Ancient Astrology Theory and Practice: Matheseos Libri VIII [Paperback]

If you are interesting in the history of astrology, this book is for you. The Work of Julius Firmicus in one pillar of the so called greek astrology, which was integrated in the astrology of the Arabs. It is an invaluable tool for a good understanding of what was astrology and its method in the Antiquity. A reference to have in all offices of professional astrologers.

The third book (or chapter) is a true gem of accuracy from the ancient world - it is a pity that the whole thing could not have been preserved - I would love to know what Firmicus once thought of my 8th House Moon. The third book is the one that a modern astrologer will find most useful and accessible - and the brevity and sharpness of some of the descriptions are state-of-the-art, even some 1700 years later. This is the book that describes the meaning of all seven planets in each of the 12 houses, with a different meaning for each depending on whether the nativity is a day or night birth.

Mercury is given far more prominence than in modern western astrology. A sub-section of the 3rd Book deals exclusively with the conjunctions of Mercury with the other planets. Perhaps "conjunction" isn't the right way to describe this - the translation is a planet occuring in the same house with Mercury. In practice, I have found the descriptions more accurate for conjunctions. Another subsection deals with meanings for the waxing or waning Moon moving to or away from each of the major planets. Some of these observations are easier to follow than others. The modern astrologer has to do a bit of a mental shift, and this may be putting it mildly.

In the later books, the accuracy starts to deteriorate. The Ascendent degrees in Book 8 are useless, the fixed stars mentioned in the same book have precessed at least 14 degrees, and many of them are not those considered most important today.

As for the rest of the book, the reader gets a true feel for the brutality of life back then - a whole section devoted to slaves destined for mistreatment by their masters, other sections devoted to configurations denoting babies exposed at birth and those configurations of babies cut out of the womb, resulting in the death of the mother. Yet another section for incest of every kind, and so many different configurations supporting all these various types of incest.

As with all things 1700 years old, the modern reader has to do a little work to put himself or herself inside the mind of the author and try to understand what he was trying to convey. For example, my 5th House Mercury in a night nativity suggests professions such as "teaching in a wrestling school". In fact, I teach poor, inner-city youth - a "wrestling school" is a wry but accurate description of it.

The translation is excellent - Jean Rhys really opens up a clear window on a distant astrological world. This reader found herself wishing for more of a grounding in classical astrology, so that more of the text would have been accessible - footnotes would have been an invaluable addition. There are endnotes, but the reader ends up tackling them separately.

Although not my primary purpose for reading this book, I also got somewhat more of a feel for the steel core of Stoic philosophy - the joy in a brutal reality in which so many horrendous things are manifest to express the glory of God. The modern mind can argue the sadism of this philosophy, and still realize that the Stoic astrologer Firmicus probably didn't see it this way. There is a fascinating glimpse of this in the introduction where Rhys explanis that Firmicus probably distrusted all of the mystery religions because they promised a change in outcome - and the true Stoic couldn't stand the heresy.

Well worth the money spent!

This is the most complete treatise in horoscope interpretation to survive from the ancient world. Maternus covers calculations regarding length of life, occupation, etc. Many of the calculations may be familiar to contemporary astrologers but many will not be. Many of the arguments for or against astrology that Maternus discusses sound very familiar today.

A number of people are likely to find this book to be of interest. Maternus's views on philosophy seem to permeate this book, and consequently the work is of great value in studying the nature of philosophy in late antiquity as an auxiliary source. This book is also of interest generally to those studying religion within the Roman empire. Finally practising astrologers, though not beginners, are likely to find this book to be of interest.

Some elements of Maternus's work seem conflicted and confused, and one wonders if he was leaving himself extra tools to shape his predictions.