51 



perennially supported by the companions of per- 

 petuity*. 



" According to ^Esculapius, therefore, and Anu- 

 biusf, to whom especially the divinity Mercury 

 committed the secrets of the astrological science, 

 the geniture of the world is as follows : They con- 

 stituted the Sun in the 15th part of Leo, the Moon 

 in the 15th part of Cancer, Saturn in the 15th part 

 of Capricorn, Jupiter in the 1 5th part of Sagittary, 

 Mars in the 15th part of Scorpio, Venus in the 

 15th part of Libra, Mercury in the 15th part of 

 Virgo, and the Horoscope in the 15th part of 

 Cancer. Conformably to this geniture, therefore, 

 to these conditions of the stars, and the testimo- 

 nies which they adduce in confirmation of this 

 geniture, they are of opinion that the destinies of 

 men, also, are disposed in accordance with the 

 above arrangement, as may be learnt from that 

 book of JEsculapius which is called Mupioyevecnf, 

 (i. e. Ten Thousand, or an innumerable multitude of 



* By the companions of perpetuity, Firmicus means the stars, 

 whose nature, and motions, and influences are perpetual. Hence, 

 in the Orphic Hymn to the Stars, they are invoked as 



" Th' eternal fathers of whate'er exists." 



t Of the astrological /Esculapius, I have not been able to obtain 

 any information ; and of Anubius nothing more is to be learnt 

 than that he was a most ancient poet, and wrote an elegy de Ho- 

 roscopo. Vid. Salmas. de Annis Climactericis, pp. 87, 602, &c. 



E 2 



