~1*1*1"

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1*1*1 ~
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~** M*
CLAUDIUS
*
PrOLEMY
~ M
~ Tetrabiblos ~
~ Book ill ~I
~
~1..1 Translated
~
~
~ by Robert Schmidt ~

~
* Edited
by Robert Hand
*
~

~ Project Hindsight ~
~
* ~kTrack
Volume XII
~
~~

~ ~
~ ~
~ 1*1*1·1*1*1~

You’ll have to visit our website to see how beautiful our
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This booklet is a facsimile reprint of one volume from
PROJECT HINDSIGHT’S GREEK TRACK, Robert Schmidt’s
early provisional translations of various Hellenistic
astrological texts done from 1993 through 2000.
We say provisional because it was a cardinal principle of
PROJECT HINDSIGHT from its outset that no one in the world
– however learned in the Greek language – was in a position
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hoped that the homemade character of the original book,
duplicated in this reprint, would serve to reinforce the idea
of the “temporary” character of the translation inside.
But now the situation is different. After spending the past
seventeen years studying the entire surviving corpus of
Hellenistic astrological writings, Robert Schmidt is now
ready to publish his final translations of all the selections
first presented in this and other GREEK TRACK volumes.
Accompanied by extensive notes and commentary, these
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RECORD OF THE EARLY SAGES * (acronym TARES). It will
take several years to get all the material into print.
Meanwhile, at the request of numerous students we are
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* See the final pages of this booklet for more information.
 REPRINTS* of the
Project Hindsight Greek Track
VOL. I. Paulus Alexandrinus: Introduction to Astrology.
VOL. II A. Anonymous of 379: On the Bright Fixed Stars.
VOL. II B. Antiochus of Athens: Fragments From His Thesaurus.
VOL. III. Ptolemy: Phases of the Fixed Stars.
VOL.VI. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Book I.
VOL.V. Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos, Book I.
VOL.VI. Hephaestio of Thebes: Compendium, Book I.
VOL.VII. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Book II.
VOL.VIII. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Book III.
VOL. IX. Teachings on Transits.
VOL. X. The Astrological Record of the Early Sages in Greek.
VOL. XI. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Book IV.
VOL. XII. Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos, Book III.
VOL. XIII. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Books V & VI.
VOL. XIV. Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos, Book IV.
VOL. XV. Hephaistio of Thebes: Compendium, Book II.
VOL. XVI. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Book VII.
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 CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY

Tetrabiblos
Book III
Translated by
Robert Schmidt
Edited by
Robert Hand

Project Hindsight
Greek Track
Volume XII

The Golden Hind Press

 PROJECT HINDSIGHT is funded entirely
by the astrological community through subscrip-
tions and donations.

©Copyright 1996 by
Robert Schmidt

Published by The Golden Hind Press, P.o. Box 002,

Berkeley Springs. WV 25411.
 Table of Contents

Introduction to Book III of the Tetrabiblos by

Robert Hand ..... ...... .

Translator's Preface by Robert Schmidt .... . _ ... VI

House Division, Planetary Strength, and Cusps In Helleni stic
Astrology ........ . ........ viii
The Early Tradition of House Division .. . ... ..... viii
Whole-Sign Houses in Valens, with Two Exceptions ...... IX
Ptolemy's Equal House System . . . . . . . . . . XII
Equal and Mundane Divisions in the Later Commentators xiv
Conclusion ...................... . ............. xv
General Note - Update on OikeiiJsis & Sunoikeiosis & Related
Verb Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. XV I

The Tetrabiblos, Book III

I. Introduction ............................... .. I
2. Concerni ng Conception and Birth .....•. 3
3. Concerning the Degree Marking the Hour ......••. 8
4. The Dividing Up of Natal Theory . . . ........ 9
5. Concerning Parents ....... .... .... 13
6. Concern ing Siblings ......... . ........ 19
7. Concerning Males and Females . . .. . . ... .. 21
8. Concerning Twins . . . . . . . . . . . .... .. ...... 22
9. Concerni ng Monsters ........... , ............... 23
10. Concern ing Those Who Go Unnourished ........ 26
I I. Concerning the Years of Life .................... 29
12. Concerning Bodily Form and Mixture .. , ..... . ..... 47
13. Concerning Bodily Injuries and Ailments . . . ... 50
14. Concerning Quali ty of Soul ..................... 56
15. Concern ing Ai lments of the Soul ........... 64

Appendix on Ptolemy' s Primary Direction Technique

by Robert Hand ... .......... . ... .... .. 68

Glossary .... .... ............ 75

 introduction to Book In of the Tetrabiblos
by
Robert Hand

A person of some influence in the field of the history of astrology who

has translated himself several astrological texts from Latin recently
asked why anyone wou ld want to do another translation of Ptolemy . If
the Schmidt translation of Book I left any doubt in anyone's mind, this
translation of Book III should settle the matter. No previous translatio n
has faced so squarely the problems that this lext presents; nor ha ve they
been so forthright in ident ifying problems thai may not be soluble by
the text alone. Also thi s is the first translation ever done relying upon
ancient commentators and other ancient authors for corroboration and
clarification of the more difficult parts of the text. Too often translations
have been done by persons who believed thai they knew what Ptolemy
had said. and who believed that it was simply a matter of translating the
text "correctly", i.e .• in accordance with their previously conceived
points of view. (n this translation Schmidt has truly attempted to let the
text speak. for itself, even when the text's "speaking" is ambiguous and
the text possibly corrupt.
It is especially imponant that this be done in connection with Book.
Ul of the Tetrabiblos for this is the part of the book that has had the
greatest impact o n subsequent Western astrology. Here are some of the
issues dealt with in this book that have given rise to controversy in the
history of later Western astrology.

I. The meanings of the houses, especially the house of the mother.

2. The method of domification, or how house cusps are computed. Did
he use equal houses fro m the Ascendant, the houses later known as
Placidian, or something else?
3. The method of computing the Apheta, or Hyleg as it was later called
and the issue of computing life expectancies from the directions of
the Hyleg.
4. The method of computing the Part or Lot of Fortune. Do we or do
we not reverse the Sun and Moon in the computation of the Lot of
Fortune according to Ptolemy ?
5. How exactly are primary directions to be done? Do we fi nd the
foundations for the Plac idian system of directing in Ptolemy ?
Let us take t!lese up one at a time.

I . It turns QUI that the assignment of the tenth house to the mother may
be the result of a misreading of the following passage from the chapter
on siblings:

"As for Ihe topic of siblings. .. that which concerns only childre n
of the same mother would more naturally be taken from the
culminating twelfth-part of the maternal place, that is, from the
place cootai ning Aphrodite by day and the Moon by night."

Compare thiJ to the same passage fro m the Ashmand translation.

"The pla:::e, whence inferences are drawn respecting brothers and

sisters. iJ to be considered as being applicable only to children of
the same mother, and it is consequently, agreeably to nature,
presume.l to be the same as the maternal place; viz. the sign
occupying the mid-heaven ; or, by day, that which contains Ve nus,
and, by tight, the Moon."

As Schmidt points out in his notes, the text has often been read as if
lhere were de word "and" or an "01' instead of "of tM ." This gives
" from the rulminating twelfth-pan or the maternal place." The
"maternal pla:::e" according 10 Ptolemy is the l,6idion of Venus by day
and of the M xm by night. 1berefore the house of siblings of the same
mother is the tenth w idion from the sign containing Venus or the
Moon. And the proper house of the mother is not the tenth, according
to Ptolemy, rut rather the signs of Venus or the Moon.
This is especially important in view of the fact that many commen-
tators have Slated that Ptolemy does no t say very much aboUI houses.
This is true if one assumes thai houses have to be the modem kind all
of which are computed with respect 10 the Ascendant; but now we know
that houses ",ere often computed from many points other than the
Ascendant. Ptolemy's houses are often computed from planets as
H~ roslwpoi i. exactly the same manner as Valens, Finnicus, and others
computed hones from the lots. But he did use houses, extensively!

2. We can say with some degree of certainlY now that those who read
equal houses into Ptolemy were in error. It is even more certain that

ii
Placidus was in error when he read the houses now known as
"Placidian" into Ptolemy. Placidus clearly confused a system of
directing with a system of domification. However. what did Ptolemy
use? I refer to the reader to Schmidt' s Translator's Preface for an
extended discussion of this issue. The results of what Schmidt has found
may well rock the astrological community to its foundations . This may
be the solution of the problem of why there are so many house systems.

3. I think that most of the disagreement on the computation of the

Hyleg represents not so much a misreading of Ptolemy as a genuine
adherence to other traditions. But the matter of what one does with the
Hyleg according to Ptolemy is much more questionable, in particular the
matter of whether and when one directs the Hyleg or one directs to the
Hyleg. And then there is the question of the horimnia. What is it and
what does one do with it? This translation . I bel ieve, makes the solution
to the problem of the horimnia clear for the fi rst lime. And the answer
came from the examination of other ancient texts, something no one
else has seen fit or been able to do.

4. The problem of the Lot of Fortune and ils calculation appears to be

much as most readers have read it. Ptolemy does come down on the
side of nOI reversing the Sun and Moon positions in the formula at
night. But in his notes Schmidt makes it clear that there are extenuating
circumstances concerning the context of the computation of the Lot of
Fortune so that it is not at all clear that Ptolemy actually advocated
what he seems to advocate, i.e., that one should always use the diurnal
formula.

5. The matter of Ptolemy's primary directions is most interesting.

Placidus did read the basic idea of these directions quite correctly. But
he elaborated the system into something vastly more complicated than
Ptolemy would have intended it. And he created a computatio nal
approach to primaries that is completely misleadi ng and false through
the use of "poles". The irony is that the earlier Medieval astrologers
such as Montulmo and Alchabitius understood his methods quite well.
The nel result of Placidus' misreading has been to create a system of
directing that is so unwieldy that it has become a mathematical and
procedural nightmare so complex that even in the age of computers I
know of no complete implementation of Placidian methods of primary
directing (although there are some good subsets of it implemented in
programs). And in general the system has fallen into disuse except
among some hardy European astrologers. I believe that we have here
the first clearly laid out exposition of Ptolemaic primaries and their
methods. And to assist the reader who may find the Ptolemaic language
difficult (neither Schmidt nor anyone else can entirely solve that
problem) I have provided an appendix on Ptolemaic primaries that I
hope will solve any remaining difficulties.

Book III of Ptolemy presented here has generated more commentary,

more speculation and more shear verbiage than any other text in the
history of astrology, and much of it is going certainly to tum out to be
manure! 1be problem is we do not know quite which parts of this vast
load of literature il is going to be. Just because an idea has been derived
from a misrea:iing of Ptolemy does not mean that it is a bad idea. Many
truly creative and fruitful ideas have come out of such misunderstand ~
ings. We ca.tnot assume that Ptolemy is right and thai subsequent
astrology is wrong. In fact if there is one lesson to be learned from o ur
encounter with this book it is the danger of a tradition 's relying too
much on one authority, especially if thai authority has been misread.
However, in many cases Ptolemy has been the sole source for the
changi ng of an idea that was held almost universally otherwise by
astrologers wbo preceded him as well as his contemporaries. In the case
of houses it turns out that Ptolemy probably agreed with his contempo-
raries by and large. but it was in the misreading of his text that changes
were brought for no better reason than the "divine" Ptolemy said so.
Only he didn't!
Much of Ptolemy' s text is ambiguous as to its precise meaning (a
problem which has been rendered much the worse by the textual
variants which abound) so that we can safely say that, given what we
have now from the past history of Astrology, consensus on the basis of
the text alone as it has been transmitted to us is impossible. But perhaps
there is hope. We can do what another field has done when confronted
with a similar text fraught with ambiguities and textual variations. We
can convene 1 general council; declare which readings and variants ace
canonic; dec bre all other points of view heretica1; and excommunicate
the unbelievers. Or we can finally realize that whatever Ptolemy' s
merits may have been. however great a think.er, no one can build an
astrological system based on Ptolemaic " fundamentalism." We have to
take all of the possible inlerpretations of his methods where there is real
doubt and try them out to see which. if any, have merit.
Ptolemy confused his readers and commenlators right fro m the
begin ning. but there are things that are clearly enough stated so that we
can say that Ptolemy has been misread, and often . And the various
astrological edifices that have been erected o n the basis of these
misunderstandings will have 10 stand or fall on merits other than the ir
supposed foundation in Ptolemy.

Final note: As us ual except in this introductio n, all of the notes thaI
follow are those of Robert Schmidt, the translator, unless they are
marked with the initials (RH}. Those are notes by your editor.
 Translator's Preface
by
Robert Schmidt

like my earlier tnlnslation of the fir.;:t book of the Tt!trabiblos, this

translation of the third book has been made from the Teubner text of
Boll and Boer ( 1940). However, I have also consulted the Greek text of
Robbins in the Loeb Classical library edition, and on a few occasions
h.ave found that text better.
The bo<* is actually quite difficult to understand and translate .
There are ~eral reasons for this. First of all, there is the general
difficulty of the Greek, which consists of extraordinarily long and
intricate senences, a highly elliptical style, and a sophisticated
philosophical vocabulary . 1bere is no other astrological writer for whom
the entire interpretation of an issue so often turns on a single word,
sometimes a merely connective panicle such as te o The reader will find
several such instances in my notes.
Secondly, there may be problems with the Greek text as we have
received it. This I gather from a comparison of the modern text with
parallel pas~es in the Apouksmatics of Hephaistio of Thebes, who
flourished arrund 400 C.E. Hephaistio quotes Ptolemy at length, and for
the most partthe texts are nearly identical. But at key points his text is
considerably different from ours. These are almost always the same
passages that contain the greatest num bers of manuscript variations in
our text.
However, the book is not only difficult to understand and translate;
it is even harder to interpret. 1 do not think it is an exaggeratio n to say
that it is impossible for the modern reader to extract a fully functional
astrology fran Ptolemy's text alone, even if the language can be
properly u n~rstood . I think that anyone who has tried to read the
translations cf Robbins and Ashmand will agree. There is much that
Ptolemy takes for granted in the way of terminology and background .
Through. our previous translations, we are fortunately now acquainted
with most of the traditional astrological tenninology. For instance, we
were able to see quite readiJy in the chapter on siblings that a certain
phraseology referred to a derived house relati ve to the place of the
mother as a significator; this was because we had several times
encountered the very same expression in Valens (Robbins had to
confess that the passage made no sense to him). Comparison with

"
another passage in Valens helped us understand better why Ptolemy
might not reverse his calculation of the Lot of Fortune by day and by
night, despite the fact that everyone else did. Hephaistio (whom we
consulted frequently) occasionally gives examples of some of the
methods (such as the horinUl ia, and his paraphrases were often helpful
in pinning down some of the more obscure words.
But even here there can be difficulties. For example, in a work that
presumably seeks to explain these very words, Porphyry gives several
meanings for the word ·spear-bearing'. However, none of these
mean ings fits Ptolemy's own, which fortunately in this case can be
extracted from context. And a few of his technical words seem to be
entirely undocumented in an astrological context.
Robbins, on the other hand, occasionally cites the anonymous
Greek commentator. who does not seem to be very astute or helpful in
any really difficult text; or Cardano, who is already subject to a variety
of medieval and Renaissance misinterpretations; or Bouche-Lecle rq ,
who does not understand much of anything and is offensive 10
astrologers to boot.
Through this cross-referencing, and by insisting on an internal
logical consistency in Ptole my'S own procedures, we think that we have
succeeded in clarifying most of Ihe Ptolemaic procedures to the point
where they can now be used . However, we have also been concerned
to point out where variant interpretations are possible. At the same time,
we have not intentionally covered over any truly murky passages, but
have gone out of our way to draw attention to them so that the reader
wi ll k.now when to be cautious in applyi ng a technique.
So what advances have we made in understanding Ptolemy?
The biggest surprise to me personally was the di scovery that
Ptolemy regards his own melhod as "intuitive." The Stoic epistemologi-
cal terminology he employs is very striking, though this entire feat ure
of Ptolemy's approach is undetectable in earlier translations. I have
drawn this oul in my noles .
The major conceptual clarification was seeing the parallel between
the twin concepts of oriental/occidental and east/west. Confusion over
these ubiqu itous concepts has longed plagued the tradi tion and made the
exact implementation of Ptolemy'S procedures problematical. Robbins
has greatly contributed to the obscuration of these distinctions by
inconsistent and arbitrary translations of the Greek terms.
The greatest technical coup was perhaps understanding in detail

vii
Ptolemy's mdhodology and the rationale for his primary directions. and
seeing that tile Greek text fully suppons this view, The outstanding
challenge and remaining question mark is undoubtedly the house issue,
which looms large in the first few paragraphs of chapter II of the
present translation, and we will spend the rest of this preface trying to
come to grip! with this sobering difficulty.

House Dirision, Planetary Strength, and Cusps in Hellenistk

Astrology

In the upcomng analysis of house division in Hellenistic astrology, we

will be makilg a new distinction for which there is as yet no accurate
tenninology . Sometimes we will be talking about a twelvefold divis ion
done for the purpose of ascertaining planetary strength; we will usually
call such a division a "dynamical" division. At other times we will be
interested in a twelvefold division done for the sake of establishing
regions that U"e associated with areas of lifo-houses in the modem
sense; we wi~ call such a division a ''topical'' division. This latter is a
useful word kcause it derives from the Greek word topos that simply
means place (that is, a place relative to the Ascendant). However, this
Greek word aso acquired the mean of a "topic" or issue in the modem
sense; for imtance, Ptolemy often calls the chapters of the Tetrabiblos
that deal win specifi c issues such as parents, the shape of the body.
etc., "topics.~

The Early Tradition or House Division

One of the ealiest uses of zodiacal divisions for special topics or areas
of life is in a work that antedates the root text of NechepsoiPetosiris. It
is called Sdmeschoiniaka and has to do with the decans. Only
fragments of this work survive, but fortunately a piece quoted by
Hephaistio employs the decans as places having governance over special
issues. (D 18) [219)

"One mtst also examine the decans since the first one of the
Horos/wlOs deals with birth; the 28th from the Horosiwpos, which
culminaus early, deals with livelihood; the 25th, which culminates

Vlll
 at noon, deals wi th sickness; the 9th, which rises late in the east,
deals with injury; the 17th, which rises in the west, deals with
marriage and wife; the 8th , the door of Hades, deals with children;
the one in the subterraneous tpivot] deals with death ." (11 . 18).

Since the decans are clearly understood to be related to divisions o f the

signs, this might be called a whole-decan syslem o f houses.
Possibly contemporary with this is the dOdekatropos (or "twelve-
turning") attribuled to Heffiles. This is mentioned in the epitome of
Thrasyllus and in Rhelorius; il also seems implicit (although Hermes is
not mentioned) in two places in Valens and in the discussion o f
Maternus in Book Ill, chapters 2-7. In all of these cases the twelve
places (or houses, to use the somewhat misleading modern tenn) are
unequ ivocally coincident with the signs. Nowhere in the earlier write rs
have we fou nd an equal house system from the Ascendant degree or
any system of mundane houses (such as those based o n the division of
the mundane quadrant). Many of them, such as Dorotheus, do nOi e ven
address the issue. They simply talk about the HiJroskopos and the
Midheaven and places relative to these. Their failure to treat the issue
thematically is an indication that house-division was a convention so
much take n for granted that it need not even be addressed. In that case,
the few who do give clear indications of a whole-sign system can be
taken as representative of the general practice.

Whole..sign Houses in Valens, with Two Exceptions

Although later than Ptolemy historically, Valens represents the earlie r

tradition uninfluenced by the Tetrabi blos. In the considerable amount of
translation we have done from the Anthology so far. we have found a
consistent use of whole-sign houses, with two apparent exceptio ns,
which we will now deal with.
In Book ill, chapter 2, he discusses a division of the mundane
quadrant into three equal pieces (later called the Porphyry system).
However, it is perfectly clear from context that his inte ntion there is to
determine the places in which the planets may be most and least active.
He in no way indicates that he is establishing a division into topics. or
a house-system in the proper sense. In fact he makes it clear that he is
not when discussing the second place so conSlTUcted, "and to judge

"
another I/) part of the degrees as middling- neither more good nor more
base>-on account of the post-ascension of the Horoskopos and the
Goddess and the diameter of God," Now, the post-ascension of the
Horoskopos is the second whole-sign, while Goddess is the lraditional
name for the third whole-sign. In other words, this divisio n has an
inlennediate activity level because the two second and third lraditional
whole-signs overlap on it. Notice that he does not reassign the name
"post-ascensi;)n" to the second intervaJ nor the name "Goddess" to the
third interval of his new mundane division.
Furtherrrore, Valens offers this assessment of activity levels as his
own correction oC a lradition that preceded him, in which the first I/) of
the mundane quadrant was considered to be powerful, but all the
remaining rle&rees weak. Thus, it may have been Valens first of all who
extended the activity assessment to twelve places instead of e ight, and
such a system could not in that case have preceded him.
The sec<lnd apparent exception to Valens's otherwise perfectly
consistent usc of whole-sign houses occurs in Book IX, chapter 3, a nd
it is indeed puu.ling. It is in this chapter that Valens introduces the
well-known procedure of "turning the wheel" to derive additiona l
meanings of the houses from the basic ones. He explicitly calls this a
"twelve-turniftg," as we said above a method attributed to Hennes. so
this passage too apparently preserves the earlier tradition. Now, in his
detailed delineation of this system he explicitly mentions (and frequently
implies by geader) z{jidia. He also employs the traditional topical names
such as Good Spirit , Goddess, etc. Thus, this too is a whole -sign
system. The problem occurs in a paragraph immediately following this
treatment, wlich I translate here.

"But before all it is necessary to reckon the places to the degree.

And at least whenever the degree of the Horoskopos may be
grasped. it is necessary to count from that degree up until the 30.
degree completion of the next zOidion. And that will be the place
concemilg life . Then similarly up to the completion of another 30
degree.s-eoncerning livelihood; and the next as before. For often
two pl!KZS falling together onto (or coinciding on] one w idio n
foretell Ix>th species in accordance with their distances in degrees.
And similarly, it is necessary to examine the lord of the z6idion, in
what wUlion it chances to be and to what son of place it holds fast,
accordin& to its canonical description in degrees. For in this manner

x
 the procedure [or perhaps 'turning ' ] will be judged. And if
someone wou ld reckon platically at one place per z6idion (which
is rare), they [the natives? the places?] encounter constraints and
outrages, or the entangleme nts of mailers."

I am nOI the least bit confident of this translation. For example, I am

not sure which two places he is referri ng to in the middle of the
paragraph . It cou ld be two places in the style of equal houses from the
Ascendant overlapped by one zljidiofl. but this would contradict his own
clear employment of whole-signs in the delineations immedi ately
precedi ng; it could also be two deri vative places (say, the perfectly
coincidi ng on one l.oidiorl ) which would be consistent with context but
render the last two sentences uncertain. I am not even sure about the
mean ing of the algorithmic clause, "it is necessary to count from that
degree up until the 30 degree completion of the next zljidion." But I
will spare the reader all the gory details.
In the midst of all this confusion, and assuming that Valens does
have in mind some system of equal zodiacal division based on the
Ascendant degree, let me make a speculation based on Valens' use of
10l~ which may provide us with an important clue about the relationship
between whole-sign houses and equal divisions from the Ascendant. It
is intrinsic to his treatment of lots that they may be regarded as
" H6roskopoi," or quasi-ascendants; that is, they can become the fi rst
houses of derivative whole-sign syste ms, the meani ngs of these signs in
succession being analogous to those in the basic natal chart. The only
real difference is that the fundamental whole-sign system is regarded as
more general, while the derivative system is intended to yield greater
detail . Nevertheless, they are conceptualized in the same way.
Now, the lot itself occupies a degree somewhere in the sign
destined to become the fim house of a deri vative system; the presence
of the lot must be thought of as somehow altering the very sign in
which it falls, making it an appropriate first house for that of which it
is the lot (the father, for instance). Similarl y, the sign in which the
Ascendant degree fa lls becomes the firs t house of the general
whole-sign arrangement; the Ascendant degree is a kentron, a pivot or
hinge around which the sign turns, and it is this pivoting that alters the
sign and makes it serve the role as the first whole-sign, wherever the
Ascendant poi nt may fall in the sign itself. Might not the first degree of
each equal "house" from the Ascendant be regarded as the "pivot" of
the whole-sign in which it occurs, a kind of point around which it turns
and which makes the entire sign the second place (or house), for
instance, giving it its unique character? Thus, the "twelve-fUrning"
would be an extension of the idea of a pivot, fonnerly restricted to the
angles. to all the intennediate signs.
In conclusion, if this interpretation has any merit, every degree
which is thiny degrees from the Ascendant or a multiple thereof should
be regarded as a "cusp" (or turning point) of the whole-sign in which
it occurs-albeit not a cusp on one of the extremities of the sign. It
would also follow that the intervals between these degrees should not
be regarded as houses at all. Such an equal house system in the modern
sense would be a misinterpretation of the original purpose behind the
equal division of the zodiac from the Ascendant, which was to establisb
the lurning points wi thin the signs themselves. It is interesting to note
that Matemus is the first author we know of who explicitly uses an
equal house system from the Ascendant (in Book lI, chapter 19, even
though he elsewhere uses whole-sign places relative to the Ascendant.
as in Book m , chapter 2). He is two hundred years after Ptolemy and
Valens. Might he have misunderstood the earlier tradition? It is at least
very interesting that he uses the word cuspis for the first degree of each
of these houses, for the word cuspis. meaning 'point'. and carde.
meaning ' hinge' . are both fair ly good translations of the Greek word
kortron , which seems to contain both the Lati n meanings.
Before we leave Valens, there is one fi nal point to make. l ust prior
to his discussion of the "twelve-turning," he mentions an
"eight-turning," which was apparently used by NechepsolPetosiris. l1le
nature of this system is still somewhat mysterious. However, from the
context we could say that it too was coincident with some divisions of
the zodiac rather than defined by a bisection of the mundane quadrant.
As a guess, I would point out that in ancient times tbe signs were not
only divided into three with the decans, but also into two with the
"steps." Thus, just as each whole-sign bouse consisted of three decans.
so each eight-fold division may have coincided with three steps of the
z~idia.

