13!
2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY
London taverns and with a sure instinct for restoration, just as if he
was obeying the prescriptions of a wise and friendly physician, gives as
much of his time as he can to his native Stratford. A period of
convalescence, relieved of the over-excitement of the preceding decade,
though, it may he, still exposed to relapses on extraordinary occasions.
Some of his earlier liveliness comes back to him. His denunciation
of the poison in wine becomes less bitter as he purges it from his veins.
He can give us again a lively sketch of the country truant Autolycus
who declares that' a quart of ale is a dish for a king '. But he will
not desist, even in comic scenes, from setting off the beastliness of
the drunkard. Only Caliban can now take fuddled Stephano for
a god. And Caliban is half-man, half-beast. The drinking-bout
between the two and the Fool Trinculo echoes the loud jollity in
Olivia's house when Toby, Agllecheek, and Clown were carousing
together, but this time the topers' aim is not a practical joke, it is
sedition and murder. And the moral is emphasized when undeceived
Cali ban exclaims:
What a thrice double ass
Was I, to take this drunkard for a god
And worship this dull fool!
Thus is Bacchus contemptuously dismissed in the end by the poet
who had first done him homage in the true Renaissance spirit.
The cycle is now complete and the demonstration will, I hope,
appear to you incontrovertible for the hour being. Though I cannot
help being partial to it, I do not expect it to obtain absolute and
eternal recognition. Nothing in this ever-changing world of ours is
more evanescent than the theories about Shakespeare's genius. One
thing at any rate is certain: the matchless competence of the poet
for all his drinking-scenes, whether painted in bright or dark colours.
No less than Falstaff and Sir Toby do Cassio and the Triumvirs prove
his amazing knowledge of the subject. How he came to master it to
that degree; how he was led to a diametrically opposite attitude from
that of his youth when the mature years had thinned his once
abundant hair, is a question that everyone will decide according to
his inner lights. But no reasonable doubt can be entertained as to
the wonderful lifelikeness of his drunkards and their performances,
not eclipsed in their artistic perfection by the nobler creatures of his
fancy or the sublimer scenes in which he explored the heights of
human nature.
THE BYZANTINE ASTROLABE AT
BRESCIA
By O. M. DALTON
:F.ELLOW OF TH.E ACAD.E~lY
Communicated July 7, 19!26
THE large astrolabe in the Museo dell' Eta Cristiana at Brescia
(Plate I) is remarkable not only because its Byzantine origin makes it
an object of great rarity, but also on account of the inscriptions
which it bears.' One of these, in five iambic verses, declares the
general uses of the instrument, ending with the name and nationality
of the person who had it constructed; the other, which is shorter
and not metrical, repeats the name and gives the year of manufacture.
We thus learn that the astrolabe was made for one Sergi us, consul
and protospatharios in the year A. D. ] 06!2.
Before this particular instrument is described it will be well briefly
to enumerate the parts of which an astrolabe is composed in order
that what follows may be more easily understood. The body is
a thick circular plate of metal with a flat raised border about half
an inch broad, round which are engraved lines marking 360 degrees.
The space enclosed by this border being sunk, and serving as
a recipient, the body was early called the Mother (Lat. Mater,
AI'. Umrn); the border is known as the limbus or brink. \Vithin
the Mother fit, one over the other, flat disks called 'tables', or
tablets (Gr. 71Jp:lrava; Lat. tympana; Ar. Safa 'ih), each engraved
with a stereographic projection of the sphere for use in a specified
latitude and place; these tables are prevented from revolving by
1 It was presented in 1844 by Signor Francesco Sajler, Director of the Scuola
d'Equitazione of the city. 'While at Brescia in 1!J24, I was enabled by the
courtesy of Signor Giorgio Nicodemi, Director of the Civic Museums, to take
notes and rubbings of the instrument. Signor Nicodemi afterwards kindly per-
mitted photographs to be taken, and furnished me with some notes of his own.
The diameter of the astrolabe is 37'5 em., or nearly 15 inches. Though above
the average in size, it is smaller than the thirteenth-century English example in
the British Museum, the diameter of which exceeds 18 inches.
134 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY THE BYZANTINE ASTROLABE AT BRESCIA 135

a small projection on the edge of each, fitting into a hole in the side called by the Arabs the kursi; or throne. The loop itself was known
of the rim, or by a notch engaging with a stop in the same position. in Greek as KpLKOC; (KfpKOC;), in Latin as armilla.
