Panaino Recensione Arcana Mundi

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ReviewAuthor(s): Antonio PanainoReview by: Antonio PanainoSource: East and West, Vol. 47, No. 1/4 (December 1997), pp. 441-442Published by: Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29757339Accessed: 05-02-2016 17:23 UTC

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HISTORY

OF

SCIENCES

Giuseppe

Bezza,

Arcana Mundi.

Antologia

del

pensiero

astrologico

antico,

2

vols. Biblioteca

Universale

Rizzoli,

Milano

1995,

1148

pp.

This

anthology,

edited

by

Giuseppe

Bezza,

a

deep specialist

of Classical

and

Mediaeval

astrology

(1), represents

an

important

and

very

useful

tool

for the

study

f astraldivination

from

Antiquity

to

the

Renaissance.

In

the

Introduction

(pp.

5-34)

the author describes

the

evolution

of

the

astrological

art,

starting

from

preastrological

omen-texts

and

Babylonian

nativities

to

the Greek

elaboration,

and

paying

close

attention

to

the

relationship

between

Mesopotamian

astronomical

sciences

and

their Western

adaptations

and

developments.

It is

necessary

to

underline

that the

cultural

contacts

and

ramifications

among

Indian,

Sasanian,

Arabic

and Mediaeval

techniques

are

also

treated

in

this

work,

a

care

which

is

rare

in

general

discussion where

the

classical

texts

are

the

main

subject.

The

work

is

divided

into 18

chapters,

each

one

dedicated

to

a

specific

subject

of

astrology

with

an

introductory

section,

followed

by

a

selection

of

sources

(Greek,

Byzantine,

Latin,

Mediaeval

and

Humanistic

Latin, Arabic),

sometimes translated for the first time into a

modern

European

language:

1)

Names and

object

of

Astrology

( Nomi

e

oggetto

dell astrologia ,

pp.

35-61)

with

texts

by

Gerolamo

Vitali,

Conrad

Rauchfuss,

al-Bir?ni,

Bartolomeo

da

Parma,

Gerolamo

Cardano.

2)

The

Seven

Planets

( I

sette

pianeti ,

pp.

63-107)

with

texts

by

Ptolemy, Olympiodorus,

Marsilio

Ficino,

ab?

Ma s?r,

etc.

3)

The

Zodiac

( Lo

zodiaco ,

pp.

109-62),

with

texts

by

Rhetorius,

Orpheus,

Paul

Alexandrinus,

Vettius

Valens,

etc.

4)

The

Harmony

of

the

Spheres

( L armonia

delle

sfere ,

pp.

163-92),

with texts

by

Censorinus,

Ptolemy,

etc.

5)

The

Twelve

Houses

( Le

dodici

case ,

pp.

193-282),

with

texts

by

Placido

Titi,

al-Hw?rizml,

Abraham

ibn

Ezra,

etc.

6)

The

Dignities

of the

Planets

( Le

dignit?

dei

pianeti ,

pp.

283-300)

with

texts

by Ptolemy,

Ficino,

Firmicus,

al-QabisI,

Cardano,

etc.

7)

The

Configurations

of

the

Planets

( Le

configurazioni

dei

pianeti ,

pp.

301-420),

with

texts

by

Rhetorius, Valens,

Bartolomeo da

Parma,

etc.

8) The Fixed Stars ( Le stelle fisse , pp.

421-73)

with

texts

by

Antoine

de

Villon,

Jean

Stade,

etc.

9)

The

Planetary

Week

( La

settimana

plane?

taria ,

pp.

475-517)

with

texts

by

Dio

Cassius,

Teophilus

of

Edessa,

Philon

Alexandrinus,

etc.

10)

Catarchic

Astrology

( L astrologia

catar

chica , pp.

519-48),

with

texts

by

Demetrius

and

Ephestio,

Palchos,

etc.