Ptolemy's Equal House System

Ptolemy is reganled as the author of a special equal house division that

'"
begins five degrees above the Ascendant, and it is now widely assumed
that this was his preferred syste m. However, three things need to be
pointed out here. First of all , prior to Book m, chapter II , the
di scussio n of length of life , there is no reason to believe that Ptolemy
regards the Horoskopos, Midheaven, etc., as anything other than
who l e~s i g n houses. He uses all the traditional language of pivots, post-
ascensions, and decli nes. In Book III, chapter 6, dealing with siblings,
he explicitly calls the place of the mother a l.Oidion and invokes the
tenth place relative to this in the trad itional manner of a derived ho use
system. He does not introduce any hou se~system whatsoever in his first
book, which deals wilh the elements of astrology . Finally, he never says
that he will be describing his house system in an upcoming chapter,
though he does say this in the case o f the Lot of Fortune and certain
other matters. We have no evidence of this particular system prior to
Ptolemy , and if he was innovating, we would ex pect him to say so
when the issue arose.
The second point is that when he does introduce his syste m in
Book Ill, chapter II , il is in a very specifi c context of length of life
calculation . The pro blem is to detennine the "places for
releasing,"- that is. the places where the releaser (or hyleg as it was
later called) must be in order to qualify for that ro le. The implication is
that the places he lists are places where the planet will possess the
greatest activity, as is o nly suitable for such an important signification
as length of life. Accordingly, he says, "for one must properl y re fuse
the whole region under the earth so great an authority." As (llaces (or
houses), several of them, such as the seventh, ninth, and eleventh, have
no immediate topical connection with the issue of life. So it seems that
the zodiacal divisio n he descri bes is not for the purpose of establishing
ho uses per se.
Third, one of the earliest commentators on the Tetrabibfos,
Pancharios (as quoted by Hephaistio), did not think that Ptolemy had in
mind an equal house division of the zodiac at all, but rather a mundane
style house system similar to the o ne mentio ned above in the discussion
of Valens, the only difference being that he accommodates the fi ve
degrees above the Ascendant unequivocally required by Ptolemy . Since
Valens introduced al most exactl y the same system for the clear purpose
of making distinctions of planetary activity and not of topics, we may
sunnise that this is Pancharios' intention as well As I have poi nted o ut
in my notes, Pancharios evidently had a different text at his disposal

xiii
that allowed him to make this interpretation (by inference, as he himself
concedes).
If someone wished to argue that Pto lemy did indeed regard his
division as a topical house system in the fu llest sense. the strongest
piece of evidence in hi s favor would be the passages in chapter I I
where he seems to call his new divisions by the names traditio nally
used to designate whole-sign houses, such as Evil Spirit, Good Fortune,
etc. However, as I have argued in my comme ntary on that section, there
are at least two other ways of reading the passage in question witho ut
assuming that Ptolemy is transferring house names to his own division.
And from the number of manuscript variations at key points in the te xt.
it appears that a number of readers and copyists were in doubt on
exactly this issue. I should further mention that al1 these house names
are so loosely connected to the basic syntax of the sentence that they
could even have been interpolated by a later editor, they are present in
the text that Hephaistio quotes and may have present in the text of
Pancharios, although this cannot be inferred for certain from Hephaistio
h.imself.
One final remark: If Ptolemy did intend to use an equal house
system originating five degrees above the Ascendant, he clearly did not
mean it to establish ho use cusps of a whole-sign system in the manner
of our speculation above. Rather, it was the intervals in between that
were of interest, as would be only nalural in the case of the detennina-
tion of planetary strength. And if he furthennore did apply the
traditional house names to his new divisions. this would mean that the
IWO different but equally fundamental prototypes of house di vision other
than the whole-sign model--{for the sake of establishing planetary
activity and the cusps of whole-sign houses, respectively) have been
fuse<! together into one hybrid system.

Equal and Mundane Divisions in the Later Commentators

Paulus still uses whole-sign houses exclusively in his topical delinea-

tions, despite his admiration for Ptolemy, as if he did not regard hi s
equal house division as topical at all .
From Hephaistio's remarks, it is clear thai most of his contemporar-
ies, Pancharios notwithstanding, did regard Ptolemy'S system as a
topical equal house system beginning five degrees above the Ascendant,

xiv
which is still a common interpretation today. However. Hephaislio
seems 10 favor Pancharios' interpretation based on a modified trisection
o f the mundane quadrant, as does Porph yry, and finall y Rhetori us
(although he does report the "twelve-turning" of Hennes). There is no
evidence that any of these three attempted to tum this dynamic al
di vision into a topical system .
Matemus, as we have already me ntioned. uses an equal ho use
syste m from the Ascendant topically. although elsewhere he uses places
relative to the Ascendant sign.

Conclwion

If the above analysis is correct we can draw several conclusions. First.

since it is apparent that no astrologer writing in Greek ever used a
dynamical d ivision topically. we will have to look to the later medieval
tradition to ~ee when this transference took place. Furthennore. we
should view such a move with great suspicio n since it most probably
was based on a misinterpretation of the earlier tradition. Of course. it
is always possible that this was a creative misinterpretation that
accidentally had some truth to it. but at the very least we should brac ket
the use of mundane houses topically until they could be verified in
some experimenta1 manner. However, we are still left with the problem
o f the: correct dy namical di vision, though here the Gauquelin data may
be of some assistance.
Secondly, somewhere along the line the cusps themselves (which
originally fell somewhere in the signs themsel ves and were employed
to detennine the turning points of these same signs) came to be
understood as the boundaries or extremities of the houses- a misunder-
standing that began even in Greek times. The cusps in the dynamical
division evidently underwent the same transfonnation . However, we
might even speculate that the mundane cusps, or cusps of a dynamical
divisio n, might also be interpreted as giving a special dyrn:unic character
to the signs in which they occur, a character different than the topical.
This may connect with the ancie nt doctrine of the profitable places (or
prospering places as we are now translating), which were the signs in
which the planets had e nough activity to conduct their business, or in
whic h they could be used oracularly-depending on how we interpret
the ambiguous tenn chri maJiSlikos. Here too we should look to the later
medieval tradition to see how this second misunderstanding came to be
taken for granted.
A metaphor may help to join all Ihese speculations together. We
may imagine that the cusp within t~ sign gives a cenain characteristic
"curvature" to that sign that qualifies it to be the second, third, etc.,
whole-sign house. 1ne different possible positions of the cusp within the
sign do not change the fundam ental type of curvature given to the sign;
they only modify it within this species, j ust as there are different
individual hyperbolas, each having a unique curvature, that all have tbe
defining characteristic of a hyperbola. The present of a dynamical cusp
in a sign modifies it in a different manner, giving it a cenain size, for
instance, magnifyin g or reducing it. These topical and dynamical c usps
together absolutely detennine the ··curvature" and "size" of a given sig n.
We in vite modern astrologers to try to distinguish these two aspects
of of house division in their chan readings.

General Note
Update on Oiktwsis & Sunoiktw!is & Related Verb Forms

In the Gentral Note to our translation of Book I of the Tetrabiblos , we

laid out some of the issues involved in translating this group of words.
At that time we rejected the traditional translation of 'familiari ty '
because this word has narrowed in meaning to ' acquaintance'. Instead
we have been using a variety of words, such as kinship, affiliation,
congenial, etc., to pick up the root sense of the Greek word. However,
in the present book we have seen Ptolemy using a variety of epistemo-
logical terms derived from Stoicism. although perhaps not always using
them in the Stoic sense; Ptolemy actually seems to be rather eclectic in
his tenninology. Now, the word o i~iosis was an imponant Stoic tenn
that extends a fundamental sense of 'self-interest' or 'self-concern' to
include family , friends , city, and eventually all of humanity. Ethically
speaking, one is supposed to consider aU these: as truly "familiar," and
part of one's own sphere. When you think about it, our modem noun
'fammarity' conveys much the same sense. When we "familiarize"
ourselves with something, we in some sense regard it as our own.
Although this idea is related to our idea of 'sympathy', it seems to have
a more active sense. For these reasons we have decided to change our
standard translation of this word to the traditional 'familiarit y'. As far

xvi
as the related word sutloi kei6is is concerned, we are using the expres-
sion ' fam iliar ties'. And as often as possi ble . we will try to use the root
'familiar ' in the adjectives and adverbs connected with this word.

epikraresis: In Valens we have been consistentl y translating this word

as ' predomination'. But we have now come to think. that this is
misleading. Predomination contains the idea that two parties are
competing for dominance over each other or over some third thing. But
here in the Tetrabibfos it has become clearer that the domination in
question is that of a planet over some place. Thus, the 'pre-' prefix is
misleading. It thus can have nearly the meaning of 'rulership' , and
Ptolemy has several times used it in just that way. However, it cannot
be simply synonymous with oik.od~spotes, the Greek. word for rulership,
because Ptolemy also uses the word to describe the relationship between
a "releaser" (or hyleg) and its place. A releaser comes to have domi-
nance over a suitable place simply by being present in it. Therefore, we
have decided to change our translation to something a little more
neutral : 'have governance over' .

xvii
xviii
 The Tetrabib los, Book III

1. Introduction

Havi ng made our rounds l of the theory of universal events in the

preceding (chaptersl, as coming first and having the power to prevai l
over the majority of the effects that concern each single man according
to what is specific in his nature, the prognostic portion of which events
we call genethlialogical.1 it is fiuing to suppose one and the same power
for both kinds lof prognostication]. both concerning what is practical
and what is theoretical . This is because the cause of both the universal
and the individual events is the motion of the wandering stars, the Sun
and the Moon, while prognostic theory is the scientific observation of
the changel of their' underlying natures in accordance with the
similarly-fi gured passages of the heavenly bodies through the surround-
ings,' except that the universal condition is greater and self-sufficient
whi le the particular condition is not so.,
But we must no longer consider the same beginnings1 in both
theories, begi nnings from which, by laying down an arrangement of the
heavenly bodies, we attempt to know in advance the events signified by

I ~phod~uO. This verb comes to have the general sense of 'to treat of as
in any investigation, but we see no reason nOl 10 mainlain ils concrete sense
here.
1 g~,.tthliclJogjkg$. This word just means ' penaining to the binhday' .
1 trope. Literally. 'the turning'.
~ OUlOis . That is, the natures underlying the events.
} dicl tou p€riechomos. This might also be translated as 'by means of the
environing atmosphere' , Since the atmosphere surrounds the eanh in the same
manner that the etherial realm surrounds the atmosphere (see Book I. chapte r
2), and it is the sunounding atmosphere that transmits the celestial causes. the
reference here is ambiguous,
6 This is the origin of what has become known as the doctrine of
subsumption which is that it is nO( necessary for all persons involved in a
disaster to have indications of that disaster in the individual natal charts because
the general charts indicating conditions in the world take over the power of
indicati ng fOf large blocs of people. If the indications are present in the large
mundane charts. it is not necessary fOf them to be present in the individual
charts. [RH]
1 archi.
the figures ' at that time. Rather, we must lay down many beginnings of
uni versal events since we do not have a single beginning for the whole,l
even as these beginnings are not always taken from the underlying
{natures) themselves, but also from the {natures] surrounding] (lhem)
and imposi ng the causes; for we investigate nearly all the begin nings
[which are] from the more complete eclipses and the significantly
transiti ng stars.·
But we do in vestigate both one and many beginnings for the events
of individual men. The s ingle one is the beginning of the composite'
itself, for this we do have; the many beginnings are the alter ations of
the s urroundings6 that happen in succession relative to the first

I schel1Ulrisnws. This word has a broader application than to aspects alone.

It also includes positions relative to the HOroskopos. solar phase, etc.
1 to pan. Perhaps more properly 'a totality' . I do not think that here this
immediately refen to the cosmos as a whole. According to Book II, chapter I ,
the underlying natures of univenal events (that is, the subjects they affect) ate
races, countries. and cities. Each of these is a kind of totality. The events that
concern these totalities are the universal events referred to in Book II. Ptolemy
would then be saying thaI it is impossible to pinpoint a single beginning for any
one of these totalities in the same way that one could poi nt to the moment of
conception as the beginning of an individual man, for the reasons mentioned in
the next clause. though there may be a beginning analogous to the binh in the
foundation of a city. However, if he is referring to the cosmos as a whole, then
he woold be basing himself on the Aristotelian view that the cosmos is eternal
and has no beginning.
J Presumably these ate the environing elementary natures earth, air, fire,
and water, and perhaps also other totalities of the type mentioned in the last
note. The environmen t itself (which also does not have a unique beginning) and
other surrounding totalities are co-facton in any events affecting anyone of the
totalities, and thus the ir origin must be also be taken into account in any
question of the beginning of one of these totalities. Eventually we regress back
to the cosmos as a whole, which has no begiMing .
• Ptolemy's treatment of universal events is in Book IJ of the Tetrobiblos .
, sugkrima. That is, the initial constitution of the body and soul at the
nativity. This tenn is used not only of the intennixture of elements in the body,
but also (by the Stoics) of the union of body and soul.
, IW. .. r&! pui«honf&!. . .~pislma.sio.s. This phrase could be literally
trans lated as 'the changes in the weather', with to periechonlQ referring to the
envi roning atmosphere. and ~pi.slma.sm being commonly used in the calendars
for an indication that the weather will change. (See Ptolemy's Phases 0/ the

2
begi nning, though appropriate ly enough, in this case the si ngle
begi nning leads the way because it brings the others about. With these
things being so, the universal characteristics of the constitution I are
contemplated from the fi rst ' beginning, while through the other
beginnings the events that hap'j,en at certain times by more and less1 are
contemplated in accordance with the so-called divisions of the succes-
sive limes.)

2. Con~erning Conception and Birth

The temporal beginning of human child-bearing being by nature [the

momentl of the very conception, while in potentiality' and concomi-
tantly' the moment6 of the birth, for those who know perfectly the time

Fwd Slars.) Obviously we are not here talking about the weather. Instead,
Ptolemy is using this a~ a metaphor to descri be significant changes in the
general character of one's fortunes and misfortunes-one's own personal
"weather," if you will. Such events as befall one in this manner Ptolemy treats
in Book IV. As we have already leamed from Valens, it is the change-over of
time-lords referred to at the end of this paragraph that marks the beginni ng of
new period in one's lire with its own distinctive character. Considering the
distinction that he will make in the next chapter concerning the conception and
the nativity, it is possible that Ptolemy would have regarded these other
beginnings as "inccptions" (knlarchi) rather than causal beginnings.
I suSfcriSi.t,
1 The events that happen by more and less are those that are due to the
intensification or relaxation of the peculiar quali ty or tone of one's life
established by the time·lords. 'Illese events are triggered by transits that involve
the time-lords themselves,
l The last chapter of the Telrabiblas contains Ptolemy's own treatment of
the divisions of the times and the determination of planetary rulers for different
periods of one's life.
~ en dumanei. The child at birth has a greater capacity (that is, potentiality)
for existence than he does at the moment of conception. See next paragraph.
$ knw 10 .tumbebifcos. Literally, this means 'in accordance with what
accompanies', Usually this phrase means 'accidentally' in technical philosophi.
cal language. However, as we will see at the end of the next paragraph, the
natal chan is M cesStJn'ly related to the conception chan, so it could hardly be
understood as accidental or incidental to it. But Aristotle also uses the phrase
to describe "essential attributes," namely, those which necessarily accom pany

3
or conception. either concomitantly l 0 by observation . it is more fitting
to rollow that moment ror the propeties or body and soul. closely
investigating the productive power or th. figure of the stars at that time.
For though it is only once at the beginnin: that the seed becomes some
son of quality from the transmission o( be environing (atmospherel.
even if this becomes different during the suc:essive times of the making
of the body. by naturally mix ing with itself <nly the appropriate matter
during its growth. it resembles even more the ndividual character of the
initial quality.
But in !he case of those who do nOl ).now [the moment of
conception], which happens for the most part, it is filting to follow the
beginning fOlthe moment [of bin h), and it is necessary to attend 10 this,
as it is the greatest and the very beginning and is lacki ng with respect
to the conception only in this-tha.t the circumstances prior to binh can
be foreknown through that beginning. f."r even if one may call the one
"beginning"l and the Olher, as it were, "; nception,"3 its magnitude
becomes second [in 11lJlkl with respect to time. tnt equal and even more
perfect in p<tentiaiity, and the former might allTu>ott with justice be
named the genesis of the human seed, and the latter tJot genesis of a
man. For the new·born babe takes on at that time very man, additional
(characteristics) which did not belong to it before when it wa... in the

a subject, just as some geometrical property nettssarily acco mpanies a triangle.

for instance. I think it more likely thal Ptolemy has this meaning in mind.
6 d:tropi. Literally, this means 'a turning out' . Paulus and othen
commonly use it to refer to the binh itself. However. it also has the metaphori·
cal significance of lurning aside. as when I balance arm inclines to one side.
Thus the word also comes to mean a 'momen!' of time (which has a similar
metaphorical construction in the context or a balance).
I sump~s. Probably by some concomitant event at the lime of
conception, btl: more likely rectification using evenls--cenainly not by chance
15 in Robbins.
J arch!. A true source or beginning, one which also rules over whal comes
later in the mwmer of a cause.
J kauJrchi. The general word for an elcctiona1 or I"Iorary beginning in
Greek astrology. This is an extremely important remark for it indicales that
Ptolemy himself would regard the nalal chart not causally, but rather as a
significant moment in an ongoing pr0ces5 Of ritual. one which can be used to
divine later events. (See translator's preface 10 TIw! Mlrological Record 0/ t~
EArly Sages in Greek.)

4
worn b--indeed. those indi vidual characteristics which are of human
nature alone. l And as for his bodily fi gure, even if it seems that the
surround ing Inaturei at the time of birth contributes nothing to his being
such and such, it does contribute to his coming into the light in
accordance with a familiar figure of the surrounding [naturei. si nce after
the completion [of his bodily figurel nature gives an impulse to exit at
a condition of similar type to the one which did the initial shaping of
his parts. Thus. it is reasonable to suppose that the fi gure of the stars at
birth is indicative of such [physical] matters, not however as ~flIirely
productiv~ [of them I. but rather as of necessity and by nature highly
similar to the productive power. l
It being our present purpose to fill out Ihis part too in a methodical
manner in accordance with the argument outlined at the beginning of
this composition concerning the possibility of such foreknowledge,} we
will reject the ancient manner of prediction by the combinatory fonn 4

I While !ife begins at conception. Ptolemy seems to be arguing that what

makes one tru ly and individually human comes about from the moment of birth.
Such a doctrine would have interesting consequences for the current debates
concerning abortion and when a foetu s becomes a human being. [RH]
1 Thi s is a clear and very blatant statement to the effect that the planets in
the birthchart do not cause anything. 1bey are not the "productive power."
Rather they are indications of the nature of the "productive power" made so by
their symbolic similarity to that power. What is not clear here, however, is
whether or not the planets allh~ conc~plioll may be themselves the ''productive
power" even while the planets in the birthchart are not. (RH]
1 See Book I, chapter 2.
4 '0 sugJ:ratiJ:os ~idos. Valens also appears to be referring to this ancient
method of combination when, after delineating two and three planet combina-
tions. he writes. ''Our exposition of these matters aimed at distinguishing them
into unique and universal types, but when a different commixture is also added
in. either in accordance with presence or CD-teStimony. the power of these
things will be altered in accordance with the nature of the star. For. I did nOi
want to compile the commixtures at great length and with many subdivisions
since the ancients have already made their arrangements concerning the m."
(Book I, chapter 20 .... nlhology).
It seems likely. then. that this ancient method of commix ture tried to
observe the effects of groups of stars in various combinations. and OTganize
them into lists with subdivisions. These may have resembled the large
compilations of yagas still found in Hindu astrology. Some of these complex
combinations are staueTed around elsewhere in Valens and earlier astrologers.
of all or most of the stars, a manner copious and nearly lim itless. which,
if someone wishes to understand it in detail, is even more able to be
reconsidered I in the particular intuitions of those who make examina-
tions in a natural manner than in the traditions---this we reject because
it is hard to use and hard to detaiP Whereas, we shall set out the very
treatments through which each of the species) is seen at a glance in the
intuitive manner,~ and also the productive powers of the stars in relation

I OtIllIM:6reo. Literally, ' to comlemplate lIllew'.

I Robbi ns has mistranslated this passage in such a way as 10 make il sound
as if Ptolemy would prefer to simply adhere to the tradilions and reason on their
basis 11I1her thllll examine things in a ''natural manner" . Bul Ptolemy everywhere
says that his approach is "natural". In fact, later he will try \0 find a " more
natural" way of dealing wilh such planetary combinations (see end of chapter
5). His point is thai even Ihese combinations become easier to see and perform
' if one uses lhe intuitive manner he is about to describe.
) eidos.
4 hdLlJ/Q tOn eidOn kJJJlJ lOtI epiblllW:m lropon sunoratai. This is a

panicularly suiting senlence. Ptolemy describes his method as epibllliJws,

which is an important Stoie tenn referring to the direct and unmediated
apprehension by the mind. (Robbins transJates it as " practical!"') 1llere is no
discursive reasoning process involved in the methods that Ptolemy will outline,
Guided by the symbolism of the planets and the framework he provides, the
astrologer will try to immediately grasp the nature of an event in the native's
life. This method is synoptic (sunoplikos). that is, one that allows the mind to
see al a glance. Valens also prefers AlCh a method in the sentenee immediately
following the quotation above. He says, '"'The synoptic manner, then, which is
easily taken in al a glance from the natural activi ty of each stat and widion,
will be preferred by those who can see."
This ~ivilY of direct apprehension is also called kLJIlllipsis by the Stoics,
and Ptolemy will use this terms literally dozens of times in this book. But the
method also has its limitations. In the first chapler of Book I. Ptolemy wrote,
"We will do this in a manner that is consonanl with philmophy, and also in
such a way that he who subjects himself to the truth-loving aim rnay neither
compare the graspings (kotalipsis) of the second method [astrology proper] with
the ever-holding finnncss o f the first [astronomy), not pretending to be able to
discern that part of material quality which is faint and inscrutable in many
things, nor yet shying away from such investigation that material quality does
admit oL .." Though limited, this is the only method at the disposal of the
astrologer. His work will be educated guessi ng, but the more he trains his
intuition, the better that guessing may become.

6
to eac h species in acco rdance with what is specific and what pertains
to the who le- these we shall set out, as much as poss ible, in a manne r
at once consiste nt and brief in keeping with natural conjecture. This we
will do by laying down ahead of time the places of the surrounding
[heaven) in re latio n to which each of huma n events is conte mplated. as
a kind of mark at whic h it is necessary to aim ;' and by fitting onl the
productive powers of the bodies that ha ve familiar ties with these places
by governance1- the re leasi ng of arrows in its general direction, as it
were. But we will leave the outcome which is summed up by the
combinatio n of several natures aro und the underlying form-as to the
we ll-aiming archer- to the calculation of the one making the exam ina-
tion .
But first we will give an accounti ng of the universal events thai are
studied 4 through the natal beginning, in a sequence that is in keeping
with the order-an accounting of natural events, that is, a ll of whic h can
to be taken from this (beginning], though if someone wishes to make a
thorough examination, also an accou nting o f those properties befalling
one at the time of conceptio n thro ugh the same theory whic h contribute
only towards the properties of the commixtureS itself. 6

I kata.Jtoc~omai. This word literal ly means '\0 aim af, but figuratively
came to mean 'to conjecture' . Interestingly enough. the modem word
'stochastic' referring to cenain random processes deriVe5 from the same root.
1 t!plwrm ow. n.e verb literally means ' to fit onto'. and I believe that
Ptolemy is extending his melaphor here to suggest filt ing an arrow onto a bow.
l t!pik.ratlsis. This word is used in two distinct ways. Here we find it used
in a manner which is vi rtually identical with our notion of having rulership over
by means of possessing dignity in the degrees in question. Later we will find
the same word used in a different sense which indicates having greater strength
or power. (RH ]
4 tht!ort!tJ.

