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[German version] (ἐκλειπτική sc. γραμμή, cf. schol. Arat. 550, p. 323,8 Martin: τὴν μέσην γραμμὴν τοῦ ζῳδιακοῦ; and ThlL V,2, 48,56 …

A. Antiquity to Renaissance …

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[German version] A. In Superstition Eclipses disturbed the usual regularity of day and night and frightened people as long as they were …

[German version] Claudius Balbillus, Tiberius. Praefectus Aegypti AD 55-59; games were held in Ephesus after 70 (Βαλβιλλεῖα; …

[German version] (πλειάδης/ pleiádēs, Latin pliades, also Βότρυς/ Bótrys, 'bunch of grapes' or 'curl'; Latin Vergiliae, 'twig'). In contrast to the Hyades, the P. were known from the time of Euripides and Hippocrates by the collective singular Πλειάς/ Pleiás: seven faint stars, placed close together, designated as a 'nebula'. According to Nicander [4], they are located on the tail of Taurus ascending in reverse, otherwise - because only its forequarters form stars - at the start of its sector. Both Hom. Il. 18,486 and Od. 5,272 mention them in the first position; Hes. Op. 383 calls them daughters of Atlas [2] and P…

[German version] (Οἰνοπίδης; Oinopídēs) of Chios. Astronomer and mathematician in the 2nd half of the 5th cent. BC. A…

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[German version] Author of an astronomical teaching manual, who lived between  Poseidonius and  Ptolemy (whom he does not quote). The textbook consisted of two parts designated scholia (‘lectures’, ‘exercises’). The title Κυκλικῆς θεωρίας μετεώρων α'/β' ( Kyklikês theōrías meteṓrōn a'/b' was preserved in the manuscript. Books 1 and 2 probably unite two versions of a theory of the motional of celestial objects; Todd favoured Μετέωρα ( …

(ζώνη/ zṓnē, 'belt'). [German version] [1] see Belts II See Belts II. Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster) [German version] [2] Astronomic-mathematical term Metaphor in astronomy and mathematical geography, first attested by Autolycus [3] of Pitane c. 310 BC; a Latin translation of the term, despite many attempts ( cingulum, fascia, plaga, etc), did not establish itself. The term can also describe the Zodiac, which crosses the sphere of the heavens diagonally, but it usually designates the bands, delimited by celestial circles ( …

[German version] (παρανατέλλοντα; paranatéllonta), stars 'rising alongside' (or συνανατέλλοντα/ synanatéllonta, 'rising simultaneously') are constellations, parts thereof (also of the signs of the zodiac) or especially bright individual stars, which become visible or invisible at the same time as certain degrees or decanal sections (segments of 10 degrees) of the ecliptic. They were first described by Aratus [4] who was criticized by Hipparchus [6]. In antiquity, they were used for determining the seasons and for distinguishing zodiacal prognoses by astrologers. In addition to the four basic types (acronycal and heliacal (= cosmic) rise or descent: i.e. evening's first, evening's last, morning's first, and morning's last visibility), there are the constant ecliptic lengths, which are dependent on latitude, and, especially for the circu…

[German version] (Τιμόχαρις; Timócharis). Greek astronomer from the time of Ptolemaeus [1] I (around 300 BC), whose observations …

[German version] from Athens. Astronomer, meteorologist and geographer, is named together with  Meton as the discoverer of the 19-year lunisolar cycle. Together they observed, in the last third of the 5th cent. BC, solstices and equinoxes, the anomaly of solar movements and the length of the solar year, also the rising and setting of the planets ‘in Athens, on the Cyclades, in Macedonia and in Thrace’ (Ptol. Phaseis p. 67,6 Heiberg, cf. Anon. a. 379 CCAG V 1 [1904] p. 205,6 ἐν Ἀθήναις ( en Athḗnais) and Avienus Ora maritima 350 Atheniensis or 337 Amphipolis ur…

[German version] (Νεχεψῶ; Nechepsȏ). N. and Petosiris (Πετόσιρις; Petósiris),are often referred to together as ‘the ancient Egyptia…

[German version] (Πρόκλος; Próklos) is said, according to Cass. Dio 67,16,2, to have foretold the death of Domitian in Germania; he was condemned in Rome but saved after Domitian had actually been murdered on the predicted day, and was richly rewarded by Nerva.…

[German version] (ἀνάλημμα; análēmma)‘Recording’, ‘outline’, general: geometric or arithmetic method for determining the height of an object by measuring the angle; especially: projection of the heights of the sun with the help of a line network on the horizontal level of sundials with uneven length of hours, depending on the geographical latitude. The principle is based on the length ratio of a  gnomon to its shadow's length at midday on the equinox and three vertical reference levels in pairs: me…

[German version] (Κλεόστρατος; Kleóstratos) of Tenedus, astronomer, probably at the end of the 6th cent. BC, according to Theophr. De signis 4, he made his observations from the Ida mountain range. His work, of which two hexameters have been handed down, is called in the …

[German version] (κύκλοι; kýkloi, Latin cycli). The eleven celestial orbits (cf. Eudoxus fr. 62-69; Arat. 469-558; Geminus Astronomicus 5; Hyg. P…

[German version] (Κιδήνας; Kidḗnas, Babylonian Kidinnu), Chaldean astronomer, at the latest in the 2nd cent. BC, mentioned by Strabo as well as Sudines and Naburianus, discoverer of the equation 251 synodic months = 269 anomalistic months, originator of system B of the Babylonian moon calendar. His observations were probably used by  Critodemus (CCAG 5,2,128,15),  Hipparchus [6] and  Ptolemaeus.…

[German version] (Ῥητόριος; Rhētórios). R. was the last Greek-writing expert on astrology in Egypt before the Arab conquest in AD 640, . He played an important role in the transmission of older theories to the Middle Ages. His work, which has been preserved in compilations, probably even incomplete, of 90 and 117 chapters, draws in particular on Antiochus [23] and Teucer of Babylon, as well as on Claudius Ptolemaeus [65], Vettius Valens, Iulianus [19] of Laodicea and Olympiodorus' [4] commentaries …