11)

Catholic

Astrology ( L astrologia

cattolica ,

pp.

549-669),

with

texts

by

Ptolemy,

Rhetorius,

Placido

Titi,

M?s? all?h,

and

many

others.

12)

Iatromathematics

( La

iatromatematica ,

pp. 671-756, vol. II), with textsbyAbu Ma s?r,

Proclus,

Valens,

etc.

13)

Conception

and

Birth

( Concepimento

e

nascita ,

pp.

757-852),

with

texts

by Ptolemy,

Ali

ibn

Ridw?n,

Nabod,

Censorinus, Proclus,

etc.

14)

The

Doctrine

of

the Nativities

( La

dottrina

delle

nativit? ,

pp.

853-94),

with

texts

by Ptolemy,

Ridw?n, Nabod,

Rauchfuss,

Titi,

Guido

Bonati,

etc.

15)

The Nativities

( Le

nativit? , pp.

895

962),

with

texts

by Hephaestio,

the

nativity

of

Constantinus

Porphyrogenitus,

etc.

16)The

Lots

( Le sorti ,pp. 963-1012),

with

texts

by

Paul

Alexandrinus,

Johannes

Camaterus,

Niz?mi,

Ab?

Ma s?r,

Valens,

etc.

17)

The

Future Times

(T

tempi

futuri ,pp.

1013-62)

with

texts

by

Ab?

Ma s?r, Dorotheus,

etc.

18)

Appendix ( Appendice ,

pp.

1063-82)

with

the

text

of

the first

seven

sentences

of the

pseudo

Ptolemaic

Centiloquium,

and

a

text

of

astrological

chiromancy.

The

work

ends with

a

Glossary

( Glossario ,

pp.

1083-93),

two

bibliographical

lists

( Bi

bliografia

antica ,

pp.

1095-1111,

Bibliografia

moderna , pp. 1111-21), and three separate

indexes

(Tndice

degli argomenti ,

pp.

1123-31,

Indice dei

nomi ,

pp.

1133-42,

Indice

generale ,

pp.

1143-48).

I

would

like

to

express

my

appreciation

for

this

anthology,

which

for the

first

ime

collects

so

many

different

texts,

offering

a

wider-ranging

but

consistent

overview

of

astrological

literature,

with

commented

and

faithful

translations.

In

441






a

field

where

popular

and nonsensical books

are

continuously

growing,

this

text

offers

a

prudent

and documented

introductory

key

to

these old Arcana Mundi and represents a useful

instrument

also

for

specialists working

on

the

different ranches

of

astrology

nd divination

in

Antiquity,

theMiddle

Ages

and

theRenaissance.

My

only

comment

concerns

the author s

usage

of

the

term

astrology

for

the

Mesopotamian

omen

tradition,

which

is

acceptable

only

in

a

very

general

sense.

Of

course,

Bezza

underlines

in

different

laces

that this

form f divination

was

different

from Greek and later

astrology,

but

I

think

it is time

to

use a

more

precise

terminology.

In

this

Bezza is

not

at

fault,

because,

for

istance,

the

very

good

book

by

Hermann

Hunger

on

the

Babylonian

omens was entitled

Astrological

Reports

to

Assyrian

Kings

(Helsinki

1992),

and

Abraham

Sachs

defined

as

horoscopes

the

nativities he found

in

tablets of the

reign

of

Darius

I

(see

his

important

article

Babylonian

Horoscopes , Journal

of Cuneiform

Studies,

6,

1952,

pp. 49-75),

and

in

some cases

in

previous

works

I

too

employed

the

same

definition.

Now I

am

convinced that this

terminology

is

unsatisfactory.

In

fact,

the

so-called

Babylonian

Horoscopes

do

not attest

the

concept

of

horoscope

(i.e.,

following

David

Pingree

(2),

the

ascendant,

which

implies

the

computation

of

the

cusps

of

the

12

astrological

places

which

play

no

role

in

these

cuneiform

texts ),

which

was

basic

for Greek

astrology

and

they

remain

in

the

category

of

the

omen

tradition.

