SEYFFARTH — ON THE THEORY OF THE MOON S MOTIONS. 519 



ceded both Xerxes' passage over the Hellespont and the battle 

 near Thermopylfe. 



No. 5. The eclipse in the seventh j^ear of Agathocles, Archon 

 Hieromnemon, noticed during &spo:; between Syracuse and Car- 

 thage, was, according to Hind, that in — 309, Aug. 17, 2ih. 15m., 

 ft 4° W., i.e. the same to which Airy recurred. Since, however, 

 this eclipse belonged to yB:p.cov^ and not to d-spo^^ finishing with 

 July 2d (p. 408), and since all the archons ruled from two to three 

 years later {p. 412), it is apparent that Hind likewise referred the 

 eclipse of Agatl^ocles to a wrong year. The said eclipse belongs 

 to — 306, June 13th, 22h. P.T., ft 0° 43' ; according to our Ta- 

 ble, p. 439, 4° 15' W. 



No. 6. The total eclipse of the sun subsequent to J. Caesar's 

 passage over the "frozen" Rubicon, Hind refers to — 50, March 

 7th, oh. 50m. ; yet this eclipse was annular, and it is contradicted 

 by all ancient reports. First, during March no river in Italy is 

 '"'■ covered with ice." Moreover, Petronius testifies that during 

 Caesar's march against Rome a total eclipse of the moon also took 

 place, which was, as Pingre shows, impossible in that year — 50. 

 Further, the same historians — Petronius, Lucanus, Dio Cassius 

 (p. 448) — put these two eclipses, happening within fifteen days, 

 in the year u.c. 705, that is to say, in — 47, and not in — 50 : for 

 Rome was founded in — 752, and not in — 755 (p. 439). Indeed, 

 it was only in — 47 that two total eclipses were possible, in the 

 course of Januar}, south of the Rubicon, viz. the solar eclipse on 

 Jan. 3, 2ih.3om. P. T., 15 15° E., according to our Table (p. 429) 

 11° E. of the sun, and the total lunar eclipse on Jan. 18, 9h. 30m. 

 P. T., ft 0°, correctly 3° W. of the sun. These two so important 

 eclipses regulate, as we have seen, the whole of the Greek and 

 Roman histories, and they are preeminently adapted to correct 

 the present lunar theory. The dates of these eclipses, moreover, 

 are confirmed by the eclipses observed about the time of Caesar's 

 assassination, March 15th. The Fasti Capitolini, Josephus, and 

 other authors, record that Caesar, subsequent to his crossing the 

 Rubicon, ruled six years ; he must, therefore, have died in — 41. 

 In the same year, on March 27th, iih. 45m. P. T., a solar eclipse 

 (ft 7°, corr. 10° W.) occurred in Asia, because the conjunction 

 happened 2h. 30m. later. The lunar eclipse took place in — 41, 

 March 13th, ih. 45m. P. T., that is, 2h. 30m. later, ft 7°-3° 50' 



