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Hellenistic astrology is a tradition ofhoroscopic astrology that was developed and practiced in the lateHellenistic period in and around theMediterranean Basin region, especially inEgypt. The texts and technical terminology of this tradition of astrology were largely written inGreek (or sometimesLatin). The tradition originated sometime around the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE,[1] and then was practiced until the 6th or 7th century CE. This type of astrology is commonly referred to as "Hellenistic astrology" because it was developed in the late Hellenistic period, although it continued to be practiced for several centuries after the end of what historians usually classify as the Hellenistic era.
The origins of much of the astrology that would later develop inAsia,Europe and theMiddle East are found among the ancientBabylonians and their system of celestial omens that began to be compiled around the middle of the2nd millennium BCE. This system later spread either directly or indirectly through the Babylonians to other areas such asGreece where it merged with preexisting indigenous forms of astrology. (The claim that Babylonian astrology spread to China is dubious and has been challenged.[2]) It came to Greece initially as early as the middle of the 4th century BCE, and then around the late 2nd or early 1st century BCE after the Alexandrian conquests thisBabylonian astrology was mixed with the Egyptian tradition ofDecanic astrology to create horoscopic astrology. This system is labeled as "horoscopic astrology" because, unlike the previous traditions, it employed the use of theascendant, otherwise known as thehoroskopos ("hour marker") in Greek, and thetwelve celestial houses which are derived from it. The focus on thenatal chart of the individual, as derived from the position of the planets and stars at the time of birth, represents the most significant contribution and shift of emphasis that was made during the Hellenistic tradition of astrology. This new form of astrology quickly spread across the ancient world into Europe, and the Middle East.
Additionally, some authors such asVettius Valens andPaulus Alexandrinus took into account theMonomoiria, or individual degrees of a horoscope.[3][4]
This complex system ofastrology was developed to such an extent that later traditions made few fundamental changes to the core of the system, and many of the same components of horoscopic astrology that were developed during theHellenistic period are still in use by astrologers in modern times.
Several Hellenistic astrologers ascribe its creation to a mythical sage namedHermes Trismegistus. Hermes is said to have written several major texts which formed the basis of the art or its evolution from the system of astrology that was inherited from the Babylonians and theEgyptians. Several authors cite Hermes as being the first to outline the houses and their meaning, and thus the houses are usually thought to date back to the very beginning of the Hellenistic tradition and indeed they are one of the major defining factors which separate Hellenistic astrology and other forms of horoscopic astrology from Babylonian astrology and other traditions in different parts of the world. This system of horoscopic astrology was then passed to another mythical figure namedAsclepius to whom some of the Hermetic writings are addressed.
According toFirmicus Maternus, the system was subsequently handed down to an Egyptian pharaoh namedNechepso and his priestPetosiris.[5] They are said to have written several major textbooks which explicated the system and it is from this text that many of the later Hellenistic astrologers draw from and cite directly. This system formed the basis of all later forms of horoscopic astrology.