J See chapler 12. [RH]

, This says that a conception chart should be used only for events before
the birth up to and including the original physical and psychical constitu tion of
thc nati ve, but not the kinds of evcnts considered in Book IV, for instance, that
befall a native after his birth.

7
 3. Concerning the Degree Marking the Hour

An impasse often arises concerning what is first and most authoritative,

that is, the portion of the hour al the time of birth. For in general, only
observation It the very time of birth by scientific observers with
hour+marking astrolabes is able to submit the minute of the hour;
whereas nearly all other hour+marking [devices] to which most of the
more carefullastrologers) pay attention are frequently capable of being
utterly deceived I about the uulh, the solar (devices) by occasional
distortions of the positions and gnomons? and the water clocks by the
cessations and irregularities of the flow of water by different causes and
through chance. For this reason it would be necessary for it to be
explained beforehand, wilh a natural and consistent account, how o ne
might find the degree o f the zodiac that ought to rise. presupposing the
(degree) for tile given approximate hour, which is found by the method
of ascensions.
It is necessary, then, to take the prenatal syzygy nearest the birth ,
whether it should be a conjunction or a whole moon; and when we have
examined prc:isely the degree (if it is a conjunction the degree of both
the lights. if a whole moon the degree of the light that is above the
earth). it is necessary to see those of the stars that have a rulership
relation to it at the time of birth. On the whole. the manner of rulership
is cODlempiated in these fi ve (ways) : by trigon and by domicile and by
exaltation and by bound and by phase or configuration ? thaI is,
whenever the place in question has one or more or even all of these in
relation to the star that is about to rule. If then we should fi nd o ne star
which is situated· in a familiar manner in relation to all or most of
these, whatever degree this slar exactly occupies in the twelfth+part it

1111e devices are personified and described as "being deceived" rather than
as "deceiving" the astrologer. IRH]
1 A stick set up perpendicularly 10 the earth used to tell time from the
shadows that it casts.
l This is t troublesome expression. Phase almost cenainly refers 10 solar
phase. BUI it i5 not clear whether configuration refen to aspect or is muely
another way of describing phase. In Ptolemy's Phases O/lhe Fwd Slars phase
is itself defined as a special configuration involving the planet, sun. and
horizon .
• diakim.ai.

8
is transi ting at the lime of birth, we will judge that a degree equal in
number to it rises in the twelfth-part that is found nearer by the method
of ascensions. But if we shou ld find two or more co-ru ling stars, we
will make use, for the quantity of degrees. of the one whose transiting
degree at birth is closest in number to the degree ri sing according to
ascensions . But if two or more should be close in number,1 we will
fo llow the one having more relatio nship to the pivots and the seeP If
however the di stance of the degrees [of the position] of the rulership to
the degree of the roughl H6 roswpos should be greater than filS
distance] to the like4 Midheaven, making use of this same number
which is related to the culminating degree, we will thereby also place
separately the remaining pivOlS.

4. The Dividing Up of Natal Theory

With these things set out ahead of time, if someone should wish to
d ivide3 the universal 6 of natal theory as regards its very order, he would

I The phrase "in number" clearly means that whatever the number of
degrees Wilhill lheir rtsptclivt signs may be, these numbers should be equated.
In the next couple of sentences a reference is made to "distance of the degrees."
There by contrast the total arc distance between the two points is being referred
to. There was some confusion over this point in the Middle Ages. {RH]
2 The relationship here being referred to is that of rulership andlor aspect
as well as similarity of seel. As we have seen in Montulmo there was
considerable argument over whether there IuuJ to be an aspect. The phrasing
here strongl y implies that aspeet is merely ant! of the possible modes of
"relationship." (RH)
1 ' Rough' as in the phrase "rough and ready," i.e., apprmtimate. {RHJ
• This use of the word 'like' is ambiguous. Do we mean that the point and
Midheaven are "like" in being on the same side of the horizon, or do we mean
that the Midheaven is the one derived from the rough H"raslwpos, and therefore
"like" it? J somewhat favor the first interpretation, but the text is not clear.
IRHI
3 diairto. That is, dividing by laking one pan away from the other.
Although this is a general word for the logical division of something more
general into its parts, it is also the word used for the division of one's overall
lifetime into periods ruled by different planets (as in the seven ages of man),
or the division of cenain aspects of one's life (such as one'S health or fonunes)

9
find , of the natural and possible graspings:1 the grasping of the events
which are solely prior to bil1h. such as thai of lhe accounl1 concerni ng
parents; the grasping of the events both before and after birth, such as
that of the account concerning siblings; that of events at the birth itself,
which may no longer be grasped singly nor simply ; and fi nally, the
grasping of events after birth, this also being contemplated in terms of
several parts.)
Of the inquiries made at the time of birth itself there is the account
concerning males and fe males, and that concerni ng twins or multiple
births, and that concerning monsters. and that concerning those who go
unnourished. Of the inquiries made after the birt h there is the account
concerning length of life since it is not connected to that concerning
those who go unnourished; then the account concerning the shape of the
body and that concerning ailments or OOdily injuries; next the accoUn!
concerning quality of soul and that concerning mental ailments; then the
account concerning fortune which pertains to acquisition and that
concerning fortune which pertains to dignity, after which is the account
concerning quality of action; then the account concerning the compan-
ionship which is marriage, and that concerni ng the begetting of children ,
and that concerning associations and partnerships and frie ndshi ps; next

into periods ruled by more specialized time-lords. (See final chapter of Book
IV of !he TttrobibIQs). Ptolemy may regard his ~re here as a preparation
and exercise III the universal level of what will later be done in more detai l with
more specific evems-a prototype of the later division of the times.
b to katholou lis gtlltthlialogikh tM~rias. Not ''the whole field of
genethlialogical science," as in Robbins, but literally a division of the universal
event which is one's entire life, the subject of natal theory,
I katalipsis. This is the Stoic term for the direct apprehending by the mi nd.

Here one must directly apprehend events preceding binh (or those attending
birth, elc.) under one form, as one of the first-level species of the univenal
event of human life.
1 logos. As we know from chapler 2, Ptolemy regards his treatment of the
upcoming special topics as "intuitive." Each account (or logos) is understood
to lead to a dirtCI apprehension (kalalipsis) of the even\. It is nOi discursive or
analytical
1 If we wm: to sum up Ptolemy's universal procedure here. there is the
dividing up (diai~ of the universal by talirIg one part from the other, tne
direct apprene nsion (katalipsis) or grasping of one division, and the picking OUI
(logos) and dirtCI apprehension of an example.

10
the account concerning foreign journeys: and fi nally, the account
concerning the qual ity of death, which in meaning l is akin 10 the
account co ncerning length of life. but in order gets reasonably placed
at the end of all these. We will do an outline for each of them in a
summary fashion , setting out, as we have said, the methods of inq uiry
themselves along with the simple productive powers, dismissing the
nonsense which is elaborated by the majority and has no plausi ble
relationship to causes from a primary nature, while examining rthe
events ] that allow of being grasped. nOI through lots2 and numbers) for
which no cause can be detennined, but rather through the very theory
of the fi gures relative to the familiar places- though merely in a general
manner and for all cases in order thaI we may not say the same thi ng
for each species.
First it is necessary to examine that place of the zodiac which is
familiar to the specific heading in question in the nativity, as for
example, the Midheaven for l~ inquiry concerning what one does, or
the solar lplace) for the inquiry concerning the father. Then it is
necessary to observe the planets having a relationship of rulership to the
posited place according to the five ways we spoke of above.· And if
there should be o ne essentialS ruler, it is necessary to give him the

Iduman i.r .
1kluoi. This is Ptolemy' s explicit rejection of the use of Lou (aside from
the Lot of Fortune). We can now see from the othe r authors of this period that
Ptolemy made a radical departure from the main body of the tradition in this
respect This is one ekample of why the ekcessive reliance of the Western
tradition upon Ptolemy has had unfortunate consequences. We have to
remember that in a very modem sense Ptolemy was a scientist, i.e., a natural
philosopher. with a very definite idea of how Physics worked. This might have
inclined him to reject astrological doctrine that did not seem in accordance with
this. However he did retain the Lot of Fortune, so it may have also been a
desire to simplify astrology tha t led him to this position. [RHI
1 This reference to number ma), be a reference to various types of
divisional or "harmonic" charts that were in use at the ti me. The dodekatlmo ria
come to mioo. [RH)
• See previous chapter.
, kata pan/Os. If we translated this as "in all these ways," as Robbins has
done, the nekt sentence would not make sense, because there could not be two
or three rulers in all thesc ways. Howevet, the phrase is also standard
Aristotelian tenninology for and "essential" auri bute, something that applies to

II
rulership of that prognostication. But if there are two or three, to those
having more counters. I
After these matters. for the quality of the effect it is necessary to
examine the natures of the ruling stars themselves, and the natures of
the twelfth·parts in which they are, as well as the places having famil iar
ties to them.
For the magnitude of the effect, it is necessary to exami ne their
power, whether they happen to be actively disposed in relation to the
cosmos itself and in relation to the nativity, or the opposite. For they
are most effective whenever they should be in their own or familiar
places with respect to the cosmos; and again, whenever they chance to
be orientaP and additive in numbers.l And they are most effective with
respect to the nativity whenever they should be passing through the
pi vots or the post· ascensional twelflfl..pans, and especially the primary
pivots (I mean those ascending and those culminating). They are
weakest with respect to the cosmos whenever they should be in
another's or unfam iliar places. and occiden tal~ or retreati ng in the ir
course.' And they are weakest with respect to the nativity whenever
they should be declining from the pivots.
For the general time of the effect, it is necessary to examine
whether they are east or west relative to the Sun and the Horoskopos,
(the quadrants precedi ng each of them and the ir diameters being east,
while the remaining quadrants are west). Also, whether they should
happen to be upon the pi vot points or post· ascensions. For when they
are east or upon a pivot point they become more effecti ve at the

the whole of the SUbject. This reading alloW1 us to preserve the text as it stands.
Also, it may be the origin of the term "essential dignity."
I Here we have the basis of what later became known in Latinized Arabic
as Almutez, Almutem, or Almuten. But in Ptolemy and those who followed his
lead, there was no weighting system as we find in most of the Arabic material.
Each mode of rulership is given equal we igh t. [RH]
1 That is, when they are rising.
1 This does not simply mean direct motion, but rather motion in excess of
the average motion of the planet. A motion may be direct but less than the
average motion; then it would be direct but "decreasing in numbers."
• That is, when they are selting.
S TIlat is, retrograde. Retrogradation is the extreme case of "subtractive in
numbers," when the motion of the planet is less than average: a motion may be
"subtractive in numbers" but still direct.

12
commencement, I while when they arc west and upon the post-ascension,
they are tardy.

5. Concerning Parents

The guiding outline of the examination of specifics, then, to whic h it is

fitting to adhere throughout, has this character. And in keeping with the
order set out, we will forthwith begin with the account co ncerning
parents, which is first , Now, Ihe Sun and the star of Kronos by nature
have famil iar ties l with the paternal person , the Moon and the star o f
Aphrodite with the maternal. And howsoever these chance to be situated
relative to each other and the other (stars], in just such a manner is it
also necessary to conjecture the c ircumstances of the parents. For, the
circumstances of their fortune and possessions must be examined from
the spear-bearing of the lights, since when the lights are surrounded by
stars capable of doing good and by those of the same sect, either in the
same widia or in the next !zoidia] ,l they clearly point oul that the
circumstances of the parents are notable and bri lliant, and especially
whenever morning stars are spear-bearers for the Sun and evening stars
for the Moon, the lights themselves bei ng also well-situated in the
manner we have d escri bed .~ And if bolh the star of Kronos and thai of

I That is, they take effect right at the beginning of the event.
1 sUlfoik.eiomai. If we took this as passive rather than middle voice, this
verb might also be translaled as 'are associated (by usl with', as Robbins has
done. However. in Book I this verb (and the root verb oi/reioO itself) seems to
refers to something planets or ZJ5idia do or sustain on their own account, and
we have tranSlated the present passage accordingly.
J We should probably take Ihis as Ptolemy's definition of spear-bearing.
The types of spear·bearing defined in Antiochus (chapter 23) and Hephaistio
(Book I. chapter 17) require that the light be on a piVOI, which does nol seem
to be implied here. A more general type of spear-bearing is mentioned in Paulus
(chapter 14), where planets are said 10 be spear-bearers of the Sun when they
precede it in zodiacal order up to a trine. and of the Moon when they succeed
it up to the next t.6idion. It does not seem thaI Ptolemy intends 10 be even this
specific. for a few lines down he refers to Ares spear·bearing for the Sun in a
succcdent place.
~ See end of last chapter.

13
Aphrodite themselves also chance to be orientai' and in their own
faces ,~ or else pivotal , we must conjecture the manifest happiness as
appropriate for each of the parents. But for the opposite condition,
namely if the lights should be void-coursing1 and should chance to be
without spear-bearers, they are indicati ve of the low estate and the lack
of reputation of the parents, and especially whenever the star of
Aphnxlite and that of Kronos are clearly not well-situated. And if they
should be attended by spear-bearers, yet not those of the same sect- as
when Ares should be post-ascensionaJ to the Sun, and Kronos the
Moon-or if they should be attended by spear-bearing !>enefics not
well-situated and [in j4 the same sect, we must conjecture mediocrity and
irregularity for their life. And should the Lot of Fortune in the nativity
(which will be made clear) be hannonious wi th the stars spear-bearing
for good for the Sun and the Moon, the possessions of the parents will
be taken over intact. But if it is disharmo nious or opposed, with (none
but)' malefics assuming the spear-bearing, the property of the parents
will be useless to them and hannful.
One muS! inquire concerning a long or short duration of their life
from other configurations. For in the case of the father, if the star of
Zeus or the star of Aphrodite should be configured in any way
whatsoever to the Sun and the star of Kronos, or the star of Kronos
itself should have a hannonious fi gure to the Sun by either being
present or maki ng a hexagon or triangle, when they are in power,6 o ne
must conjecture a long life for the father; but when they are wanting in
power, [one must not conjectu re] accordingly, though it is not the case
[~at one muS! not at al1 conjecture] a short duration.7 If this should not

I attalolil:Qs.
2 See Book. I, cha pter 23. {Additiol\3.l by RH] This is also the dignity that
later become koown as Almugaea, Almuguaea or Almichera.
J This is our modem concept of void of course.
• It is not clear from the Greek whether .same sect is being affirmed or
negated.
' This might also be Inlnslated as 'with no star, or malefics. assuming the
spear-bearing'.
(0 Probably meaning dignified. [RH]

1 adunamoWlwn de ouch hom0i6s, ou menloige oude oligochroniollUJ.

There is a rather difficult pile up of three negations in this clause.

14
obtain , but the star of Ares should have a superior position) over the
Sun or the star o f Krenos, or else il should post-ascend them, or e lse
again the star of Kronos itself should not be hannonious to the Sun but
rather square or diametrical- when declining from the pi vots, they make
the fathers merel y weak ; but if they are pivotal or post-ascending the
pivots, they make them short-lived or liable to injury (sho rt-lived when
they should be in the first two pivots, the rising and culminating pivots
and in the post-ascensions to these; but liable to injury or disease whe n
they sho uld be in the remaining two pivots, the setting and subterra-
neous pivots or the post-ascensions to these).! For when the star of Ares
seesl the Sun in the manner we have said, it destroys the fat her
suddenly o r causes injury to his eyesight; whereas when seei ng the star
of Kronos, it involves (himl in deaths or agues or injuries due to cutting
and burning.' And when the star of Kronos is itself also poorly figu red
in relation to the Sun, it both makes the paternal deaths unwholesome
and furnishes ailments through the amassing of fluids .
In the case of the mother. if the star of Zeus should be co nfigured
in any way whatsoever to the Moon and the star of Aphrodite, o r the
star of Aphrodite itself should relate in a harmonious manner to the
Moon, being hexagonal or triangular or present with her, when lhey are
in power, they show the mother to be long-lived. But if the star o f Ares
should see the Moon or Aphrodite when post-ascending or squaring or
being diametrical, or the star of Kronos should see only the Moon in
this manner when they are subtractive or declining, again they involve
lthe mother) in oppressions or weaknesses; but when they are additi ve
or pivotal, they make the mothers short-lived or liable to
injury-short-lived when they are likewise upon the easlern pivots or

) knthUPUfut6. There are several different astrological meanings to this

concept. including simply being of lower longitude. However, the most common
is having a poSition in the 10th place from a given body and casting a
lefl-handed square upon it. Lower down in the p3l1lgnph an aspect relation ~
indeed seem 10 be implied.
1 There is no reason to think that these references to the angles, succedent
and cadent houses involve anything other than whole-sign houses.
) ·bltpO.
'Compare this doctrine to Paulus (chapter 1.5), where Ares is said to have
these same effects when stationing and aspecting the Sun (th us aspecting it by
82 degrees or nearly a square.

15
post-ascensions, but liable to injury upon the western ones. For, when
Ares sees the Moon in this manner, if she is oriental , it both makes the
maternal deaths sudden and causes injuries to the eyesight; but if she is
waning, it makes deaths from abortions or such and causes injuries
through cutting and burning. And when Ares sees Aphrodite, it renders
the deaths feverish and produces ailments through hidden and obscure
(causes) and sudden attacks. When the star of Kronos sees the Moon,
it causes deaths and ailments-through agues when she is oriental, but
through uterine maladies and ulcers l when she is waning.2
For the special kinds of injuries and ailments and deaths, we must
additionally ascertain the peculiar character of the twelfth-parts in which
are the s~ that introduce the cause, which we will further work out at
a better occasion in the discussions concerning the nativity itself.l And
furthennore, by day we must especially observe the Sun and Aphrodite,
by ni ght the star of Kronos and the Moon.
For the remainder, it would be fitting and in keeping with working
out the special cases, after laying down the paternal or maternal place
of the seer as a HlJros/copos, to examine the remaining circumstances
as in a nativity of the parents themselves' in accordance with the
methods-both those pertaining directly to a maner as well as those
which are concurrent with it6-0f the more general kinds, which will be

I tJIUlbrOsis. Literally, 'corrosion' .

1 apoUol4lilcos. Literally, 'subject 10 being knocked off .
1 In chapter 13 of this book.
~ The place of Venus for the mother and the Sun for the father in diurnal
charts. and the place of the Moon for the mother and Saturn for the father in
nocturnal charts. IRHJ
, This clause could also be translated as 'to examine the remaining
circumstances of the parents themselves as in a nativity' . These two different
readings raise a somewhat subtle conceptual problem. Is the derivative house
system from the place of the parent a kind of nativity of the parent himself (Of
herself), that is, an auxiliary chan of the parent? Or is it rather a chan of the
parent from the perspective of the child, reflecting perhaps the child's
experience of the parent?
6 pragmarika.s r~ kai sumbarikas ~phodous. From the numerous manuscript
variations it is clear that many manuscrip( copyists have had trouble with this
short description of the upcoming methods. Some l\ave read 'practical and
convenient'; others 'pertaining to causation and Signification', and so on. I think
that Ptolemy means those methods directly applied to the parent as a native-

16
' indicated in the following .
However, both here and in all cases it is fitting to rccalJ the
combinatory procedure l if the stars that lake the lordship of the places
in question chance to be not of o ne kind but of different kinds, or if
they arc productive of opposites. This we do by making a conjecture
(from the advantages in powerl going along with each (lord]) as to
which star3 is found to have more counters for the governance over the
future outcome,' in order that we may conduct o ur examination in a
manner consistent with the natures of these stars. Or else, if the
counters are of equal weight, whenever the stars that have governance

versus those methods in which something is "concurrently" inferred about the

parent. For example. as is argued in the nex t chapter. to determine the siblings
of the native we determine the children of the mother. although we could also
have detenniocd the children of the mO(her as native using the methods in Book
IV. Ideally, these two approaches should, of course, agree.
1 sugflkratikos tropos, Since Ptolemy 50 trenchantly criticized the
combinatory procedure of the ancients, it is reasonable to suppose that he is
here giving his own improved version of such a method. In fact, in that same
place (chapter 2) Ptolemy also asserted that the combinatory method could be
reconsidered and streamlined within the context of his own intuitive method.
This seems to be what he is up to here. Also, cf. Book II, cha pler 8.
1 These "advantages in power" come no doubt from what was later called
essential dignity. (RHI
1 This sentence is actually writlen in the plural in Greek: 'as to which Slars
are found to have more counters for the predomination over the future
outcomes' . I have made the nouns and verb singular because the Greek
construction could be very misleading here if translated literally. I do nOl think
that he is talking about several stars predominating over a given outcome. for
that situation is mentioned next.
• In the case when two or more places are simultaneously significators for
an event, we have to first detennine the star that rules each place individu·
ally-this is a purely mechanical procedure involving no guesswork (see chapter
3). Its "advantage in power" would be how decisively it wins the contest for
rulership. But does a planet ha ving J rulerships over a given place where
several other planets have one, have an advantage over a planet having J
rulerships over another place where there is only a single other planet having
any rulerships at all, bot this planet has two rulerships? Ptolemy says that one
must make a guess here. He evidently does not think that it is consistent with
his intuitive method to pursue a quantitative weighting system any further.

17
should be s imultaneous, I we may reckon with a good guess the resultant
from the miuure of the different natures; but whenever they should be
separate, each taking a tum in its own time, we may assign the
properties of the events for the earlier ti mes to the more eastern rulers,
and for the later times to those more western.1 For, it is necessary that
any star which is going have an outcome for the place in question have
familiar ties) to it nom the beginning. And if this does not occur, it is
not possible for a star having nothing at all in common at the beginning
to dispose in a general manner.· Nevertheless, the initial mastership is
no longer th e cause of the time of the issuance of the outcome, but [it
isl rather the distance to the Sun and the an g les of the cosmos of a s tar
that has any kind of authority.s

I In many inues, such as that of the determination of sex (chapter 8), there
may be several equal predominatOl'S derived from rulership over the several
places of the several significatOfS. Since sex is only determined once, these
different pre<iominators must be combined.
1 In certain issues in whic h the effcel takes place over time, such as one's
career, the equal predominators may take effect at different times, depending
on which is more eastern, unli k.e the case of simultaneous predominators.
Pemaps one mighl then conjecture a change in the quality or the effect during
one's lifetime-a change of profession, (or instance.
) slUIOi!eiomai.
• 1l!e planet can only have an effect on the outcome through accidental
connections later such as aspecting or having other familiarity with planets thaI
do have familiar ties with the place in the birthchart.
s 'The sense of this passage seems to be that the rulership of planet over a
domain of life does not indicate the timing of an event. Rather it is the arcs that
separate the planet having rulership from the Sun and the angles that indicate
the timing. This would presumably be due to the fact such arcs dctennine the
timing of primary directions. It is also possible that this statement is an explicit
rejection of all symbolic timi ng techniques that do not involve some kind of
movement of a promittor and a significator $Uch as all manner of cbonocrator
systems as we find in Vale.ns. Finnicus, and abundantly in Jyotish. Profections,
tran5.its. and primary directions would be acceptable according to these c riteria.
[RH]

18
 6, Concerning Siblings

The topic of parenlS, then, may become almost evident to us from these
{considerations] . As for the topic of siblings- if one examines here al so
only the universal and does not inquiry beyond what is possible into the
exact number and what is particular- that which concerns only children
of the same mother would more natura1Jy be taken from the culminating
twelfth-pan of the maternal place,' thai is, fro m the place containing
Aphrodite by day and the Moon by nighl. This is because this widion 2
and the one post-ascendi ng it are made the place concerning the
children of the mother, which ought to be the same as the place
concerning siblings of the offspring.
If, then, benefics are configured with this place. we will declare an
abundance of siblings. making o ur conjecture in reference to the number
of these very stars and whether they chance to be in ziJidia of a single

I I have translated this phrase quite literall y, and it is a clear reference to

the 10th place relative to the place o f the mother (that is, the place of Aphrodite
and the Moon). We have freq uentl y fOOM that Valens uses similar language
when rt:ferring to derivative house systems relative to the lots. Howe'ler, much
of the later tradition has thought to insen an 'and' , making it read ' the
culminating place and the place of the mOl hcr' , which would not make much
sense. Funhermore, there is no evidence of 'and' in the manuscript tradition.
Robbins properly omits the 'and' but takes the words ' the place o f the mother'
to be an apposition for the culminating place, although he confesses thai this
does not make much sense either. BUI the texi is quite clear as J have translated
it Children art associated with the 10th place, and it is very consistent to look
10 the 10th place relati ve 10 the mother fOf the children of the mother.
It seems li kely that the later practice of associating the mother wi th the
10th place is entirely derived from a misread ing o f this passage. In our
translation 10 date, none of lhe early house tabulations independent of Ptolemy
contains an y mention of the mother in connection with this place. Furthermore,
the Hind u tradition does not make thai connection either. 1berefore, the later
identification of the mother with the 10th house should be viewed with
considerable suspicion.
1 The word ZQidion here makes it plain that the derivative house system in
question is a whole,Sign system, not Ptolemy's "equal" house system from 5
degrees above the Ascendant degree, introduced in chapter I I in the specifi c
context of length of life determination.

