,182,183,184,185,186,187,192,198,200,
201, 272,278,279,281,296, 327,333,342,363,364, see also kokhav,296
Planetary Theory, 365,367
Planoudes, Maximos, 82,276
Plato, 16,18,112,163,179,217,226,250
Crary/us, 112
Timaeus, 102,103,179,185
Phaedo, 167,171
Theaetetus, 112
Plato, 333 see also Apuleus or Pythagoras
Platonists, 102,103,104,107,109
Pleiades, 319,3 37,339,356,358
Plethon, George Gemistos, 17,30,32,33,72
Manuel d'astronomie, 72
Pliny, 339
Natural History, 339
Plotinus, 102,103,104
Enneades, 102,103
Plutarch, 100,112,221
Conjuga/ia praecepta, 100
De E apud Delphos, 112
pneuma, 1tVeO!J.C!, 100,101,102,103
Polyainos, 22
polymatheia, 31
polytheism, 13,36, 253,255
Porphyry
Eisagoge, 202
Posidonius, I 00
Postel, Guillaume, 371,372
practitioners, 12,28,29
Preceptum Canonis Ptolomei, 327,328 ISO
154
!66 !89,192,194,233,265,
prediction,s, 123,124,125,130,136,141,1
42
' ' '
268,272,277,278,280,281,283,285,286,287,288,290 6
Proclus,

'
In Platonis rem publicam commentam,
103
In Platonis Timaeum commentaria,
103
Hypotyposis, 276
De arte hieratica, 104,105
prognostica, 332 .
71
Procopius!Prokoptos of Caesarea,
Anecdota, 120
Persian Wars, 71
458
prophecies, 129,130,137,151,154,160,161
protective (gold table,rings), 46
Psellos, 15,16,17 ,18,19,20,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35, 77,81,90,106,107,114,
137,139,142,154,219,223,224,225, 335,341,348
De Onmifaria Doctrina, 116
Demonologie, 108
Chronographia, 18,109,121,136,139,140,154
Epistula, 108
Leller of Chrysopoeia, 18,1 70
Mereorologie, 108
Theologica,107,ll1,ll5,ll6
Orationes hagiographicae!Orat.hag., 108,109,110,114,115,116
Oratorio minora, 106,115
Phi/osophica minora, 16,17,18,29,34,107,108,110,111,115,116
On the properties of precious stones, 16
Allegory on the Sphinx, 17
Praise of Italos, 33
To his students on the ventriloquist, 30
Epitaphius in patriarchem Joannem Xiphilinum, 33
Pseudo-Chrysostom,69, 70
Pseudo-Ciement!Pseudo-C1ementine, 254,256,258,259,260,326
Recognitions!Recognitiones, 256,258,326
Homilies, 254,258,259,260
Pseudo-Demokritos,208
Pseudo-Galen,326
De spermate,326
pseudo-Jabir,86,87
Book of the Monk,86
Pseudo-Manetho,26
Pseudo-Ptolemy ,334,337,340,341
Judicia, 332,334,335,340,341,348
De temporum mutatione, 334,337,343,348
pseudo-science,s,40,43,47
Pseudo-Symeon Magistros,81,122,125 ,131,13 2,13 3
Ptolemy, 27,48,82,88,166,167 ,202,233,265,266,268,269,276,279,281,282,284,
287,328,331,332,335,339,341,348,363
Almagest/ Megiste Syntaxis,195,266,281,363
Tetrabiblos,24,48,266,268,269 ,281,287,331,338,339
Handy Tables,I87 ,193,202,328
Syntaxis Tetrabiblos,195
Nomina et virtutes herbarum secretarum septem planetarum, 331 (attributed
to) Geography, 23,276
Pythagoras,l33,333,334, see also John the Grammarian,133
Spheres, 334
quadrivium, 63,76164,167,271,272,276
quicksilver,l76,177,180
Qirqisani, 298
Rabbi Pal tiel, 310
Rabad of Posquieres, 315
Rabbanites, 315,316
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, 29
2
Rabbi Eliezer b. Jacob, 321
. Rabbi Hananel, 309,311,317,320
Rabbi Hanina, 321
Rabbi Nathan, 305
Avot de Rabbi Nathan, 305
Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman,
305
Rabbi Simon, 320
Rabbi Y onatan, 305
Rllhu, 240
Raidestos, 154
Raitho, 85 'b
241
R h
- 'b 'Abdallllh al-I:Iast '
as 1q 1 n
278
Raoulaina,Theodora, 277
remedies, 42
rhetoric, 269
Rhetorius of Egypt,
234
Rhetorius, astrologer,
167
Q
R
rhetors, 26
145
Robert Guiscard.

