The Astronomica is a Latin didactic poem on astrology composed in five books. It was published in the early first century CE.
Authorship
Its author is unknown, but the name Marcus Manilius first appears in manuscripts in the tenth century. This could possibly refer to a Greek astrologer and freedman named Manilius Antiochus mentioned by Pliny the Elder who lived in the first century BCE, but unless Pliny was mistaken about when Manilius Antiochus lived, he is too early to be the author of the Astronomica (Volk, p. 5).
It is possible that this is a separate Manilius, and that there were two Manilii who were astrologers at Rome; or that the name Manilius found attached to this work is spurious, and an anonymous poem was assigned the authorship based on Pliny’s (or an otherwise lost) notice of Manilius the astrologist.
Because of the extreme doubts concerning authorship, this site omits the name Manilius from the title.
Date
The only sure terminus post quem for the Astronomica is the mention of Varus’ defeat at Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE. Katharina Volk places it at the end of the reign of Augustus or beginning of Tiberius’ reign, c. 10-20 CE.
Content
The poem was written in five books. It is written in hexameters, as is typical of Latin didactic poetry. The books provide an valuable window into the reception of Greek astrology at Rome, detailing at length methods for identifying stellar positions and interpreting the influences of the zodiac signs.
The Astronomica draws heavily from Aratus, Lucretius, and Vergil, while adopting Augustan age poetics. This adds philosophical (chiefly Stoic) and civic/imperial themes, adding additional dimensions beyond technical matters.
His work was in turn used Lucan, Petronius, and Juvenal, among others.
Astronomica Online
Latin: PHI Latin Texts
Books and Articles
- Katharina Volk 2009. Manilius and His Intellectual Background. Oxford.
