Claudius Ptolemy (c.100 - c.178 AD), of Alexandria, was one of the greatest philosopher/scientists of the ancient world.
With the current revival of traditional astrology, it remains e.
Every serious astrologer, from the 3rd century to the present, has studied the Tetrabiblos.
Ranger\'s Zodiacal Planisphere.
To Ptolemy\'s text, Ashmand adds his own preface, as well as a note on Mr.
Ashmand\'s dedication is to Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), author of Waverly, an historical novel about the Scots rebellion of 1745.
We are honored to present Ashmand\'s translation to a new generation of students.
Of these several translators, only Ashmand could claim to be both a Greek and Latin scholar as well as an experienced astrologer.
Robbins.
A fifth translation was made in 1940 by F.
E.
Ashmand, 1822.
The fourth (this one, by far the best), was by J.
M.
The third, by James Wilson (author of the famous Dictionary of Astrology), was published in 1820.
The second was Walley\'s translation, edited by Sibley and Brown, 1786, which is said to be worthless.
The first was by John Walley, 1701.
Translations: Gardner (1911) lists four English translations of Tetrabiblos.
They have been studied by astrologers for centuries.
Many of the 100 deal with horary astrology.
Published editions of Tetrabiblos traditionally include extracts from the Almagest (a compendium of Greek astronomy), as well as Ptolemy\'s Centiloquy, a list of aphorisms, the authorship of which is disputed.
Book 4 deals with wealth, rank, employment, marriage, children, death, etc.
Chapter 10 gives a method for determining life expectancy.
Book 3, chapter 2, explains Ptolemy\'s method of rectifying the Ascendant.
Books 3 & 4 are devoted to Natal Astrology.
Book 2 is the astrology of nations and their rulers.
Chapters 9, 10 and 11 detail the influence of fixed stars in various constellations.
Book 1 of Tetrabiblos defines various technical terms and supplies other information needed by the astrologer.
In particular, his persuasive use of the Tropical Zodiac, rather than the Sidereal, changed western astrology forever.
Recent research suggests this not to be the case, but Ptolemy\'s work remains the foundation of western astrology.
Tetrabiblos (literally, four books) was long thought to be a complete survey of Greek astrology.
The earliest surviving version of Tetrabiblos is the paraphrase attributed to Proclus the Philosopher (412-485).
Among his books are the Almagest, Geography, Optics, Planispherium and Tetrabiblos.
Claudius Ptolemy (c.100 - c.178 AD), of Alexandria, was one of the greatest philosopher/scientists of the ancient world