In 525 BCE Egypt was conquered by thePersians, so there is likely to have been some Mesopotamian influence on Egyptian astrology. Arguing in favor of this, Barton gives an example of what appears to be Mesopotamian influence on the zodiac, which included two signs –the Balance andthe Scorpion, as evidenced in theDendera Zodiac (in the Greek version the Balance was known as the Scorpion's Claws).[6]
After the occupation byAlexander the Great in 332 BCE, Egypt came underGreek rule and influence. The city ofAlexandria was founded by Alexander after the conquest and during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, the scholars of Alexandria were prolific writers. It was in 'Alexandrian Egypt' thatBabylonian astrology was mixed with the Egyptian tradition ofDecanic astrology to createHoroscopic astrology. This contained the Babylonian zodiac with its system of planetary exaltations, the triplicities of the signs and the importance ofeclipses. Along with this it incorporated the Egyptian concept of dividing thezodiac into 36 decans of ten degrees each, with an emphasis on the rising decan, the Greek system of planetary gods, sign rulership, and the four elements.[7]
The decans were a system of time measurement according to the constellations. They were led by the constellationSothis or Sirius. The risings of the decans in the night were used to divide the night into 'hours'. The rising of a constellation just before sunrise (its heliacal rising) was considered the last hour of the night. Over the course of the year, each constellation rose just before sunrise for ten days. When they became part of the astrology of theHellenistic Age, each decan was associated with ten degrees of the zodiac. Texts from the 2nd century BCE list predictions relating to the positions of planets in zodiac signs at the time of the rising of certain decans, particularly Sothis.[8]
Particularly important in the development of horoscopic astrology was the astrologer and astronomerPtolemy, who lived in Alexandria in Egypt. Ptolemy's work theTetrabiblos laid the basis of the Western astrological tradition. The earliest Zodiac found in Egypt dates to the 1st century BCE, the Dendera Zodiac.
According toFirmicus Maternus (4th century), the system of horoscopic astrology was given early on to an Egyptian pharaoh namedNechepso and his priest Petosiris.[9] TheHermetic texts were also put together during this period andClement of Alexandria, writing in theRoman era, demonstrates the degree to which astrologers were expected to have knowledge of the texts in his description of Egyptian sacred rites:
This is principally shown by their sacred ceremonial. For first advances the Singer, bearing some one of the symbols of music. For they say that he must learn two of the books of Hermes, the one of which contains the hymns of the gods, the second the regulations for the king's life. And after the Singer advances the Astrologer, with a horologe in his hand, and a palm, the symbols of astrology. He must have the astrological books of Hermes, which are four in number, always in his mouth.[10]
The conquest ofAsia byAlexander the Great exposed the Greeks to the cultures and cosmological ideas ofSyria,Babylon,Persia andcentral Asia. Greek overtookcuneiform script as the international language of intellectual communication and part of this process was the transmission ofastrology from Cuneiform to Greek.[12] Sometime around 280 BCE,Berossus, a priest of Bel from Babylon, moved to the Greek island ofKos in order to teach astrology andBabylonian culture to the Greeks. With this, what Campion calls, 'the innovative energy' in astrology moved west to the Hellenistic world of Greece and Egypt.[13]According to Campion, the astrology that arrived from the East was marked by its complexity, with different forms of astrology emerging. By the 1st century BCE two varieties of astrology were in existence, one that required the reading of horoscopes in order to establish precise details about the past, present and future, the other being theurgic, meaning literally 'god-work', and emphasised the soul's ascent to the stars. While they were not mutually exclusive, the former sought information about the life, while the latter was concerned with personal transformation, where astrology served as a form of dialogue with the divine.[14]
Like so much else, astrology came to Rome due to Greek influence. Among the Greeks andRomans, Babylonia or Chaldea was so identified with astrology that "Chaldaean wisdom" became the synonym ofdivination through the planets andstars. Astrologers became very much in vogue inImperial Rome.[15] Indeed, the emperorTiberius had had his destiny predicted for him at birth, and so surrounded himself with astrologers such asThrasyllus of Mendes. According toAmmianus Marcellinus there are people who "neither appear in public nor eat nor eat a meal nor think they can with due caution take a bath, until they have critically examined the calendar (ephemeris)".[16]Claudius, on the other hand favoredaugury and banned astrologers from Rome altogether. It is perhaps not surprising, that in the course of time, to be known as a "Chaldaean" carried with it frequently the suspicion of charlatanry and of more or less willful deception. One of the more famous examples of Roman literature concerning astrology is the poemAstronomica, written in the first century CE byMarcus Manilius.
Hellenistic astrology was practiced from the 2nd century BCE until around the 7th century CE when Europe entered theMiddle Ages. Astrology was then passed to and further developed by individuals working within theIslamic Empire from the 7th to the 13th century.