. Romanos I Lekapenos
Rome,258
73
Rosarium philosophicum, I
Rosinus, 173
Ruczel, Andreas, 3
42
s
98,300 314,315
Sa'adiah Gaon, 2
97
,2 '
sacrificers, 26
87
242
Sagittarius, al-Isra 'TIT, astrologer, 236,
Sahl ibn Bishr tbn

Samonas, charnberlam.
sarnothrake, 26,7
3
samuel. 30
459
460
Samuel the Interpreter, 302,303,322
Baraita of Samuel the Interpreter, 302,303,322
Santabarenos, 126,127,131,132
Sarah, 257
sardonyx, 108
Satan, 30,34
Saturn, 113,137, 180,181,182,183,184,185,186,198,200,201,232,233,272,283
scandalum, 336,345
scapulomancy, 23,45 see also omoplatoskopia,23
science,s, 11,12,14,18,19,20,21,22,27 ,28,29,32,36,37, 39,40,41 ,42,43,46-54,56,
62,63,65,66,70,73,74, 75,86,91,92,165,173,174,176,20 I ,270,274,275,279,286,288,
291,292,294-297,300,301,302,308,311,312,315,322,325,329
Scorpio, 178
Scot, Micael, 339
Liber particularis, 339
Scripta super quattuor libros Sententiarum, 335
Scriptores rerum Constantinopolitanarum, 129
Sea of Marmara, 149
Second Crusade, 145
Second Temple, 246,247
secret practices, 19
Sefer 293,303,323
Sefer Yosippon, 293
Seiris, 250,261
selenodromia, selenodromion,a, 23,333 see also Physiologos
selini, 336
Septuagint, 88
Sergios, patriarch, 197
Seruch, 254,255
Seth, son of Adam, 245,246,247,248,250,252,253,261,262,263
Seth, Skleros, 149,150,155,156
Seth, Symeon, 61,83,89,141,142,143,144,157
Sextus Empiricus
Adversus mathematico, I 00
Shahbat, 317,318,319,321
Shadhlln, 331
Liber rememorationum, 331
Shlomo Seta, 295
Sicily, 62,75
Siculus, Diodorus, 48,251
Bibliotheca historica, 48
Sijistan, 35
Sikidites, Michael, 146,149,155,156 157 247
169,174,180,182,195,325,329 '
Smm, father of Achmet, 325,329
Skleros, Bardas, 138
Skylitzes, John, 122,132
Synopsis histor/Qrum,138,132
461
Solomon, 15,37,149
Sophronios, patriarch of Jerusalem, 192,196,197,198
sorcerer,s, y61'], 124,126,127,129,131,134,146,156,254
sorcery ,yoT]'tE(a, !3,21,28,123,124,126,127 ,131,132,146,147 ,148,149,151,153,
154,155,156,161,162
soul,s, 19,30,176,177,227,321
Spain, 32,311,325
Speculum astronomiae, 326
spellbinding agents, 123
spells, 12
Sphaera Demokriton, 333
sphere,s, 334,362,363,364
spirit,s, 13,29,30,150,157
spiritus, see also angelus, 336
St Auxentios, 108,!10,114
St Basil, 24,98
StJames, 24
St Nicolas of Casole, 82
St Panteleemon, monastery, 24
St Panteleemon, 24
Staphidakes, John, 23,24
Star of Hermes, 185 245 247,249 250 251,
star,s, :293 294 i95 i96,