Upon the uppermost table lies a revolving skeleton' table' known The Plates illustrating this paper show the more important parts
to the Greeks as the apaxvTJ, and to the Arabs as the 'ankabut on of the Brescia astrolabe: the mother, engraved as a table, the front
account of its supposed resemblance to a spider;' but usually described with the arachme, and the back. Those who are familiar with fine
as the rete (net); it presents a plane projection of the heavens north of oriental or western instruments will observe that the workmanship of
the Tropic of Capricorn. The principal feature of the arachne, or rete, this Byzantine example is by comparison rude and unattractive
is an interior eccentric circle (the ecliptic) on which are engraved throughout, the whole producing an impression of relative clumsiness.
the names of the zodiacal signs; its larger external circle, equal in This lack of elegance is conspicuous in the case of the arachne, which
diameter to the circumference of the tables, is joined to it by con- in its stiff severity has no suggestion of the almost animated appearance
1
necting members in openwork; tongues or pointers, projecting in to be remarked in the more delicate and curvilinear oriental designs.
various places, indicate the positions of fixed stars, the number of
which varies in the case of different instruments.s Upon the surface Description if the Brescia astrolabe.
of the arachne moves the' label' or indicator (Lat. ostensor ; Ar.
The arachne (rete) (Plate I). The names of the zodiac engraved
almnri), the point of which can be turned to any part of the circum-
round the circle of the ecliptic are as follows: K P I 0 C (ram), T A Y P 0 C
ference; its length may equal the full diameter of the instrument, or
(bull), ill.~YMOI (twins), KAPKINOC (crab), A€WN (lion), nAP-
only that of a radius. The label, the arachne, the tables, and the
0€NOC (virgin), zyrOC (balance), CKOPniOC (scorpion), TO-
mother are all held together by a metal rod or 'pin' (Lat. axis,
:='OTHC (archer, SagittariltS), AI rOK€PWC (Capricorn), Y ilPH-
claous ; Arab. lpntb) passing through holes in their centres." The
KOOC (for v8poX60c; 'the water-pourer', Aqnarius), IX6Y€C (the
pin has a slot near the top, into which fits a metal wedge, known in
fish, Piscesy: The space occupied by each sign is ostensibly divided
Arabic as faras, because one end was fashioned in the likeness of
into thirty parts, indicated by the numbers 6, 1~, 18, ~4, and 30;
a horse's head, whence various western names meaning 'the horse'.
actually the f ve sections bear only three lines of di vision instead
The back of an astrolabe is flat and may be engraved near the
of six.
circumference with concentric bands, containing the 360 degrees, the
The fixed stars indicated by the pointers on the arachne are four-
signs of the zodiac, and the months. The lower half of the circular
teen in number, niqe in the northern hemisphere, and five in the
space thus enclosed often has the geometrical scale of umbra recta
southern. Those in the northern hemisphere are named as follows,
and umbra versa for taking the altitude of objects, the sides being
the stars in each case being the brightest of their constellations.
divided into twelve parts; the upper half, especially in oriental
A€TOS (Aqu,ila): the star intended is a Aqnilae, or Atair, described
astrolabes, may have a scale of astronomical hours and a sinical
by Ptolemy 2 as: 0 E11"L Toil f'ETa¢pEVOV Aaf'1TpOC; KaAOUf'EVOC;
quadrant. On the back revolves on the pin the' rule' (Gr. 8l61TTpa; , ,
aETOC;.
Arab. al'ii!iida, alidade), an index-arm equal in length to the diameter
of the instrument, having a vertical projection at each end pierced 1 Short general accounts of the astrolabe will be found in the Encyclopaedias,

with a sight for taking altitudes. The projection rising from the
top of the astrolabe, to which the suspension-ring is attached, is
1 This is stated in the seventh-century treatise of Severus Sabokt (see P: 142
below). Later, a likeness to the web of the spider was suggested, giving rise to
the Latin name aranea, and the Arabic shabaka ; the prevalent Latin term rete
is probably derived from this similitude. Chaucer, in his well-known treatise on
the astrolabe, written for his little son Lowys, describes this skeleton-table as
, shapen in the manner of a net, or of a lop (spider) web'.
2 They may be as few as four, or as many as sixty. Cf. L. Evans, Archaeo-
logical Journal, lxviii (1911), p. 224.
3 Or through one end of the label; if it has only the length of a radius.
but the reader may with advantage consult Dr. R. T. Gunther's Eady Science in
V.rlord, ii, pp. 182 ff., where many references to earlier works will be found. A
summary is given by J. B. Delambre, Hist. de I astronomie du moyen age (Paris,
1819), pp. 45 if. ; and Prof. W. W. Skeat's commentary on Chaucer's Treatise is
valuable (Complete Wm'ks of Geoffrey Chaucer, Oxford, 1894, vol. iii), For oriental
astrolabes see W. H. Morley, Description of a planispheric astrolabe constructed
for Shah Sultan' Husain Safauii, 1856 ; J. Frank, Die Veruiendusu; des Astrolabe
nach al-Chwal'izmi, in Auhandlungen zur Geschichte der Naturuiissenschufteti and
der Medizin, iii (Erlangen, 1922), and the bibliography at the end of his paper.
!I MuB'Jp.anK'/ ITVVTa~IS (Almagest) vii, EKB'ITIS KavovIK~, or Table, at the end of
the Book (Ed. Halma (1816), ii, P: 44). The more recent German edition is that
of J. L. Heiberg, Leipzig, 1no7.