19
form or bicorporeal. But if malefics have a superior position I o ver them
or are diametrically opposed, they are indicative of a fewness of
siblings, especially if they should also include" the Sun . And if the
opposition should be made upon the pi vots, and especially upon the
H6roskopos, in the case of Kronos [the nati ves) also become the first
born or fll"St to be reared;J in the case of Ares, there wi ll be fewness of
siblings due to the death of the remainder. However, for the stars that
promise [siblings], if they chance to be well situated cosmically, one
must suppose that the siblings promised will noble-! and notable; but if
they are situated in the opposite manner, lowl)' and inconspicuous. But
if the malefics have a superior position over them or post-ascend them,
the siblings will be short-lived. And those stars that have become
masculinized cosmically' will give males while those that have been
feminized females; and again. those more eastern 6 will give the first
siblings. those more western the later oncs. In addition to these. if the
stars promising the siblings chance to be harmoniously configured with
the star that is lord over the twelfth-part concerning siblings. they will
make the promised siblings friend1y ; and if also {so configured~ with the
Lot of Fonune. they will also make the siblings life-long companions.
But if they chance to be in uoconnected {zOidia}' or stand in opposition,
they wi ll mak.e contentious and jealous siblings, and those who are
prone to intrigue.
For the rest. if someone would also funher exercise his curiosity
with the individual details of siblings, here again he might make a

I ktJ/hupel1ue6. Again, this probably refers to the l{)(h place relative to the

benefics in question, where the malefics cast a left-handed square on them.

2 SlU7Iparo/amJx;uW.
J I.e.. to survive long enough to be weaned. [RH]
, tuschimOn. Literally, 'of fi ne shape'. This could refer either to physical
or mental attribJtes. HowcVCl". it also came to be associated with gentility in the
social sense. The clear OPPOSition to 'lowly' in the nellt clause leads me: to
favor the translation 'noble'.
1 Cj. Book I, chapter 6. Planets arc: made more masculine when they are
east relative to the Sun, and more feminine when they are west relative to it.
6 Again cj Book I. chapter 6. These an: figures relative to the horizon. The
quadrant from Horoskopos to Midheaven and the quadrant opposite are eastern;
the remaining ones western.
1 That is, inconjunct or semi-sutile.

20
guess, I with the star promising siblings assumed relatively as a
fliJroskolJOS and the remaining ISlarsi studied as in a nativity.1

7. Concerning Males and Females

With the account concerning siblings now brought under our sight in a
fitti ng and natural fashion, nellt would be to make a beginning of the
events at the birth itself, and first to run through the reckoning thai
concerns males and fema les. This is not contemplated under one form,
nor from some one IstarJ. but rather from both the luminaries and the
fltJroskopos, and from the stars having a relatio nship to these, especially
in accordance with their dispositio n at the conception. but more roughly
also in accordance with their disposition al the birth. The whole must
be observed, whether the said three places and the stars ruling over
these, all or most. chance to be masculinized for the begetting of males,
or feminized for the begetting of females , and we must declare}
accordingly. However, we must d istinguish those which are being
masculinized and feminized in the manner we laid down in the tabular
exposition at the beginning of the composition ,~ both from the nature of
the zoidia in which they are and from the nature of the stars themselves,
and furthermore from their orientation 10 the cosmos' since they are
masculinized when they are eastern,6 and femin ized when they are
western; in addition to these from their orientation to the Sun, for again
they are masculinized when they are morning stars, and feminized when
they are evening stars. It is befitting to conjecture the major governance 7

I $WleikatO. Literally, 'to make a semblance of the truth'. This emphasizes

yet once again that Ptolemy regards his entire procedure as intuitive and
consequently SUbject to error.
2 Clearly another derivative house system.
] apophaitlo.
~ Cf Book I, chapler 6.
~ apo lis pros fOtl Kosman SCMS~OS. It is clear thai we are lallcing aboul
cardinal direction here and nOl zodiacal position.
6 apilWfikos.
7 ~pjk.rofl$is.
Here is the second usage of the word indicating a having
power over 10 determine an outcome rather than having dignity in the later
sense of the word, although that may be involved in this. IRH]

21
over sex throogh all of these. l

8. Concerning Twins

Also, concening those who are born twO (or even more) at a time , it
is likewise befitting to observe the same two places, (that is, the two
lights) as weU as the H6ro.fkopos. And this propenyl is likely to hold
good of mixtures: whenever the two or the three places should contain l
bicorporeal lJidia. and especial!) whenever the stars ruling over them
are affected in the same manner,· or some are in bicorporeal ziJidia
while others chance to be lying pairwise or with even more together.'
But when the places of the lords should also be in bicorporeal ziJidia
and more of me stars should be configured in the same manner,6 then
il befall s that even more than two are conceived, the multitude of the
number being guessed1 from the sw that causes the propeny, while the
sex is guesseJ from the stars configured with the Sun and Moon and
HOroskopos lor the begetting of a male or female persons, in accor·

l We are rot told exactly how (0 combine all these masculine and feminine
influences. Weare certainly not told to do a simple weighting of them ; nor are
we given a nnking in importance of the various contributing elements to
masculinity or re mininily-cven as to ranking the conuibution o f the places of
the significaton vs. the ruling planets. After all, this is an intuitive method. If
all the influences, or most of them. are masculine, then we can conjecture a
masculine sex. But if there is a closer balance between masculi ne and feminine,
the prediction 'liouid be correspondingly uncenain.
I swnpf&w.
1 ~ri«M
• That is, lie in bicorporeal t.OiditJ.
S ana duo kimenoi tl(gchanQsin l Jcm pkiow. This seems to mean that two
or more of the rulers should be together in the same tPidiQrl .
, Hephai.ltio takes this to mean that the rulers are both in bicorp<lfeal
t.OiditJ and in gnu ps of two or more. It seems more likely to me from the Greek
that Ptolemy ~s that some of the other st3l1i are also grouped together.
1 ReaUy meani ng intuitively arrived at, not quite the haphazard kind of
thing we mean by ' guess'. [RH]

22
dance with the ways said in the preceding.] Whenever such an
arrangement does not include the hiJroskopic pivOi wi th the lights, but
rather the pivot of the Midheave n ,~ such mOlhers for the most part
conceive twins or even more. And in particular. they bring the full
measure of three males at the same time, in the man ner of birth of the
Kings,) when Kronos, Zeus, and Ares are in bicorporeal widia
configured with the aforesaid places: and three fema les. in the manner
of birth of the Graces, when Aphrodite and the Moon (are so s ituated I
with Hermes femi nized : and two males and one female. in the manner
of the Dioseuri.· when Kronos, Zeus, and Aphrodite lare so situated] ;
and two femal es and one male, in the manner of Demeter and Kore.~
when Aphrodite, the Moon , and Ares [are so si tuatedl. In these cases
it is wont to happen that the children are not born perfect and are
brought forth with certain birthmarks; and furthemlOre. certain
outstanding and unexpected things happen in places because of the
manifestation, as it were, of such events.

9. Conce l'ning Monster'S

The account of monsters is not foreign to the present examination; for .

I That is, the number of children in the multiple binh must be determined
using the method speci fied in chapler 5. while their sex must be determined by
the melhod of chapter 8.
1 I think this means that if the neither the H~rosJwpos nor ilS ruler is in a
bicorporeal zoidiofl, but Ihis is true of both the Midheaven and ils ruler. then
Ihis will also result in multiple births.
1 hupo ten tOn Anaklorort gcrtcsirt . In order for Ihis 10 make any sense al
all we must take 'hupo' in the logical sense of 'under the class' , meaning here
under the class Iypified by the genesis of the Kings. 1 have translated it a little
loosely as 'in the manner of . It is not clear what Kings are referred to here in
the paradigmatic binh .
• Our modem accounts of classical mythology differ here. Helen and
Clytemnestra were born with Castor and Pollux. so we ha ve two women inslead
of one.
5 Some manuscripts add Dionysius to this list. We certainly need a male
10 add to the trio. However. there are still problems since we know Demeter as
the mother of Kore, not the siSler.

23
first. in such cases the lights are mostly ' found to be in decline or
unconnected k) the H6roskopos, while the pivots are grasped separately2
by the maleflCs. Whenever, then, some such arrangement should fall
under our sight, since it often happens also in lowly and unlucky
nativities evert if they should not be monstrous, it is fitting to eumine
straightaway the prenatal syzygy (whether penaining to a conjunction
or whole moon) and the stars ruling this and the lights of the birth. For
if their places at the birth and that of the Moon and [hat of the
H6ros/wpos, all or most, chance to be unconnected to the place o f the
prenatal syzygy, one must suppose the offspring to be enigmaticaP
If, then, with these things being so, the lights should be found in
quadrupedal or bestial zoidia, and the two malefics are pivoted, the

, kola /0 pUis/OIl .
1 dialamblnii. We have not yet encountered this word in an astrologicaJ
contut. or the fundamental meani ngs o f this verb, there seem to be three that
could apply to this astrologicaJ contut. I) 'To take or receive as a separate
portion', in which case there may be a reference to the malefics ru ling the
pi vots; however, the planets ruling the lights and the Horoskopos are brought
in later as a more specific condition, so I do nOl. think they are intended here.
2) 'To seize up:m separately', as when one person grasps the hands and another
the feet of someone, in which case the maIeflC5 may be understood to occu py
the pivots. 3) 'To separate', in which case the malefics may be thought to
separate the pivots from each other (perhaps by both occu pying a position
bdween them), or separate them individually (by occupying the m separately).
Hephaistio would seem to favor this possibility since he has the verb diago here
instead, meanir.g ' to force apart' . This could make sense since the pivots might
be likened to pints. and forcing the joints apart might result in a monstrous
appearance. On the whole I prefer the second possibility since in the upcoming
specific deli neation there is a reference to the malefics occupying the angles
(unless this is brought in as a new condition).
1bere is t1so the funher problem that we do nOl. know whether he is
refening to My angles, or only the primary ones, lhe Ascendant and
Midheaven.
Finally, tttre may be some tut missing here since in the next paragraph
he mentions tk malefic! grasping separately the lights or the pivots.
3 ainigmal6dis. This word has much the same sense as our English word
'enigmatical' , .. ruch is indeed derived directly from it. 1be monsters will be
enigmatical (thlt is, of a puzzling nature) if the lights are in neither quadrupedal
or bestiai1.6idirJ, nor in human ones.

24
offspring will not be fro m' mankind . On the one hand, wi th none of the
benefics testifying to the lights,l it will be completely savage, one of the
animals having a wild and hannful nature ; though, on the other hand,
with Zeus or Aphrodite testifying, it will be one of the an imals
worshipped as a god, for example, dogs or cats or apes or the like; and
if Hermes testifies, one of the animals that can be put to use, such as
birds or swine or canle or goats and the like.
If the lights should be apprehended in human zijidia, with the other
stars being so situated, those born will be beneath mankind or alo ngside
it? but monsters and enigmatical. with the quality peculiar to them
bei ng observed here too from the shape of the 7,Oidia in which the
malefics that have grasped separately the lights or the pivots chance to
be. If then even here no one of the benefic stars should bear witness to
any of the aforesaid places, the offspring become completely witho ut
speech4 and b'Uly enigmatical ; bUI if the star of Zeus or that of
Aphrodi te should testi fy , the peculiarity of the monster will be one that
is valued and honorable, as is wont to happen with hermaphrodites or
the so-called h3rJXlCratiacs S and such; and if the star of Hermes too
sho uld testi fy with these, it turns out those who uner a(X'llhegms' and
are successful at it. but if the star of Hermes is alone, it renders them
toothless and deaf. though otherwise shapely and cunning.

I tx anthropOn. This could mean either 'not of the human race' or ' not
from human paremage'. This whole doctrine sounds plenty strange 10 the
modem ear. Evidentl y the ancients actually regarded severely deformed or
otherwise aberrant children (such as those completely covered with hair) as
animals.
l Manuscript variation has " but if malefics do."
3 hup ' omhropOn m~n I par' anlhr~pois. That is. sub·human (though stilt
of human (onn) or humanoid.
~ alogos. That is, they are irrational , not possessing the power of reasoning.
S I cannot find this word. Robbins has 'deaf mutes' , Presumably, they still
possess the power of reason. Ashmand and others translate this as 'stammerers',
which makes matt sense in view of the upcoming text.
6 Aphoristic speech.
 10. Concerning Those Who Go Unnourished I

Regarding the circumstances at the binh itself, as there remai ns the

discussion concerning those who go unnourished, it is fitting to make
the distinctioD that in one sense this manner [of inquiry I depends on the
discussion concerning length of life since the fonn in question is not
forei gn to each, but in another sense it is separate owing to a certain
difference in the meaning1 of the examination . For, the discussion
concerning length of life is contemplated for those who generally
possess a perceptible length of time, that is, nOI less than o ne solar
revolution; for, such a time is particularly apprehended as a period.) BUI
also pOIentiaily a (time] less than this, as are months and days and
hours. And the discussion concerning those who go unnourished is for
those who do not generaJly arrive first at the aforelyi ng lime, bUI rather
perish within lesser numbers through an excess of affliction . Whence
the former4 also has a inquiry of more parts, but this one of fewer parts.
For it is simply this: if each of the lights should be pivotal and
eachs of the malefics (respectively} should be present or else in
oppositioqo, In o ne of the lights], and these 10 the degree and by

I atropMJ. The verb from whicb this adjective derives lileBlly means 'to
take no food'. 1be translations '!hose who are unrearod' or 'Ihose who are
non-viable' used by Robbins and others seem too broad in thei r meaning. See
next note.
1 dumanu. As a category the designation 'those who go unnourished' is
broad enough 10 include children who are born dead or nearly so. those that
cannot take nourishment for some reason, those who can but nevertheless
slowly starve away becallSC of some defect, and those who are exposed at birth.
It would not seem to include children who die within their first year from some
accident; it sccms more likely that this would be studied with the methods
presented in the chapter on length of life.
3 t:flklutoJ. This word means any period or cycle of time. However. it most
especially mems a year as the paradigmatic period of time.
4 Inquiry into the length of life. (RH)

5 /0 M/t:r(YI . . .. 00 ~tuos. Although the word ~uros means 'one of two',

when it is ~Icd with another occurrence of itself. as is the case here. the
simply pairing has the dual meaning of ·the one light. ..the one malefic, the
other light ...!be other malefic'. Thus we are talking about both lights and both
malefiC!. It is easier here to translate this 85 'each. . .each'.
6 diomikiW.

26
equality of leg, I with no benefic being configured and the ruler of the
lights being taken in places of malefics, the offspring will go unnour-
ished and will have the end of his life because of them.2 If this happens
without equality of leg, but the bolts of the malefics closely post-ascend
the places of the lights; and if there should be two malefics harming
either one or both of the lights by post-ascension or diametrically; or if
each malefic in a class should respectively harm one of the lights; or if
the one malefic harms by being diametrical while the other by
post-ascending: in such a manner also the offspring come to be lacking
in any time span,3 the multitude of afflictions obliterating that which is
beneficial to the duration of life from the interval of the post-ascension.
The star of Ares, especially, harms the Sun by post-ascension,
while the star of Kronos so harms the Moon; but conversely, the star of
Kronos harms the Sun by being diametrical or by being in superior
position, while the star of Ares harms the Moon in this way-and above
all if as rulers they control 4 by placeS either the lights or the
H6roskopos. And if there chances to be two diametrical oppositions,
with the lights being upon the pivots and the malefics at equality of leg,
at that time too the infants are born either dead or half-dead. And with
these things be so, if the lights chance to be separating from one of the
benefics or should be otherwise configured with them while [the
benefics] even so bring their rays to bear on the parts preceding the

I knt' isoskeLeian. The word isoskeIes simply means 'equal-legged', as in

an isosceles triangle. However, it is also used of regular polygons generally (see

Euclid's Elements, Book IV). It seems possible that this is implied here. It
would mean that if the lights and their conjunct or opposed malefics lie on
different pivots, not only must their conjunction or opposition be exact to the
degree, but the square aspects between the pairs of conjunct planets on the
several pivots must also be exact. This seems to be born out be the upcoming
text, for when equality of leg does not hold, it means that the rays of the
malefic will either post-ascend or pre-ascend the lights; it is specified that they
must post-ascend. and other conditions are added in compensation.
2 par' aUla.
3 achronos.
4 kntexO. Literally. 'hold down' . This must mean when they rule the places
of the lights or Hi5roskopos.
S topiki5s.

27
lights themselves,! the one born will survive up to the number of
degrees between the releasing1 and the nearer of the rays of the
malefics-fol an equal number of months or days or hours in proportion
to the magnitude of the affliction and the power of those [stars]
providing the cause. But if the rays of the malefics bear on the places
preceding the lights while those of the benefics bear on the succeeding
places, the clild that has been exposed] will be taken up again and will
live. And again. jf the benefics in configuration should have malefics
in superior position to them, [he will live) in affliction and subjection;
if the benefics should have the superior position, [he will live] by
substitution4 under other parents. And if one of the c~nefic s should
make its risiT@: or its application to the Moon while one of the m alefics
is at seuing, !Ie will be taken up by the parents themselves.
And the same manner of inquiry [holds) in cases of multiple-births.
If one of the stars that are configured two by two or else by more at a
time should be at setting, the offspring wiD be born half-dead or as a
lump of flesh and imperfect;5 but if it should have maJefics in superior
position to it, the one co-bom with the cause applying to him will go
unnourished or will be without a time span.

I I IuJj al6s awois i i sunuchimatUmena tois proigoumenois neaut6n

meresi memoi ge tas aktinas aulon epiphtron,Qn. lbat is, if the lights are
separating by aspect. 1be Robbi ns Greek text is a bit vague here and suggests
that the lights are hurling their rays in the parts preceding the benefics. which
seems backwards. The Teubner text is itself a little difficult because of the
difficulty of gx>Uping pronouns with their antecedents, but the upcoming text
would seem to verify my translation.
2 See next chapter for the determination of the releaser.
] This is in the technical sense of the word meaning leaving a child
exposed to theelemeots, a peculiarity late·1e/1tl form of abonion.
4 hupobolt. That is. a supposititious child.
51bere is evidence of text corruption here. The Hephaistio text reads: "a
half-dead child will be born along with the offspring, or an imperfect lump of
flesh." There IaruraUy should be a reference here to another child since the
context is mul~ple births.

28
 11. Concerning the Year'S or Life

The discussion I concerning the years of life goes before the events1
subsequent to birth, since according to the ancient one, it is ridiculous
to match particular {cases] of the events3 to one who, on L~ basis of the
years he is likely to live, will not at all make it to the times productive
of these events. This subjecr is contemplated in neither a simple nor an
absolute5 manner but is taken ·in a many-sided fashion from the
governance of the most authoritative places. And just such a one is the
method which is especially harmonious to us and which is besides the
most natural . For it is entirely dependent upon the distinguishing of the
places for releasing and the stars that themselves have governance over
the releasing, and furthermore upon the distinguishing of the destructive'
places or stars . And each of these is decided upon as follows .
First, one must consider as places for releasing [those] in which it
is always necessary for the star which is going to assume lordship over
the releasing to be: the twelfth-part around the Hc1roskopos, from the
five degrees pre-ascending the horizon ilSelf to the remaining

I logos.
1 sumptoma.
3 ta Ita/h ' Mkasta tOn apoteloumen6n. Robbins translates this as " particular
predictions." Although the lexicon says that apoteko can have the specific
meaning of 'astrological prediction', I am not convinced that it had this
meaning in Ptolemy's day. Here it seems likely that the understood subject to
ta leath' Mkruta is sumptomaJo (events) in the first clause, in which case this
phrase is a partitive genitive, making apoteloumenlJn a synonym for events,
namely 'things being brought lO completion'. This is confirmed by the
occurrence of apotelumatikos al the eod of the sentence, which can quite
naturally mean ' productive or, but not easily 'predictive'.
"logos.
5 apolelumen6s.
6ll1Uliretikos.1bc verb from which this adjective is fonned literally means
'to take up and carry away', which comes to have the metaphorical connotation
of annulling or destroying. However, the root meaning nicely complements the
word aphesis or 'releasing', for the anairetic or destructive planet takes up and
carries awtty what the hyleg or releasing planet releases.

29
twenty-five degrees post-ascending it; and the [degrees)' hexagonal to
these 30 degrees on the right, those2 of the Good Spirit; and the

I tas. The Hephaistio version of this tellt is lacking the article here, and

thus any impmcit reference to degrees. Instead, he (following the early

Ptolemaic commentator Pancharios) read this phrase as "right hexagonal sides."
This is not a trivial difference. Through this reading, Pancharios was able to
interpret "side" as a third part of the mundane quadrant instead of 30 degrees
of the ecliptic, thus introducing the first mundane-style house division that we
know of. He evidently thought that this was in fact Ptolemy's implied meaning.
Some mamscripts have the word lous here instead of tas. The only
possible antecendents for it would be "twelfth-part" or "places," and in this case
the passage wOJld read "and the twelfth-parts hexagonal to these 30 degrees on
the right, those of the Good Spirit," or "and the places hexagonal to these 30
degrees on the right, those of the Good Spirit."
2 tas. The interpretation of this entire paragraph turns on this one word.
Although las is the reading in the Teubner text, there are several manuscript
variations, sud as Ie and Ie kai and tous; the Robbins text actually prefers teo
Even with the Teubner text, two readings are possible: I) "and the degrees
hexagonal to tliese 30 degrees on the right, [which are] those[2] of the Good
Spirit;" 2) "and the degrees of the Good Spirit which are hexagonal on the right
to these 30 del1ees."
In the fint case, the degrees hexagonal to the 30 degrees around the
Ascendant are synonymous with the degrees of the Good Spirit, or perhaps even
define the hous: of the Good Spirit itself, at least for the present purpose of
length of life calculation. In the second case, it is possible to continue to regard
the Good Spirit as the 11th whole-sign house, and only accept degrees which
are simultaneously in the 11 th sign and hexagonal to the 30 degrees above and
below the Ascmdant as defined in the preceding phrase. The fact that one
manuscript has te kai in this place indicates that at least someone understood
this text in the latter way. Many manuscripts (and Robbins) have Ie alone,
which could also be read in the same way, as introducing a second condition,
although it need not necessarily be so interpreted; it could also coordinate with
the "and" in the upcoming phrase "and the [degrees] square to them."
If we wish to follow out the second interpretation just mentioned, we could
also go back and reinterpret the first "house" in a similar fashion, in a way that
the text allows Instead of "the twelfth-part around the Horoskopos, from the
five degrees iJe-ascending the horizon itself to the remaining twenty-five
degrees post-81cending it," we would read "the twelfth-part from the five
degrees pre-asrending the horizon itself to the remaining twenty-five degrees
post-ascending it, to the extent that it is round about the Horoskopos . .. That is,
we would accept only those degrees which are simultaneously in the ascending

30
ldegreesJ square to them, [those] o f the Midheaven above the eanh; and
the [degrees] triangular, [those) o f the so-called God; and the (degrees]
diametrical, those of the Descendant.
And of the ones preferred even among these [places) for the power
of governance are first the [degrees)1 according with1 the Midheaven,
tben those according with the Orient, then those according with the
post·ascension of the Midheaven. then those according with the
Descendant, then those according with the precedent of the Midheaven .
For one must properl y refuse the whole area under the earth so great an
authority, except only those degrees coming into the light along with the
post-ascension itselP And of the who le region above the earth, it is not

sign and also within the stipulated boundaries.

