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Pliny the Elder, Naturalia Historia 2.6 (8):
Below the sun revolves a very large star named Venus, which varies its course alternately, and whose alternative names in themselves indicate its rivalry with the sun and moon - when in advance and rising before dawn it receives the name of Lucifer, as being another sun and bringing the dawn, whereas when it shines after sunset it is named Vesper, as prolonging the daylight, or as being a deputy for the moon. This property of Venus was first discovered by Pythagoras of Samos about the 42nd Olympiad (612-609 BCE), 142 years after the foundation of Rome. Further it surpasses all the other stars in magnitude, and is so brilliant that alone among stars it casts a shadow by its rays. Consequently there is a great competition to give it a name, some having called it Juno, others Isis, others the Mother of the Gods. Its influence is the cause of the birth of all things upon earth; at both of its risings it scatters a genital dew with which it not only fills the conceptive organs of the earth but also stimulates those of all animals. It completes the circuit of the zodiac every 348 days, and according to Timaeus is never more than 46 degrees distant from the sun. The star next to Venus is Mercury, by some called Apollo; it has a similar orbit, but is by no means similar in magnitude or power. It travels in a lower circle, with a revolution nine days quicker, shining sometimes before sunrise and sometimes after sunset, but according to Kidenas and Sosigenes never more than 22 degrees away from the sun. Consequently the course of these stars also is peculiar … those are often observed to be a quarter or a third of the heaven away from the sun and travelling against the sun, and they all have other larger circuits of full revolution, the specification of which belongs to the theory of the Great Year.
Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Pliny the Elder, Naturalia Historia 2.6 (8)
Bibliography
| Jones and Rackham 1938-1963, I 190-193 | Jones, W. H. S. and H. Rackham. Pliny, Natural History. 10 Vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, London: Heinemann 1938-1963. |
Amar Annus
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