Part I: Restorations, confirmations, and corrections.

The first part of our horoscope is missing, including any introductory information such as the name of the native, the date and place for which the horoscope was computed, the entire section devoted to the Sun, and nearly the whole section devoted to the Moon. Elsewhere some items of information are lost to holes, abrasion, and staining, or only partially legible, and what can be read may sometimes be affected by errors committed by the copyist or the original composer of the horoscope. Fortunately large parts of the text follow a repetitive formulaic structure, some missing data can be deduced from astronomical considerations, and most of the astrological data were derived from the astronomical data according to identifiable rules that can be put into reverse. The first part of our commentary is primarily concerned with restoring and, where necessary, correcting the data relating to the longitudes of the heavenly bodies and astrologically significant points; and the date, time, and geographical locality of the nativity. Further discussion of the astronomical and astrological data in their own right will follow in parts II and III respectively.⬈#p71

The longitudes were expressed as zodiacal sign, degrees, and minutes. The other information in the horoscope derived from the longitudes included the following:⬈#p72

• The house ruler. This was one of the Sun, Moon, and five planets, according to a recognized scheme that assigned one complete zodiacal sign to each of the Sun and Moon, and two to each of the planets. Thus knowing the house ruler identifies the sign itself either uniquely or as one of a pair. Our horoscope is very reliable with respect to house rulers.
• The terms ruler. Terms (ὅρια, literally, “boundaries”) were subdivisions of irregular length of the zodiacal signs, each having one of the five planets as its ruler. Our horoscope reliably follows the so-called Egyptian system of terms, which was by far the most commonly used of the several attested systems and which is completely known from multiple sources. If the zodiacal sign is known, knowing the terms ruler narrows the longitude to a range of degrees within the sign.
• The monomoiria. Each degree of a zodiacal sign was assigned to one of the seven heavenly bodies according to the following scheme. The first degree had the same ruler as the sign taken as a whole, while the rulers of the subsequent degrees cycled through the standard, so-called Chaldean order Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. Thus if the zodiacal sign is known, knowing the monomoiria limits the longitude to a set of four or five single degrees spread out at intervals of seven degrees. Our horoscope is usually reliable with respect to monomoiriai, but there is one clear instance of error.
• The triplicity (or trigon). Each set of three zodiacal signs at intervals of four signs forms a triplicity, ruled by one of the seven heavenly bodies for diurnal nativities and another for nocturnal. Since the rulers given for the triplicities in our horoscope frequently conflict with the standard system, we have not made use of this information to establish or confirm the zodiacal signs.
• The dodekatemorion. This is a variety of scheme that associates either twelve or thirteen equal divisions of each sign of the zodiac with one of the zodiacal signs. The particular scheme used in our horoscope, as we infer from the data, takes the degrees of the longitude, disregarding the minutes, multiplies by thirteen, and counts the product from the beginning of the zodiacal sign to find the sign of the dodekatemorion. The dodekatemoria appear to have been consistently computed correctly.
• Exaltations and depressions. Each of the seven heavenly bodies has its exaltation in one zodiacal sign, and its depression in the diametrically opposite sign, according to a standardized system. Knowledge that a sign is the exaltation or depression of a particular body determines the sign. In our horoscope this information is reliable.
• Nearby fixed star. The bottom register of each column of the horoscope’s first part names a star that is close to the heavenly body. If the star is identifiable, it determines the body’s longitude within a few degrees.
• Lots. Lots are astrologically significant longitudes equal to a sum or difference involving the ascendant and some subset of the longitudes of the heavenly bodies. Our horoscope presents a system of seven lots whose formulas are given by Paulus Alexandrinus. The lots determine precise relations among the longitudes. The computations of lots in our horoscope have apparently been carried out carefully.

The papyrus preserves complete statements of the longitudes of Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, the ascendant, and the ascending and descending nodes. Saturn’s zodiacal sign can be deduced to be Aries, which together with Scorpio has Mars as its house ruler and which is the exaltation of the Sun and depression of Saturn. The Moon must be within a few degrees of its mean longitude, given as Cancer 24° 3', and the Sun within thirty degrees of Mercury and within sixty degrees of Venus, say between Scorpio 15° and Sagittarius 30°. Hence we have the following “low precision” data for establishing the date of the horoscope:⬈#p73

With the Sun in Scorpio or Sagittarius and the ascendant in Virgo, this is obviously a nocturnal nativity. We can narrow down the possible dates using the usual strategy for simple undated horoscopes, beginning with the combination of Saturn’s and Jupiter’s positions.⁸ Limiting consideration on the basis of the papyrus’s paleography to years between 200 and 500 CE, and allowing generous margins beyond the sign boundaries, the combination Saturn in Aries, Jupiter in Virgo would be possible for the following years:⁹⬈#p74

201-202, 260-261, 319-321, 379-380, 438-439, 497-498⬈#p75

For each of these years, we inspect the longitudes of Mars and the ascending node on November 20, around the middle of the span of less than two months possible for the Sun. In a single month Mars cannot move an entire sign, while the Moon’s nodes shift by less than two degrees. ⬈#p76

Since we are not testing for very precise agreement, we have used the theories of Ptolemy’s Almagest to test each of the listed years because of the convenience of Robert van Gent’s Almagest Ephemeris Calculator for making such comparisons.¹⁰ Only for 319 do we find a satisfactory match for both Mars and the node. Taking into account the signs occupied by Venus, Mercury, and the Moon, we can narrow the possible dates down to November 17-19.⬈#p77

To obtain further precision, we exploit the formulas for calculating the Lot of Fortune λ_Fortune and the Lot of Daimon λ_Daimon from the longitudes of the ascendant (λ_H), the Sun (λ_☉), and the Moon (λ_☾) for a nocturnal nativity:⬈#p78

λ_Fortune = λ_H + λ_☉ – λ_☾⬈#p79

λ_Daimon = λ_H + λ_☾ – λ_☉⬈#p80

This gives us the elongation of the Moon from the Sun, (λ_☾ – λ_☉), as 241° 22', while incidentally securing the uncertainly read numeral for the degrees of the Lot of Fortune. According to the Almagest theories, this elongation was attained, to the nearest equinoctial hour, on November 19 at about two equinoctial hours after midnight for the meridian of Alexandria. For this date and time, we compare data computed by the theories of the Almagest with the papyrus (Table 1).⬈#p81

Further refinements and corrections are possible. Saturn’s dodekatemorion is stated to be in Taurus; this could only be true for a longitude whose whole number part is 3° or 4°. The precise longitude can be determined as Aries 3° 43' from the formula for the Lot of Nemesis for a nocturnal nativity:⬈#p82

λ_Nemesis = λ_H + λ_♄ – λ_Fortune⬈#p83

In the case of Jupiter, the stated longitude, Virgo 7° 40', conflicts with Mercury as the terms ruler (valid in Virgo only for longitudes less than or equal to 6°) and with Jupiter as ruler of the monomoiria (valid for 3° + 7i< λ ≤ 4° + 7i, i = 0, 1, 2, or 3). From the formula for the Lot of Victory for a nocturnal nativity,⬈#p84

λ_Victory = λ_H + λ_Daimon – λ_♃⬈#p85

we find Jupiter’s longitude as Virgo 3° 40', consistent with the other astrologial data derived from the longitude. The figure 7° in the papyrus must be a copying error (zeta instead of gamma).⬈#p86

The Moon’s dodekatemorion fell in Gemini, so that the whole number part of its longitude was either 26° or 27°. Even at the beginning of this range this would imply an equation greater than +1° 57' where the Almagest gives +1° 41', so we may assume that the longitude was not much greater than Cancer 26°.⬈#p87

The data provided for the preceding full Moon provide us with another check on the solar and lunar longitudes. According to the papyrus, the exact opposition took place on Hathyr 17 (November 14) at the 7th seasonal hour—undoubtedly of day, though the indication of this is illegible—with the Sun at Scorpio 20° 30' and the Moon at Taurus 20° 30'. Since the nativity was roughly four and a half days later, the Sun’s longitude at the nativity should have been within a few minutes of Scorpio 25° 0', and (adding the known elongation) the Moon’s should have been within a few minutes of Cancer 26° 22'.⬈#p88