 13G PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY THE BYZA~TINE ASTROLABE AT BRESCIA 137
A 1-.=. ( a A ungae:
. ) 0",ern TOU ~,aplIJTEpOU~ couou
" ,/
Kal\ouflEIIor; alHt: 1
b. (This is) an image manifest of the heaven's movements
A YP A (a Lyrae, or Vega): 0 Aaprpor; E7Tl TOU OIJTpaKOU KaAOlJfLEIIOr; 1I1aking distinct and clear the course of the stars,
Avpa.2 The pointer for this star is in the shape of a bird, con- The changing of the seasons and the passages of the times,
spicuous in the middle of the arachne. Which, being an intricate work, with ardent mind fashioned
BOP(€)IOC CTE<I>ANOC (a Coronae Borealis, or Alfeea): 0 AafL7Tpor; Sergius the Persian; holding a consul's rank)
o Ell Tcp IJTE¢allCfJ.3
The Mother and the Tables (Plate II). The interior surface of the
roprONIOC (fJ Persei, or Algol, the star crowning the Gorgon's
mother, and the tables are engraved in the same way with the stereo-
head): Tooll Ell Tcp YOPYOII[CfJ0 Aafl7Tp6r;.4
graphic projection of the sphere for use in the places specified in
A N 6. PO M € 6. A (a A ndromedae, or A lferatz).
the middle of each. In each case the surface is divided into four
APKTOYPOC (a Boutis): 0 flETa~v TooV fLTJPooV 0 KaAovfLEvor; v7T6-
Klppor;.5 quadrants by two lines cutting each other at right angles. One runs
N-- S, the other E-"\V, the latter representing the horizon. rectus,
AAMnpoc YAIlWN (a T'auri, or Aldebaran): 0 Aaflrrpor; TooV
or line of intersection of the equinoctial with the plane of the
oa8wv E7Tl TOU uorlou o¢()aAflou o7T6Klppor;.6
horizon. Concentric with the hole for the pin, and at wide intervals
K A P III A A € 0 N T 0 C (a Leonis, or Regulns): 0 E7Tl T~r; Kap8£ar;
KaAov flEvor; fJaIJIAIIJK6r;.7 from each other, are engraved three circles, the innermost representing
the Tropic of Cancer, the intermediate circle the Equinoctial, the
The following are in the southern hemisphere:
outermost, which is close to the brink, the Tropic of Capricorn. The
ANT API (Antares, a Scorpii, or Cor Scorpii): 0 flEIJor; (TooV EV TCfJ
relation of these circles to each other is the same for all places, but
IJwfLan TplWV l\afl7Tpwv «ai U7ToKlppor; Kal\ouflEvor; aVTapTJr;. 8
, ""\ ..... ) \f' \.' "

this is not the case with the series of circles conspicuous in the upper
WMOC WPIWNOC I(a Orionis, or Betelgueuse): 0 E7Tl TOU 8E~LOU
portion of the table, and partly descending below the horizon rectus.
&5fLouAafL7Tpor; v7T6Klppor;.9
These are parallels, or circles, of altitude; the highest form complete
WPIWNOC nOYC (fJ Orionis, or Rigel): 0 EV Ti> aplrJ"TEpcp aKp67T08t
circles round the zenith, which is seen directly above the central
AafL7Tpor; TOU i58aTor; KOlv6r;.10
hole for the pin; the lower, however, are interrupted by the brink
KYWN (a Canis, Sirius): 0 EV Tp IJT6flan AafL7Tp6TaTor;, KaAovflEvor;
and form only segments. The lowest of all represents the horizon
KVWV Kat o7T6Klppor;,ll
obliquus, the true astronomical horizon, separating the upper from
npOKYWN (Procyon, a Canis ~l1inoris): 0 KaTa TooV 07TlIJ()[wv
the lower hemisphere. Near its extremities are the Greek words for
AafL7Tp6r;, KaAovfLEvor; 7TpOKvwv.12
East and West: avaToAr) and 8VIJl<;. These parallels were called by
Round the outer circle of the arachne (Plate I) are engraved four
the Greeks KVKAoL.2 The number of almucantars actually engraved
iam bic verses :
varied widely. The Arabs called an instrument perfect (Tamm),
€IKWN ENAPrHC OYN)( KINHMATWN when it was engraved with the full number of ninety almucantars.
CA<I>WC TPANOYCA TON IlPOMON TWN ACT€PWN "\Vhen every other parallel was engraved, it was a Niifi. If it had
WPWN TPOnAC T€ KAI XPONWN 1l1€:=:'OIlOYC
HN CYN noew T€T€YXEN OYCAN nOIKIAHN 1 In the first line, the abbreviation of the word o;'pavoli should be noted. In
nEPCWN r€NOYC CEPrlOC ynATOC nEAWN: the second line, the first two letters of TWVengraved are 1" and the UT of aUTEpwv
as <r. The participle Tpavoliua is from the rare verb Tpavow, to make clear
1 p. 43. 2 Ibid., p. 38. 8 Ibid., p. 37. 4 Ibid., p. 40.
