review_ancient astrology by tamsyn barton

7/22/2019 Review_Ancient Astrology by Tamsyn Barton

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The British Society for the History of Science

Ancient Astrology by Tamsyn BartonReview by: Cornelius O'BoyleThe British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Mar., 1996), pp. 90-91Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The British Society for the History of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4027514 .

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90 Book reviewsSusanWright, MolecularPolitics:Develo-ping American and BritishRegulatoryPolicy for Genetic Engineering,1972-1982. By Glenn E. Bugos 118Raymond Corbey and Bert Theunissen

(eds.), Ape, Man, Apeman: ChangingViews Since 1600. Evaluative Pro-ceedings of the SymposiumApe, Man,Apeman: Changing Views Since 1600,Leiden, The Netherlands, 28 June- 1July, 1993. By Mark McKenzie 119M. Norton Wise (ed.), The Values ofPrecision. By Nicolas Rasmussen 120R. V. Wallis and P. J. Wallis, Index ofBritish Mathematicians, Part III:1701-1800. By John Fauvel 121

TAMSYN BARTON,Ancient Astrology. Londonand New York: Routledge, 1994. Pp. xxv + 245.ISBN 0-415-11029-7. ?12.99.At last we have a reliable and readable accountof horoscopal astrologyfrom its originsin aboutthe fourth centuryBC to its apparentdecline inwestern Europe in about the fifth century AD.The work falls into three clear and convenientsections. Drawing upon recent research in thefield, Barton first provides a detailed historicalaccount of the rise of astrology from its originsin Mesopotamia and Egypt, through its de-velopment in ancient Greece, to its reception inthe later Roman Republic and Empire. Thissection of the book ends with an account of thesuppressionof astrologythat was brought aboutwith the rise of Christianity as the state religionof the late Roman Empire.The second section ofthe book is given over to a detailed technicaldescription of the principles of astrology. Thisvery clear account also explainshow horoscopeswere cast and explores the problems of interpre-ting the various - often apparentlycontradictory- predictionsthat they generated.Britishreaderswill appreciatethe wit and humour in Barton'sextended example of Prince Charles'horoscopein this section; but this does not detract from theserious point of this well-chosen example inhighlighting the social function of horoscopalastrology. The final section of the book isconcerned with placing astrology within its

largercontext. Here Bartonrelates the theory ofastrology to its practice and explores the broadersocial, religious and intellectual associations ofastrology.Throughout the book the readeris constantlyimpressed by the painstaking and thoroughscholarship and is always aware that a soph-isticated interpretation of the sources is beingadopted. In her reconstruction of ancient as-trology, Barton draws upon a wide range ofsources, including both astrological and non-astrological sources: she examines the records

of horoscopes, horoscopal treatises, literarysources, legal documents, imperial edicts, sena-torial decrees and contemporary historicalaccounts. In her careful use of these sources,Barton infers no more than the evidence willbear. Indeed, she rightly calls into question thestatus and meaning of these sources. Forexample, she sets literary works in astrologywithin the context of Greek public contests indisplay oratory and public debating and thenexplains the increasinguse of subtle distinctionsin these works and the apparentdesire to includeevery possible predictive technique as a con-sequence of a desire to impress and a fear ofappearing ll informedon the partof astrologicalorators and debaters.

Probably the most impressive aspect of thisbook is its ability to combine detailed technicalcompetence with a broad understanding of thenature and historical significance of astrology.Barton carefully distinguishes between popularand learned astrology and points out thedifferences between its theoretical aspects. Shepresents astrology more as an apprenticeshipcraft ratherthan a text-baseddiscipline,in whichlearning is akin to initiation into the hiddenknowledge of a cult or a priest-craft. In herexamination of the complex nature of thediscipline she shows how astrology was asso-ciated with astronomy, medicine, natural phil-osophy and religion as well as with variousforms of divination and magic. Bartonalso givesa vivid account of the political and socialbackgroundof astrology in the Roman Empire.She examines the acceptance of astrology by theRoman elite in the EarlyEmpireand investigatesthe ways in which it was used as an ideologicaltool of legitimation of Roman emperors from