In the first reading we have the problem that Ptolemy wou ld be using a
title traditionally associated with the 11th whole-sign house for a new house
divisio n not coincident with the signs. and nO( giving us any warning that he
is introducing new usage; furthennore. we have already noted that there is no
reason to th ink that Ptolemy uses anything other than whole·sigll houses prio r
to thi s chapter. However. if we fo llow the second reading and try to retain
whole· sign houses, we are led to interpret the passage in a manner that may be
intri nsically reasonable but has no real su pport from the commentator lJ"aditioo.
1 The implied noun here could just as easily be ' places'. referring either
to the indi vidual degrees Of the ''houses'' they are grouped into.
2 MW. This preposition continues the ambiguity of the preceding
paragraph. I) It could mean ' in '. meaning that, of all the degrees we have
considered above, those that accord with the Midheaven (that is, are in it) are
to be preferred; this is how Robbins has translated the word. 2) However, the
preposition could al so be read as "first the places [or degrees ] that are like a
Midheaven;" that is, they are house· like analogues to the Midheaven (which
presumably would still remain the 10th tffidWn). but they are not bei ng de fined
as the Midheaven. This second reading is very strongly supported by a wo rd
that is o milled in the Teubner text. but common in a number of manuscripts.
1bese manuscripts, Hephaistio. and Robbins have the word hts/~t611 at the erxl
of the phrase. With this addition, it would be trans lated as "first the places (or
degrees) that are ill Q sID/t lib the Midheaven." 3) Finally, the preposition
could be translated as "first: the degrees that are sonuwhere in the Midheaven,"
consisten t with the suggested interpretation that we are dealing only with the
subset of the degrees that are in the proper aspect relation 10 the degrees arourxl
the Ascendant---namely, !hose that are also in the proper widion.
) The He phajstio text adds here "arxl those degrees pre-descending."

31
filting to accept the twelfth-part unconnected to the Ascendant, I nor the
one that rises before, IwhichJ is called1 of the Evil Spirit, since it hanns
the effluences of the stars in it onto the earth in addition to declining,
and it makes turbid and, as it were, steals away3 the thick and misty
exhalation from the moisture of the earth, by which the stars do not
appear to have their natural colors or magnitudes.

(Commentary by Roben Schmidtj Because of the complexity of the grammati-

cal analysis in the footnotes accompanyi ng the preceding two paragraphs, we
will give two alternative translations, each consistent with th e basic grammar
as supported by manuscript variations.

In the manner of Pancharios-

First, one must consider as places for releasing [those) in which it is

always necessary for the star which is going to assume lordship over the
releasing to be: the twelfth-part around the HlJroskopos, from the fi ve
degrees pre-ascending the horizon itself to the remaining twenty-fi ve
degrees post-ascending it; and the sides hexagonal to these 30 degrees
on the right, belo nging to the Good Spirit; and the sides square to them,
belonging to the Midheaven above the earth; and the sides triangular,
belonging to the so-called God ; and the sides diametrical, belo nging to
the Descendant.
And of the ones preferred even among these [places) for the power
of governance are first the places in a state like the Midheaven, then
those like the Orient, then those like the post-ascension of the
Midheaven, then those like the Descendant, then those like the
precedent of the Midheaven. For one must properly refuse the whole
area under the earth so great an authority, except only those degrees

I /oi Q/lQlt llOnli. 1lIe ambiguity continues. Thi s implied noun could be
either the ascending r.iJidwfI , or the ascending twtlfth-parl; in the latter case it
could be referring the " Ascendant" as defined by Ptolemy's purported equal
house system.
2 This explicitly says ·'is called," whereas this W~ Dever said in the
preceding paragraph. This could be because the present discussion is assuming
whole-sign houses.
l Literally, ·to cause to disappear·, but figuratively 'to steal away.' Cf the
way that Vcnus and the Moon are said to "appropriate·' these ex halations in
Book I. chapter 4 .

32
coming into the light along with the post-ascension itself. And of the
whole region above the earth, it is not fi tting to accept the twe lfth -pan
unconnected to the ascending twelfth-part, nor the one that rises before,
{which] is called o f the Evi l Spi rit, since it harms the effluences of the
stars in it onto the earth in addition to declining, and it makes turb id
and, as it were, steals away the thick and misty exhalation from the
moisture of the earth, by which the stars do not appear to have the ir
natural co lors or magnitudes.

Suggested New Translation-

First, one must consider as places for releasing (those) in which it is

always necessary for the star which is going to assume lordship over the
releasing to be: the twelfth-part from the five degrees pre-ascendi ng the
horizon itself to the remaining twenty-five degrees post-ascending it, to
the extent that it is rou nd about the HtJroskopos; and the degrees o f the
Good Spirit hexagonal to these 30 degrees on the right; and the
[degrees] o f the Midheaven above the earth square to them; and the
[degrees] o f the so-called God triangular to them; and the [degreesl of
the Descendant diametrical to them.
And of the ones preferred even among these [pl aces] for the power
of governance are first the degrees situated somewhere in the Mid-
heaven, then those silUated somewhere in the Orient, then those s ituated
somewhere in the post-ascension of the Midheaven, then those s ituated
somewhere in the Descendant, then those situated somewhere in the
precedent of the Midheaven. For one must properly refuse the whole
area under the earth so great an authority, except only those degrees
coming into the light along with the post-ascension itself; and of the
whole region above the earth, it is not fittin g 10 accept the twelfth-part
unconnected to the ascending 1Aidion, nor the one that rises before,
(which] is called of the Evil Spirit, since it harms the e ffiuences o f the
stars in il onto the eanh in addition to declining, and it makes turbid
and, as it were, steals away the thick and misty exhalation from the
moisture of the earth, by which the stars do not appear to have their
natural colors or magnitudes.

Main text resumes-

Again, after this one must accept as releasers the 4 most authoritative
places: Sun, Moon, H~roskopos, Part of Fortune, and those (planets]

33
which have lOvemance over these places. I
Ho wever, one must a lways take as the Lot of Fortune, both by day
and by nig ht,l lhe 101 resulti ng from the number which is both from the
Sun to the Noon and extends} an equal amount from the H6roslwpos

I It is interesting that the releasers are here defined as the places occupied
by these bodit'!. not the bodies themselves.
I Although the Greek here in Ptolemy's algorithm for calculating the Lot
of Fortune is I little trid.:y. it seems \0 suggest that he would always calculate
the Lot in th~ same way for day and night births. This would appear to be
directly contnry to the practice of just about every other Greek astrologer we
have tran.slatcl. all of whom reverse the calculation by night and by day.
However. we nust take note of the context. Ptolemy is giving his algorithm just
after including the Lot of Fortune as ooe of the places of releasing. If we look
forward to the next few paragraphs. we see that the Lot will not be employed
in this role eJCrept in a night birth when the Moon. Sun and possible ruling
planet have been disqualified; and then omy if the preceding syzygy was a
whole moon. Thus, the Sun has set, the Moon has most likely set, and it is
waning. This R5embles the special case mentioned by Valens (Book 3, chapter
11 ) in which the diurnal algorithm is to be em ployed even though it is a
nocturnal birU-that is. when the Moon has sct in a nocturnal birth. Thus
Ptolemy's slallment of the algorithm here may be highly contextual and not
intended as a universal algorithm. Only once more in the Tetrabjblos does
Ptolemy descr.be how 10 calculate the Lot of Fortune (Book 4, chapter 2).
Although the statement there is nearly identical to the present text, its
authenticity ha been disputed, since il appears to reference some upcomi ng tex t
which is c1eal\y an interpolation. II must have been an early interpolation.
however. sina Hephaislio has virtually the same texl.
The SOURC of all this confusion over the calculation of the Lol seems to
have been ttlt root tex t of NechepsolPelosiris, in which some enigmatical
remark was Tl"lde as to reversing Ihe calculalion by nigh!. (See Valens: Book
2, chapler 3 ci Book 3. chapter II : also. Hephaislio: Book 2, chapter I I.) II
was awarentl) unclear whether one should reverse the determinalion o f the arc
as Moon to Sm. or whether one should extend the arc from the Horoslwpos
backward in tie order of signs instead of forward, or whelher one should do
boIh of lhese Ul some manner. From the commenlary in Hephaislio and the
schalia. il appears thai the interpreters of this passage were hard put 10 try find
some nocturM reversal implicit in Ptolemy's tex t. This would not have been
necessary if Aolemy's remark were purely contextual. However, the issue is
importanl sinct Ptolemy uses the LoI elsewhere in the TelrabjbIQ$. and we still
need 10 know how to calculate il then.
1 phuo.

34
according to the succeeding signs, in order that the very ratio I and
figure 2 which the S un has to the H lJroskopos, the Moon should also
have to the Lot of Fortune, which should be, as it were, a lunar
HlJroskopos. 3
Of these. one must, by day, give first preference to the Sun if
indeed it is in the places of releasing. But if no t, to the Moon. And if
the Moon is not in these places, to the star having more relations hips of
rulership to the Sun and to the prenatal conjunction and to the
H oros/(opos; that is, whenever, there being fi ve modes of rulership, it
s hould have three to one,' or even more of the aforesaid. But if not.)
lastly to the HlJros/(opos.
By night, one must give first preference to the Moon, then to the
Sun. then to the star having more relations hips of rulership to the Moon,
the prenatal whole moon, and the Lot of Fortune. But if this is not 50,6
lastly to the Horoskopos if the preceding syzygy was a conjunction , but
to the Lot of Fortune if it was a whole moon .

I logos. This is an arithmetical ratio, the arithmetic difference between the

Horoskopos and the Sun being equal to the arithmetic difference between the
Lot and the Moon.
1 schi ltUltismos. This condition would seem to require that the differences
have the same sense----that is, the arcs are in the same direction in each case.
1 In some manuscriptS this paragraph continues with material that is
probably interpolation. the effort of scholiasts to deal with the day/night
problem mentioned in the fint note to this paragraph. It reads: "EJtccpt that we
must see what son of light should be found in the zlJidia following the other
light. For if the Moon should be found in the succeeding widia nl.ther than the
Sun, il is necessary for us to project the number being extended from the
HlJroskopos to the Lot of Fortune, as toward the succeeding Widia. But if the
Moon should be found toward the preceding w idia rather than the Sun, it is
necessary to extend the same number toward the widia preceding the
Horoskopos. Perhaps this is what he wants, and it is meant by the writer to
count from the Moon to the Sun for those born at night, and 10 project
baclcwards from the H~roskopos. that is. toward the preceding Widia. For thus
it will tum OUI that that is the same place of the Lot and the same relationship
of configuration."
• That is, three modes of rulership to one of the places. IRHJ
j That is. if this planet in not in one of the places of releasing, or if there

is not a single planet having Ihree or more rulerships.

6 See corresponding note above.

35
 But if ooth the lights, or else the ruler of the appropriate sect,
should be in places of releasing, we m ust take the one of the lig hts in
the more authoritative place; and then we must give preference to the
ruler rather tlan both the lights only when it both occupies a more
authoritati ve place a nd also has a relationship of rulership 10 both the
=~.
With the releaser disti nguished, we must furthennore assume two
modes of releasing: thai in the direction of the s ucceeding ,oidia alone,
s ubjecllO the so-called hurling of rays, whenever the releaser s hould be
in the region of the east wind, (Ihal is, in places from the Midheaven to
the H6rosiopos);' and Ihal not o nly in the direction of the succeeding
z6idia, but lisa that l in the direction of the preceding ,oidia in
accordance with the so-<:alled horimaea,l whenever the releaser should
be in p laces declining' from the Midheaven.i

1 It is nOI clear whelher this refers to the quadrant from the Midheaven
degree 10 the ~ry degree of the Ascendant. to the interval from the zijidioll of
the Midheaven 10 the zjjidioll of the H~roskopos, or to the interval from the
Midheaven twd.fth.part to the twelfth-part around the Horoskopos as defined by
Ptolemy. PaullS (chapter 7) explicitly calls thc quadrant (rom degree 10 degree
'easterly', usi~ the same word as Ptolemy here. However. Hephaistio in his
commentary 0'1 th is section says explicitly that this condition is from lhe
Midheaven wriiol1 10 the u'1idion of Ihe H~rosk.opos. Sec final note to this
paragraph,
2 A num&r of manuscripts (and the Robbins' lext) have the word ' thal' 1011
as I have trans ated il. The Teubner tell! is missing this word. Wilhout iI, the
lexi would suggesl one melhod, thai of horimaea, which could be applied in
both direclions Inserting '!hal', boIh of the methods, that subjecllO the hurling
of rays and lhat of the horimaea, could be employed when the releaser is
declining from the Midheaven. The latter seems the most likely interpretation
since the upconing paragraph describing horinuua only has releaSing into the
preceding wido., and so I have lranslated it.
1 hOrimai,. This adje<:live is properly descriptive since the methOO itself
uses the hourly limes Mriaioi chrOlloi of the degrees. n.e implied feminine
noun is probat:ty aphuis or 'releasing'. Hephaistio says (Book 2, chapter I I),
" for we do sc unlil al the Iwelfth hour [the years) come down 10 nothing,
whence he calls such a method of releasing 'h6rimaios· ." We have also seen
this method ocusiona1ly cited in Valens.
4 Does th:s refer specifically 10 the widiOll (or Ptolemy's newl y defined

twelfth-part) cadent 10 the Midheaven, Vihich would be the more nonnal

meaning of 'declining', or 10 the entire quadrant from the Midhcaven to the

36
 With these things being so, destructive degrees for the releasing in
the direction of the preceding portions of the zodiac become only that
of the setting horizon , since it makes the lord of life disappear. llle
degrees o f stars thus meeting' or bearing witness only take away or add
years to the total years 2 up until the setting of the releaser, and they do
not destroy, on account of their not being carried to the place of
releasing, bUI rather that place is being carried to them .} Also, the
benefic stars add, while the malefic stars lake away, with the star of
Hennes again being added to whichever of them he is configured with.
The number of the addition or the subtraction is contemplated through
the degree-position- in each case. For, as many as are the hourly times'
of each degree """""iumal times when it is day, nocturnal times when it
is night- just so many will be the complete multitude of years. And we
must reckon this very multitude when [they] are upon the orient; then
we must subtract in proportion to their separation [from the oTienl} until

Descendant, however these are defined? See next DOte.

S There seem to be two possibilities: I) either Ptolemy is here dividing all
the possible regions of releasing into two classes, asserting that the method of
hurling of rays must be used in case of the eastern "quadrant", and in the other
case that method as well as the method of M~a must be used. 2) or else
he is specifying that the method of hurling of rays must be used for some
portion of the eastern quadrant, both this method and the method of horinw~a
must be used for the 9th house, and either method may be used for the
remaining places that have not been speci rlCd.
I Iwpantad . That is. making OOdily contact as opposed to aspecting. There
is a slight suggestion that the star steps forward to meet the oncoming place of
releasing, giving it an active character rather than a merely passive one,
although this is not understood to be 50 vigorous a contact as when the star is
born toward the place of releasing in the other method.
2 These total years will be calculated by means of ascensions as Ptolemy
describes later in this chapter. See the note at the end of this paragraph for an
example calculating these tota.! years.
l In this method of releasing the place of releasing is understood to be
carried by the diurnal motion toward the western horizon, encountering stars
and aspect rays of stars (that is, rays hurled. backward in the order of widia)
which are regarded as filed relative to the nativity.
- moirotMsia.
S See page 4), note I for a defi nition of "hourly times."

37
at their selling the [nu mbcrl come down to nothing,l
For the releasi ng in the direction of the succeeding portions of the
zodiac, the places of the malefics, Kronos and Ares, destroy, either

I The foll~wing exam ple of this procedure is found in Hephaistio, Book

2, chapter I I.
"For example, let someone have the H6r oskopos at the 10th degree of
Aries, the Descendant at the 10th degree o f Libra in the zone through
Hellespont. and let the releaser be found at the 8th degree of Sagittarius. lbc
whole distance of life expectancy of nearly 75 years is totalled from the 8th
degree of Sagillarius up to the 10th degree of Libra. For by introducing into the
canon of ascwsions of the zone through Hellespont the 8th degree of
Sagi ttari us, I roo lying nelt to it 266 times, 37 minutes: and next to the I{)(h
degree of Li bn I find 191 times, 40 minutes. And by subtracting the lesser
times of Libra from the times of Sagittarius, I find 74 ascensional times [57
minutes], whieb I assu me to be nearly 75 yeaB.
"With thisbcing found. let Ares be at the 10th degree of Aries at the same
degree as the H6roskopos. I go to the same zone and find 15 hourly times and
7 minutes Iyi~ nelt to the I{)(h degree of Aries; they bcrome 15 years, 7
months, Since chen Ares is marking the hour. it subtracts 15 years and 7 months
from the 75 years, and the remaining 59 years 5 months are left over if no other
malefic should subtract years or no benefic add them. And if Ares should be at
the 10th degree of Libra, it neither adds nor subtracts anything. And if it should
be upon the degree of the Midheaven, clearly it subtfacu half of the 15 years
and 7 months (that is, 7 years, 9 months, and 15 days). And for the remaining
distances from the point o f rising, it is necessary to subtract proportionately
until, as the stal or its ray bcromes more distant, [the years ) should come down
to nothing. And the benefics add years in a similar fashion."
In addition to this example from Hephaistio, we will append the following
scholium of Leon the Philosopher to the horimaea; it seems to be re ferring to
the very same eJL:ample above, although it is at tributed to Porphyry.
"With thi l example and with th is fault. Porphyry too was guilty of
unintelligence, indeed far from the thought of the great Ptolemy. For the
releaser in Sagittarius does not arrive at the Descendant through 75 diurnal
times, but throogh 40. For the canon of the 5 zones does not CQrltain the
descensions of Sagittarius and Libra, but clearly the ascensions. 1ben if 10
Aries is at the Ascendant in the first position and 5, 40 asccnsional times are
laid alongside it, when 8 Sagittarius is setting in the second position, 8 Gemini
has to be at theascendant, having 45, 45 times. 'The excess is not 75 times, but
40, 5 minutes."

38
when they go forth to meet bodily l or when they bring a ray to bear
fro m anywhere any time they are square or diametrical; and sometimes
also when hexagonal upon on the t,6idia of hearing and seeing due to
their equal power; and sincel the square to the place of releasing from
the succeeding signs itself [destroys], sometimes too the hexagon upon
the zpidio. of long ascension) when affli cted, bUI the triangle on the
1..6idia of short ascension;' and the place of the Sun when the Moon is
doing the releasing. For. the movements of going forth to meet} in
accordance with such releasing have the power of both destroying and
preserving. since they are carried to the place of the releaser.
However, one must not at all times suppose that these pl aces
always destroy, but only whenever they are afflicted . For they are
impeded,6 if they fall within the bound of a benefic; and if one of the
benefics should jointly bri ng its ray to bear in square, triangularly or
diametrically either toward the destructive degree itself, or in the
direction of the degrees succeeding it, for Zeus not beyond 12 degrees,'
or Aphrodite not beyond 8 degrees;' and if both the star releasing and
the one meeting are bodies, when the latitude of the two is not the
same.
Whenever, then, there should be two or more from each
side--some succoring and contrariwise some destroying-, one must
inquire as to which of the two forms has governance, both in accor-

I h.upantOO. I would ha ve been happier with apantOO here since hupanl(Ji)

was used for the Iwrimaea; apanloo suggests a more aggressive approach and
is used later in the paragraph.
2 At this point, the tex t as we ha ve it simply states that "and the square to
the: place of releasing from the succc.eding signs itself [destroys)." But this
would seem to be redundant 10 the earlier statement. Hcphaistio has laken il to
be an explanation for the upcomi ng statement for hexagonal and tri angular
aspectS, since in tAidia of long ascension the hexagon becomes a kind o f
square, and in widio of soon ascension the triangle becomes a kind of square.
We have emended the rranslation accordingly.
3 poluchrrmios. Literally, toose that take a lot o f time.
4 oligochronios. Literally, those that take a short time.
, Reading apantiJ6 inslead of hupanltJ6 to convey the aggressive sort of
meeti ng in this method of releasing.
6 parapodiw. Literal ly, 'ensnared by having feel bound',
7 1bese are also the minor years of Zeus.
• These are also the mi nor yean of Aphrodite.

39
dance with !he multitude of those contributing to each side. and in
accordance lKith their power. [It is] in accordance with their multitude,
whenever the ones are sensibly more than the others; but in accordance
with power, lihenever some of the succoring or destroying stars should
be in their falliliar places, others not; especially when some are rising,
and some selling. For in general one must not take any of those which
are under tht beams to be either for destruction or for succor, except
that when tht Moon is the releaser, the place of the Sun itself destroys
if it is tume4 in that direction' by the presence of a malefic and not
freed 2 by an) of the benetics.
However, the number of years which the Idegrees l of the intervals
make between Ihe place of the releaser and that of the destroyer o ughl
nOI be taken either simply, or in some arbitrary manner-i n accordance
with the trad.tions of the majority-always from the ascensional times
of each degree,] except only when either the rising horizon itself should
have taken the releasing, or some one of the planets maling its rising
thereupon.
For, there being out of all one method proposed for him who
investigates tflis part in a natural manner- to examine after how many
equipartite tines the place of the body or figure succeedi ng comes to
stand beside the place of the one preceding at the nativity itself, since
the equipanite times elapsel uniformly through both the Horizon and the
Meridian ,' in relation to both of which the analogues of the spatial
distances are taken ; and also to value each of the limes at o ne solar
year-whenever the releasing and preceding place should be on the
rising horiZOl itself, it is titting to take the ascensional times of the
degrees up tiDthe meeting, for after j ust so many equipartite times the

1 suntrep;.
2 analuO.
1 It was the practice of Dorotheus of Sidon, Valens and even Paulus
Alexandrinus k) treat all significators as if they were on the east horizon and to
rotate the sphere to bring planets and aspect positions (promillors) to them as
if they were bdng ~rought to the east hori1.on, In other words two points were
considered joiled together if they were made capable of rising together. This
is the practice that Ptolemy explicitly attack.s here. rRHI
• diuchono.i.
s mt:simtri11OS. Literally, 'noon-place'. Robbins has translated this as
Midheavcn, WoIich is nothing if not misleading.

40
place o f the destructive planet is o n that of the re leaser. that is, it comes
to stand on the rising horizon; and whenever it should be on the
Meridian itself, it is fitting to take the ascensions o n the right sphere,1
in how many ascensions each section' passes through the Meridian; and
whenever it should be on the setting horizon itself, in how many
ascensions each of the degrees of the interval descend s (that is, in how
many asce nsions the degrees diametrically opposing these ascend),
But when the preceding place is no longer on these three bou nd-
aries,} but in the intervals between, the times of the stated ascensions or
descensions or culminations will no longer carry the succeeding places
to the same places of the preceding bodies, though different times wiIJ .~
For, a similar and same place is one having on the same side 5 a
similar position in relation to both the Horizon and the Merid ian
together. This happens most nearly to those pl aces lying on one of the
semicircles drawn through the intersections6 of the Meridian and
Horizon, of which each makes, throughout that same position, a nearly

1 I.e., right ascens ion. Fundamentally ' ascensions' as used in this tellOt
means "degrees of ascension."
1 Presumably, the section tmima of the rodioc between the two places.
1 TIle east and west horizons and the meridian. IRH]
• Here Ptolemy is beginning to address the issue of ellOactly what
constitutes a joining together of two bodies nei ther of which is on the horizon
or meridi an circles. See my " AppendillO on Ptolemy' s Direction Techniq ue" for
a further discussion of this issue. [RH]
S Standard geometrical terminology. Cf Book 1, Euclid's Eftrnents.
6 forM. A standard word for the intersection of two lines or two planes.
The Meriwan circle intersecu the Horizon al the northernmost and southernmost
points of the Horizon circle. Thus , the semicircles Ptolemy me ntions here would
seem to be those drawn through these IWO points as "poles." 1be Eastern and
Westem Horiton circles. and the Meridian itself, are special cases o f these
semicircles. (Additional by RH] Unfortunately it appears thai many have read
th is passage and not noticed that the semicircles are clearly described as
approximations! Even Plocidus seems to have thought that there were
semicircles that included al l positiOns thai occu pied the same proportional
position between the Horizon circle and Meridian circle. Only when such points
are on the Hori zon circle or Meridian circle euctly are they connected by true
semicircles of position. This misundenwnding gave rise to the so-called
Regiomontanus, and Campanus systems of house division.