MaBI]p.aTLKT] (T{!/I'ragL~, (cf. Tpav~~, piercing; reroaive , to drill, pierce). For the occurrence of Sergius
5 Ibid., p. 36. The adjective V1rOKlPPOS, frequently used of the more brilliant as a Persian name we may compare a case in the sixth century when a ' Sergius
stars, means ruddy, or fiery; Arcturus is described as between the thighs of the Persian', an interpreter, was a friend of Agathias the historian (Krumbacher,
Bootes. Geech, d. byz. Litt., 1897, pp.242-3). The name originally belonged to an old
6 Ibid., p. 50, 'The bright star of the Hyades in the southern eye (of the patrician family at Rome, and became well known in the East after the time
bull)' . of Constantine.
7 Ibid., p. 54. 8 iu«, p. 60. 9 Ibid., p. 68. 2 They are usually known as almucanturs, from the Arabic at mukantarat, the
10 Ibid., p. 70, 'The bright star at the extremity of the left foot '. term occurring as early as the eleventh century ill Arabic astronomical works.
11 Ibid., p. 72. Here the superlative is used: 'the very bright star.' Cf. J. Frank, Die Venoendunq des Astrolabs nach al-Ohwurizmi, as above, p. 135,
12 Ibid., p. 74.
Erlangcn, 1922.
138 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY THE BYZANTINE ASTROLABE AT BRESCIA 139
thirty, i. e. if no more than every third parallel was marked, it It was believed by the Greeks that the inhabited world (OlKOVfLEV7l)
received the name of Thalthi; if there was only a line for each five lay between two uninhabitable zones, a cold one to the North,
degrees, it was a Khumsi, showing eighteen parallels; if one line for a torrid one to the South. The temperate inhabited world they
every six degrees, it was a Sudsi, showing fifteen.' We learn from divided into seven Climata; that of Rhodes being the midmost bore,
Johannes Philoponus, writing in the seventh century (see below, the number Four.! The celebrated Hipparchus had made many
p. 141) that Greek astrolabes were also classed by the number of observations in Rhodes; thq fact may explain its prominence in
parallels engravedupon the tables." In his section: rr EpL 7ijS' EV 70LS' the writings of Ptolemy, whose debt to his great predecessor is well
7vfL'mivw. Ka7aypacpijS', &c., he speaks of instruments called fLovo- known.f Theon of Alexandria, a commentator of Ptolemy, suggests
poipcalot; 8LfLotpta{ot, and 7ptfLOLpta{oL, apparently correspondingto the another reason: that its latitude, 36°, gives a round number, while
T'amm, the Nisji, and the Thalthi of the Arabs. The Brescia astro- that of Alexandria (30° 58') is less convenient for calculations."
labe would appear to be irregular, one of its table surfaces corre- On the other table-surfaces the names and latitudes are engraved in
sponding to the Greek 7PLfLOLpta{oL (Arab. Thalthi), the other two the same way as on the surface of the mother. One surface has:
to the classof Sudsi. The parallels of altitude are cut at right angles
KAIMA € 6.IA BYZANTIOY
by arcs of vertical circles, known, from an Arabic word, as azimuth
circles; these pass through the zenith and cut the horizon. In the ill M I€. M MA
lower part of each table the three concentric circles: Tropic of Climate number jive, for Byzantium.
Cancer, Equinoctial, and Tropic of Capricorn, are divided by arcs Greatest hours, IS. Degrees if latitude, 41.
into twelve parts, representing the twelve planetary hours.
The three table-surfaces of the Brescia astrolabe, being prepared The other:
KAIMA € 6.1 €AAHCnONTOY
for use in different places, have each a place-name engraved near the r 01

middle and below the horizon; it is accompanied by its Climate, the ill M I€ I M M.
number of hours in its longest day, and its latitude. The table- Climate number jive, for Hellespont.
surface within the Mother (Plate II) is for use in Rhodes, and bears Greatest hours, IS. Degrees of latitude, 40.
the following inscription:
Constantinople and Hellespont are near enough to each other to
KAIMA 6. 6.IA P06.0Y
'r -., (l)......., belong to the same Climate. The latitude of Constantinople is
cB M 16. l M AS really 41° 3".
Climate number four, for Rhodes. The back (Plate III). This is divided into four quadrants by N-S
Greatest hours,3 14~. Degrees if latitude, 36. and E- W lines. The two quadrants in the upper half have outer
borders, each engraved with 90 degrees divided into groups of five,
1 L. Evans, Arch. Journ., as above, p. 224. The fine astrolabe by 'V. Arsenius each group designated by a numeral; within the lines enclosing the
at Merton College, illustrated by R. T. Gunther, Ell1'ty Science in Oxford, ii,
groups, and below the numerals, are marks for the single degrees
p. 218, is engraved with ninety almucantars.