Then

I

prefer

to

restrict

the

term

astrology

only

to

genethlialogy

and derived

or

connected

forms of

horoscopical

divination

(catarchic,

interrogational,

political

and

military astrology), reserving

the

espression

astral divination

or

astral

magic

(as

Erica

Reiner

did

in

her beautiful book Astral

Magic

in

Babylonia,

Philadelphia

1995)

for

pre-astrological

traditions.

Antonio

Panaino

(*)

See also G.

Bezza,

Commento

al

primo

libro

delta Tetrabiblos di

Claudio

Tolemeo,

Milano

1992;

P.

D Alessandria,

Lineamenti

introduttivi

alia

scienza

delta

previsione

astronomica,

a

cura

di

G.

Bezza,

Interpretazioni

astronomiche

di S.

de

Meis,

Milano

1993.

(2)

See

his

chapter

Mesopotamian

Celestial Omens

and the

Origins

of Greek

Astrology ,

in

From Astral

Omens

to

Astrology.

From

Babylon

to

Blk?ner,

SOR,

LXXVIII,

Roma 1997.

David

Pingree,

Census

of

the

Exact

Sciences

in

Sanskrit.

Series

A,

Vol.

5.

Memoirs of the

American

Philosophical

Society,

Vol.

213,

Philadelphia

1994,

XXVI-756

pp.

The

present

volume

is

the fifth

nd

penultim?

ate

of

a

series of books

which,

according

to

the

project

planned

by

the author

(1970, p.

1),

David

Pingree

(Professor

of

History

of Mathematics

at

the

Brown

University,

Providence,

Rhode

Island,

USA),

will

provide

all available

bibliographical

information

concerning

works

in

jyotihsastra

and related fields

and

biographical

information

concerning

their authors . The Census

of

the

Exact Sciences

in

Sanskrit

CESS)

consists of

two

series: Series A and

Series

B

(plus

a

concluding

volume

with

astronomical

parameters,

genealo?

gical

stemmata

of

authors,

indices of scribes

and

commentators,

etc.).

The first

Series,

which will

soon

be concluded

with

a

sixth and final

volume,

started

n

1970

(CESS,

Seris

A,

Vol.

1,

Memoirs

of theAmerican

Philosophical

Society,

Vol.

81,

Philadelphia),

followed

by

vol.

2

(Memoirs

of

theAPHS, Vol. 86, Philadelphia 1971), vol. 3

(Memoirs

of the

APHS,

Vol.

Ill,

Philadelphia

1976)

and vol.

4

(Memoirs

of the

APHS,

Vol.

146,

Philadelphia

1981).

It

contains articles

on

the Sanskrit

authors

arranged

in

the

order of

the Sanskrit

alphabet

(vol.

1,

names

beginning

with

a,

?,

i, i,

u,

u,

r,

I,

e, at,

o,

au;

vol.

2,

with

k,

kh,

g,

gh;

vol. 3

with

c,

ch,

j,

jh,

t,

th,

d,

dh,

t,

th,

d, dh,

n;

vol.

4

with

p,

ph,

h, bh,

m\

vol.

5

with

y,

r,

I,

v).

About

4000

authors

have been mentioned

in

these

volumes

with

detailed information

on

their

biography

and

in

particular

with

the lists of their

works

on

jyotihsastra

the threebranches of Indian astral

and

mathematical

literature:

omens

[samhita],

astronomy

[ganita]

and

astrology

[hora])

and

related

matters

(i.e.

cosmology, geography

and

the

aspects

of dharmas?stra literature connected

with

astronomical

problems).

With reference

to

each

text

it

is

possible

also

to

find listed the

commentators,

the

manuscripts,

the editions and

translations,

then the discussions

about the

subject

442




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