41
equal seasonal period. I And should (each semicircle] be described
around the said intersections, in just the manner Ihat it goes over the
same position as the Horizon and the Meridian while making the times
of the passage of a zodiacal [section) lover} each uneq uaJ2 for either o f
the two, it likewise renders the transits for the positions of the other
distances in times unequal to (the fonner.jl
Let there be for us some single method, whereby, whether the
preceding place should have a rising, merid ional, setting, or some other
position, the proportional of the times of carrying the succeeding place
to it will be laleen. For, after detennining ahead of time the culminating
degree of the zodiac, and furthennore the preceding degree and the
approaching degree, we will first examine, for the position of the
preceding degree, how many seaso nal hours-! it is distant from the
Meridian, by counting the ascensions upon the right sphere between it
and the appropriate culminating degree (whether above or under the

I Bodies anywhere along this semicircle have taken nearly the same

amount of time (that is, the same ponion of the daylight (or night-time) hours
to rise and reach this position by traversing their own semi-arcs.
1 IOUS de lis dieleuseos IOU <6diakou chroflOus em isous eph ' MkalerOll.
This is a very ambiguous phrase. However, if we suppose that the word tmbrw
(section) is the implied noun for lou tJjdiaJwl.l , which is plausible si nce such a
"section" was referred to in the precedi ng paragraph, and if we supposed funher
that the preposition epi (over) in the phrase eph ' hekalerofl goes with the noun
'passage' , and docs not mean something ach·erbiallike 'for each', then we have
a coherent interpretruion of the passage. Furthermore, this interpretation i$
consistent with the discussion that Ptolemy is about to launch into, where he
fi nds that the passage of this section over the Ascendant and Midheaven is
made in unequal times.
1 di' (Jflis"fI euinois chronOn. If the passage of the given section of the
ecliptic over the Ascendant and Midheaven is made in unequal times, it is
reasonable to suppose that the passage of this section over any intenncdiate
point will be unequal to both of these "former ti mes:'
, A seasonal hour as used in Ptolemy and elsewhere is the number of
degrees Ihat pass over the meridian while a body on a panicular semi-arc rises
through one-si xth of its semi-arc. Or in another way, it is the number of degrees
in one-sixth of a semi-arc. [RHJ

42
earth), and di viding by the number of the hourly times I o f the preceding
degree itself, of diurnal times if it is above the earth, of nocturnal times
if it is below.
And since the sections of the zodiac distant from the Meridian by
the same seasonal hours come to be along o ne and the same of the said
semicircles,2 it will also be necessary to find after how many equipartite
times the succeeding section also will be distant from the Meridian by
seasona1 hours equal 10 the preceding [degree] . When we have
determined these, we will also investigate by how many equipartite
times the succeeding degree at its original position was distant from the
degree of the same Midheaven, again by means of ascensions on the
right sphere, as well as by how many lit was distant] when it made
seasonal hours equal to the preceding degree, and by multiplying the
seasonal hours into the number of hourly limes of the succeeding degree
(again. if the comparison of seasonal hours was in relation to a
Midheaven above the earth, multiplying it into the number of diurnal
hours, if in relation to a Midheaven under the earth, into the number of
nocturnal hours). And by taking the result of the excess of both of the
intervals, we will have the number of years in question.
In order that what is being said should be made clearer, let it be
laid down, for the sake of argument, that the preceding place is the
beginning of Aries, and the succeeding place the beginning of Gemini ;
and let it be laid down that the zone is the one where the longest day
is 14 hours, while the hourly magnitude for the begi nning of Gemini is
nearly 17 equipartite times.
Now, first let the beginning of Aries be rising so thaI the beginning

I " Hourly times" arc the number of degrees that make up a seasonal hour.

Points on the equator have seasonal hours that are constituted of exactly 15°.
Points north and south of the equator have hourly times of more or less than
15° depending on how far north or south of the equator the points may be in
declination, and how far north or south of the equator the latitude of the place
on earth may be. The number of hourly times there may be for a body of given
declination at a given latitude may be obtained by dividing the semi-arcs by 6.
"Hourly times" are the same as the "hourly portion" in Montulmo. See my
"Appendix on Ptolemy's Direction Technique" in this volume and appendix II
in Part II of edition of Mootulmo. IRHl
2 In this part of the text Ptolemy has left out reference to the fact that such
bodies do not precis~ly lie upon a north-south semi-circle, once again laying the
door open to the "Regiomontanus" misunderstanding.

43
of Capricorn is culminating. and lei the beginning of Gemini be 148
equipartite times distant from the Midheaven above the earth . Since then
Ihe beginning of Aries is Sill seasonal hours distant from the Merid-
ian-Midheavtn, by multi plying these into 17 ti mes (which comprised the
hourly magnitude of the beginning of Gemini), -since furthennore the
distaoce of 148 times is in relation to the Midheaven above the
eanh, -we ""ill also have 102 times for this interval. Therefore, after
the 46 times of the excess, the succeedi ng place will pass over to thaI
of the preceding. Such are also nearly the times o f the asce nsion o f both
Aries and Taurus, since the place of releasing was laid down as marking
the hour.1
But lei the beginning of Aries be at the M idheaven, so that the
beginning of Gemini, al its first position , is be 58 equipartile times
distant from the Midheaven above the earth. Then si nce the beginning
of Gemini has to be culminating at its second position. we will have for
the excess of the intervals j ust these 58 times. And again, in this
number of times both Aries and Taurus pass through the Meridian
because the place of releasi ng is culminating.l
In the same fas hion, let the beginning of Aries be setting, so that
the beginni ng of Cancer is culminating. and let the beginning of Gemini
be 32 equipanite times distant from the Midheaven above the earth in
the direction of the precedi ng signs. Then again, since the beginning of
Aries is six seasonal hours distant from the Meridian toward the West.
if we take 17 of these,J we will have 102 times, by which the beginning
of Gemini wi!! be separated from the Meridian when it sets. But al its
first position it was also 32 times distant in the same [direction) .
Therefore. in the 70 times of the ellcess it was carried to the Descen-
dant. In thest same times both Aries and Taurus descend, while the
diametrically opposite signs Libra and Scorpio ascend .·
Now let it be laid down that the beginning of Aries is not on any
of the pivots, but is, for the sake of argument, three seasonal hours

I Thus this general method gives the same result as the method of
ascensions.
I Thus this general melhod gives the same resuh as the method of right
ascensions.
) In other words "times these." [RHJ
• Thus this geoeral method gives the same result as the method of
descensions.

44
distant from the Meridian in the direction of the preceding signs, so that
the 18th degree of Taurus is culmi nating, and the begi nning of Gemini,
at its first position. is 13 equipartite times distant from the Midheaven
above the earth in the direction of the succeeding signs. Then again , if
we multiply the J7 times by the 3 hours, the beginning of Gemini , at
its second position. will also be 51 times distant fro m the Merid ian in
the directio n of the preceding signs, making in all 64 times .
But through the same teaching, the place of releasing made 46
times when it was rising, 58 when it was culminating, and 70 when it
was setting. 1berefore, the number of times for a position between the
Midheaven and the Occident was different from each of the others. Fo r,
64 times were the result; and it d iffered accord ing to the propor1ion of
the excess of the 3 hours, since this was indeed 12 times for the o ther
q uadrants at the pivots. but six times for the distance of three ho urs.
A nd since nearly the same proportion is observed in every case, it will
be possible to use the method in this simpler way.
For again, when the preceding degree is rising ,1 we will avai l
ourselves of the ascensions up to the succeeding degree; when it is
culminating, of those ascensio ns on the righ t sphere; when setting, of
the descensions. But whe never it should be between these, as. for the
sake of argument, at the distance of Aries already set out, we will first
take the times that apply to each of the surrounding piVOlS, and we wi ll
find (since the beginning of Aries was laid down to be after the
Midheaven above the earth, between the pivot of the Midheaven and
that of the Descendant) the ap plicable times up to the beginning o f
Gemini to be 58 of those c(K;ulminating times, and 70 of the co-setting
times. TIlen, after learning, as is prescribed , how many seasonal ho urs
the preceding segment is distant from either o ne of the pi vots. ho wever
great a part these should be of the six seasonal hours of the quadrant,
just so great a part o f the excess of both sums we will add or subtract
from the pivots being compared.
For example, since of the 70 and 58 mentioned above, the excess
is 12 times, while the preceding place was laid down to be three equal
seasonal hours distant from each of the pivots, which are a half-part of
the six hours, by also taking half of the 12 times and either adding to
the 58 times or subtracting from the 70 times, we will find the (res ult]
to be 64 times.

I That is, precisely rising bod il y on the horizon. [RH]

45
 Though If it was removed from either of the pi vots by two seasonal
hours, which are a third-part of 6 hours. we will again take o ne-third of
the 12 excess times, that is, 4. And if the distance of two hours had
been laid down to be from the Midheaven, we would have added to the
58 limes; bUI if from the Descendant, we would have subtracted from
the 70 limes.
The metOOd, then. fo r the quantity of the temporal intervals has to
be taken consistently by us in this manoer. And for the rest, in each of
the aforesaid meetings or descents we will di stinguish, as far as
concerns the class of evenls of shorter duratio n,l those which are
destructive, Ihose which mark some critical moment, and those which
are otherwist transitory, both through the meeting havi ng been afflicted
or succored n the way previously mentioned by us, as well as through
the temporal ingresses l for each of the things signalled by the meeting.
For when at !he same time the places are afflicted and the transit o f the
stars in relation to the ingress of the years} affli cts the most authorita-
tive places, one must straightaway surmise d~th s; and when one o f
these [factors) is benevolent. great and precarious crises; but if both
[factors) art benevolent, only torpor or injuries and transitory
set-backs-tt.e special character of these being taken fro m the fam ilia-
rity! of the places of meeting to the circumstances of the nativity.
But SOlTetimes, if there is doubt as to which {places) have to
assume the destructive authority, nothing prevents us, after reckoning
meetings for ~ac h of them, from complying in fu ture events with those
meetings mOll consonant with events that have already resulted ; ncr is
there anythi~ to prevent us by way of observation from regarding all
the important meetings to be of equal power while in the same manner
we make an examination of them with respect to more and less.'

1 kala Ii gPO IlJlI oligochrollOlt rOll l(Uin .

1 'These U'~ the commencements of periods of time governed by new
time-lords.
3 A trans. of a planet involving one of lhe time-lords is often a trigger for
an even! becatSe it intensifies the specific character giv~ n to a period of time
by the tim~-I()«fs.
• sunoiuv sis.
' Presum~ly we could infer if a proposed destructivc place truly qualified
for that role by examining whether the effect of a meeting was intensified by
transits invol\llllg the planet, or the advent of that planet as a new time-lord.

46
 12. Concerning Bodily Form' and Mixturel

Having also made our rounds of the practical rreatment of the account
concerning length of life, we speak about the fonn and thoro ugh
molding of the body, initiating another particular beginning) in
accordance with the proper order, since the parts of the body are
naturally molded prior to those of the soul-the body having the
appearances of its unique inlennixtures nearly connate4 with it because
it is more material, while the soul displays the capacities {derived] from
the causes at the first [beginning} only after the bodily appearances, and
little by little, with the external capacities S occurring still later in the
temporal succession.
In general, then, o ne must o bserve the horizon of rising and the
planets present upon it and those that assume the rulership over it in the
manner we have said. And in particular, also observe the Moon in such
a manner. For, the matters pertaining to the thorough molding of the
body are studied through the fonnali ve nature of both of these places
and of the rulers, and through the imennixture' for each kind, and
furthennore through the fi gural description of the fixed stars co-rising
with them---the stars that possess the rulership being the first in power,
and the special character of their places cooperating even further. 1

, morphL. This word is generally used, as here, of the visible shape as

opposed to the ~idos or form seen with the noetic f&cully. which also gives
something its special nature and unity----the visible appearance of a man, for
instance, as opposed to his human nature.
1 krasis. This word refers to the fundamental mixture of the Aristotelian
qualities hot, cold, wet, and dry in the body. In the Latin tradition it was called
the "complexion;" it used to be called the ''temperamenl'' in English. but this
usage is now obsolete .
1 Reading arrhin li n Iwto. m.eros here instead o f archln I~n into. m.eros.
~ Litel1l11y ''born together" with it.
, ~pjswnpipt~. These would seem to be aptitudes and talents of the soul,
which manifest later. It could possibly refer to outward expressions of the soul',
such as a dignified bearing.
6 sugkrasis. A second order mixture of primary mixtures of the Aristotelian
qualities.
7 ~pisunergeO. I think that he means to say that the places of the
significaton and the fixed stars come second and third in power after the rulers
themselves (though not necessarily in that order). and the p/QC~s of the rulers

47
 As for the particulars, however, and as one would render them
simply, (the account) holds in the following manner. First, in the case
of stars, when the star of Kronos is oriental , it makes [bodiesl
dark-skinned in appearance,l and robust. black-haired, curly-headed,
shaggy-breasted, with medium-sized eyes, and of moderate stature;] and
with respect 10 mixture,) it makes them abound more in the wet and the
cold , But when it is occidental, it makes them dark in appearance, and
lean, small, straight-haired, somewhat hairless, a bit graceful, and
black.eyed; and with respect to mixture. more in the dry and the cold.
1be star of Zeus, in ruling the aforesaid places, when it is o riental,
makes [bodies) light-skinned in appearance, in the direction of good
skin,· and makes them of intermediate hai r,5 large-eyed, of good stature,
and dignified; and with respect to mixture, it makes them abound more
in the hot and the wet. But when it is occidental. it makes them
white-skinned, but not likewise in the di rection of good skin , and
smooth-haired or even with bald forehead and crown; and with respect
to mixture, more in the wet.
1be star of Ares, when it is likewise oriental, makes bodies
whitish-red in appearance, and of good stature, robust, with light blue
eyes,' shaggy and medium hair; and with respect to mixture, it makes
them abound more in the hot and the dry . But when it is occidental, it
makes them merely reddish with respect to visible shape, medium in
stature. with small eyes, somewhat hairless, with smooth yellow hair;
and with respect to mixture. more in the dry .

come last.
1 morphl. I am not especially happy about translating this word as
'appear-mce', but our English word 'shape' is too geometrical; the Greek word
contains the idea of the entire visible aspect of some Ixldy. everything about it
that belongs to sight per st.
1 Sumnlelrous lOis megelliesi. This might also mean 'proportionale in size' .
3 krasis .
• epi /0 ewchroWl. This could also meaning 'good coloring' because the
Greek word clvoia means both 'skin' and ·color·. but it is not clear that the
Greeks would ha ve even made a dislinction here. For them color belongs
essentially 10 body.
5 mesolrUos. In comexl this could mean hair of intermediale color (say.
brunette) or hair Ihat is somewhat curly.
, glaukbplilhalmru. Or grayish, or bluish-green-a word thai atle mpts to
capture the gleaming color of !he olive.

48
 The star of Aphrodite has similar effects as the star of Zeus, though
towards the more shapely and graceful , what more befits a woman, the
more feminine in shape, plumper and more delicate; and on its own it
makes the eyes rather blue with comeliness.
The star of Hermes. when oriental, makes bodies honey-colored in
appearance. medium in stature, graceful, with small eyes and intennedi·
ate hair; and with respect to mixture, it makes them abo und more in the
hoI. But when it is occidental, it makes them light-skinned, but not
likewise in the direction of good skin, with smooth hair, sallow, lean
and slender, with slanting and goat-like I eyes, somewhat reddish ; and
w ith respect to mixture. more in the dry.
[The lights) cooperale when they have a figure with each of these
stars. The Sun cooperates in a direction that befits greater size and the
more robust. But the Moon-and especially whenever the stars have her
separating- in general cooperates toward the mo re moderate and
slender, and toward the welter with respect to mixture; but in particular,
it is in proponion to the special property of her phases,2 in accordance
with the [kind of] mixture set out at the beginning of this treatise.
Again, in general, when they are morning stars and making their
appearance, the augment bodies; when they are making their first
statio n, they make them strong and taut; when they are precessing,3
ill-proportio ned; when they are making their second slatio n, weaker; and
when they are selti ng, quite unseemly' but able to bear hardship and
oppression.
Also, as we have said, their places cooperate toward the figurative
molding especially,' and also toward the mixtures. And again in general,

L aigopQs. An undocumented word. It could have something to do with the

word ror goal, so I have translated it accordingly.

2 phOri.Jma. Literally, 'illuminations' , but the word is used for the different
qualities of the Moon's illuminations, that is, her phases. Cf Book I, chap. 8,
where an increase in the degree of each of the four qualities is correlated to the
lunar cycle.
1 proogO. That is, wilen they are retrograde .
• tuloxos. Ordinarily Ihis word would mean 'lacking in repu tation', but this
docs not seem quite appropriate to the cootext, so J have tried to construct
another meaning from the basic verb 'dok~ir .
) pros tow schimari.Jmow malista t6n dial"pOs~On. That is, the actual
shape of tile body.

49
the quadrant from the spring equinox to the summer solstice makes
bodies of good skin, large stature, robust, with good eyes, abounding
more in the wet and the hot. The quadrant from the summer solstice to
the autumn equinox makes them of medium skin, average in stature,
robust, with large eyes, shaggy curly hair, abounding more in the hot
and the dry. The quadrant from the autumn equinox to the winter
solstice makes them of honey-colored skin, lean , slender, sickly, with
medium hair and good eyes, abounding more in the dry and the cold.
The quadrant from the summer solstice to the spring equinox makes
them of dark skin, average in stature, with smooth hair, somewhat
hairless, rather graceful, abounding more in the wet and the cold.
And in particular, the (.Oidia of human form , both those in the
zodiac and those outside it,l produce bodies which are graceful and
proponionate in fi gure, but the uJUJia of other shapes metamorphose the
proponions of the body, making it akin to their o wn shape and the
appropriate parts like their own in accordance with some relation , e ither
toward greater and lesser, or stronger and weaker, o r m.,.-e and less
graceful - as (for an example of one relation) Leo and Virgo and
Sagittarius [make the body) more toward the great, but Pisces and
Cancer and Capricorn more toward the small ; and again, as the upper
and fore pans of Aries and Taurus and Leo make it more toward the
robust, while the lower and hind parts more toward the weak; and
conversely , as the fore parts of Sagittarius and Scorpio and Gemini
make it more lean, while the hind parts make it more robust; and
similarly, as Virgo and the Scales and Sagittarius make it toward the
proponionate and graceful, while Scorpio and Pisces and Taurus make
it toward the ungraceful and disproportio nate; and similarly for the
others. It is fitting, after we make an inspection of all these together and
blend them together, to make a conjecture aboul the shape and mixture
o f bodies from the special character o f Ihis total mixture.

I3. Concerning Bodily Injuries and Aliments

As the account concerning bodily injuries and ailments fo llows these,

we will attach to them next in sequence the examination thai is framed

I It is intcresling Ihat here Ptolemy also calls constellations oulSide the

zodiac proper tOwill. .

50
for this type, which is as follows . Here indeed. for the general divisIOn.
it is necessary to look to the two pivots of the ho rizon. that is, the
Ascendant and the Descendant. and especially to the Descendant itself
and its pre-descension, 1 which is unconnected to the rising pivot, and to
observe how the malefic stars chance to be figured in relation to them .
For if o ne or both of the malefi cs should be situated either bodily
o n the pre-a.scensional dt:grees of these places. or in square or diametri-
cally to them, one must suspect bodily injuries and ailments for the
offspring. and especially if one or both of the lights chance to be
pivoted in the manner described, either together or diametrically. For
then. not only if one of the malefics should be post-ascending the lights,
but even if it should pre-ascend them while being pi voted itself,l it is
sufficient to arrange for one of those [classes] laid out, an inj ury o r
ailment of such a kind as the places of the horizon and those of the
zoidia begin to show, [also taking into account] the natures of the stars
affli cting and being afflicted. and furthermore the natures of the stars
configured with them.
For. the parts of the zoidia surrounding the injured part of each
horizon will 'indicate the part of the body that the cause con~ms, and
whether the indicated part can admit of injury or ailment or both, while
the natures of the stars produce the species and the causes o f the
ailments. This is because, of the more authoritative parts of a man, the
star of Kronos is lord of rig ht ears, and spleen. bladder, phlegm, and
bones; the star of Zeus is lord of touch, lung, bronchial tubes ,) semen ;
the star of Ares is lord of the left ear, kidneys, veins, and [pri vate]
parts; the Sun is lord of sight, brain, heart. sinews, and the right-s ide o f
everything; the star of Venus is lord of smell. liver. flesh; the star o f
Hermes is lord of speech. reason, tongue, bile, buttocks; the Moon is
lady of taste, gullet, stomach. belly, womb, and the left-side o f
everything.
It is one of the generalities that injuries happen for the most part
when the malefics imposing the cause are oriental , while conversely

IThe sixth place or house. IRHJ

1Ordinarily the pre-ascension is the zpidion that precedes the pivot in the
order of signs. But here it refers to the situation in which the malefic is in the
same sign as the pivot along with the lights. but precedes them in the order of
signs.
J arteria. Or perltaps 'arteries' .

51
there are ai lments when they are occideniaL This is because each of
these is also distingu ished in that the injury makes its disposition once
and for all and does not possess lasting pain, whi le the ailme n! falls
upon the sufferer either continuously or by seizures.'
For the particular intuition, certain figures indicative of injuries and
ai lments gained exceptional scrut iny through the events which, on the
whole, attend upon like-figured positions ,2 For impairment of vision is
produced for one of the eyes whenever the Moon, being by herselfl
upon the aforesaid pivots, chances to be making a conjunction or a
whole moon, and also whenever she should be upon another o ne o f the
figures having a relation to the Sun and should apply· to one of
cloud-like clusters in the zodiac, as to the nebula of Cancer and the
Pleiades of Taurus and to the arrow point of Sagittarius and to the sting
of Scorpio and to the pans of Leo around the Lock' or to the pitcher of
Aquarius; also, whenever the star of Ares or else the star o f Kro nos,
being oriental, should be carried to the Moon6 when she is pivotal and
waning; or again, when they should pre-ascend the Sun while they are
pivotal. And if they should be configured to both of the lights at the
same time, either on the same ze'Jidion or diametricall y, as we said,

I TIle reasoni ng seems 10 be that a planet is hanned when it is under the

rays. When it is oriental and has emerged from the rays, it has left the ham
behind; however, when a planet is occidental and just going under the Sun's
beams, it is in for a longer period of affliction.
2 What follows is a large list of re latively complex planetary combinations,
our own We§l.c:m "yogas." TIlese may be representative of the ancient
combinatory method of prediction. which Ptolemy largely repudiates (see
chapter. 2) in favor of his own intuitive method However, Ptolemy did say that
even these combinations would make more sense after mastering his own
approach.
3 This contradicts the upcoming condition in whieh the Sun and Moon are
conjunct.
• JWUJpht. This is important because it does not require that the conjunc-
tion should have actually occurred, but only that the application has begun.
Unfortunately we do not know the Greek equi valent of "seeking conjunction,"
i.e.. when the application can be said to have begun. But we can say that once
the Moon is separating. the effects should be over according to Ptolemy. IRH J
, Coma Berenices.
6 Presumably this means that Ares or Kronos is in the w idion
post-ascending the Moon.

52
when they are east with respect to the Sun but west with respect to the
Moon,1 they will impose the cause on both the eyes. For, the star of
Ares causes the impairment from a blow or stroke or iron or burn ; and
when configured with Hermes, in palaestras and gymnasiums or by
attacks of malefactors. And the star of Kro nos causes it by cataracts or
chills or glaucoma and the like.
Again, if the star of Aphrodite should be upon one of the said
pivots, and especially upon the Descendant, when it is either present
with the star of Kronos or configured with it or has exchanged1 places
with it while having Ares in superior position or diametrical, the men
become sterile and the women are overwhelmed with miscarriages and
premature births and abortions, and especially in Cancer and Virgo and
Capricorn. And if the Moon after risingl should apply to the star of
Ares, and if she along with the star of Kronos should be configured
with the star of Hennes while the star of Ares is in superior position or
diametrical, they become eunuchs or hermaphrodites or are without
holes and orifices. And with these things being so, when the Sun should
also be configured, with the lights and the star of Aphrodite being
masculinized, and with the Moon waning and the malefics approaching
in the post-ascensional degrees, the men become castrated or have their
parts injured, and especially in Ares and Leo and Scorpio and Capricorn
and Aquarius; the women become childless and sterile.
Sometimes such natives do not remain without injury to sight; but
all who have the star of Kronos and the star of Hermes present together
with the Sun upon the said pivots will have the tongue impeded and
become those who mispronounce sounds or have speech problems, and
especially when the star of Hermes should also be occidental and both
are configured to the Moon. And when the star of Ares should occur

I heoios loi Mii6i kai hesperios 16i selenii. Although the wording is a bit
different, this must be the same as 'east toward the Sun and west toward lhe
Moon' , which we have seen many times. It is another way of referring to
oriental and occidental.
2 enallasso. This probably refers to mutual reception. [Additional by RH)
This is a passage that has been misimerpreted in modem astrology. The word
'places' to topo~ i.e., ''places,'' or "houses." It does not imply that tWO planets
have actually exchanged positions.
J apo tJIIllloll$ . I believe that this expression refers 10 rising above the
horizon and not orientality.

53
with them, he is for the most part apt to loosen the impediment of the
tongue after the Moon should have an encounter with Ares.
Again, if either the lights should be carried to the malefics upon
pivots, either al the same lime or diametrically, or if the male fi cs should
be carried to the lights, and especially when the Moon is upon the
nodes or the bendings! or upo n the blame-wo rth y z"idia, such as Aries,
Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn, there come about the outrageous
casesl of the body of hunchback or club-foot or lameness or paraly-
sis-from the birth itself if the malefics should be with the lights, but
from great dangers if they should be in the Midheaven superior 10 the
lights or diametrical to each other, such as from hangi ngJ or collapses
or attacks of robbers or quadrupeds. When Ares is superior, from fire
or blows or bile or robberies: but when Kro nos is, from collapses or
shipwrecks or spasms .