With an approximate value for the Sun’s longitude, we can use the ascendant to get a more accurate estimate of the time of the nativity as well as the terrestrial latitude for which the horoscope was computed, on the hypotheses that the time was a whole number of seasonal hours past sunset and that trigonometrical tables comparable to Ptolemy’s were used to determine the cardines. For a chosen latitude, we find the oblique ascensions of the ascendant (ρ_H) and of the point diametrically opposite the Sun (ρ_180°–☉) as well as the number of degrees of ascension corresponding to one seasonal hour of night (χ). The ascensional difference divided by χ gives the number of seasonal hours past midnight corresponding to the ascendant for the chosen latitude; if it is close to an integer, this is likely to be the correct latitude.⬈#p89

From the oblique ascension tables of the Handy Tables we find the data given in Table 2.¹¹ The circumstance that the calculations for the latitude of Syene lead to exactly 7 seasonal hours strongly suggests that we have reconstructed the basis on which the ascendant was computed. This result implies (1) that the assumed time and place of the nativity were 319 November 19, end of the 7th hour of night, on the parallel through Syene, (2) that the ascension tables were essentially the same as those of the Handy Tables, and (3) that the longitude of the Sun was assumed to be exactly Scorpio 25° 0', either because this was the actual longitude calculated for the date or because the longitude was close enough to a whole number that the computer did not bother to interpolate in the table but merely read of the tabulated value for the nearest whole degree. (If we take the Sun’s stated longitude at the preceding full Moon and add the Sun’s progress between that moment and that of the nativity according to the Almagest, we get approximately Scorpio 25° 8'.)⬈#p90

According to the table of right ascensions of the Handy Tables, the midheaven corresponding to ρ_H = 159° 5' is Gemini 10° 44'. Unfortunately all that one can be sure of from the papyrus is that the whole number part of the midheaven’s longitude was 10° or greater, and that the number of minutes had two digits.⬈#p91

Table 3 lists the positions of the planets, nodes, preceding full moon and cardines with the restorations and corrections for technical data discussed above; for a diagrammatic representation see Fig. 6.⬈#p92

Part II: Astronomical commentary.

For purposes of comparison with modern theory, we assume (disregarding the effect of the equation of time) that times according to our horoscope as well as according to the Almagest theories are two equinoctial hours later than UT. The time of the nativity derived above is approximately 1.1 equinoctial hours past midnight, and the horoscope’s time for the preceding full Moon is approximately 0.9 equinoctial hours past noon. The longitudinal data present in the papyrus or securely restored are compared below with computations for the same dates and times according to the Almagest and according to the modern theory.¹² The errors with respect to the JPL figures are in parentheses.⬈#p93

It is immediately obvious that the longitudes in the papyrus were not obtained from Ptolemy’s tables, but from some other source of roughly equivalent accuracy. Considering only the five planets, the mean error for the papyrus is –25', with a standard deviation of 35'; the Almagest mean error is –1° 49', with standard deviation 39'. The mean error of Ptolemy’s longitudes is largely due to his defective tropical frame of reference, which is about a degree off for his own time and by the date of the horoscope about a degree and a half off.¹³ If, as we incline to believe, the longitudes of the horoscope are to be understood as tropical, the planetary tables on which it was based seem to have reflected little error in the frame of reference. On the other hand, the tables for the Sun and Moon appear to have had similar systematic errors to Ptolemy’s. Perhaps the composer of the horoscope used tables from different sources for the luminaries and for the planets.⬈#p94

An alternative possibility worth exploring is that the longitudes in the horoscope are in a sidereal frame of reference. Abundant evidence exists that when Ptolemy’s tables were used for astrological purposes during the third and fourth centuries, the tropical longitudes obtained from the tables were generally converted to sidereal by adding 8° minus one-eightieth of a degree for every year since 158 BCE, a formula explicitly reported by Theon of Alexandria as employed by the “astrologers of old.”¹⁴ For the nativity date, the value of this correction would have been approximately +2° 3', an amount that would more or less cancel out the error of Ptolemy’s tropical frame of reference. It is conceivable, therefore, that the planetary longitudes in the papyrus look like tropical longitudes in an accurate tropical frame of reference because they are actually sidereal longitudes in a frame of reference that by chance nearly coincided with the true tropical frame of reference in the early fourth century. This hypothesis fails, however, to explain why the longitudes for the Sun and Moon appear to fit Ptolemy’s inaccurate tropical frame of reference, and moreover our reconstructed computation of the ascendant assumes that the solar longitude was understood as tropical.⬈#p95

The synchronization of the longitudinal theories of the Sun and Moon is crucial for obtaining accurate times of94 syzygy. According to the JPL ephemeris, the exact opposition on November 14 occurred less than 20 minutes before the time given in the papyrus, which of course is expressed just as a whole number of seasonal hours; the Almagest theories predict exact opposition about 20 minutes later than the papyrus.⬈#p96

A puzzling item in the horoscope is the longitude given for the “latitude (πλάτοϲ) of the Moon,” Capricorn 18° 3'. Obviously this is not a latitude at all, nor does it have any recognizable relation to the Moon’s argument of latitude (167° 20' from the northern limit according to the Almagest) or the nodes. We suspect that it represents the longitude of the apogee in an eccentric lunar model. Modern theory puts the lunar apogee at Capricorn 27° 41', while according to the mean motions of the Almagest, this point (which has no direct role in Ptolemy’s epicyclic model) would have been at Capricorn 25° 29' (error –2° 12'). Hence if our identification is correct, the error in the apogee (–9° 38') and the resulting phase error in lunar anomaly of the tables used for the horoscope were considerably greater than Ptolemy’s. The incorrect designation of this position as the latitude could have resulted from eyeskip in copying a list of data relating to the Moon.⬈#p97

We pointed out previously that if the solar tables used for the horoscope gave the same increase in the Sun’s longitude as the Almagest over the interval between the preceding full Moon and the nativity, the Sun’s longitude at the nativity should have been about Scorpio 25° 8', and hence, adding the elongation 241° 22', the Moon’s longitude should have been about Cancer 26° 30'. Subtracting the Moon’s mean longitude, Cancer 24° 3', we find the Moon’s equation to be about +2° 27'.⬈#p98

Now suppose that the lunar tables used by the horoscope’s composer assumed a simple eccentric model, the eccentric counterpart of the preliminary epicyclic model of Almagest Book 4. Entering the Moon’s argument of anomaly (i.e. the mean Moon minus the apogee), 186° 0', in the table of equations in Book 4 chapter 10, we find an equation of merely +35'. Obviously a simple model, even with a much larger eccentricity, could not have produced an equation of about two and a half degrees.⬈#p99

The final lunar model of Almagest Book 5, which accounts for the Moon’s second anomaly by introducing a rapidly revolving eccenter bearing the epicycle, yields an equation of +1° 36' because Ptolemy’s special definition of the apogee of the lunar epicycle introduces an adjustment (commonly called the prosneusis in modern discussions) to the argument of anomaly. This correction is dependent on the mean elongation of the Moon from the Sun. The equation, in turn, is dependent on this corrected argument of anomaly and on the mean elongation.⬈#p100

Suppose now that the tables used for the horoscope assumed a model that was functionally similar to Ptolemy’s final model. We may assume that the mean elongation would have been very nearly the same as obtained from the Almagest theory, 238° 37', but, because of the greater phase error, the mean anomaly was 186° 0' instead of 178° 52'. The so-called prosneusis correction, +13° 9', is unchanged, so the corrected argument is 199° 9', and the equation is +2° 32'. Since this is quite close to the value we are looking for, it would appear that our conjecture is correct that the longitude Capricorn 18° 3' in the horoscope refers to the apogee in lunar model in which an eccenter accounted for the first anomaly, and moreover this model also incorporated a correction for the second anomaly in a way not dissimilar from Ptolemy’s final model.⬈#p101

The middle register for the Moon and each of the planets contains a statement about the body’s position and motion in latitude. It comprises three parts:⬈#p102

• A location statement “in the ascent/descent of the south/north” (ἐπὶ τῆϲ τοῦ νοτίου/βορείου ἀναβάϲεωϲ/καταβάϲεωϲ). This is probably according to a division of the ecliptic into four quadrants delimited by nodes and northern and southern limits, so that the variables were determined purely by the body’s longitude and the location of the nodes.
• The latitude expressed in degrees and minutes in a stated direction south or north (ὡϲ πρὸϲ τὰϲ μεϲημβρίαϲ/ἄρκτουϲ) of the ecliptic. This would have been computed using tables based on a latitudinal model.
• A qualitative statement about the latitude in the form “ascending/descending the south/north” (ἀναβαίνων/καταβαίνων τὰ νότια/βόρεια) or simply “ascending/descending.” The trend was likely also determined from the latitudinal model, e.g. by comparing latitudes computed for consecutive days, while the direction, when given, simply repeats information from the second part using a different vocabulary.

