04-12-2019, 12:37 PM
On Numbers and Ages 2
https://archive.org/details/ocelluslucan...ch/page/54
It may not be altogether foreign to the purpose to adduce in
this place, what is said by Hermes in his Treatise de Revolut.
Nativit. lib. i. p. 215. A Latin translation only is extant of
this work, and it is uncertain whether the author of it was the
celebrated Hermes Trismegistus, or a Hermes of more modern
times. This author says, that " the dominion of the planets over
the ages of man is as follows : The Moon governs the first age,
which consists of four years. Mercury governs the second, which
consists of ten years. Venus the third, and this extends to eight
years. The Sun the fourth, and this age consists of nineteen
years. Mars the fifth, and this consists of fifteen years. Jupiter,
the sixth, consists of twelve years : and Saturn governs the seventh
age, and this extends to the remaining years of human life."
Proclus, also, in his admirable Commentary on the First Alci-
biades of Plato, observes, that the different ages of our life on the
earth, correspond to the order of the universe. " For our first
age (says he)"partakes in an eminent degree of the Lunar energies,
as we then live according to a nutritive and physical power. But
our second age participates of Mercurial prerogatives, because we
then apply ourselves to letters, music, and wrestling. The third
age is governed by Venus, because then we begin to produce seed,
and the generative powers of nature are put in motion. The fourth
age is Solar, for then our youth is in its vigour and full perfection,
subsisting as a medium between generation and decay ; for such is
the order which vigour is allotted. But the fifth age is governed
by Mars, in which we principally aspire after power and superio-
rity over others. The sixth age is governed by Jupiter, for in this we
give ourselves up to prudence, and pursue an active and political life. And the seventh age is Saturnian, in which it is natural to
separate ourselves from generation, and transfer ourselves to an
incorporeal life. And thus much we have discussed, in order to
procure belief that letters, and the whole education of youth, are
suspended from the Mercurial series."
Ocellus Lucanus On the Nature of the Universe:
https://archive.org/details/ocelluslucan...ich/page/8
But men and other animals, in a subordinate de-
gree, change the universal boundary of nature ; for
in these there is no periodical return to the first
age, nor is there an antiperistasis of mutation into
each other, as there is in fire and air, water and
earth ; but the mutations of their ages being ac-
complished in a four-fold circle*,…
Phillip Horky Monte Johnson, On Law and Justice Attributed to Archytas of Tarentum' (accepted version, for D. Wolfsdorf, ed. Early Greek Ethics. Oxford, 2019.)
https://www.academia.edu/202382/On_Law_a...xford_2019._
And what follows in this quotation in Aristoxenus Pythagorean Precepts may indicate a further line of argument now missing from On Law and Justice they thought that it was necessary to show concern for every age group. Aristoxenus goes on to describe precepts according to which young children should be educated; young men trained in the customs and laws of the state; men should apply themselves to actions on behalf of the public; and old men should serve as judges and give counsel. Attention to these matters will facilitate order and due proportion.
Steven James wrote:
Augustus came to power at the end of the fourth Pythagorean age.
Servius Auctus
http://www.attalus.org/translate/extracts.html#augustus
7] When Augustus Caesar was holding the funeral games for his father, a star appeared in the middle of the day, and Augustus declared that it was [the star] of his father. Baebius Macer said that a large star rose up in about the eighth hour of the day, and it was crowned with rays, like (?) ribbons. Some people thought that the star was an omen foretelling the [future] glory of the young Caesar but Caesar himself interpreted it as the soul of his father, and he placed a statue of him on the Capitol, with a golden crown on his head and this inscription on the base: Καίσαρι ἡμιθέῳ ["to Caesar the demi-god"]. Vulcatius the haruspex said in an assembly that it was a comet, which portended the end of the ninth saeculum and the start of the tenth saeculum. But because he had revealed this secret against the will of the gods, he would die immediately; and he collapsed in the midst of the assembly, before he had completed his speech. This is mentioned by Augustus in the second book of his Memoirs about his life.
https://archive.org/details/ocelluslucan...ch/page/54
It may not be altogether foreign to the purpose to adduce in
this place, what is said by Hermes in his Treatise de Revolut.