2 See the text published by Hase in Rheinisches Museum, 1839, p. 131. (above), and for thirds of degrees (below). The outer border round
S That is, hours of the longest day, by which the Climate is determined, the the lower half of the astrolabe is occupied by an inscription:
latter being a zone, the places in which have their longest day of equal length.
Cf. the table illustrating Ptolemy's Geography (C. Muller, Claudii Ptolemaei ::~ 'I'H<I>OC KAI EnlTArH CEPrlOY AcnA9APIOY ynATOY
Geographia, Paris, 1883, i, p. 59). Written in full the words represented by the ~·~I Enl9"INOC €N MHNI IOYAIW Iril IE ETOYC q<po'.
abbreviations are: &pu< piyulTU< UJ' POLPU< AS. Philoponus (ed. Hase), p. 134
(see P: 141 below), enjoins the insertion of the Climate, the hours ofthe longest
day, and the latitude in his description ofthe tables of the astrolabe: f'1f<yiypum-at 1 For Climata and zones cf. R. T. Gunther, as above, ii, p. 211.
liE Kat TO KAlp.a KaB' 8 YEyOVfV EKduT<[> frrL1rEac:! Ka'Taypa¢~ Kat ouwv fCTTI.V ~ pfylUT'1 2 Cf. J. B. Delambre, Bist. de Lastronomie ancienne, ii (1817), p. 77.
~}lfpa lCT'I}p-fptVWV &pwv Ell EK£lllcp rei) KAlfLaTL, Kalrrouus- d¢fUTJ']K£ uolpas TO 7rPOKfip.EVOV S Theon flourished in the fourth century A.D., his chief work being a com-

Severus Sabokt in like manner directs that they should be

KAipa TOV lCI'1l-'-fp'pov. mentary on the Almagest. Cf. M. Klamroth in Zeitsch1'ijZ del' Deutschen M01'!}en-
engraved upon the tables (ed. Nau, p. 92: see below, p. 142). lllnd-Ge8eZZschajZ, xlii (1888), pp. 1-44.
 140 PROCEEDINGS 0.F THE BRITISH ACADEMY
'Decree and command of Sergius, protospatharios,! consui? and
man of science (?), in the month of July,.flfteenth indiction, year 6570.'
The date thus indicated (Fig. 1) is the year A.D. 1069l, when the
Emperor Constantine Ducas ruled the East-Roman Empire."
FIG. 1. Rubbing of the date upon the Astrolabe.
'Within the circular space enclosed by the outer borders is inscribed
a large square with a border divided into equal parts, twenty-four to
each side. The square is divided into four by the above-mentioned
N-S and E- W lines, so that the border on each side has two
di visions, each of twelve parts; it is also crossed by two diagonal
lines. The lower half of the square corresponds to the scale of
umbra recta and umbra versa, as commonly seen upon astrolabes,
but the use of a complete square is exceptional; the upper half of
the square is usually omitted and its two quadrants are engraved
in the manner mentioned above (p. 134). The triangular projection
connecting the top of the astrolabe with the suspension loop has
a formal foliate ornament in openwork.
The evidence of Byzantine literature seems to show that science in
the East-Roman Empire underwent a long eclipse from the beginning
of the Saracenic wars to the close of the thirteenth century, a period
of five hundred years. Though this evidence is negative, resting on
1 The CT71"a8,lpwL and 71"pCiJTOCT'lra8upWLof the Byzantine Empire have been com-
pared by G. Schlumberger to members of the Legion d'honneur in France. They
formed a very numerous class, whose functions were for the most part nominal,
though sometimes individuals were entrusted with diplomatic missions (Schlum-
berger, Sigillog1'aphie de I'Empi1'e byzantin, 1884, p. 589).
2 The title ;;,raTo~, borne by the consuls till the abolition of the office by
Justinian in A. D. 540, continued as a mark of honorary rank for centuries after-
wards (Ducange, Gloss. med. et in): gnLecitatis, s. v. yn ATOC, and Gloss. med.
et inf. latinitatis, s. v. Hypat'Us). From the fact that in the present instance it
follows the common title of Protospatharios, we might have inferred that it no
longer conferred any great distinction, were it not that on the aracbne it is used
alone. The word EnlCTI NOC may be conjectured to stand for 'mCTT~p.ovOS,
meaning one versed in learning, here science.
S The year 1262, which has been suggested, is not possible. The Greek
numerals representing that year are sto, the Indiction number being 5 and
not 15.
THE BYZANTINE ASTROLABE AT BRESCIA 141
the absence of scientific literature, it probably accords in the main
with fact. But the existence of the Brescia astrolabe suggests that
the eclipse was not total during the period of the Macedonian and
Comnenian dynasties. We know that the traditions of Alexandrian
astronomy were still alive in the second half of the seventh century.
It would now appear that they did not then vanish from their proper
territory, and that the Arabs, though supreme, had no absolute
monopoly in astronomical knowledge throughout the earlier centuries
of the Middle Ages.