The Moon’s descending node is given later in the papyrus as Taurus 9° 40', and, as we have seen, the Moon’s own longitude was near Cancer 26° 30', so it would have been on the descending quadrant south of the ecliptic. If the maximum lunar latitude was assumed to be 5° (Ptolemy’s parameter), an argument of latitude around 166° 50' would yield a latitude of –4° 52'. Only the whole number of the latitude, 4°, and the indication in the third part that the Moon is moving further south survive on the papyrus.⬈#p103

The latitudes and trends (represented by arrows, up meaning northward) ascribed to the planets in the horoscope are summarized below, with comparisons from Ptolemy’s Almagest and Handy Tables and from modern theory.⬈#p104

Saturn was in fact near its southern limit, so that a modest shift in its assumed nodal line would explain why the papyrus has its latitude decreasing, but the indication that it was north of the ecliptic is surely a mistake rather than a reflection of a variant latitudinal model. Similarly Jupiter was close enough to its northern limit so that its computed trend would have been sensitive to the exact placement of the nodal line. In any case, it is obvious that the latitudinal models underlying the data in the papyrus were significantly different from either those of the Almagest or the revised models of the Handy Tables.¹⁵⬈#p105

The lowest register identifies a fixed star that “rises with” the heavenly body. These turn out to be stars in the zodiacal belt, and the principle of their selection seems to have been proximity in longitude, not in oblique ascension; in other words, the composer of the horoscope simply consulted a star catalogue, paying attention only to the stars' longitudes. As we will see, the catalogue was similar or identical to the zodiacal star list in the Handy Tables. The text in the horoscope (“being north/south of the star”) gives the impression that the stated number of degrees and minutes represents a difference in latitude between the star and the heavenly body, but comparison with the Handy Tables list shows that this quantity is simply the star’s own latitude. Perhaps τοῦ ἀϲτέροϲ (“of the star”) is a confused substitution for τοῦ διὰ μέϲων (“of the ecliptic”). βαθμόϲ, “step,” as a quasi-unit for the stars' magnitudes (which again simply match Ptolemy’s) has no parallel of which we are aware; it is unrelated to the use of βαθμόϲ for a unit of argument of latiude (equivalent to 15°).¹⁶⬈#p106

The Handy Tables list is an adaptation from the catalogue of Almagest Books 7-8 but with many variants in the names assigned to the stars. Instead of absolute longitudes for a specific epoch date, the list gives each star’s elongation from Regulus (obtained by subtracting Regulus’s Almagest longitude, 122° 30', from the star’s Almagest longitude). The stars are not grouped according to the imaginary figures of the constellations but in order of increasing elongation, which is convenient for finding which stars were closest to each heavenly body on a given date. In the absence of a critical edition of the list, we have consulted three early copies, L =Leid. B.P.G. 78 (ff. 142r-145r), F = Laur. plut. 28,26 (ff. 124v-127r), and V = Vat. gr. 1291 (ff. 90v-94v).¹⁷⬈#p107

For each of the planets, we give the body’s elongation from Regulus (subtracting the Handy Tables longitude of Regulus for the nativity date, Leo 4° 19' from the body’s horoscope longitude). The star’s name as given in the papyrus is followed by the form or forms of the name in the three Handy Tables manuscripts and the Almagest. References in the form “XXII: 1, PK 362, Heiberg 2.84-85” indicate the constellation and star number in Toomer’s translation of the Almagest catalogue, the number assigned by Peters and Knobel (following Bailly), and the page numbers in Heiberg’s edition.¹⁸ We also provide Toomer’s and Graßhoff’s identifications of the stars.¹⁹⬈#p108

Saturn. Elongation 239° 24'.⬈#p109

Papyrus: τῶν [ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ τοῦ Κριοῦ] γ/ ὁ ἡγού̣[μενοϲ]⬈#p110

Handy Tables (FV): τῶν ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ τοῦ Κριοῦ γ̅ ὁ ἡγούμενοϲ⬈#p111

L : ΤΟ ΕΝ ΤΗ ΚΕΦΑΛΙ Τ(ΟΥ) ΚΡΙΟΥ Γ̅ Ο Π(ΡΟ)ΗΓΟΥΜΕΝΟϹ⬈#p112

Almagest (XXII: 1,PK 362, Heiberg 2.84-85): τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ κέρωϲ β̅ ὁ προηγούμενοϲ⬈#p113

Elongation 244° 10', latitude +7° 20', magnitude 3⬈#p114

Toomer: γ Ari; Graßhoff: γ^2,1 Ari⬈#p115

Despite the gaps in the papyrus, enough survives of the star’s name to put its identity beyond reasonable doubt. At elongation 244° 10', it was not the closest star to Saturn in the Handy Tables list. The nearest star with a lower elongation is ὁ προηγούμενοϲ τοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ ϲυνδέϲμου τῶν β̅  λίνων (“the one in advance of the one on the node of the two fishing-lines” = XXXIII: 18, PK 691, Heiberg 2.126-127), while the nearest with a higher elongation is ὁ ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ϲυνδέϲμου τῶν β̅  λίνων λαμπρόϲ (“the bright one right on the node of the two fishing-lines” = XXXIII: 19, PK 692, Heiberg 2.126-127).²⁰ The star named in the papyrus comes immediately after this pair. Apparently either the list consulted by the composer of the horoscope was missing several stars that the Handy Tables list has in this region, or he made a mistake.⬈#p116

Jupiter. Elongation 29° 19'.⬈#p117

Papyrus: ὁ ἑπόμενοϲ τῆϲ νο[τί]α̣ϲ πτέρυγοϲ τῆϲ [Πα]ρ̣θ̣έ̣ν̣ο̣υ⬈#p118

Handy Tables (LFV): ὁ ἐπ᾿ ἄκραϲ τῆϲ νοτίαϲ πτέρυγοϲ τῆϲ Παρθένου⬈#p119

Almagest (XXVII: 5, PK 501, Heiberg 2.102-103): ὁ ἐπ᾿ ἄκραϲ τῆϲ νοτίου καὶ ἀριϲτερᾶϲ πτέρυγοϲ⬈#p120

Elongation 26° 30', latitude +0° 10'²¹, magnitude 3⬈#p121

Toomer, Graßhoff: β Vir⬈#p122

ἑπόμενοϲ (“trailing”) in the papyrus was probably a misreading of ἐπ᾿ ἄκραϲ (“on the tip of”). The next star in the Handy Tables list (but further from Jupiter at elongation 35° 45') is ὁ ἑπόμενοϲ καὶ δεύτεροϲ ὢν νοτιώτεροϲ αὐτοῦ (“the trailing and second one, being south of it” = XXVII: 6, PK 502, Heiberg 2.102-103).²²⬈#p123

Mars. Elongation 108° 13'.⬈#p124

Papyrus: ὁ ἑπόμενοϲ τῶν ἐν τῷ ϲτήθει τοῦ Ϲκορπίου⬈#p125

Handy Tables (V): ὁ ἑπόμενοϲ τῶν ἐν τῷ ϲτήθει τοῦ Ϲκορπίου⬈#p126

L: Ο ΕΠΟΜΕΝ(ΟϹ) Γ Τ(ΩΝ) ΕΝ ΤΩ ϹΤΙΘΗ Τ(ΟΥ) ϹΚΟΡΠΙ(ΟΥ)⬈#p127

F: Ο ΕΠΟΜΕΝΟϹ ΤΩΝ Γ̅ ΑϹΤΕΡΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΕΝ ΤΩ ϹΤΗΘΕΙ Τ(ΟΥ) ϹΚ(ΟΡΠΙΟΥ)⬈#p128

Almagest (XXIX: 9, PK 554, Heiberg 2.110-111): ὁ ἑπόμενοϲ τῶν γ̅ (scil. ἐν τῷ ϲώματι λαμπρῶν)⬈#p129

