48 



animating all sublunary matter, wheels within 

 wheels, even to its innermost particles. Aristotle's 

 view (Metaph. xi.) was as follows : The stars 

 and planets are in their nature eternal essences ; 

 that which moves them must itself be eternal, and 

 prior and external to that which it causes to be 

 moved ; likewise that which is prior to essence 

 must itself be essence ; and so on for a hierarchy 

 of eternal essences : 'thus Heaven if not God is a 

 divine embodiment (9elov <r&fia) ; and this Trpwrov 

 TWV o-cofjudrtov he regarded as the essence of heaven 

 and stars, and the cause of animal heat in living 

 beings. Thus the transition from Aristotle to the 

 later conception of the celestial bodies as them- 

 selves animated beings was easy ; indeed the attri- 

 bution of intelligence to the spheres goes back 

 at any rate to Plato (Timseus), if not to Pytha- 

 goras; and was the foundation of astrology. In 

 Harvey's time there was still in Rome a basilica of 

 the Seven Angels (the planetary essences). Much 

 'of this doctrine Harvey probably got from Cicero 

 (Acad. i. ii. 39 and De Fin. iv. 5 12 ; vid. Krische), 

 who speaks of " ardor coeli " as the whole astral 

 sphere. If I am not mistaken Harvey somewhere 

 advises Aubrey to study Cicero. 