We may with advantage consider two treatises on the astrolabe
composed in the seventh century by writers whose knowledge was
derived entirely from older Greek authorities, for it may well be that
these, or similar works, preserved in Byzantine libraries side by side
with manuscripts of Ptolemy and other earlier writers;' may represent
the kind of source from which students of astronomy, like Sergi us,
derived their knowledge of instruments. Both of these works were
written before the Arabs had turned their attention to serious
astronomical study. The earlier of the two treatises is by John
Philoponus of Alexandria.f who describes himself as a pupil of
Ammonius at Athens. In his treatise he avoids theoretical exposition,
confining himself to a practical description of the astrolabe and
some of the purposes for which it can be used. Delambre has
remarked that the latter part of the treatise can be wholly based
on the theorems of Ptolemy, the same remark applying to the work
of Ammonius and Proclus." The second treatise is richer in allusion
I The chief names, in addition to Ptolemy, are Theon (see above, p. 139, n. 3),
Proclus Diadochus, and Ammonius. Proclus, who died in 485, taught at Athens,
where Ammonius was his pupil. Synesius of Cyrene (died c. 430) should also he
mentioned. This versatile and learned man tells us that he himself designed
a silver astrolabe as a present for his friend Paeonius; with it he appears to have
sent a treatise of his own upon the instrument (cf. A. Fitzgerald, The Letters Qf
SyTiesius qf Ourene, Oxford, 1926, pp. 258 ff.), The treatise has unfortunately
not survived, but probably Synesius was well versed in the science of his time,
as he studied in Alexandria about A. D. 395, where he was acquainted with the
famous Hypatia. He claims himself to have invented the planispheric astrolabe,
having perfected in his instrument' a hint thrown out by Hipparchus, but dis-
regarded by the famous Ptolemy and his great successors' . See W. S. Crawford,
Synesius the Hellene, 1901, p. 461.
2 Quotations from this work have been given above. Philoponus lived in the
first half of the seventh century. The title of his treatise runs as follows:
'Iwavvov TOU 'AAE~av&pfCiJ~ TOU <l>LAorrovou 71"Epl Tij~ ••..oU UCTTPOAU(jOU XP~CTECiJS Knl
&c. It was edited by Hase in 1839, appearing in Rheinisches Museum
K(lTaCTKEUij~,
JUl' Philologie, vi, pp. 127 if. Hase adds as an appendix the text of the Scholiou
by Macarius to the treatise of Nicephorus Gregoras on the astrolabe.
S J. B. Delambre, Hist, de i:.astronomie ancienne, ii, p. 457.
 14~ PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY
and detail. It was written by Severus Sabokt, or Sabocht, of Nisibis,
bishop of Kennesrin (Qenserin), who flourished about the middle of
the century.! He follows similar lines to those pursued by Phiio-
ponus, eschewing theory and confining himself to practice.s Like
Philoponus, he begins by describing the parts of the instrument, and
continues by enumerating the chief uses to which it may be applied.
In this later part he is fuller than the Greek writer. Among the
twenty-five uses which he gives, the following may be noted: How to
tell the hour by night from the position of the stars, or by the aid of
the moon; to find the changes of ascension and descent, i. e. the
latitude of the moon; to find the ascensions of each sign in a given
climate; to discover which of two cities lies to the north of the
other; to fix the longitude of a given city in relation to that of
another, determining which lies farthest towards the East; to dis-
1 Kennesrin lies to the SW. of Aleppo. For Severus see the references in
Diet. of Christ, Bioq». and U. Chevalier, Rep. des sources hist, du. moyen age, Bio-
bibtiog1'aphie, col. 4221.
2 His treatise is published by F. Nau in Journ, Asiatique, xiii (1899), pp. 56 if.
and 238 if. The Syriac MS. translated by M. Nau is at Berlin (Petermann Coll.,
no. 37), and dates from the tenth century. Severus was distinguished for
ecclesiastical and philosophical, as well as for mathematical and astronomical
studies; though writing in Syriac, he was acquainted with the Greek language,
and able to study Greek texts; all the authorities to which he refers are Greek.
His treatise is of great interest not only for his apparent suggestion that Ptolemy's
astronomical tables are based on observations made with the astrolabe (Nau ,
pp. 281-3), but also for the possible clue which he gives as to the real-inventor
of this instrument. He says that' the philosopher who invented the astrolabe'
called the skeleton plate apaxvry, because it suggests the appearance of a spider
(cf. above, p. 134). M. Nau brings this passage into connexion with a statement
by Vitruvius (Arch. ix. 9) that either the astronomer Eudoxus, or perhaps
Apollonius (of Perge), was said to have invented the arachne (arachnen): Eudomus
astroloqus; nonnulli dicuut Apolionium (dicitw' in'l:eni.~sl<). Nau, assuming that
Sever us Sabokt and Vitruvius mean the same thing by the word arachne, suggests
that this passage may justify us in crediting Eudoxus with the invention. The
suggestion is attractive, but it is not certain that arachne has precisely the same
reference for the two writers; Vitruvius applies the word to a whole instrument,
1I0t to a part. Letronne (JOU1'1la/ des Savants, 1840-1: 'Sur les ecrits et les
trauau» d'Budoxe de Cnide ') held, with Ideler, that Vitruvius refers to a dial with
numerous lines issuing from its gnomon. Moreover, it is doubted whether
astronomy was sufficiently developed to require such an instrument as the
astrolahe before the time of Hipparchus, who flourished in the second century B. c.