Elongation 102° 0', latitude +5° 30', magnitude 3⬈#p130

Toomer, Graßhoff: τ Sco⬈#p131

The papyrus agrees with V's version of the name in not indicating that this is one of a set of three stars; the somewhat unstable presence of the number in L and F may reflect contamination from the Almagest. The next star in the Handy Tables list, ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἑπομένου γόνατοϲ τοῦ Ὀφιούχου (“the one on the trailing knee of Ophiuchus” = XIII: 12, PK 245, Heiberg 2.68-69) had a greater longitude than Mars but was much closer to the planet, at elongation 108° 40'.⬈#p132

Venus. Elongation 84° 59'.⬈#p133

Papyrus: ὁ ἐν μέϲῃ τῇ νοτίῳ χή̣λῃ τοῦ Ϲκορπίου⬈#p134

Handy Tables (F): ὁ ἐν μέϲῃ τῇ νοτίᾳ χηλῇ τοῦ Ϲκορπίου⬈#p135

L: Ο ΕΝ ΜΕϹΩ Τ(ΗϹ) ΝΟ(ΤΙΑϹ) ΧΗΛ(ΗϹ) Τ(ΟΥ) ϹΚΟΡΠΙ(ΟΥ)⬈#p136

V: the relevant folio is lost⬈#p137

Almagest (XXVIII: 5, PK 533, Heiberg 2.106-107): ὁ ἐν μέϲῃ τῇ νοτίῳ χηλῇ⬈#p138

Elongation 81° 30', latitude –1° 40', magnitude 4⬈#p139

Toomer: ι Lib; Graßhoff: ι¹ Lib⬈#p140

The next star in the Handy Tables list, ὁ ἐν μέϲῃ τῇ βορείᾳ χηλῇ τοῦ Ϲκορπίου (“the one on the middle of the northern claw of the Scorpion”), has elongation 85° 20' and thus was closer to Venus though higher in longitude.⬈#p141

Mercury. Elongation 129° 34'.⬈#p142

Papyrus: ὁ βοριότεροϲ ἀ̣π̣ὸ̣ το̣ῦ̣ βοριοτάτου τῶν ἐν τῷ τ̣όξῳ⬈#p143

Handy Tables (FV): ὁ δεύτεροϲ ἀπὸ τοῦ βορειωτάτου τῶν ἐν τῷ τόξῳ⬈#p144

L: Ο Β̅ ΑΥΤ(ΟΥ) ΒΟΡΙΩΤΑ(ΤΟΥ) Τ(ΩΝ) ΕΝ ΤΩ ΤΟΞΩ⬈#p145

Almagest (XXX: 4, PK 573, Heiberg 2.112-113): τῶν ἐν τῷ βορείῳ μέρει τοῦ τόξου ὁ νοτιώτεροϲ⬈#p146

Elongation 126° 30', latitude –1° 30', magnitude 3⬈#p147

Toomer, Graßhoff: λ Sgr⬈#p148

The reading of L shows the origin of the papyrus’s βοριότεροϲ as a misinterpretation of the ordinal numeral beta as an abbreviation. The next star in the Handy Tables list, ὁ ἡγούμενοϲ τῶν ἐν τῷ ὠμοπλάτῃ τοῦ Τοξότου (“the leading one of those on the shoulderblade of Sagittarius” = XXX: 7, PK 576, Heiberg 2.112-113), was closer to Mercury at elongation 130° 30'.⬈#p149

Thus with the sole exception of the star provided for Saturn, which was probably chosen in error, the star said to be “rising with” each planet is consistently the star in the Handy Tables list that was closest to it in the direction of lower longitude. If this was the case for the Moon (at elongation 352° 11'), the star ought to have been the following:⬈#p150

Handy Tables (LF): τῶν ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ τοῦ Λέοντοϲ β̅ ὁ νοτιώτεροϲ⬈#p151

V: the relevant folio is missing⬈#p152

Almagest (XXVI: 4, PK 465, Heiberg 2.98-99): ὁ νοτιώτεροϲ αὐτῶν (scil. τῶν ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ β̅)⬈#p153

Elongation 351° 40', latitude –9° 30', magnitude greater than 3⬈#p154

Toomer, Graßhoff: ε Leo⬈#p155

This reconstruction has tenuous support in the surviving numeral for the magnitude (which could have been qualified with “greater than” either before or on the next line); the preceding and following stars in the Handy Tables list respectively have magnitudes “less than 4” and “greater than 4.”⬈#p156

Part III: Astrological Commentary

This part of our commentary consists of four sections. First, the kinds of astrological data represented in our horoscope will be given. Secondly, a tally will be made of all horoscopes in the extant corpus that include these data. Thirdly, examples of elaborate horoscopes incorporating a variety of data will be compared with our horoscope. Finally, their astrological meaning and context will be examined.⬈#p157

Astrological Techniques in P.Berl. 9825

The astrological significance of this papyrus can scarcely be overstated. It now joins other elaborate (sometimes called ‘deluxe’)²³ papyri in the extant corpus that apply a number of additional kinds of data (henceforth referred to as “technical data”) to the basic horoscopic positions given for the nativity (that is, the zodiacal longitudes – which may include degrees and minutes of the sign – of the planets and luminaries, the Ascendant, and sometimes the Midheaven and other cardines). The information given in the papyrus consists of the following:⬈#p158

• For the planets, luminaries, and lunar nodes
  (due to damage, the papyrus lacks information relating to the Sun)
  1. Zodiacal longitude
  2. Dignities²⁴ (in order of listing): house, terms, triplicity, exaltation/depression
  3. Monomoiria
  4. Dodekatemorion
  5. Latitude
  6. Co-rising (paranatellonta) with fixed stars
  7. Fixed star’s “step” in magnitude

• For the cardines: (Ascendant, Midheaven, Setting [Descendant], Lower Midheaven)
  1. Zodiacal longitude (degrees and minutes)
  2. Dignities: house, terms

• For the Lots: Fortune, Daimon, Eros, Necessity, Courage, Victory, Nemesis
  1. Zodiacal longitude
  2. Dignities: house, terms

• For the Moon only
  1. “Latitude” (apparently an error for longitude of apogee); its house
  2. Mean longitude; longitude’s house

• Prenatal full Moon
  1. Date of prenatal syzygy
  2. Zodiacal longitude
  3. Dignities: house, terms, triplicity
  4. Monomoiria
  5. Dodekatemorion
     • Presiding planet
     • Managing planet
     • Master of the nativity

The wealth of information provided by the horoscope is almost unparalleled in the extant corpus of original documentary and literary horoscopes. At present, there are 446 extant horoscopic texts (including our horoscope) surviving from antiquity, as catalogued by Stephan Heilen and including not only Greek (345) and Latin (8) charts but those in Akkadian (30), Demotic Egyptian (51), Coptic (1), Persian (2), Arabic (2, plus 7 unpublished) and Jewish (1).²⁵ Most of these extant horoscopes give only the luminary and planetary positions, the Ascendant, and occasionally the Midheaven, often only by sign, though many include zodiacal longitudes in degrees or degrees and minutes.²⁶ Some include a number of additional technical data (astronomical, astrological, or both) to be used in chart interpretation, in addition to basic information.⬈#p159

Frequency of Additional Technical Data in Extant Horoscopes

To see how frequently the varieties of technical data given in our horoscope are included in the corpus of extant horoscopes as a whole, we have made a tally of those specifically represented in P.Berl. 9825, namely: lots, latitudes, fixed stars, the Moon’s nodes, monomoiriai, dodekatemoria, pre-natal syzygy (new Moon or full Moon), planets presiding/managing, and ‘house-master’ (oikodespotes).²⁷ Table 6 inventories horoscopes in the currently known corpus that contain technical data, concentrating on those in Greek dated up to the end of late antiquity,²⁸ but excludes our present horoscope in the tally.⬈#p160

As the above list shows, lots are the most frequent addition to a horoscope (95). The second most frequent category is the prenatal syzygy, with 23, followed by the Moon’s nodes (18) and the oikodespotes (14). A very few include fixed stars (7), dodekatemoria (7), latitudes (5) or steps (4), presiding and managing planets (4) or monomoiriai (3). We should point out that of the extant horoscopes including additional technical data, most do not include large quantities of them, but concentrate on a few as needed for a specific interpretation. This makes our horoscope even more rare. To illustrate its exceptionality, we shall now look at the commonalities and differences between this and four other elaborate horoscopes of comparable length and content.⬈#p161