For the most part, injuries also come about when the Moon is near the
solstitial and equi llOCtial points. Near the spring equinox especia1ly,
injuries through white leprosy come about; near the summer solstice,
those through lic hens;~ near the autumn equinox, those through leprosy;
and near the winter solstice, those through moles and the li ke.
But ailments are apt to result whenever the malefics should be
configured upon the above positions, though in the opposite manner;
that is, west with respect to the Sun and east with respect to the Moon.)
For in general , the slar of Kronos makes the natives cold of belly and
full of phlegm and rheumatic, emaciated and weak and jaundiced, prone
to dysentery and coughing and vomiting and colic and elephantiasis ; it
also makes ~'omen prone 10 disorders of the womb. The star of Ares
makes the nalives liable 10 spit blood, melancholic, diseased in the
lungs, those with scabies, and in addition, it makes the nati ves
continually irritated by cuts or cauterizing of the hidden parts due 10
fistulas or hemorrhoids or tumors, or also burning ulcers o r sores; and

! iwmpios. See page 64, note I, for another related word and the meaning
of both. lRH)
2 Mbisis.
l apokri lMismos. This is a conjectural interpretation of the word.
~ Apparently some kind of fungal infection. [RH]
' That is, occidental with respect to the Sun and oriental with respect to the
Moon.

54
furthennore , it is apt 10 overwhelm women with miscarriages or
abonions or corrosions. In panicular, besides the said natures of the
configured stars, they also cause the propenies of ailments in re latio n
to the parts of the body.
The star of Hennes cooperates with them, especially for the
intens ificatio n of the iII-effects. When it has familiar ties with the star
of Kronos, it cooperates in the direction of the cold. and more so as it
sets constantly in greater motion the rheumatisms and accumulations of
fluids, especially of those around the chest and throat and stomach. And
when it has familiar ties with the star of Ares, it contributes its power
toward the dryer, as in the cases of ulcerated eyelids and eschars l and
abscesses and erysipelas and wild lichens and black bile, or madness or
the sacred disease or the like.
Also, certain qualities of ailment come about by the variation2 of
those ziJidia that surround the aforesaid confi gurations upon the two
pivots. For in panicular. Cancer and Capricorn and Pisces and. on the
whole, the terrestrial and the piscine1 dJidia cause ailments through
ulcers and lichens or scales or scrofula or fi stulas or elephantiasis and
the like. Sagillarius and Gemini cause ailments through falling sick.ness
or seizures. And when the stars are encountered in the last degrees of
the twe lfth-parts, they cause ailments and injuries, especially in the
elttremities, through outrageous defonnation s~ or rheumatism. from
which also result elephantiasis and usually gout in the hands and feet .
With these things being so, if none of the benefics should be
configured with the malefics which impose the causes, or with the
pivoted lights, the ailments will become incurable and painful; and this
is true even if benefics should be configured in such a manner but have
malefics in power in superior position to them. But if when the benefics
themselves are in the lordship figure, they should be in superior position
to the malefics imposing the cause, at that time the injuries are seemly
and not disgraceful, and the ailments are moderate and easily alleviated,
and at times even curable when the benefics are oriental. For, the slar
of Zeus is apt to conceal the injury and to alleviate the ailment with

I Medical condition unknown to us. IRHJ

J enaflogl.
1 As in "fishy"
~ Earlier this word referred to the deformations of the body, and it probably
has the same meaning here.

55
human assisunce by means of wealth and ho nors: and with the star of
Hernles, by Deans of drugs or the aid of good physicians. And the star
of Aphrodite provides for the injury in a certain advantageous and
graceful maIner through the agency of gods and oracles, while it
alleviates th~ ailment by di vine healing, though if Kronos is there , it
will be with exhibition and public confession and the like ; and if the
star of Hermes is there with [Aphrodite), it will be with aid and with a
certain profit gained through the injuries and ailments by those who
have them.

14. Concerning Quality of Soul l

Of such sort then, would be the type of inquiry that concerns what
befalls the body .
Of the qlalities that pertain to soul, those concerning the rational
and noetic put are taken by means of the conditio n of the star of
Hermes as it is studied in each case; those concerning the sensitive and
non-rational ~l from the more body-like of the lights (that is, the
Moon), as wdl as from the stars configured with her in separations and

I If we eanpare Hephaistio on this topic, we see that he quotes and cites

only Ptolemy, whereas he is in the habit of referring to Dorotheus. Anubio,
Manetho, and ~thers , wherever it is peninent. Funhermore, we ha ve not yet
secn an y clear treatment of quality of soul in any of the other writers who are
independent d Ptolemy. We might infer from this that Ptolemy is the
originator of Uis doctrine.
1 It is hard 10 place this rather Simple bipanite division of the soul in the
various philos.phical traditions eumnt in Ptolemy's time. It could be a rough
version of the Aristotelian doctrine of the soul (elaborated in much greater
detail in Dc Anima) since we know that Ptolemy preferred the Aristotelian
elements over the Stoic. On the other hand, the work is full of Stoic terminol-
ogy, and the JJC5Cnt passage sounds like some of the standard Stoic divisions,
using tile paintg "the rational and noetic pan" to /Qgi/wn tili noefOn muos, for
instance. It SIems more likely that Ptolemy is a philosophical eclectic,
bolTowing his philosophical tools from the various traditions he knew. What is
interesting. however, is how the simple Ptolemaic treatment is given an explic it
Aristotelian overview by Montulmo, which enables that Medieval Latin
astrologer to daborate the doctrine of the soul at much greater length, while
still maintainilg the simpler Ptolemaic treatment at the core of his own
an iculation.

56
applications. BUI as the form for the soul's impulses is so highly
manifold, it is also reasonable that we should not make such an inquiry
simply or in an arbitrary manner, but through many and various
observations . For, the differences of the zijidia that contain the star or
Hermes and the Moon , or those containing the stars which assume the
governance over them, can contribute much to the properties of Ithe
parts) of soul; and also the solar and pivotaJ figures ! of the stars having
a relationship to the said form ; and furthermore, the individual
characteristic according with the very nature of each of the stars
contri butes to the soul's motions.
Of the ziJidia in general, then. the tropical ones make souls more
on the public side, with a desire for popular Oi political affairs: and
furthermore. fond of repu tation and involved with the gods, adept and
easy-going. inquisitive and inventive, good at conjecture and inclined to
as rrology and d ivination. The bicorporeal ziJidia make souls subtle,
changeable , hard to grasp, nimble, fi ckle, duplicitous, amorous,
versatile, fond of music. undiscriminating, able al contrivance, prone to
regret. 1be solid widia make them just. not subject to flattery ,
persistent, steady , intelligent, patient, industrious, unyielding, self-
controlled, mindful of wrongs, filted for execution, contentious, honor-
loving, factious, greedy, hard-headed, not to be swayed.
Of figures. those that are oriental and1 hour-marking, and especially
those thaI are in their own faces, make souls liberal and simple and self-
willed and strong and adept and keen and guileless. The morning
stations and the culminations make them deliberate, persistent, of good
memory. steady, intelligent, magnanimous, inclined to bring aoout what
they desire, innexible, vigorous, coarse. not easily deceived, critical,
practica] , given to punishing, of good understanding. 1be precessions)
and the settings make them fickle. unsteady, of low vitality, not abid ing
labor, emotional, abject, cowardly, of two minds, impudent, dull ,

I The solar figures refer to the position of a planet with regard to solar
phase; the pivotal fi gures to position with respect to the angles. [RH )
2 It does not seem as if born these conditions must apply, but only one of
each pair in this paragrnph. There is a clear analogy set up here between the
solar phase of the planet and its positions relative to the horizon.
1 prolglsis. This is clearty motion backwards in the order of the signs, or
simply retrogTadation. For some reason Robbins (in his note) thinks it means
advancing motion.

57
indolent, obsti nate. The evening statio ns and the subterraneous
culminations, and furthermore, for Hermes and Aphrodite, the evening
settings by day and the morni ng settings by night, make souls adept and
sound of mind. but not with a very good memory, not taking trouble
and not fond of work, yet investigative about hidden things and
inquisitive about things unseen, such as those inclined to magic. the
mysteries, astronomy, instruments, machines, wonder-working ,
astrology, philosophy, omen and dream interpretatio n, and the like.
In addition to these, when the stars having the lordship of the
mailers penaining to soul (in the manner we delennined at the
beginning) are in their own or familiar places and sects, they make the
propenies [of soul} conspicuous and unimpeded and true to themselves
and effective, and especially when the same planets nave governance
over the two places at the same time-that is, if they should chance to
be confi gured to the star of Hermes in any manner whatever while
possessing the application and separation ofme Moon. However, if they
are not so disposed but are in unfamiliar places. they render matters that
are familiar to their own nature obscure and faint and imperfect and
unsuccessful in relation to the operation of soul. And they render
malters that Me fam iliar to the nature of the planets having governance
over [the proposed planets] and in superior position to them strong and
quite nannful, when, for instance, whenever those who are unjust and
worthless owing to familiarity of malefics, when these stars hold sway,
they have their impulse to act wickedly toward each other freel y
progressing oc else unimpeded and without danger and prestigious; but
when they are overcome by the opposite sect, they become lethargic and
unable to accomplish and easily punished. Once again, those who are
good and just owing to the familiar ties of the benefics to the said
boundaries, when these stars have nothing in superior position to them,
they rejoice and are famed for their beneficence toward others. and they
continue to be wronged by none bU! rather to possess a j ustness which
brings advantage; but when conversely when these stars are overcome
by their opposites, through that very gentleness and kindness and mercy,
they also chance to be easi ly despised and reproached or even wronged
by most.
The universal procedure for the exami nation of character would be
something like this, Next we will briefly go over in a particular manner
the individual characters produced by the nature o f the stars themselves
for such a loo:Iship; [we will gol as far as the intermixture , which is
studied in general terms,

58
 When the star of Kronos alone takes the rulership of soul and has
aUlhority o ver the star of Hennes and the Moon, if it should be in
dignity in relation to the cosmic [figure] and the pivots, it makes [the
nativesl lovers o f the body, o f strong opinions and profound counsel,
austere, single-.minded, laborious, imperio us, quick to punish, excessive,
avaricious, violent, inclined to hoard, envious. But if it is situated in the
op{X)site condition and without di gnity, it makes them sordid, trimng,
mean-souled, indifferent, mean-minded, malicious, cowardly. withdrawn ,
e vil-speaking, fond of solitude, gi ven to lamentation, shameless.
superstitious. fo nd o f lOil, lacking natural affection, treacherous to their
family , joyless, despising of the body.
When it has famil iar ties with the star of Zeus in the manner
described, again when disposed in a dignified manner, makes [the
natives] good, respectful towaTd elders, composed, noble-minded .
protective, critical, fond of possessions, great-souled, generous, of good
intentions, fond of family. gentle, intelligent. patient, philosophical. But
disposed in the opposite manner, he makes them uncultivated, mad ,
timorous, superstitious, visitors of temples. those who expose secrets,
suspicious, hating of their own children, unfriendly, stay-at-homes.
without judgment. untrustwonhy [mistrustfull , knavish and foolish,
virulent, hypocritical , ineffecti ve. unconcerned with honor, full of
regrets. austere. unpleasant to deal with, hard to approach. cautious. but
likewise also simple and long-suffering.
When it has familiar ties with the star of Ares in dignified
dispositions makes the natives undiscriminating, persistent at work,
outspoken. importunate, impudent without courage. stern in their
dealings, pitiless, contemptuous, harsh. warlike, reckless, fond of uproar,
treacherous, pr-eferring to lie in wait. implacable. not liable to be
gnawed al, given to courting the mob, tyrannical. greedy, hating of the
populace, fond of contention, vindictive, profoundly depraved, energetic,
impatient, swaggering, vulgar. boastful , oppressors, unjust, not to be
thought little of, hating of mankind, unbending, unchangeable, meddle-
some, but ready to turn back and practical and unconquerable and on
the whole successful at accomplishment. But for the opposite disposi-
tions, he makes them plunderers, robbers, corrupters, submissive to evil,
shamefully attached to gain, godless, lacking in natural affection,
insolent, given to treachery, thieves, false-swearing, murderous, eaters
of forbidden food , maleficent, homicidal. poisoners, robbers of temples,
impious, grave-.robbers. and thoroughly depraved.
When it has familiar ties with the star of Aphrodi(e in dignified

59
dispositions. !t makes the natives misogyn ists. lovers of antiquity. fond
of solitude. u~p leasant to encounter, unconcerned with honor. hating of
what is fi ne. envious, austere in companionship. unsociable, wayward,
prophetic. w(fshippers, those with a desire for mysteries and initiations,
those woo perform sacred ri tes, those who are inspired. deeply religious
but solemn ald reverend. modest. incl ined to philosophy , fai thful in
companionstnp, self-controlled, calculating, cautious, vexatious, with
jealous suspicions about women. But for the opposite dispositio ns, it
makes them lascivious, licentious, perfonners of shameful acts,
promiscuous and impure in their relations, unclean, deceivers of female
persons and especially of their own family . unsound, censorious,
depraved. haling of what is fi ne, fault-finders. speaking evi l. drunken ,
servi le, seducers, lawless in intercourse, those who take the active role
and those who take the passive. those desirous of intercourse with elders
and of dishooorable and illegal and brutal intercourse not only in natural
acts but also in unnatural , impi ous, contemptuous of the gods. disparag-
ing of mysteries and sacred rites, entirely faithl ess. slanderous,
poisonm, those capable of doing anything .
When it has fa miliar ties with the star of Hermes in dignified
dispositions. It make the nati ves meddlesome, fond of inquiry, disposed
10 inquire about customs, fond of medical practice, mystical, partakers
of what is hicklen and forbidden, wonder-workers, those who decei ve by
false reckonimg. living for the day, skilful , capable of administrating
matters and ready of wit, acerbic and precise. sober, kindl y disposed,
fond of the pTaClicai, able to succeed. But for the opposite dispositions,
it makes them chatty, vengeful, with no pity in their souls, given to toil,
hating of thrir own relatives. fond of lonnent, joyless, those who
wander about at night, layers of ambushes, traitors. unsympathetic,
thieves, magi::ians, poisoners. forgers, fraudulent. without success and
prone 10 fai lure.
When the star of Zeus alone assumes the rulership over the soul in
dignified dispositions, it makes thc nati ves magnanimous, generous,
religious, hor.orable, devoted to enjoyment. philanthropic, magnificent,
liberal, just, high-minded. reverend. minders of their own busi ness,
merciful, fond of discussion, beneficent. affectionate, authoritative. But
when the op!X>site disposition occurs, it maintains similar appearances
for the souls, yet more toward the debased and insign ificant and
undistinguism1; for example. prodigality instead of magnanimity,
superstition instead of religion, cowardice instead of modesty, conceit
instead of dignity. foolishness instead of kindness. love of pleasure

60
instead of love of beauty, stupidity instead of high-mindedness.
indifference instead of liberality. and whatever is similar to these.
When the star of Zeus has familiar ties with the star of Ares in
dignified dispositions, it makes the nati ves harsh, pugnacious. militant,
skilful at administration, agitated, independent, rash. reckless, practical,
outspoken. given to cross-examination, effective, fond of strife,
commanding, given to plotting. fair, manly, like ly to be victorious, but
magnanimous and fond of honor and passionate and discerning and
successful. But for the opposite dispositions, it makes them insolent,
undiscriminating, savage, implacable, seditious, contentious, obstinate,
slanderous, conceited. avaricious, rapacious, quickly changeable, nimble,
full of regrets, unstable, precipitate, unreliable, without exercise of
judgment, inconsiderate. excitable, active, fault-findin g, prodigal , chatty,
and thoroughly irregular and rea,dily stirred up.
When the star of Zeus has familiar ties with the star of Aphrodite
in dignified dispositions makes the nalives pure, fond of enjoyment,
those with love of the beautiful. of one's children . of spectacle, and of
the arts, singers, fond of nurture. of good character, beneficent,
merciful , innocent, religious, given to practici ng. fond of competition,
prudent. affectionate, fascinating in stateliness, bright of soul, consider-
ate, charitable, fond of letters, those who exercise judgment, moderate
and decent in matters of love, fond of family, pious, loving the just,
honor and reputation. and entirely fine and good. But for the opposite
dispositions, it makes them voluptuaries, livi ng a life of pleasantry,
effeminate. given to dance, with a woman's spirit, lavish, wicked toward
women, erotic, lascivio us, debased, abusive, adulterous. fond of
ornament. somewhat soft, lazy, prodigal, prone to fault-finding ,
passionate. dandies, womanly-minded, reclusive in regard to sacred
rites. panderers, given to the mysteries. though trustworthy and not
vicious and gracious and resourceful and cheerful and inclined to
liberality in contributions.
When the star of Zeus has familiar ties with the star of Hennes in
dignified dispositions, it makes the natives learned, fond of speaking,
geometers, mathematicians. poets, given to public speaking, adept,
temperate, of good mind. good at counsel. political, beneficent, fit for
guardianship, good-natured, generous, fond of the multitude, shrewd,
successful, fit for leading, pious, reHgious, sJcilful at business, affection-
ate, fond of family , well-educated, philosophical. dignified. But for the
opposite dispositions, it makes them simple. garrulous, those who err,
contemptible. fanatical , obsessed with religion, babblers, somewhat

61
embittered, pretenders to wisdom, unintelligent. boastful . those who are
studied, magicians, somewhat agitated. but very learned and of good
memory and fit to teach and pure in their dt:sires.
When the star of Ares alone assumes the rulership over the soul in
dignified dispositions, it makes the natives noble, commanding.
passionate. fond of weapons, versatile, powerful , venturesome. fool -
hardy, insubordinate, indifferent, obstinate. keen, wilful. contemptuous,
tyrannical , active. irascible, fit for leadership. But for the opposite
disposition, it makes them savage, insolent. bloodthirsty. fond of uproar.
extravagant, bawlers. brawlers, precipi tous, drunken, rapacious,
malefactors. merciless, those who arc unsettled, mad, haters of family .
impious.
When the star of Ares has fami liar ties with the star of Aphrodite
in digni fied dispositions makes the natives charming. cheerful, fo nd of
companionship, leading a life of pleasantry, happy, playful , anless,
graceful, fond of dance, erotic, artistic, imitative, given to enjoyment,
editors, manly, inclined to erring ways in matters of love, but successful
and circumspect and discreet and elusive in question ings and discrimi-
nating, and funhermore fu ll of desire for both young men and young
women, extravagant and keen-spirited and jealous. But for the opposite
dispositions, it makes them leering, lascivious, debased, undiscriminat-
ing, slanderers, adulterers, insolent, liars, weavers of wiles, seducers
both of those in their own family and of those in others, at the same
lime keen and sated in their desires, corrupters of women and virgins,
venturesome. heated, unruly, ensnarers, perj urers, vulnerable and of
damaged mind, and sometimes also prodigal. fond of ornament and bold
and those who are manipulated and those who indulge in shameful
practices.
When the star of Ares has famili ar ties with the star of Hermes in
dignified dispositions makes the natives fit for generalship, ski lful,
vigorous, active. not to be despised, versatile, inventi ve, experts,
painstaking, ready 10 do anything, talkative, ready to attack, treacherous,
unstable. followers of method, those who practice evi l arts, keen-
minded, deceivers, hypocritical, ensnarers, malignant, meddlers,
industrious, but otherwise successful and also ready to accept pledges
and loyal at keep them with those who are similar. and on the whole
injurious to their enemies and helpful to their friends . But for the
opposite dispositions, it mak.es them extravagant, avaricious, savage,
venturesome, daring, full of regrets. those who arc mislead, those who
are easily stirred up. liars, thieves, impious, perjurers , impostors,

62
seditious, arsonists, those who court applause, insolent, piratical ,
burglars, murderers, forgers , unscrupulous, e nchanters, magicians,
poisoners, homicides.
When the star of Aphrodite alone assumes the rulership over the
soul in dignified dispositions, it makes the natives pleasant, good,
voluptuaries, eloque nt, clean, cheerful , fond of dance, eager for beauty,
hating knavery, fond of the arts, fond of spectacle, decent, robust, those
with good dreams, affectionate, beneficent, merciful, fastidious, easy to
deal with, successful and o n the whole charming. But for the oppositio n
dispositions, it makes them careless, erotic. effe minate, like a woman,
timid, undiscriminating, debased, censorious, insignificant, deserving of
reproach.
When the star of Aphrodite has famil iar ties with the star of
Hennes in dignified disjXlsitio ns , it makes the nati ves artistic, philosoph-
ical, knowledgeable, adept, JX)elic, lovers of the muses, lovers of beauty,
good-natured, given to enjoyment, voluptuous. happy, fond of friends,
pious, sagacious, resourceful. intellectual, on the mark, likely to
succeed, quick at learning, self-taught. desirous of the best, imitators of
beauty, eloquent and charming of speech. beloved, suitable in character,
eager. fond of competition, upri ght, those who exercising judgment,
high-minded, but guarded in maners of love in their relations with
women but more excitable in relation to boys. and jealous. But for the
opposite disposition, it makes them impostors. resourceful, those with
an evil mouth, fi ckle, of bad intentions, deceivers, agitators, liars.
slanderers, perjurers, deeply depraved, plotters, faith less, unreliable,
adulterers, corrupters of women and children. and funhennore dandies,
somewhat soft, malicious, evil-speaking, garrulous, those who do almost
anything, and sometimes those who pretend such things for corruption ,
and other times even in truth, those who are manipulated and those who
perform shameful acts and those who run riot with various emotions.
When the star of Hennes alone assumes the rulership of the soul
in dignified dispositions, it makes the natives sagacious, shrewd.
thoughtful, very learned, inventive, experienced, good at reckoning,
inquirers into nature, speculative, adept, emulous, beneficent, calculat-
ing, good at conjecture, mathematical, inclined to the mysteries,
successful. But for the opposite disposition, it makes them willing to do
just about anything, precipitate, forgetful. impulsive, nimble, readily
changeable, full of regrets, fooli shly wicked, witless, erring, liars,
undiscriminating, unstable, untrustworthy, avaricious, unjust, and o n the
whole uncertain in intellect and prone to missing the mark.

63
 These thngs being so, the condition of the Moon herself nevenhe-
less makes acontribution, for when chancing to be in the bendings] of
her southel1l and northern limit, she cooperates toward the more
versatile and resourceful and the more changeable. Upon the nodes, she
cooperates t(ward the keener and more active and readily changeable.
Furthermore, in her risings and in the increases of her light, she
cooperates t(!Ward the more adept and conspicuous and steadier and the
more outspc-ken. And in the decreases of her light and in her
concealments, she cooperates toward the more sluggish and the duller
and the more regretful and careful and the more inconspicuo us.1
The Sunalso makes some contribution when it is bound in familiar
ties to the sllr ruling over the soul's mixture; again, when in dignity of
disposition, II contributes toward the juster and more successful and
honorable ard august and more religious . But (when disposed) in the
opposite and unfamiliar manner, it contributes toward the more lowly
and l abori ou~and insignificant and savage and o bstinate and austere and
the more difficulty in life, and on the whole mo re difficultly of success.

IS. Concerning Ailments of the Sou]

Since the acttlunt concerning the outstanding ailments of the soul in a

certain sense also follows upon the properties of the soul, it is again in
general fitti~ to mark and observe how the star of Hennes and the
Moon are reated 10 each other and 10 the pivots and to those of the
stars which have a famil iarity with affliction-as when these are
unconnectedlto each other and when they are unconnected to the rising
horizon, if my should have stars thai are fi gured in an unfamiliar and
harmful mamer in superior position~ to them, or if they shou ld be

1 tpilwm,ws. These must be the points of greatest latitude 90 degrees from

the nodes whue the Moon changes direction and begins to move back tow ard
the ecliptic.
1 Here we see the latitud inal variation of the Moon coordin ated with solar
phase.
) That is, having none of the classical aspects.
4 Again. flis is probably the condition or being in the tent h sign from the

star in questi 01, casting a left handed square.