(Gunther, as above, ii, p. 182). The date of Eudoxus of Cnidus is 409-356 B. c.
Apollonius lived in the third century B. c.; Vitruvius in the first century B. c. ;
Claudius Ptolemy in the first century A. D. The Arabs were aware of a tradition
that the astrolabe was invented before Ptolemy; a passage in Ibn Abi Yakub
an-Nadim (about A. D. 987) shows this. Cf, H. Suter in Zeitsch1'ijl fur Muthem,
Phys. xxxvii, Suppl., 1892. The passage is given in full by Gunther, Ea1'ly
Science in Oxford, ii, p. 189.
THE BYZANTINE ASTROLABE AT BRESCIA 148
cover by the aid of the sun or one of the fixed stars, in what climate
the observer is; to determine the latitude of the seven climates; to
find the longitude and latitude of the fixed stars.
Such treatises as the above, used in conjunction with the works of
Ptolemy,' would have sufficed to instruct Byzantine instrument makers,
especially if accompanied by diagrams, and the astrolabe at Brescia
could have been made by men trained under their influence. The
detailed examination of this astrolabe has shown that it is wholly
Byzantine. Except for the incidental mention by Sergius of his
Persian descent, we find nothing either in the object itself or in its
inscriptions at all suggestive of oriental influence. The Saracenic
wars, lasting on and off from A.D. 717 to A.D. 1057, were not without
their effect upon Byzantine art,2 but if the Brescia astrolabe represents
a type, they cannot have led to any effective influence on astronomy.
Had such influence existed, this instrument, produced but five years
after the end of the long struggle, could hardly have failed to show
some trace of eastern inspiration. It has been shown above that all
the names of the stars on the arachne are Greek, and that they are
derived from the lists of Ptolemy. Where, as in the case of the early
astrolabes of Western Europe, the makers of the instruments looked
to the East for their inspiration, Arabic names of stars largely
preponderate; 3 on the Brescia astrolabe no single star bears a name
of Arabic derivation. In the same way, the numerals are Greek
throughout. The indications of climate, longest day, and latitude
upon the tables are those employed by Ptolemy and his successors.
If, further, we consider the general appearance of the instrument,
and compare it with oriental examples, we find, in any part to which,
as in the case of the arachne, it is possible to ascribe style, the most
striking contrast to Mohammedan types. In place of the elegant
1 ThePlanispherium of Ptolemy survives only in a Latin translation printed at
Basle in 1536: Ptolemaei planispherium , sphaerue atque astrorum eaelestium. ratio,
natura et mot us. It has long been recognized that Ptolemy gives the mathe-
matical principles according to which astrolabes might be constructed, but many
have argued that he only knew the spherical astrolabe, or armillary sphere. To
the question why, if Ptolemy knew the planispheric astrolabe, he apparently
makes no use of it, Nau replies that he did use it, but purposely discarded it on
account of it'1inaccuracy (as above, p. 67).
2 This was manifested, for instance, in buildings erected by the emperor
Theophilus in the Great Palace at Constantinople (Cf. J. Ebersolt, Le gmnd palais
de Constantinople; de Beylie , L'h!!bitation byzantine, p. 117). Theophilus is said
to have obtained plans of the Caliph's palace at Baghdad .
• The rete of the large English astrolabe of the thirteenth century in the
British Museum has pointers for forty stars on its rete, Of these all but six have
Arabic names.
 144 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY
, pointers' of the eastern craftsman, we find clumsy rectilinear forms;
the whole 'network' lacks the slenderness and grace of the oriental
treatment. "\iVe are in the presence of work simpler and far less
attractive, but with a distinct character of its own, and possessing
a style in which neither Arab nor Persian influence can be traced.'
The survival, perhaps the sole survival, of an astrolabe representing
a Greek type apparently unmodified by foreign ideas justifies the
supposition that while oriental astronomy, itself nurtured upon Greek
learning,2 was pursuing its brilliant career under the Abbasid caliphs,
Al Mansur and Al Ma'mun, while in Mesopotamia and Persia, in
Egypt and Spain, observatories were built in which new discoveries
were made and the knowledge of the stars increased, the science of
the Byzantine Empire, independent but unprogressive, quietly followed
the old traditions. This state of affairs may have lasted down to
the Fourth Crusade, which disturbed the old life of Constantinople,
interrupted the course of Greek civilization, and probably disorganized
the higher learning. It may well be that during the Latin interregnum
there was a cessation of astronomical studies sufficiently complete to
explain their reintroduction from Persia after the Greek Empire had
been restored in A. D. 1~61. We hear of Byzantine writers living in
Asia Minor, who transmitted to their countrymen the astronomical
learning of Islam; more than one of these were physicians at Trebi-
zond, a place accessible to oriental influence, and during the foreign
occupation of Constantinople the seat of a Greek Empire. Thus the
physician Gregorios Chioniades, who spoke Persian, had travelled in
Iran, and brought back astronomical works from that country."