Elaborate Horoscopes: Examples and Comparisons

Only a small number of elaborate horoscopes approach the detail of ours. For a comparison, we shall look at four elaborate horoscopes, pertaining to nativities from the first through the fifth centuries CE (and thus probably composed from the late first through the sixth centuries), that contain at least five types of technical data in addition to the basic longitudes of planets, luminaries and cardines/angles. These include three original horoscopes on papyri and one preserved through the medieval manuscript tradition in multiple copies.⬈#p162

P.Lond. 1.130 (Hor. gr. 81.III.31 = GH 81)

This papyrus horoscope is dated to March 31, 81 CE, so was likely calculated in the late first to early second century CE.³² It consists of nine columns and 213 lines, and is completely preserved. Unusually for an original documentary chart, its author, Titus Pitenius, identifies himself in a kind of colophon. It includes the following technical data also occurring in our horoscope: dignities (house, terms, triplicity, exaltation, decan), dodekatemoria, fixed stars, Lot of Fortune, oikodespotes. In addition, it contains information on decans in their Egyptian names, the gender and quadruplicity (tropical, solid, double-bodied) of a planet’s or luminary’s sign, planetary phases in relation to the sun,³³ and the number of days of the pregnancy.³⁴ It is similar to our horoscope in terms of length and in the abundance of technical data calculated. There is an emphasis in P.Lond. 1.130 on the locations of heavenly bodies and the Midheaven in relation to fixed stars or constellations. The wording used for the calculation of the Lot of Fortune is problematic, and has been addressed by both Greenbaum and Heilen.³⁵ The calculation of the house-master (oikodespotes), which turns out to be Mercury, is consistent with the rules of Vettius Valens, Dorotheus and, later, Porphyry.³⁶ Dodekatemoria are calculated (wrongly, as Neugebauer and Van Hoesen correctly note)³⁷ only for the Sun and Moon.⬈#p163

P.Lond. 1.98 (Hor. gr. 95.IV.13 = GH 95)

This is another elaborate horoscope containing numerous technical data. Parts of the papyrus are missing or severely damaged; in particular, little remains of what was presumably its first column, comprising an introductory section followed by sections pertaining to the Sun and Moon. The horoscope proper consists of 81 lines. It is immediately followed by a text, large parts of which have been made illegible through erasure, headed “Prognostications of the 5 stars [i.e. the planets] concerning life,” and comprising 36 lines in Greek and 73 in Egyptian though written in an adaptation of the Greek alphabet (“Old Coptic”). We are not concerned here with this text, which, consisting as it does of extensive statements concerning the life of the native derived from elements of the horoscope, is unparalleled in any other known Greek horoscope on papyrus. Like our horoscope, P.Lond. 1.98 includes the dignities of house, exaltation and terms, as well as dodekatemoria, latitude, and oikodespotes. Additionally, it distinguishes between “bright horoscopes” and decans, supplying information for both.³⁸ It claims to have three “lots,” but these are more likely a reference to places in the chart (the Demotic Egyptian term tny.t, “lot,” can also mean, in an astrological context, a “place,” Greek topos).³⁹⬈#p164

P. Oxy. astr. 4277 (Hor. gr. 150-250b)

Dated paleographically (and hence only roughly) to the second half of the second century CE, this incomplete horoscope consists of two fragments, the first with three columns of 40, 35 and 9 lines respectively, and the second containing 5 lines.  Included in what remains of the papyrus are the positions and descriptions of Mercury, the Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven and Lower Midheaven; and the four lots Fortune, Daimon, Eros and Necessity. Horoscopes with these four lots are quite rare in the extant corpus.⁴⁰ Even as a fragmentary document missing all planetary positions except for Mercury, P. Oxy. astr. 4277 includes dignities (house, term, triplicity, exaltation, decan), dodekatemoria, monomoiriai, lots, steps and winds, planetary stations and descriptions of the zodiacal signs involved, such as gender and quadruplicity.⬈#p165

The “Eutocius” horoscope (Hor. gr. 497.X.28 = GH L497)

Dated October 28, 497, this horoscope is transmitted complete in two Byzantine Greek manuscripts, Laur. Plut. 28,34 ff. 141v-143v, and Par. gr. 2425 ff. 216v-219v, under the title “From the astrological writings [ἀστρολογουμένων] of Eutocius,” and abridged in a few other manuscripts without the attribution to Eutocius.⁴¹ Its author is presumably Eutocius of Ascalon (fl. early sixth century CE), the author of extant commentaries on mathematical works of Archimedes and editor of a recension (with commentaries) of Books 1-4 of Apollonius’s Conics.⁴² The introductory passage indicates that the horoscope is offered as an example of how “the computation of a chart” should be set out; in other words, it is a didactic model that, unlike most horoscopes provided in ancient astrological treatises, is meant to illustrate not techniques of astrological prognostication but rather the format appropriate for an elaborate horoscope.⁴³ It is in fact one of the most elaborate horoscopes we have.⬈#p166

The technical data which match those in our horoscope are: dignities (house, terms [Ptolemaic and Egyptian], triplicity [all rulers⁴⁴], exaltation/depression), monomoiria, fixed stars near the planets (with step, magnitude, longitude and latitude), the Lots of Fortune and Daimon, lunar nodes and prenatal syzygy. The planets are also described by their step, magnitude, longitude and latitude. In addition to these, the chart also supplies the planetary decan and face, and planetary phase of appearance in relation to the Sun.⬈#p167

Table 7 provides an easy-to-see comparison between the technical data of our horoscope and those with which it has been compared in the previous paragraphs.⬈#p168

Key:⬈#p169

Bold = data used in P.Berl. 9825⬈#p170

Regular = data used in other elaborate horoscopes but not in P.Berl. 9825⬈#p171

An Analysis of the Technical Data Used in P.Berl. 9825

We now explore some of the technical data presented in the papyrus in their astrological meaning and context. This exposition will provide possible rationales for including them in the calculation of a horoscope. The data to be discussed are:⬈#p172

• Dignities
• Monomoiria
• Dodekatemoria
• Presiding and Managing
• Length of life
  • Pre-natal syzygy
  • Master of the nativity
• Lots

Astrological manuals of the Greco-Roman period and Late Antiquity may supply both methods and reasons for the technical data used by practicing astrologers. Often, they are not used in a vacuum, but can be intertwined with one another to produce an interpretation for specific concerns a client might have, such as happiness, fortune and length of life. For our particular horoscope, doctrines outlined by Paulus Alexandrinus, a fourth-century CE astrologer practicing in Alexandria, frequently coincide with those used in our horoscope. A number of them are given a thorough treatment in Paulus’s Introduction to Astrology, produced in 378 CE. The works of other astrologers will also be consulted in elucidating the reasons for using specific techniques. ⬈#p173

For astrologers, horoscope interpretation necessarily involves a number of factors to be synthesized and applied. The Compendium of Rhetorius (fl. probably 6^th century CE)⁴⁶ provides instructions for applying these. It includes seven considerations for the astrological interpretation of a birthchart, especially in delineating the circumstances at birth, the parents, and fortunate or unfortunate life circumstances. Technical data to be considered include dignities (especially triplicity/trigon lords), the latitude of the Moon’s winds, the position of the new or full moon prior to birth, lots (especially the Lots of Fortune, Daimon, Basis and Exaltation), and the ascending and descending nodes of the Moon. Another text, attributed by Franz Cumont to a Byzantine compiler who excerpted Rhetorius (Par. gr. 2506, fol. 73 and Ven. 7, fol. 170, in CCAG 8.1: 243-244) tells us to examine “the decans or faces...the monomoiriai, the bright degrees, the dodekatemoria, and the latitudes of the winds and the steps; the phases, stations and the co-risings of the fixed stars nearest by degree to them...”.⁴⁷ The same document also recommends looking at the pre-natal conjunction or opposition of Sun and Moon (i.e. new or full Moon). Thus, as outlined by Rhetorius, our papyrus gives data for performing a very complete horoscope analysis.⬈#p174

Dignities

Dignities are frequently added to extant horoscopes, as well as mentioned in astrological manuals. A definition of each type of dignity used in our horoscope can be found above in the astronomical commentary. Dignities are important in interpretation because they allow assessment of the quality and power of the planet involved. They also allow the astrologer to assess the interaction between planets based on their rulerships and rulers.⬈#p175

