Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

15s ASTRONOMIA. ASTRONOMIA.
he inculcates may be the result of the personal oh- ing setting of the Pleiades took place, according to
servations of himself and his contemporaries. Columella, on the 6th of April ( VIII. Idus Aprilis
VARRO, CoL UMELLA, PLINY. - rlzornizng Ris- Velgiliae VTespere celantur); according to the caissg. —(l.) Varro, where he describes the distribu- lendar of Caesar on the 5th. (Colum. xi. 2. ~ 34;
tion of the year into eight divisions, according to Plin. II. N. xviii. 66.) These statements are not
the calendar of Caesar, states that there was a far from the truth, since the apparent evening setspace of forty-six days from the vernal equinox ting took place' at Rome for the Julian epoch on
(25th March) to the rising of the Pleiades ( Vergi- the 8th of April. The apparent evening rising
liacrun7 exortum1), which is thus fixed to the 8th or belonged to the 25th of September.
9th of May. (R. R. i. 28.) VIJGIL.- Virgil (Geosg. i. 221) enjoins the
(2.) Pliny (xviii. 66. ~ 1) names the 10th of husbandman not to sow his wheat until after the
Mav. morning setting of the Pleiades:Columella has three distinct notices (R. R. xi. Ante tibi Eoae Atlantides abscondantur
2. ~~ 36, 39). Ante tibi Eore Atlantides abscondantur
(32. ) 3.6, 39). Aa.2dAi)VyleCGnosiaque ardentis decedat stella Coronae
(3.) X. Kel. Mai. (22d April) Yergiliae cern Debita quam sulcis committas semina.
sole oriuntucr.
(4.) Nonis Jltaiis (7th May) Vergiliae exorsiuntsur TIesiod, as we have seen above, fixes the commnane. mencement of the ploughing season, without making
(5.) VI. Idus se. Mai (10th May) Vergiliae any distinction as to the particular crop desired,
totae apparent; and this last corresponds with his by the (apparent) morning setting of the Pleiades,
assertion elsewhere, that the phenomenon takes that is, for his age, the beginning of November.
place forty-eight days after the vernal equinox But it is impossible to tell whether Virgil intended
(ix. 14. ~ 4). merely to repeat this precept or had in his eye the
Now the true morning rising of the Pleiads calendar of Caesar or some similar compilation.
took place at Rome in the age of the above Columella (ii. 8. ~ 1), in commenting upon these
writers, who are all embraced within the limits of lines, understands him to mean the true morning
a century, about the 16th of April, the apparent setting, which, he says, takes place thirty-two days
or heliacal rising about the 28th of May. Hence, after the equinox, that is, on the 25th or 26th of
not one of the above statements is accurate. But October, a calculation not far from the truth, since
(1) (2) (4) (5) approach closely to the observ- we have pointed out above that the 28th was the
ation of Euctemon (B. c. 430), according to wholm real day.
the Pleiad rises on the 13th of Taurus (8th of There is another passage where both the rising
May), and (3), which expressly refers to the true and the setting of the Pleiades are mentioned in
rising, although inapplicable to Rome, will suit the connection with the two periods of the honey harlatitude of Athens for the epoch in question. vest. (Geory. iv. 231)
l1or2nimsg Setting. - (I.) Varro places the setting Bis gravidos cogunt foetus, duo tempora messis,
of the Pleiades (trergiliarzLms occasumen) forty-five Taygete simsl os terris ostemdit honestum
days after the autumnal equinox (24th Sept.), thatani spretos pee rep
is, on the 6th or 7th of November (R. R. i. 28). Plea et occan sidus fiens ub i Piscis amnes
(2.) Pliny names the l11th of November (xviii. Tristior hybers coelo escit in uds.
60, 74. the text in c. S9 is corrupt.. Tristior hybernas coelo descendit in undas.
O60, 74 the text in c. 59 is corrupt).
Columella, as before, has a succession of notices. Here, again, there is nothing in the context by
(3.) XIII. et XY I Kal. Nov. (20th and 21st which we can ascertain the precise periods whichi
Oct.) Solis exortt Vergyiliae izcispiutnt occidere. the poet desired to define, we can only make a
(4.) V. Ial. Nov. (28th Oct.) Vergilicte occi- guess by comparing his injunctionl with those of
dzent. others. Columella (xi. 2) recommends that the
(5.) FVl Id. Notv. (8th Nov.) Virgiliae cmane combs should be cut, i'f fll, about the 22nd of
occidust. April; but, since he adds that if they are not full
(6.) IV. Id. Nov. (10th Nov.) hiemis insitihean. the operation ought to be deferred, the matter is
These are all taken firom his calendar in xi. 2; left quite indefinite. Now, the words of Virgil
but in ix. 14. ~ 11, " Ab aceqseinoctio....ad ta% r- seem clearly to point to the heliacal rising which
giliarumss occassuz diebuzs X,." i. e. 2d or 3d of took place in his time at Rome about the 28th of
November. Compare ii. 8. ~ 1. May, more than five weeks after the day given by
Now the true morning setting of the Pleiads Columella. In like manner the last-named writer
took place for Rome at that epoch on the 29th of advises (xi. 2. ~ 57) that the autumnal collection
October, the apparent morning setting on the 9th of honey should be put off until the month of
of November. Hence, it appears that (5) may be October, although others were in the habit of beregarded as an accurate determination of the ap- ginning earlier. The true morning setting was, as
parent morning setting, and that (1) and (2) ap- already stated, on the 28th of October, the approach nearly to the truth, especially when we parent on the 9th of November.
bear in mind that variations to the extent of two As to the expression " sidus fugiens ubi Piscis
or even three days must be allowed in regard to aqinosi," it will be sufficient to observe that ala phenomenon which depends in some degree on though the "Piscis " in question has been varithe state of the atmosphere. We perceive also ously supposed to be — one of the fishes in the
that (4) is correct for the true morning setting, zodiac- the Southern Fish-ythe Hydra —the
while (3), which is inapplicable to Rome, cor- Dolphin —or even the Scorpion, no one has yet
responds to the horizon of Athens in the time of succeeded in proposing a reasonable or intelligible
AIeton. In the passage from Collum. ix. 14, we interpretation, which can be reconciled with any
ought probably to adopt the conjecture of Pon- delineation of the heavens with which we are
tedera, and read xliv. for xl. acquainted.
l'teningSetting azdEveni Risiny. -The even- Ovm.ID.- e are told in the Fasti (iv. 165)