298,30 I ,302,303,304,305,306,307 ,317,341 342,354,368 see also mazz.al or lcokhav
341,342,354,329,328,334,335,336,33
astrum or sidus, 336
star/constellation, 336,338,339
star-gazing, 251
6 128 129 130
,
131
,
13
4,135,137,139,152,154.
statua/statue,s, 14,21,123,125,12 ' '
161 ,336
358
359 see also star
stella, 336,339,350,354,355,356,357, Alexanrian, philosopher, 35,36.
Stephanos/Stephanus/Stephen of !84,187,188,189.190.191,192-199.
126,129.163,164,165,167,170,1
72
-
18

201 202 208 213,217,218,220,221,223 . 167 189190 !92,!93,194,195,196.
Apo;eles:narike Pragmateia /pragmalla, ' '
!98,202
Lessons, Letter to Theodorus. 171
011 making gold, 192 Makin Gold, 170,172,173 .
011 the Great and Sacred Art of 1 g Stephanos of Alexandna f
Stephanos of Athens, 172.197,20 I sb a sollT]IllltLXO!;. J90,see also Stephanos o
Stephanos the Astrologer, [.Ill
Alexandria . .
216
see also Stephanos of Alexandria
Stephanos, the Chnsuan.
1

Stephen of Messina, 33
33
. 76 136138
Stephen of Nicomedia . St;phanos of Alexandria
Stephen the Mathemauctan, '
Stethatos, Niketas. 13
8
462
Vie de Symeon le Nouveau Theologien, 138
Styppeiotes, Theodors, 146,161,247
Stoic,s, 13,19,36,100,101,102,103,104,107,109,110,139,165,182
stoicheion, <n:mxetov, 111,134
stoicheiosis, 129,152,157
Stoicism, 106
Stylianos, bishop of Neokaisarieia
Letter to Pope Stephen, 132
Suda, 215,219,227,229, see also Suidae Lexicon
Suetonius, 120
Suidae Lexicon, 165
Suleimaniye library, 234
Sumer, 76,112,116,119,144,153,
Sun, 112,116,119,144,153,177,180,181,182,183,184,185,186,187,198,199,200,
201,249,256267,268,269,271,272,273,275,278,280,281,283,284,285,286,287,307
superstition, 40,44,58
Silvestrus IT, papa, 334
De utilitatibus astrolabii, 334
symbol,s, OVV8T)Iillta, au!IJ3ol..a, 110, 111,113,115,116,178
symbola, 274,280
Symeon of Bulgaria (913-927), 127
Symeon the Logothete, 76,136
Symeon the New Theologian, 138
Symeon, monk and chrysographos, 82
symmone, 100
sympatheia,ov!J1t(t8eta, 98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,
114,115,116
Synadinos, John, 144
Synesios, 208
synkellos, 123,138
Synodicon Vetus, 133
Syria, 61,143
Tabernacle, 270
Tabriz, 61,273
tabrrr al-mijistr, 363
T
talisman,s, 14,178,333,336,341, see also statue and idolum
Talmud, 300,314,315,318,319,321,323
Tarentum, 310
Ta'rrkh al-bukama', 62
Ta'rrkh mukhta$ar al-duwa/, 62
Taurus, 178,184
Techel (Zethel), 327
. Uber sigillorum, 327
technoparadotos, 86
Tertulian, 78
Tessalus of Tralles, 327
Testament of Solomon, 15,24,25,26
textes alchimiques, 206,209,218,220,222,226,227
Theodora (1042), 71
Theodore II Laskaris (1254-1258), 27,28
Theodore, (poet?), 213,218,221,223
Theodosius, 276,284
theology, 16,18,31,300
Theon of Alexandria, 14
Theon, 266
Theophanes Continua/us, 122,123,124,125,126,130,131,133,189
Theophanes, 71,75,76,80,273
Chronographia, 75,76,273
Theophilos of Edessa, astrologer, 24,87,232,234,243
Theophilos, son of Thomas, astrologer, 193
Theophilos (829-842), 80,89
Theophrastos, poet-alchimist, 173,209,222
De causis plan/arum, 100
Theophylact ofOchrid, 77,83,91
theorem of rosr, 361,362,364,366,368,372
Theosebia, 212,215
Thessaloniki, 75,77,80
Thessalus ofTralles,