Each kind of dignity can provide more nuance in evaluation. For example, the term ruler of a luminary was often used as a factor in length of life. But the various rulers – house, exaltation, triplicity, term and decan – could also be used to find an overall chart ruler, or the ruler of a specific topic.⁴⁸ This discussion will briefly give some of the reasons that dignities are used in astrological interpretation, accompanied by the details of our horoscope.⬈#p176

1. House rulership. This is the most commonly reported dignity, and often mentioned in chart interpretation. The house ruler is essential to the construction of the “thema mundi,” a symbolic chart for the birthday of the cosmos,⁴⁹ where each planet falls in one its zodiacal houses. The nativity of any person can be compared to the thema mundi as an example of an “ideal” chart.⁵⁰ In our horoscope, the house ruler is missing for the Sun (as all details are) and Moon. All other house rulers are correct.⬈#p177

2. Term rulership. In systems of finding rulers for length of life, the term ruler of a “predominating” planet can become the primary indicator of longevity. In our horoscope all the term rulers are correct except for Venus, which (using the Egyptian system) should be in the terms of Mars, not Saturn.⬈#p178

3. Triplicity rulership. The triplicity lords, especially of the sect luminaries (i.e., the Sun for a day chart and the Moon for a night chart), are used for different purposes, including assessments for eminence (Valens, Anthology II, 2 and 22 [Pingree 1986]) and for gaining happiness, fortune or property (Dorotheus, Carmen Astrologicum I, 24-26 and Valens II, 2).⬈#p179

In our horoscope, triplicity rulers are given for eight positions including the lunar nodes (Sun is missing). For four planets these are correct: Moon, Saturn, Venus and Mercury; incorrect are the triplicity rulers for Jupiter, Mars and both lunar nodes. The errors show a tendency on the part of the chart’s composer to list the diurnal triplicity rulers for earth and water instead of the nocturnal rulers.⬈#p180

4. Exaltation and Depression. The effect of exaltation is similar to that of house. A planet in its exaltation is fortified for effective action, and can aid planets located in its sign of exaltation. Conversely, a planet in the sign of its depression is weak and ineffective, or even harmful.⬈#p181

In our horoscope the exaltations are given for four positions: Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and the descending node (the Moon’s is missing, and no planets are exalted in the signs of Scorpio and Sagittarius, where Mars, Mercury and the ascending node are located). Depressions are given for Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and the ascending node (there is no exaltation or depression in Sagittarius, where Mercury lies, and in Taurus, where the descending node lies). All exaltations and depressions are accurate.⬈#p182

Monomoiriai

Our horoscope includes data on monomoiriai by sign. Chapter 5 of Paulus’s Introduction explains this doctrine (another form, by trigon/triplicity, is discussed in Chapter 32). This process is dependent on the house-ruler of the sign, and the so-called Chaldean order of the planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon). To find the planetary ruler of the monomoiria (which means ‘single degree’) of a sign’s degree, one starts with the house ruler of that sign, which rules its first degree. Thus, for Aries and Scorpio, Mars is the ruler of the first degree. The process continues with the planets in Chaldean order through the rest of the degrees of Aries and Scorpio – the second degree’s ruler is the Sun, the third degree’s Venus, and so on. For the Venus-ruled signs of Taurus and Libra, one begins with Venus for the first degree’s ruler, Mercury for the second degree, Moon for the third degree, Saturn for the fourth degree, and so on. Paulus provides a table at the end of Chapter 5. A scholion for this chapter⁵¹ states that monomoiriai can connect (by “sympathy”) two planets otherwise unrelated to each other, since it assigns degrees based on planets ruling signs that may not make a conventional aspect, such as Aries and Scorpio (both ruled by Mars). ⬈#p183

Valens mentions monomoiriai in his Anthology, IV, 26 (Pingree 1986), which seem to operate under the same set of rules that Paulus gives for the monomoiria by sign. Monomoiriai are also mentioned in Ch. XXXV of the Liber Hermetis⁵² but these seem to be the monomoiriai by triplicity (also covered in Paulus,  Ch. 32). In original documentary horoscopes, the calculation of the monomoiria is rare. We find it calculated for the Midheaven, Lower midheaven, Lot of Fortune and Lot of Daimon in one “deluxe horoscope,” P.Oxy. astr. 4277 (Hor. gr. 150-250b).⁵³ In the Eutocius horoscope monomoiriai are calculated for all five planets and the two luminaries, the prenatal full Moon, the Ascendant, Midheaven, Lot of Fortune and Lot of Daimon. In our horoscope, the monomoiriai are all correct except for that of Mercury.⬈#p184

Dodekatemoria

Dodekatemorion means, simply, ‘twelfth-part’. It can be used to refer to any twelfth-part of something – a twelfth-part of the 360° circle, i.e. one zodiacal sign; a twelfth-part of a sign of 30°, i.e. 2 ½°; or any portion of 12 degrees. The concept originates with the Babylonians.⁵⁴ Paulus discusses the doctrine of dodekatemoria in Chapter 22. The doctrine is known in other authors, such as Julius Firmicus Maternus (Mathesis II, 13.2-3), but Firmicus multiplies the degrees of the sign by 12 and adds that sum to 0° of the sign to produce the dodekatemorion, while Paulus multiplies by 13, which effectively takes into account the actual degree of the sign in question. The Babylonian system, as Rochberg demonstrates, matches what Paulus does: “Given a position in the zodiac (longitude [l]₁ expressed in degrees (n) of a zodiacal sign (z), a second position in the zodiac (l₂) [i.e. the dodekatemorion] may be obtained by multiplying the degrees n by 12 and adding the result to the first longitude [l₁ = n° of z]: l₂ = 12n + n° of z.”⁵⁵ As an example, Paulus gives Aries 11°. He multiplies the degrees by 13, yielding 143°. He adds that sum to the beginning of Aries: 143° + 0° [Aries 0°] = 143° = Leo 23°. (Effectively 12n + n + z = 13n + z.)⬈#p185

Olympiodorus (Ch. 20; Boer 1962: 41.12-20) uses the example of an Ascendant at Scorpio 20°. Multiplying 20° by 13 = 260°. Add that to the beginning of Scorpio, i.e. 210°: 260° + 210° = 470°. 470 - 360 = 110°, or Cancer 20°. (Olympiodorus explains this differently, but effectively this is what he is doing.)⬈#p186

The calculation of dodekatemoria is rare in original documentary horoscopes, as we saw above.⁵⁶⬈#p187

In our horoscope only the sign of the dodekatemorion is given, not the degrees. The dodekatemoria for the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter (for the corrected position of Virgo 3° 40', not Virgo 7° 40'), Mars and Venus match what the Paulus formula would produce. However, the positions of Mercury, both lunar nodes and the prenatal full Moon’s dodekatemoria do not match what Paulus’s formula would produce (they do match the Firmicus formula which also fits for Saturn, Jupiter [corrected position] and Mars). Two possibilities could explain this result. First, the birthchart’s constructor did use the Paulus formula, but neglected to calculate the minutes of each position, at least for Mercury, the nodes and the prenatal full moon (the dodekatemorion for Mercury is Gemini 0° 29', almost in Taurus where the text says it is). Since no degrees are given for the dodekatemoria, only signs, this could have been a further truncation of the entire procedure. Or, the chart’s constructor could have been using the Firmicus formula, but miscalculated for the Moon and Venus.⬈#p188

Paulus tells us that this procedure is important for obtaining information about whether someone will be ‘fortunate, long-lived and blessed’ (Ch. 22, Boer 1958: 46.15-16) or make them ‘laborers, ... unable to acquire property and cursed’(Ch. 22, Boer 1958: 46.21-22); such people will also have short lives, violent deaths, illnesses and injuries (Ch. 22, Boer 1958: 46.23). If the dodekatemorion of a benefic falls in the sign of the natal Sun, Moon, Mercury, cardines, Lots of Fortune, Daimon or Necessity, or on the prenatal lunation, this is said to be fortunate, but when a malefic’s dodekatemorion falls there, the effects are unfortunate. ⬈#p189

Presiding and Managing

Few authors except for Paulus mention the concept of presiding and managing. The earliest appears to be Serapion, in a text on katarchai.⁵⁷ Antiochus of Athens⁵⁸ gives outcomes for those born when certain hour rulers manage during a day, usually based on whether the planetary ruler is a benefic or malefic. Another text, by “Zenarion” (about whom nothing further is known) also uses the technique in katarchic charts.⁵⁹⬈#p190