64
contained l or diametrically opposed by those stars, they are productive
of the occurrence of diverse ailments that concern the sou l's individual
character, although the j udgment of these is studied from the individual
character of the stm that have familiar ties to these places.
Most of the more moderate ailments, then, have in a cen ain sense
been all but distinguished in what has been said before concerning the
properues of the soul, while their intensification can be seen at a glance
from an excess of malefic stars; for, one might now properly call both
the extremes of character and those that either fall short of or exceed
the mean, "ailments." But those that have an o utstanding d isproportio n
and are, as it were , disease-li ke , and which are conlrary tcY the whole
nature, and concern both the rational pan of the soul itself as well as
the affective pan, typically gained the fo llowing ki nd of observation.
Epileptics, for the most pan, are all those who, when the Moon and
the star of Hennes (as we said) are unconnected to each other and to
the rising horizon , have the star of Kronos by day and the star of Ares
by night pivotal and scrutinizing the above figure . The natives are mad
whenever, agai n for the same conditions, the star of Kronos by day and
the star of Ares by night have lordship over the fi gure, and especially
in Cancer or Virgo or Pisces. They are possessed by demons and have
water on the brain whenever, being so, the malefic stars possess the
Moon when it is in a phase. the star of Kronos when the Moon is
conjunctive, and the star of Ares when it is whole, and especially in
Sagittarius and Pisces.
When the malefics alone, then , assume the governance over the
figure in the stated manner, they make the said diseases of the rational
pan of the soul incurable, bUI at the same lime inconspicuous and
unnoticeable) But when the benefics Zeus and Aphrodite have familiar
ties Ito them] when these malefics are upon the western parts, the
benefics being pi votal in eastern parts, they make the ailments curable,
but noticeable.' In the case of the star of Zeus, they are curable through

I According to the TMsaurus of Antiochus (chap. 41). "there is contain-

ment whenever two planets should have one mean [planet] according 10 any
figure whatever, with no other planel among those in the middle hurling rays
within 7 degree5 ahead or behind."
2 para.
) aparaiUigmaJistos.
4 euparoaeigmmis/()s.

65
medical treatments, and either by a dietary discipline or through drugs:
in Ihe case oflhe Sial' of Aphrodite, through oracles and the aid of gods.
But when thtmalefics are pivotal in the eastern parts while the bendics
are setting, trey make the diseases incurable and at the same time much
remarked ufX)n and conspicuous-for epilepsy, by involvi ng the
sufferers in continuous succession {of episodes] and defamation and
mortal dangas; for madness and entrancement, by involvi ng them in
instabilities Md alienation of fami ly and going unclothed and blasphem-
ing and the like; for demonic possession or the accumulation of fluids ,
in frenzies ald public confession and outrages and things simi lar to
these examples.
IndividU1l1y, of the places that conrain the figure , those of the Sun
and those of Ares cooperate above all toward madness: those of Zeus
and Hennes toward epilepsy: those of Aphrodite toward d ivine
possession am public confession; those of Kronos and the Moon toward
the accumulaion of fluids and demonic possession.
The diseased perversion that concerns the productive part of the
soul in its enlire nature, then, consists in some such fonns as these and
is produced through such figures. The perversion that concerns the
affective par1 of the soul, again studied in accordance with that which
is outstandinx, is most apparent in the excesses and deficiencies of what
is nat ural fa the male and female sex, and is disti nguished for
examination Y1 a manner similar to the above, though the Sun is taken
along with the Moon instead of Hennes, and the familiar ties of the star
of Ares alon! with that of Aphrodite are taken in reiation to them.
For woo these fall under our view in this manner, if the lights
alone should be in masculine widia, men are excessive in what is
natural, while women are excessive in what is unnatural for the merely
manly and aaive part of the soul. But if the star of Ares and the star of
Aphrodite, eilher one of them or both, should a1so be masculinized, I the
men become debased and adulterous and insatiate in regard to natural
sexual intercourse, and on all occasions are ready for shameful and
illegal acts of love. The women, howe\'er, become lascivious in regard
to unnatural iltercourse, and cast their eyes about and are the so-called
tribades: for Ihey make arrangements with females, perfonning the acts

I As has been said above, the conditions thai masculinize a planet are

when it is in the eastern quadrant (or the opposite), mOrning rising, or a

masculine wiaQn,

66
of men . And if only the star of Aphrodite should be masculinized, it is
in secret and not in the open ; but if the star o f Ares should also be so,
it is fully in the open, so as to show off those who are so manipulated
as their lawful " wife ."
But conversely, with the lights alone being in the proposed figure
in female z6idia, women are excessive in what is natural while men in
what is unnatural in relation to the delicate l and feminine part of the
soul. And if the star of Aphrodite should be feminized ,l women become
debased and adulterous lascivious in relation to being manipulated in a
natural manner on all occasions and by anyone whatsoever, so as to
refuse absolutely nothing in matters of love, no matter whether it should
be shameful or illegal. Men become soft and unsound in relation to
unnatural sex ual intercourse and the acts of women, and have them-
selves manipulated in a passive manner, though in concealment and
without being noticed. But if the star of Ares should also be feminized ,
they act shamelessly, right out in the open and with frankness .
performing the aforesaid acts of either kind, ass uming a whorish and
promiscuous and scandalous shape to the point of their being evidence
of being used both abusively and violently.
And the oriental and mo rni ng figures of both the star of Ares and
the star of Aphrodite contribute to the more manly and to being more
readily talked about, while the occidental and evening fi gures contribute
to the more feminine and more restrained. And similarly also. when the
star of Kronos is co-present. it naturally cooperates with each of the
proposed stars toward the more licentious and more impure and more
disgraceful; but the star of Zeus cooperates toward the more decent and
guarded and more modest; and the star of Hermes toward the more
scandalous and the more cbangeability and complication of the ailment3
and the more readily taking offe nse.

1 euthnq1/OS. 1be word literally means 'easily broken' .

1 Again, this oondition happens in the western quadrant (and its opposite),
in setting phase. and in feminine ~oiditJ .
) pmhl. This might also mean 'emotions'. but since the whole oonlcl:t talks
about the aberrations of the soul as 'ailments', I think this is (0 be preferred.

67
 Appendix on Ptolemy's Primary Direction Technique
by
Robert Hand

The reader ~ referred to Appendix n of our edition of Part II of

MOnlulmo fa a more complete discussion of the methods of Ptolemaic
style primary directions. This discussion is limited to the method as
described in the Tt trabiblos.

I. "For, after determining ahead of time the culminating degree o f the

zodiac, and fun hennore the preced ing degree and the approaching
degree.. .. "
Obviously we have to determine where the meridian crosses the
ecliptic. This is one of the few instances in Ptolemy where we have an
unam biguous reference the Midheaven in the modem sense, i.e ., the
longitude of the inlersection of the ecliptic and the meridian circle south
of the zenith. Also before we can direct anything we have to choose a
point to be directed (usually referred to in later astrology as the
"significator1 and another point to which we are going to direct
(usuall y referred to in later astrology as the "promittor" or "promissor").
As we have already pointed out in the Appendix to Montulmo men-
tioned above, primary directions are a bit peculiar in that usually the
point directed, the significator, is held still, while the promittor is
carried by tbe ro tation of the primum mobilt to the place o f the
significator or its aspect. However, in Ptolemy there is a special case in
which the significator is carried to the promiuor. 1lle central difficulty
ho wever is that given that both the significator (or its aspect) and the
pro miuor are not on either the meridian or horizon circles, how then do
we define w~n a joi ning has occurred? This is the central pro blem that
Ptolemy is trying to answer.

2 . " .. . we \Ioill first eltamine, for the position of the preceding degree,
how many seasonal hours it is dis tant from the meridian, by counting
the ascensiobS upon the right sphere between it and the appropriate
culminating degree (whether above or under the earth), and dividing by
the number or the hourly times of the preceding degree itself, of diurnal
times if it is above the earth, of nocturnal times if it is below."
We take the significator and determine how far it is from the
meridian circle measured along the shortest arc to the nearest part of the

68
meridian circle, upper or lower. This is what in later astrology is called
the "meridian Distance," or M .D. Ptolemy worked e ntirely through the
use of proportional hours, o r "seasonal hours." These amount to o ne-
twelfth of a diurnal or nocturnal arc and are analogous to the modern
conventional hour which is o ne-twelfth of an arc of exactly 180°, i.e.,
15°. He converted the M.D. from degrees of right ascension to seasonal
hours by dividing the M.D. by the number of degrees (hourly times) in
one seasonal hour. This converts the M.D. in absolute degrees to a
relative or proportional position within the senti-arc.

3. "And since the sections of the zodiac distant fro m the meridian by
the same seasonal hours come to be along o ne and the same of the said
semicircles, 1 it will also be necessary to find after how many equipanite
times the succeeding section also will be distant from the meridian by
seasonal hours equal to the preceding."
Now we encounter the definition of exactly what constitutes a
joining, Le., the definition of what it means to have two bodies
conjunct, or one body conjunct the aspectual positio n of another. And
we also e ncounter what may have lead the Renaissance astrologers
aslray, because Ptolemy refers to points that are "distant from the
meridian by the same seasonal hours," as being "along one and the
same of the said semicircles ... " They are not, except approximately.
as Ptolemy stated earlier in the chapter. In fact . speaking precisely. two
points being on the same semicircle precludes their being at the same
distance in seasonal hours from the meridian. 1be set of all points that
are the same di stance from the meridian measured in seasonal hours is
not a semicircle.

4. "When we have determined these, we will also investigate by how

many equipanite times the suceeeding degree at its original position was
distant from the degree of the same Midheaven, again by means of
ascensio ns o n the right sphere, .
" Equipartite times" are simply degrees as we know them. The next
step is to compute the M.D. in degrees of the promittor, or succeeding
degree.

1 In this part of the text Ptolemy has left OI.1t reference to the fact that such
bodies do not prt!cist!ly lie upon a north-south semi-circle, once again laying the
door open to the " Regiomonlanus" misunderstand ing.

69
5, " . .. as wdl as by how many [it was di stantJ when it made seasonal
hours equal tl the preceding [degreeJ, .
The protlem is to find what the M.D. of the promittor would be if
it were at the same number of seasonal hours from the meridian as the
significator. This would constitute ajoining together as Ptolemy defined
it.

6. " ... and br multiplying the seasonal hours into the number o f hourly
times of the succeeding degree (again, if the comparison of seasonal
hours was in relation to a Midheaven above the earth. multiplying it
into me nurri>er of diurnal hours, if in relation to a Midheaven under
the earth, intllthe number of nocturnal hours)."
The phnse "multiplying them into" is equivalent to our " mu ltiply
them by," TIe product of the number of seasonal hours and the number
of degrees ineach hour for the preceding degree (hourly times) equals
the M .D. of the promittor when it has been carried by the primum
mobile to tht position at which it would be joined together with the
significator.

7. "And by ttking the res ult of the excess of both of the intervals, we
will have the number of years in question."
The difference of the M.D. of the promittor's original position and
the M.D. of tte joining position expressed in degrees gives the number
of years at ....ruch the di rection would become due giving 1° for each
year of the a.'C.

Ptolemy's Examples

Example I - The significator is at O"T, the promittor is at o"n, The

statement ab>ut the longest day being 14 hours is simply a way of
establishing fle latitude. This is the conventional way of referri ng 10 the
clima. A clina of 14 hours corresponds to 30" 22' north. AI that latitude
the hourly imes for the promittor are approximately 17 degrees.
Modern calcdations using the value of 23"27' for the obliquity of the
ecliptic gives 17" 04'.
Then Pblemy places the significator at O"T on the Ascendant
which puts 210" or 0",", on the meridian in both longitude and R.A. The
promittor is 11 o"n in longitude and corresponds to about 58" of R.A.
(57 0 49') Th6 puts it at 148 0 from the meridian. The promiuOT will be

70
joined to the signifi cator when it rises. This will be when it gets to 6 o f
its seasonal hours from the meridian. The seasonal hour fo.-Oon is 17°;
6 x 17° gives 102° approximately. The difference between 148° and
102° gives us the arc of direction o r 46° (times).

Example 2 - Place O"T on the M.C . as the significator. This means of

course that 0° of R.A. is also on the meridian. The promittor is still
OOll . This makes the R.A. of o on the same as the M.D. of the
prominor, i.e. 58°. This makes 58° the arc of direction.

Example 3 - No w he places the significator ofooT on the Descendant,

still using OOll as the promiuor. By definitio n anything on the east o r
west horizon is exactly six seasonal hours from the meridian. Ptolemy
simply gives us the fact that OOD in R.A. is 32° from the meridian, but
it is quite o bviously correct because if O"T is setting, that places 0°0
on the M.C. and 90"' as the R.A. on the meridian (RAMC). Si nce the
R.A. of o on is 58°, that gives us 32° as the M.D. in degrees. Six
seasonal hours for oon is equivalent to 6 times 17 0 or 102°. That is
simply the diurnal semi-arc o fooD. We sublracl32° from 102° and gel
70° as the arc of direction.

The previous examples have all been special cases in which the
signifi calor was exactly on one of the great circles, the horizon or the
meridian. The lasl example shows the power of the method by applying
il 10 a case in wruch neither the significator nor the promittor is on o ne
of the two great circles.

Example 4 - The significator at OCT is defined as three seasonal hours

west ("in the direction of the preceding signs") of the meridian. This
places the ISth degree of Taurus on the M.e. This is evident because
OOT has a seasonal hour whose hourly times are 15° exactly, i.e., an
equinoctial hour because OOT is the equinoctial degree. This means that
exactly 45 0 of R.A. are on the meridian . This equates to l7°ts plus
some minutes depending upon the obliquity of the ecliptic in use
( 17°ts2S' using a modern value) which would be referred to as the "ISth
degree" using the traditional convention of numbering degrees.
The promiltor of oon being at R.A. 5So is 13° away from the
meridian. Then it has to be carried another 3 o f its seasonal hours to

71
come to the joining with the significatOl'. This gives 3 times 17° or 51 °
which we must add to the 13° we already have to get 64°, the arc of
direction.

AI this point Ptolemy leaves off giving examples and reveals an

imponant, basic point. Our fi rst example involved bringing the 60
ecli ptic degrees from OOT to OOD over the east horizon starting with
OOT . In the course of this rising 46° passes over the meridian. The
second example involved bringing those same 60° of the ecliptic over
the meridian itself again starting with O°T. This requires bringing 58°
over the meridian, the distance in R.A. between O"T and OOD. The third
example brought these same 60° down o ver the west horizon which
involved bringing 70° over the meridian. Then in the fourth example he
places OOT halfway between the meridian and the west horizon. In this
instance it requires 64° to pass over the meridian in order to make the
60° of the ecliptic pass thro ugh the halfway point between the meridian
and west horizon .
Then he notes the following, as should the reader: The fi rst arc of
direction over the east horizon is 12° less than the arc of direction over
the meridian .1be arc of direction over the meridian is 12° less than the
arc of direction over the Descendant. Although Ptolemy gives only
approximate figures for these arcs, exact calculation would demonstrate
that the two increases in the arcs are perfectly equaL TIlen as if to
eliminate doubt, he shows that the arc of direction over the points
halfway between the meridian and west horizon is 6° greater than the
arc of direction over the meridian and 6° less than the arc of direction
over the west horizon . TIle arc of direction over a point halfway
between the meridian and horizon shows an increase of exactly half the
amount of the increase that occurred in moving the direction all of the
way from the meridian to the west horizon.
Now the arc or direction over the meridian is precisely equal to Ihe
R.A. of the promiuor minus the R.A. of the significator. The arc of
direction over the west horizon is equal to the 0 .0 . of the promittor
minus the 0 .0 . of the significator.l (0. 0 . stands for oblique descen-

I We could also have used the a.A. of the lXlints OPlXlsite the promittor
and significalOl" with the same reSUlt. This was in fact the more common
practice among ancient and medieval astrologers.

72
sion.) if the direction were on the east side of the meridian as in the
first example. the second arc would be expressed as the O.A. of the
prominor minus the O.A. of the significator. lei us designate these two
categories of arcs as the Right Arc and the Oblique Arc. Let us call the
arc of direction that results when the same points are nO( on the angles
the lnturmdiate Arc. We have the foll owing:

I. Right Atc = RA.,....,iIIof - R. A .~

2. Oblique Arc (Eastern quadrant) = O.A._...... . O.A.•.,._
3. Oblique Arc (Western quadrant) = 0 .0 .,......... - O.D.oipif......

Then there is the arc difference between the Right Arc and the Oblique
Arc which we call Delta.

4. Delta = Oblique Atc - Right Arc

Delta may be e ither positi ve or negative. The lnterm.ediate Are, which

is what we are after, will be the result of adding or subtracting
something from the Right Arc, some portion of Delta. What Ptolemy
shows us by example if not rigorous demonstration is that the portion
of Delta that must be added to or subtracted from the Right Arc is in
uact proportion to the proportional position of the signijicn.tor between
the hcrizon and the meridian. In our fo~ example the position of the
significator halfway between the meridian and the horizon caused one-
half of Dellll to be added (in this case) to the Righi Arc.
The above is exactly the methodology used by the medieval
astrologers. The reader is referred 10 Appendix II on directions in our
edition of Montulmo Part n. There the reader will find that the what we
here have called the Righi Are is there called the Signijicator of the
Right Ci rcle, and what we have called the Oblique Arc is the Signifiea-
tor of the Region. The rest of the calculations given there amounl to
nothing more than the computation of the proportional position of the
significator in its semi-arc which is multiplied by Delta. The only real
difference between Ptolemy and the later astrologers such. as Montulmo
is that they worked in degrees where Ptolemy worked in hourly times.
The equivalence has been demonstrated in the Appendix to Montulmo
along with a mooern methoo for accomplishi ng the same thing.

We have now seen in two different places Ptolemy Book m and

73
Montulmo (bllowing Alchabilius) the simplicity and elegance o f the
Ptolemaic muhods of doing primary directions. Anyone who is fa miliar
with the melflods o f Placidus as demonstrated by the Engl ish school
from Partridge forward cannot help but notice the genn of tlie Placidian
system of di nctions in all of this. But that reader should also notice the
lack of such txcrescences as arcs of the crepusc\e. mundane directions,
poles, and th: various kinds of parallels (other than the conventio nal
kind in declilation). Not only is the Ptolemaic method simpler, but it
is also rigo:ously correct where the Placidian methods are o nly
approxi mate. Also the objectives are different. Ptolemy used primary
directions o~y to time the event of death. As we will see in Book IV
otherwise he used them only to compute the changing of time-lords.
With this sirJlller objective in mind we may well find that the simplicity
of Ptolemaic method is all that is required and the baffling complexity
of the Placid:an system and its close relati ve the Topocentric l system
can go back 0 the mists from whence they came.

I Which akis being mathematically impossible to the methodological com-

plexity of the ~Iacidian system of directing!

74
 Glossary

The following word list is intended to give only the barest of guides to
the specifically astrological vocabulary occurring in this book . It is
keyed to the words actually used in the translation itself. Each word is
followed by the transliterated Greek word it consistently translates. The
third entry for each word is its counterpart (if any) in modem astrolo-
gical idiom. If there is no modern counterpart, but the translation seems
sufficiently clear, we have put "none".
Occasionally, we have simply lransliterated a Greek word in our
translation . This is either because we have not yet come up with a
felici tous equivalent, or else we do not yet think thai we have sufficient-
ly underst<Xld the word o n its own tenns.
Bear in mind that the modem counterpart is not always co-
extensive with the Greek word; it may refer to a wider or narrower field
of objects or relationships. And even if the two words are co-extensive,
the modern word often comes fro m an entirely different semantic field,
and consequently does not regard the same object in the same manner
or from the same prospective.
For more information about these words and their interconnections,
and a more extensive list of Greek astrological terms, see the Compa -
nion to the Gru k Track .

action: praxis
application: sunaphl: application
(to) ascend (of nodes): annbi/Jazjj: ascend
(to) bear witness to: epimaturjj: cast an aspect (probably forward)
bound : horion; term
bound sovereign: horiokratjjr: term ruler
circumambulation : peripatos: a direction
configuration: suschimatismos: general word for aspect
(to) configure: suschimatil.jj: verb fonn of above entry
contact: kolllsis: encounter (usually as a result of direction)
contemplate: Ih~jjr~jj : general aspect word
crisis : klimaktir: climacterical times
(to) culminate: ~souran~jj : to culminate
decline; apokfima; cadent house
degree; moira : degree depression; tap~jnjjma ; fall
(to) descend (of nodes): kntabibazjj: descend

75
dwelling: oi/wlir. sign ruled
exaltation: hupsoma: exaltation
face; prosopon : traditional
figure : schema: any kind of planetary relationship
(to) figure : schlmalizjj: verb fonn of above entry
giving over and taking over: parodosis leai parallpsis
H6roskopos: H6rosko{X)s: Ascendant
house: oikos: sign ruled
house steward: oikodeklOr. ruler of a sign
lord : kurios: lord
(to) mark the birth hour; hiJros/wpeo: to be the Ascendant
master: despoIls: occasional synonym for rulership
mastership: despoleia: see above entry
Midheaven: mesouranima: Midheaven
IttOtlomoiria: mononw;ria: assignment of degrees to planets
paradosis kai parallpsis: handing or giving over and taking up.
pivot: kemrOfl : angle
place: IOpoS: house
post-ascension: epaoophora: succedent house
pre-ascension: proanophora: cadent house
(to) prosper: chrimali1./J
prospering: chrl malistikos
(to) regard: epilheorro: cast an aspect forward
(to) rejoice: CMiro: to be in one's joy
releaser: aphtlis.
releasing: aphesis
(to) rise: analelJ/J: rise
ruler: oiJcodespotls: ruler of chart or issue, (not a sign rulership)
rulership: oilwdespoteia: rulership in the above sense
(to) scrutinize: katopteuo; aspect word
sect: ha;resis, sect or condition
separation : apporoia: separation
(to) set: dunm: set
(to) take delight in: eMir(}: to be dign ified
(to) testify to; epimanuro: cast an aspect (probably forward)
trigon; lrigonon : triplicity
trigonal master: trigonol4 despoles: triplicity ruler
zjjidion : t.6idion: sign

76
 REPRINTS* of the
Project Hindsight Greek Track
VOL. I. Paulus Alexandrinus: Introduction to Astrology.
VOL. II A. Anonymous of 379: On the Bright Fixed Stars.
VOL. II B. Antiochus of Athens: Fragments From His Thesaurus.
VOL. III. Ptolemy: Phases of the Fixed Stars.
VOL.VI. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Book I.
VOL.V. Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos, Book I.
VOL.VI. Hephaestio of Thebes: Compendium, Book I.
VOL.VII. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Book II.
VOL.VIII. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Book III.
VOL. IX. Teachings on Transits.
VOL. X. The Astrological Record of the Early Sages in Greek.
VOL. XI. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Book IV.
VOL. XII. Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos, Book III.
VOL. XIII. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Books V & VI.
VOL. XIV. Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos, Book IV.
VOL. XV. Hephaistio of Thebes: Compendium, Book II.
VOL. XVI. Vettius Valens: Anthology, Book VII.
PROJECT HINDSIGHT Companion to the Greek Track
*Available at WWW.PROJECTHINDSIGHT.COM
The Astrological Record of the Early Sages
(aka “TARES”)
We used this title once before for VOLUME X of our original
GREEK TRACK, which contains fragments from many ancient
authors; now we have chosen it again for a much larger role as
as the overarching name for a projected 30-volume set that will
represent the work of ALL the Hellenistic astrologers of whom
any trace yet survives.
When complete, TARES will contain not only the entirety of
the original GREEK TRACK in Robert Schmidt’s revised trans-
lations, but much more: virtually the entire surviving corpus of
Hellenistic astrological treatises and fragments, accompanied
by Schmidt’s extensive notes and commentary.
~TARES~
Definitions and Foundations is the first translation in the new
series. As you can see from the picture of its front cover on the
final page of this book, the “provisional look” has vanished, but
there is still a family resemblance to these older editions which
were the beginning of the entire enterprise.
Visit our website WWW.PROJECTHINDSIGHT.COM for
the latest information about our new TARES series.

You’ll have to visit our website to see how beautiful our
TARES books actually are. We sharpened up the old frame
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and there are 400 pages in Definitions & Foundations. Find
out about the new TARES subscription plan at our website:
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This booklet is a facsimile reprint of one volume from
PROJECT HINDSIGHT’S GREEK TRACK, Robert Schmidt’s
early provisional translations of various Hellenistic
astrological texts done from 1993 through 2000.
We say provisional because it was a cardinal principle of
PROJECT HINDSIGHT from its outset that no one in the world
– however learned in the Greek language – was in a position
to do a final translation of any single item from this large
body of work that had lain essentially unread for centuries.
Hence, this translation was not published as a final edition,
but only as provisional; this word was stressed and it was
hoped that the homemade character of the original book,
duplicated in this reprint, would serve to reinforce the idea
of the “temporary” character of the translation inside.
But now the situation is different. After spending the past
seventeen years studying the entire surviving corpus of
Hellenistic astrological writings, Robert Schmidt is now
ready to publish his final translations of all the selections
first presented in this and other GREEK TRACK volumes.
Accompanied by extensive notes and commentary, these
new translations are just beginning to be issued in attractive
hardcover format in a new series called THE ASTROLOGICAL
RECORD OF THE EARLY SAGES * (acronym TARES). It will
take several years to get all the material into print.
Meanwhile, at the request of numerous students we are
making these older provisional versions available. Some
may find it useful to compare the old versions with the new
and see with hindsight how much was overlooked the first
time around. It is gratifying to realize that we planned from
the very outset to make such later experiences possible.
It will also be useful to keep this old version of the GREEK
TRACK available in our archives for the permanent record,
since some seem to have forgotten who did what and when.
* See the final pages of this booklet for more information.
The Golden Hind Press