Nativit. lib. i. p. 215. A Latin translation only is extant of
this work, and it is uncertain whether the author of it was the
celebrated Hermes Trismegistus, or a Hermes of more modern
times. This author says, that " the dominion of the planets over
the ages of man is as follows : The Moon governs the first age,
which consists of four years. Mercury governs the second, which
consists of ten years. Venus the third, and this extends to eight
years. The Sun the fourth, and this age consists of nineteen
years. Mars the fifth, and this consists of fifteen years. Jupiter,
the sixth, consists of twelve years : and Saturn governs the seventh
age, and this extends to the remaining years of human life."
Proclus, also, in his admirable Commentary on the First Alci-
biades of Plato, observes, that the different ages of our life on the
earth, correspond to the order of the universe. " For our first
age (says he)"partakes in an eminent degree of the Lunar energies,
as we then live according to a nutritive and physical power. But
our second age participates of Mercurial prerogatives, because we
then apply ourselves to letters, music, and wrestling. The third
age is governed by Venus, because then we begin to produce seed,
and the generative powers of nature are put in motion. The fourth
age is Solar, for then our youth is in its vigour and full perfection,
subsisting as a medium between generation and decay ; for such is
the order which vigour is allotted. But the fifth age is governed
by Mars, in which we principally aspire after power and superio-
rity over others. The sixth age is governed by Jupiter, for in this we
give ourselves up to prudence, and pursue an active and political life. And the seventh age is Saturnian, in which it is natural to
separate ourselves from generation, and transfer ourselves to an
incorporeal life. And thus much we have discussed, in order to
procure belief that letters, and the whole education of youth, are
suspended from the Mercurial series."
Ocellus Lucanus On the Nature of the Universe:
https://archive.org/details/ocelluslucan...ich/page/8
But men and other animals, in a subordinate de-
gree, change the universal boundary of nature ; for
in these there is no periodical return to the first
age, nor is there an antiperistasis of mutation into
each other, as there is in fire and air, water and
earth ; but the mutations of their ages being ac-
complished in a four-fold circle*,…
Phillip Horky Monte Johnson, On Law and Justice Attributed to Archytas of Tarentum' (accepted version, for D. Wolfsdorf, ed. Early Greek Ethics. Oxford, 2019.)
https://www.academia.edu/202382/On_Law_a...xford_2019._
And what follows in this quotation in Aristoxenus Pythagorean Precepts may indicate a further line of argument now missing from On Law and Justice they thought that it was necessary to show concern for every age group. Aristoxenus goes on to describe precepts according to which young children should be educated; young men trained in the customs and laws of the state; men should apply themselves to actions on behalf of the public; and old men should serve as judges and give counsel. Attention to these matters will facilitate order and due proportion.
Steven James wrote:
Augustus came to power at the end of the fourth Pythagorean age.
Servius Auctus
http://www.attalus.org/translate/extracts.html#augustus
7] When Augustus Caesar was holding the funeral games for his father, a star appeared in the middle of the day, and Augustus declared that it was [the star] of his father. Baebius Macer said that a large star rose up in about the eighth hour of the day, and it was crowned with rays, like (?) ribbons. Some people thought that the star was an omen foretelling the [future] glory of the young Caesar but Caesar himself interpreted it as the soul of his father, and he placed a statue of him on the Capitol, with a golden crown on his head and this inscription on the base: Καίσαρι ἡμιθέῳ ["to Caesar the demi-god"]. Vulcatius the haruspex said in an assembly that it was a comet, which portended the end of the ninth saeculum and the start of the tenth saeculum. But because he had revealed this secret against the will of the gods, he would die immediately; and he collapsed in the midst of the assembly, before he had completed his speech. This is mentioned by Augustus in the second book of his Memoirs about his life.