In Chapter 21, “On the Star Presiding and the One Managing” Paulus outlines the technique and promotes its use both in nativities and katarchai. He further approves its use in decumbitures, a chart cast for when an ill person takes to his or her bed. Paulus’s method depends, first, on finding the god ruling over the day in question (Ch. 20, ‘On Knowing to which of the Gods Each Day Belongs’). This is the god traditionally assigned to each day of the week. Thus, if the day in question is a Sunday, the Sun is the god of the day. Once the god (i.e. planet) of the day is known, that planet presides over the entire 24-hour day, which is sectioned into 12 day and 12 night hours.⁶⁰ The presiding planet rules the 1^st,  8^th, 15^th and 22^nd hours of that day. The hour rulers are assigned in the so-called Chaldean order from the presiding planet, and become the ‘managers’ of that hour, beginning with the first hour of the day. Olympiodorus, Paulus’s commentator, covers the same material (Ch. 18). As an example, the well-known katarchic horoscope for the crowning of Leontius at Antioch (Hor. gr. 484.VII.18 = GH L484), lists Mercury as πολεύων and διέπων, and uses this as the reason the chart was not successful: “but they [the astrologers] did not pay attention, first, that the presiding and managing [planet], Mercury, had fallen into misfortune (εἰς πάθος). For it was at its greatest [distance] from the Sun, which brings about violent death, and it was aspected only by Saturn.”⁶¹⬈#p191

Only three other extant horoscopes include this technique: all are from literary sources, with dates in the fifth century CE (Hor. gr. 475.VII.16 = GH L475, Hor. gr. 479.VII.14 = GH L479, and 487.IX.5 = GH L487, the last of which mentions only the managing ruler).⬈#p192

In our horoscope, the planets presiding and managing are listed as Jupiter and Saturn. These would be correct if this was a diurnal chart for the 7th hour of the day of 319 CE, November 19, but this horoscope is nocturnal and belongs to the night preceding the day of November 19.⁶² In the system outlined by Paulus, and also mentioned by Vettius Valens, an anonymous Christian writer on the hours of the day of the week, and Cassius Dio,⁶³ the 24-hour day begins at sunrise with the planetary day hours. This is the usual epoch for this system, probably arising from the fact that the Hellenistic Egyptians began the day at sunrise. But other epochs were also in use, in which the 24-hour day could begin at sunset.⁶⁴ Neugebauer and Van Hoesen mention horoscopes in the fourth century that use an evening epoch, and a calendar of 354 CE does as well.⁶⁵⬈#p193

So it seems that the author of our horoscope was using an evening epoch with the Alexandrian calendar, where the day begins at sunset, and begins it by applying the usual rulers of the day hours to this evening epoch. Even though it was still Wednesday, November 18, in a day epoch (where the presiding planet would be Mercury and the managing planet, Mars, rules the 7^th hour), in an evening epoch the presiding planet would be Jupiter (the presiding planet for Thursday November 19, 319), and the planet managing the 7^th hour is Saturn. Because the beginning of the text is lost, we cannot know for certain how the author dated it. But this explanation seems plausible based on our knowledge of the use of epochs in this timeframe. Though it does contradict the common practice of planetary days and hours outlined by Paulus, the author was not necessarily incorrect in using the day rulers for an evening epoch, even if he was unorthodox. ⬈#p194

Length of Life: Master of the Nativity and the Prenatal Syzygy

Although we have no way of knowing how the author of our chart planned to use the calculated information, discovering length of life is an important consideration addressed by ancient astrologers. Aside from the use of term rulers, two of the techniques used to determine this are included in our chart: the housemaster/master of the nativity, and the prenatal syzygy.⬈#p195

Master of the Nativity

This is yet another technique mentioned by Paulus in his Introduction. Chapter 36, “On Housemastership” (Περὶ οἰκοδεσποτείας), provides the conditions under which a planet may become the chart ruler (or, to use Paulus’s term, the κύρια τῆς γενέσεως, authority of the nativity). The Sun and Moon are most important in this process, the Sun being used in a day chart, but the Moon at night. In a nocturnal chart, as ours is, one looks at the term-ruler and house-steward (οἰκοδέκτωρ) of the Moon, and then at whether the Sun or Moon (depending on the sect of the chart) are in ‘effective’ places. At night, the effective places are the four cardines, the fifth (Good Fortune), eleventh (Good Daimon), second and eighth.⬈#p196

Let us apply these rules to our papyrus. In a nocturnal nativity, we look at the Moon. We know that the Ascendant is Virgo 10° 57', and that the Moon is likely to fall between 24° (roughly its mean position) and 27° Cancer. Using the whole-sign place system, the Moon will fall in the 11^th place, that of the Good Daimon, which is an effective place. The term-ruler for the Moon at 26° Cancer is still Jupiter, but in the next degree moves to Saturn in the Egyptian system. That the horoscope gives Jupiter as the ‘master of the nativity’ would therefore suggest a position of around 26° for the Moon (as also suggested in Part I of this commentary). The house-steward of the Moon in Cancer is, of course, the Moon. Jupiter is also in an effective place, the first (including the entire sign of Virgo as the first place). So far it seems that the Moon and Jupiter have equal claim on rulership.⬈#p197

Then Paulus says “when one star has more counts than the others and is found at morning rising [in a phase of visibility] on a cardine and in its own throne, this one has the rulership, especially if it oversees (κατοπτεύω) the sect luminary.”⁶⁶ Jupiter has no counts of rulership in the early degrees of Virgo (in fact, its depression is Virgo). It sextiles the Moon, the sect luminary, by sign (but in fact, by degree makes no aspect). (It also sextiles the other luminary, the Sun, by sign.) It is in a phase of visibility, and would appear in the eastern sky before the sun rises. It is also in a cardine, the Ascendant/first place. By contrast, the Moon is in its own house and face, which would give it two counts to Jupiter’s zero. It is not on a cardine, but it is the sect luminary. This would seem to give the Moon an edge over Jupiter. Further, since both Jupiter and the Moon are in effective places, and Paulus says that if a luminary is in an effective place it becomes the ruler, it would seem that the Moon should have been chosen. However, it may be that the astrologer has (incorrectly) moved to Paulus’s next condition: examining the term-ruler, triplicity lord or house-steward of the prenatal Full Moon (for a nocturnal birth).⬈#p198

The Prenatal Syzygy

The preceding full Moon took place at Taurus 20° 30'. This is the house of Venus, the term of Jupiter and the triplicity of the Moon. This position falls, however, in the ninth place, not usually considered an effective place (although it is a “good decline” and the place of the Sun god).⁶⁷ If the prenatal full Moon is not in an effective place, Paulus says, one must look at the triplicity, house and term rulers of the Lots of Fortune or Daimon; and also the lord of the Ascendant.⬈#p196=9

The Lot of Fortune falls in the 10^th degree of Capricorn: triplicity of the Moon, house of Saturn and term of Jupiter. The Lot of Daimon falls in the 13^th degree of Taurus: triplicity of the Moon, house of Venus, term of Mercury. The lord of the Ascendant is Mercury. We know that the Moon and Jupiter are in effective places; Saturn is in the eighth (effective), Venus in the second (also effective) and Mercury in the fourth (effective). ‘And if the one ruling these places is found being aspected in the aforegiven places with that one which it has received, it will be taken as the authority of the nativity.’⁶⁸ In our chart, the Moon opposes Fortune by sign, Saturn squares it and Jupiter trines it. The Moon sextiles Daimon by sign, makes no aspect to Venus (but both are in Venus-ruled signs) and no aspect to Mercury. Mercury squares the Ascendant. There seems to be no clear winner here. Jupiter is not particularly dominant; it is only the term ruler of the Lot of Fortune. Although it is in an effective place and trines Fortune, this rationale seems weak for giving it the rulership instead of the Moon.⬈#p200

For Venus sharing the rulership, there are the following considerations. Venus is in its own house. It is in a phase of visibility (rising before the sun and not combust). It is in an effective place (the 2^nd) in a nocturnal horoscope, according to Paulus.⬈#p201

However, it is still something of a mystery as to why the astrologer chose Jupiter as the “master of the nativity,” unless the fact that it was well placed in the Ascendant, well ahead of the sun and in a phase of visibility, is the term ruler of the prenatal full Moon and aspects both the luminaries and the Lot of Fortune, gives it more advantages than the equally well-placed and more dignified Moon.⬈#p202