1
tis subiectis (De virtutibus
De plant is duodecun slgms et septem p ane
herbarum), 327,329
theurgy, 104,105,106,109,299
Thoth, 198,199
Thrace, 286,287
Thrax, Doinysios, 112
Thucydides, 273
Timotheos, 194,196
tin, 180
Toledo, 325,335
topazion, I 08
Torah, 298,305,322
Tomikes, Demetrios, 142
Tomikes, George, 142
Tomikes, Leo, 137
Trebizond, 33,61,278,279,280,285
trivium, 63
Tubero, 339
Tubfat al-mulak, 34
Tunis, 91
Turba philosophorum, 173
Tuscus, Leo, 160,
329
3
69 370 372
rosi Couple, 80 SJ,8S,227
Tzetzes, John, 73,7 ' ' '
463
464
Chiliades, 73
neei xaraexwv Otai/JIJQWV, 238
Umara ibn l;lamza, 169
Ur, 249,250,256
utterances, xl.t]bovLOf!OUS, 150
Varahamihira, 233
Venice, 60,62,66,372
Index of Proper Names and Important Terins
u
v
ventriloquist spirit, 1:0 eyyaO"tQ(J.LuOov, 30,31
ventriloquist woman, yuv!) eyyaO"tQ(J.LuOos, 30
Venus, 26,62,180,181,182,183,184,185,186,188,198,199,200,201,240,363
Verona, 62
veterinary medicine, 22, see also hippiatrika
Vettius Valens, astrologer, 26,167,168,232,233,234,235,276
Vettii Va/entis Antiocheni Antho/ogiarum libri novem, 26
Virgin Mary ofBiachernai, 109,110,114,116
Virgo, 178,183,198,200
VitaBasilii, 122
Widmenstatter, 372
William of Moerbeke, 330
William ofTyre, historian, 156
Wi/lemi Tyrensis Chronicon, 156
Witch of Endor, 30,32
wonder-working, 18,26,299
Xerolophos, 127
Xerxes, 78
Xiphilinos, John, 33,81
Yabi11d, 53
Y azdln Khwi!Bt, 231
Ystoria Beale Vlrginis Marie, 84
w
X
y
z
Zebel, 143
Zebelenos, Eleutherios, 89,142,143
Zeus, 73,252
zrj al- 'Ala'r, 274
zrj-i Ukhanr, 274;2.78,279
Zoanes, 26
zodiac, 21 ,296,305
zodiacal (melothesia, smg,s, etc.), I ' ' ' '
zodiologia, 332
Zoe, (1042), 109,136
Zonaras, John, 69,84,122,!54,158,!61
Epitome historiarum, 154,162
zoology, 24,41
zoon, 100
Zoroaster, 16,252
465
Zoroastrian,s, 90,233;2.34 .
66 113 205 207
;l0
8
;209;210,211,212,213,214,
Zosimos!Zosimus of Panopohs, 36, '
215,216,217,218,219,221
Authentic Memoirs, 209,210;2.11 ;2 . . Art of Making Gold and Silver, 212
Authentic Writing on the Sacred and Dtvme
Book ojSophe (attributed to), 209,214
Chapters to Eusebia, 209;2.12,213,223
Chapters to Theodore, 209,212,213
Final Count, 209,214,216
Kat'energeian, 216,219
Letter Kappa, 214,215
Letter Omega, 210,211,214,215
Letter on chrysopoeia, 18,139
Letter Sigma, 214,215 dA I 'Making Gold,I10,211
On the Great and Sacre r o,
On divine Water, 214
On Excellence, 214
Index of Manuscripts
Amsterdam, Amstelodamensis Graecus VIE 8,135
Athens, Atheniensis 1493,23
Athos, Karakallou 14,81,130,160
Bologna, Bononiensis 3632,24
Copenhagen, Kongelige Biblioteket, Gl. Kgl. Saml. 3499,335
Escorial, l.R.14,338
Florence, Laurentian us gr. 28, 13,82, 143,164,191
Florence, Laurent. plut. 74, 23,22
Florence, Laurentianus gr. 86.16 (L),207
Istanbul, Laleli 2122b,234,236,237 ,240,241
Katowice, Biblioteka Slqska,342,354
Leiden, Or. 891,235,236,237,238,239,240,241
London, British Library, Add. 10775,335
London, British Library, Egerton 821,333
London, British Library, Harley 5402,334
Madrid, Biblioteca nacional !0053,335
Milan, Ambrosianus B 38 sup.,l64
Milan, Ambrosianus E 16 sup.,23
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, elm 18927,335
Munich, Monacensis gr. 105,164
Naples, Neapol. gr. II C 33,144
Naples, Neapol. gr. II. C.33,91
Oxford, Baroccianus gr. 131,79
Oxford, Bodleian, Can. misc. 555,339
Oxford, Cromwe/1!2,336,341
Oxford, Holkhamicus 110,271
Oxford, Seldenianus 16,144,270,271
Paris, BN arabe 2485,363
Paris, BN arabe 2499,372
Paris, BN Coislin 349,70
Paris, BN Coislin 77,70
Paris, BN gr. 2315,24
Paris, BN gr. 2509,24,82
468 Index of Manuscripts
Paris, BN lat. 17868,341
Paris, Musee Conde 322 (641),334,344,348
Prague, Narodn( Knihovna Ceske Republiky 1144,342,354
Rome, Angelicus gr. 29, 164,189,238,239
Rome, Vat. gr. 191,275
Rome, Vat. arab. 319,362
Rome, Vat. arab. 319,371,372
Rome, Vat. gr. 1056,237,241,242
Rome, Vat. gr. 1056,164,189,237,241,242
Rome, Vat. gr. 1056,189
Rome, Vat. gr. 1059,164
Rome, Vat. gr. 191,275,276
Rome, Vat. gr. 210,279,280
Rome, Vat. gr. 211,366,367
Rome, Vat. lat. 11423,332
Rome, Vat. Urbinas gr. 107,22
Turin, Taurin. C, VII, 10 (B, VI, 12),164
Venice, Marc. gr. 299,66,73,82,170,173,178,185,207,208,209,215,220,221,228
Venice, Marc. gr. 324,164,239
Venice, Marc. gr. 324,239
Venice, Marc. gr. 335,164
Venice, Marc. gr. 336, 143,164
Vienna, Vindob.phil.gr.I08,164,191
Vienna, Vindob.phil. gr. 162,24
Vienna, Vindob. phil. gr. 287,24
Vienna,Vindob.phil. gr. 262,164