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Book reviews 91Augustus onwards. She also describes contem-porary criticisms of astrology. Here Bartonconcentrates specifically on the reactions ofChristian writers. This is a finely nuancedaccount which revealsthat Christians did indeedrecognize the existence of some form of astralinfluence,or at least that the heavenly bodies didreflect something of the divine plan. ButChristianwritersrarely acceptedthat this know-ledgewas meant for human beings. Moreover, incommon with other critics of the period,Christian writers often claimed that astrologyentailed the doctrine of fatalism, which rancounter to the traditional Christianunderstand-ing of free will.The book comes with useful summaries ofeach chapter, helpful (black and white) illustra-tions and diagrams, a glossary of technicalterms, a bibliography and full index. Barton'stext is preceded by an elegantly written in-troduction by the general series editor RogerFrench. This is not so much a philosophicalanalysis of the problems of writing about thesciences of antiquity as a series of sensiblemethodologicalprecautionsthat guidethe readerand underpin the series to which this volumebelongs. Barton's contribution to the series setshigh standards indeed. One looks forward inanticipation to subsequent works in the col-lection.

CORNELIUS O'BOYLEUniversity of Notre Dame

SACHIKOKUSUKAWA,The Transformation ofNatural Philosophy: The Case of PhilipMelanchthon. Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-sity Press, 1995. ISBN 0-521-47347-0.?35.00.It is Kusukawa's intention to demonstrate thatMelanchthon'sLutherantheology, togetherwiththe historical events he experienced, led him toeffect a radical transformation of natural phil-osophy away from the scholastic focus onlanguage and meaning and towards a study ofthe world as God had createdit. This change is,she argues, based upon Melanchthon's under-standing of the doctrine of Providence, in whichhe maintains that God created the world in anorderly fashion so that the order of the world

would reveal God to the observer. The humanbody, the uses of plants and the movements ofthe heavensall revealthis order, and it is thus thestudy of these which Melanchthon believes to bethe proper concern of natural philosophy. Thisdivinely created order also offersa model for theorderlystructure which God intends for society,and the study of natural philosophy thusfacilitates orderly civic behaviour and is, there-fore, an important part of the education of agood citizen.In her discussion of Melanchthon's thought,Kusukawa gives a painstakingand exact analysisof the various stages of his thinking whichculminatedin his textbooks De anima and Initiadoctrinae physicae. She demonstrates thatMelanchthon's conviction that natural philos-ophy should be related to the created world ledhim to incorporate the work of contemporaryanatomists into his discussion of the soul.Similarly, the seeking of astrological causesand the interpretingof the 'divinely ordained'movements of the heavens was an importantpart of Melanchthon's physics. AlthoughMelanchthon's work was not empirical in thesense that he did not himself make observationsor do dissections, his reference to contemporaryscholars and to the natural world, Kusukawaargues, was a radicaldeparturefrom the naturalphilosophy of both scholastic philosophers andMelanchthon's non-Lutheran contemporaries.The latter, working with a different under-standing of God's presencein the world, found iteitherunnecessaryor impossibleto appeal to thenatural world as a revelation of God's Provi-dence in the way that Melanchthon's theologicalprogramme meant that he could and did.Kusukawa argues that in making this changeMelanchthon created a new Lutheran naturalphilosophy, and it is here that her book movesonto somewhat shaky ground.Thereseems to belittle doubt that Melanchthon did indeed take anew approach to natural philosophy, but inwhat sense was this approach Lutheran? Theanswer to this questionis complicated by the factthat it is not entirely clear from her argumentwhetherKusukawa intends to implythat becauseMelanchthon was Lutheran and because heintegrated his natural philosophy and his the-ology the resulting natural philosophy, indi-

review_ancient astrology by tamsyn barton

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