Astrology / History

Astrology in the Roman World 200 B.C.-500 A.D.

    
    The first work of importance in Roman astrology was the Astronomica of Manilius (c 48 B.C.-c 20 A.D.), inspired by Posidonius and composed around 14 A.D. in poetic form, but, from such artistic heights the Romans discovered the practical uses of astrology in a way unknown to its previous initiates.
    
    The potential of astrology was immediately seen by many of the leading figures in Rome, and Pompey, Mark Anthony and Octavian all used astrologers in the civil war which brought Republican Rome to an end around 30 B.C. Octavian, when he became Emperor as Augustus in 27 B.C., had coins printed with the symbol of his Moon sign, Capricorn, on the reverse. In spite of his support of astrology, Augustus still was forced to curb the activities of the astrologers in Rome, like so many Emperors after him, lest they caused public opinion to go against him. Julius Caesar himself was a non-believer, and it is an interesting correction of popular myth that the famous warning that he should beware of the Ides of March was made not by an astrologer, but by an augur. Subsequent Emperors, following the lead of Tiberius (14-37 A.D.) reduced astrology to its basest level by using it to get the better of their rivals and subjects, sometimes murdering the astrologers who had given them advice.
    
    Tiberius learnt to interpret horoscopes himself but regularly sought advice from other astrologers whom he would have hurled from a cliff near his villa if he was in any way dissatisfied with their skill, advice or ability to keep the consultation confidential. The most successful astrologer of the reign was a certain Thrasyllus whom Tiberius had first encountered on the Island of Rhodes. Eventually Thrasyllus was invited to Tiberius's villa to advise the Emperor.
    
    Thrasyllus' reading impressed Tiberius, but he still decided to put the astrologer to the test and asked him to consider his own future. Thrasyllus drew up a chart, perhaps a horary, and in alarm cried that a great danger lay ahead. Either impressed by the astrologer's skill, or amused by his cheek, Tiberius spared Thrasyllus the journey down the cliff and employed him as his permanent astrologer for the rest of the reign. Thrasyllus' son, Balbillus, was astrologer to Tiberius' successors Claudius (41-54), the conqueror of Britain, Nero (54-68) and Vespasian (69-79). Unlike Thrasyllus who, according to Suetonius restrained the bloodthirsty tendencies of Tiberius, Balbillus encouraged those of Nero, and on one particular occasion inspired his master to murder a great number of Roman nobles in order to appease a comet which he feared was a bad omen. Titus, (79-81), the destroyer of the Temple at Jerusalem, and his brother Domitian, were both accomplished astrologers, as was the Emperor Hadrian (117-138), the builder of the great wall in northern Britain which bears his name. Domitian was in the habit of casting the nativities of his rivals and executing those whom he judged posed a threat to his rule, but the unsavory trend of Emperors such as this was reversed briefly in the second century. The principal of these were Antonius Pius (138-161), and Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic philosopher, (161-180), who brought a brief period of humanity to the Roman court.

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