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PaulMagdalino

to regard magic as merely a collection

proverbs, m an addendum to H.-G.

d:s :nclens akhimistes grecs, 3 vols. (Paris

Jabir', ibid., 165-90; and A. Tihon, 'Les textes

norms transmit the fourth-century constitutions

de Ia Renaissance (de !352 a Ia fm du

sources, see P. Magdalino, 'The Road to

of fohn, Bishop ofNikiu, tr. R.H. Charles (London, i916), XCV,

ear Eastern History, A.D. 284-813, tr. C. Mango and R. Scott

A. Kaldeliis, The Argumelll of Psel/os' Chronographia (Leiden, 1999), 118-

, Cultu:e and Cosmos 5 (2001), 30.

Series Graeca 13 (Turnhout, 1984), 5-7; tr. J. A. Munitiz A

lrteenth and Early Fourteemh Cemuries ( 1204--f:a. 1310) (Nicosia, 1982),

Y Soj Natural Philosophy and Mathematics in Earl) Palaiologan

XELJ.tTJAta ouot iiQa xat J(WQEIV

der Koninklijke Nederlandese Akademie 92 (Amsterdam, 1976),

ed. L'alchimie et ses racines phi/osophiques. La tradition grecque et Ia

Michael Keroularios when the latter fell into disgrace, the

pour decourager Ia recherche des sources".

Muylen?eus (Paris, 1836), 71, ;} B:issonade, Aeneas Gazaeus

1829], 581,9-11, and passim;

Praeparatio evangelica 9.17.3-9, ed. K. Mras, GCS 43 (Berlin, 1954-

fatth and the root of heresy". If its source is divine revelation,

/u .7e otherwise, they are erroneous. Cf. c. Sirat, A

and the tlood

.testhl,e introduction to his

E: S. Kennedy, 'The Spherical Case of the TOsi Couple', Arabic

b' iten XIX.2 (Giessen.

"bus auctoribus", 328

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