Lots

Lots have an oversized presence in our horoscope: seven lots are prominently featured. Our horoscope is the earliest, and only original documentary, chart to contain so many lots.⁶⁹ Using the formulae of Paulus, they are calculated by degree and minute, and supplied with both their house and term ruler. More exclusively, then, than the other techniques supplied in this horoscope, these lots are directly associated with Paulus Alexandrinus. Besides his later commentator Olympiodorus, he is the only author in the extant corpus to provide formulae for these lots. His chapter on lots mentions each by name, with its formula, and associates it with a planet: “Suitably, the lots have this origin: since by nature the Moon is set down as Fortune, the Sun Daimon, Aphrodite Eros, the [star] of Hermes Necessity, that of Ares Courage, that of Zeus Victory, and that of Kronos Nemesis.”⁷⁰ This order matches the listing of the lots in our horoscope. Paulus’s commentator, Olympiodorus (writing in 564 CE),⁷¹ spells out the direct connection of each lot to a celestial body: “...7 lots owing to the number of the 7 stars.”⁷²⬈#p203

At present this is the only documentary horoscope to contain all of the “planetary” lots that Paulus describes, using the formulae he provides. In literary horoscopes, one rather corrupt text associated with Olympiodorus likely calculates the Lot of Eros according to Paulus’s formula.⁷³ No other documentary or literary horoscope up to the end of Late Antiquity uses any of Paulus’s lot formulae for the Lots of Eros, Necessity, Courage, Victory or Nemesis. In the Arabic period, a horoscope transmitted by Abū Ma‘shar includes the Lots of Courage and Victory, and a lot called “Intellect and Native Wit,” the formula of which is identical to the Paulus formula for the Lot of Necessity.⁷⁴ Finally, a nativity calculated for September 3, 905 CE, calculates, among others, the Lots of Fortune, Daimon and Eros.⁷⁵ But the calculation for the Lot of Eros does not use Paulus’s formula.⁷⁶⬈#p204

The “Planetary” Lots in Context

Prior to the discovery of this horoscope, only one literary and no documentary horoscopes contained the Lots of Eros and/or Necessity using Paulus’s formulae, and none before the end of Late Antiquity contained the Lots of Courage, Victory or Nemesis. Our horoscope is unique within the extant corpus in containing all seven lots as described, with formulae and meanings, by Paulus. ⬈#p205

Before Paulus, who was writing in 378 CE,⁷⁷ the Lots of Fortune and (less so) Daimon appear somewhat regularly in documentary and literary horoscopes, as well as (albeit rarely) the Lots of Eros and Necessity.⁷⁸ Vettius Valens and Firmicus Maternus are the main authors who discuss interpretation and provide formulae for these four lots. However, the formulae they use for the Lots of Eros and Necessity are not those that Paulus specifies in his astrological treatise.⁷⁹ Thus, before the fourth century CE, no documentary evidence exists for use of the Paulus formulae, and no calculation of the Lots of Courage, Victory or Nemesis. In astrological texts said to antedate Paulus, only Antiochus of Athens provides a short section on these lots (see below).⬈#p206

Previous work on lots has posited two traditions of calculation for the lots of Eros and Necessity.⁸⁰ One tradition may be designated “Hermetic,” after the assertion by Olympiodorus and a scholiast for Paulus that these lots derive from a book by Hermes Trismegistus called the Panaretos.⁸¹ The other tradition is called “Egyptian,” drawing on a scholion to a passage in Hephaestio’s Apotelesmatika III, 6.11, describing two methods for casting the Lots of  “Necessity and Eros according to Hermes Trismegistus or, just as in the 4^th book, Dorotheus gives an account of the opinion of the Egyptians.”⁸² This scholion thus supplies evidence of two lot traditions for these lots in antiquity. ⬈#p207

One of Paulus’s passages on the planetary lots has a number of similarities to a passage that the later compiler Rhetorius claims are from the Thesaurus of Antiochus of Athens, whose probable floruit was the second century CE. Antiochus associates a planet or luminary with each lot, but gives no formula to calculate them, or an origin (we can assume they are the same lots Paulus describes because of the similar wording).⁸³ Possibly Paulus and Antiochus drew on a similar source, or Paulus was the first to come across this passage by Antiochus, because no other author in the extant literature before 378 CE mentions such lots. In the second century, Vettius Valens specifically associates the Lots of Fortune, Daimon, Eros and Necessity with several astrological techniques (e.g. Anthology II 37, IV 4-10, 25 [Pingree 1986]), but does not use the Paulus formulae and does not mention any other “planetary” lots. Paulus’s near contemporary, Firmicus Maternus, mentions a Lot of Nemesis along with his versions of the Lots of Eros and Necessity (Mathesis, VI.32), but his formulae for them also do not match Paulus’s.⬈#p208

It should be emphasized that Paulus himself does not mention Hermes as the originator of these lots, nor does the word “Panaretos” appear anywhere in his text, but only in the title of Chapter 23. The word panaretos means “all-virtuous.” In the extant corpus of Greek works, its association to a book, as in the phrase “παναρέτος βίβλος” (or variants) is rare. Panaretos does not appear in reference to a book until the fourth century CE. The phrase “παναρέτῳ βίβλῳ” appears in Pap. Mag. Leid. J 395 (PGM XIII.981-982) where it is associated with “Ptolemaica.”⁸⁴ Its association with Hermes Trismegistus appears only in the Paulus-connected texts. Other uses of the word Panaretos appear to be restricted to later ecclesiastical writings (there is mention in the fourth century of a “Panaretos” on the wisdom of Solomon).⁸⁵ It does not seem to have anything to do with the astrological Panaretos.⬈#p209

It is difficult to judge the date of the Panaretos. No extant texts earlier than the fourth century mention it. One could assume, as the Gundels did, that any Hermetic text would likely have been written around the 2^nd century BCE.⁸⁶ But that any mention of the Panaretos does not arise until the fourth century suggests that the text was unknown before then. It may have been discovered during that time. In addition, Paulus does not mention Hermes Trismegistus as the author. Perhaps Olympiodorus attached the name of Hermes to the text to give it authenticity, or the text did have the name of Hermes attached to it (but this was not noted until the Olympiodorus commentary). In any case, P.Berl. 9825, containing the chart of a birth in 319, fits into this fourth-century timeframe. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the origins of these lots, it is testamentary evidence of the work of Paulus Alexandrinus, as well as an exclusive and important witness to the use of all the “planetary lots” in practice.⬈#p210

Conclusions

This horoscope undoubtedly ranks among the most comprehensive of antiquity. The amount of technical data it includes puts it near, if not at the top, of elaborate horoscopes of antiquity. It is significant both astronomically and astrologically. ⬈#p211

Astrologically, it is an astounding example of the variety of technical data and methods used by astrologers in late antiquity. As this astrological commentary has shown, a number of the techniques included in our horoscope’s data have been covered by Paulus Alexandrinus in his Introduction. Among his specialties, dodekatemoria, monomoiriai, presiding and managing planets and, especially, “planetary” lots, whose formulae Paulus is the first to delineate, appear in our papyrus. ⬈#p212

While it is highly unlikely that a definitive author of this horoscope will ever be known, these connections to Paulus and his work provoke some further attention. The timeframe of 319 easily falls within Paulus’s lifetime (he wrote the Introduction in 378 CE). That the horoscope was cast for the latitude of Syene, in Upper Egypt, suggests an Egyptian link, and Paulus was known to have practiced astrology in Alexandria. A compelling piece of evidence is, of course, the seven planetary lots calculated with the formulae described first by Paulus (and, during Late Antiquity, later taken up only by his commentator Olympiodorus). It is possible, then, that the horoscope was calculated by someone following the practices of Paulus as a student, perhaps practicing the calculation of multiple techniques as a student exercise.⁸⁷ Equally, we have no way of knowing whose chart was calculated. Although the date of birth falls in the correct timeframe for Paulus himself, and there are examples of astrologers casting their own horoscopes both for personal use and as a teaching tool,⁸⁸ it goes beyond the bounds of speculation to suggest that the horoscope could be his. Though any final certainty is unlikely, the tantalizing authorial hints we obtain from this birthchart make it an even more unusual and important example of a late antique horoscope.⬈#p213