1 It may be noted that one of the figures given by Valla in his translation of
a treatise by Nicephorus Gregoras illustrates an arachne somewhat similar in style
(see p. J45, n. 2). The resemblance suggests that the type may have been copied
by him from a figure in the Greek MS. from which he made his version; we may
perhaps conjecture that Gregoras himself obtained it either from a Byzantine MS.
older than his own time, or straight from a surviving astrolabe like that at
Brescia. A fine example of the oriental style is that in the Bodleian Library
once belonging to Selden, and dating from the thirteenth century. It is
reproduced by R. T. Gunther, Ea1"ly Science in Oxford (19:W), ii, p. 194.
2 It is true that scientific notions of astronomy were conveyed to the Arabs in
books from India rather before the Greek writers became known to them. But
the Greek influence rapidly preponderated. The Ma8ryp.aT!K11 crvvmt'" (Almagest)
of Ptolemy was translated into Arabic, if not at the close of the eighth century,
at any rate at the beginning of the ninth; improved translations were made in
A. D. 827-8, and from the second half of the century onwards. See C. A. Nallino,
article Astronomp in the Encyclopaedia of Islam.
S C. Krumbacher, Geschichte del' byzantillischen Literatur, 2nd ed., p. 623., In
the middle of the fourteenth century a certain Manuel, also a physician, intro-
THE BYZANTINE ASTROLABE AT BRESCIA 143
Persian books were now trans1ated into Greek, and the influence of
Islam undoubtedly dl.used a revival at Constantinople. But it must
be observed that very soon Byzantine men of learning turned their
attention to those Hellenistic authorities upon whose work the science
of Islam was itself first established. The well-known Theodore
Metochites, who lived in the time of Andronicus Palaeologus and
died in 133~, studied not only Ptolemy,' but Apollonius of Perge,
Nichomachus, and Euclid. Nicephorus Gregoras (1~95-c. 1360), to
whom a treatise on the astrolabe 2 is attributed, was his disciple.
There was the same resort to original authorities in the case of
Theodore Meliteniotes, composer of the most comprehensive among
Byzantine astronomical works; 3 he also consulted the original texts
of Ptolemy and Theon. This rapid reversion to Hellenistic and
older Greek authorities suggests that in the libraries of the capital
the old scientific works were readily accessible in the century after
the Latin occupation. This being so, we can hardly doubt that the
same facilities existed during the centuries before that event; the
opportunities open to a Meliteniotes or a Metochites in the fourteenth
century must have been equally open to a Sergius in the eleventh.
Before the examination of the Brescia astrolabe, it was possible
to question the activity of medieval Byzantine astronomers, but this
is a position which can no longer be maintained. Sergius cannot
have been the sole E1TLIJ'T7JI-'WV of his age and city, nor can the crafts-
man who worked for him have been the single Greek maker of
mathematical instruments.
Thus the study of the astrolabe at Brescia seems to warrant the
conclusion that Byzantine astronomical science, if not progressive,
was at least in evidence under the Macedonian and Comnenian
emperors. Though it may have languished at the close of this
period, though it may even have ceased for a time during the inter-
regnum, and have been revived under direct Persian influence, yet the
very quickness of the return to the old Greek sources suggests that
duced a cleric of Trebizond, rfWpyto~ (, XpucroK6KK7)~, to astronomical studies
(ibid. ).
1 Cf. his "iTOIXfi"(TL~ <71'< -rn aUTpovop.lKn f1flcr-r'Wn. Apollonius flourished in the
second half of the third century B. c.
2 Translated into Latin at the close of the fifteenth century by Giorgio ValIa
of Piacenza. It may be read in a volume of Valla's translations published at
Venice in 1498, and beginuing with the Logic of Nicephorua Gregoras. It forms
the fifth treatise in the volume, and is followed by a treatise by Proclus on the
astrolabe. A contemporary of Nicephorus, the monk Isaac Argyros, also wrote
Oil the construction of the astrolabe.
S The acrTpovoP.IK? ,p[fJl[3AO~.
XII " J.
146 PHOCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY
PLATE I
these had not been wholly forgotten. The astrolabe of Sergius
confirms the suggestion; it proves that Hellenistic science was
remembered as late as A.D. l069l, and makes it probable that astrono-
mical studies continued until the time of the Fourth Crusade. This
instrument, inscribed and precisely dated, takes its place as a historical
document; it has all the evidential value of a manuscript.

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