The
section begins with Manilius speaking in awe of the regularity of the cycle of
the constellations [1.490-501]. He says that even when the Greeks overthrew
Troy (meaning- even in the ancient days) that men could calculate the hours of
the night by the movement of the stars [1.502-507]. And then he speaks of how
many empires have risen and fallen since that time [1.508-514].
omnia mortali mutantur lege creata, 515
nec se cognoscunt terrae vertentibus annis 516
excutas variam faciem per saecula ferre. 517
Everything born to a mortal
existence is subject to change, nor does the earth notice that, despoiled by
the passing years, it bears an appearance which varies through the ages.[1]
Comment: Everything born dies. This may be a common
idea across the world, but the emphasis here in this astrological text is
pertinent for its comparison. Above he spoke of the cycle of the stars
remaining unchanged, while the empires change. Here he adds the earth/environment
itself is changing/aging.
at manet incolumis mundus suaque omnia servat, 518
quem neque longa dies auget minuitque senectus 519
nec motus puncto curvat cursusque fatigat; 520
idem semper erit quoniam semper fuit idem. 521
non alium videre patres aliumve nepotes 522 aspicient.
(from523)
However, the vault
of heaven, retaining all its
parts, remains intact, neither increased with length of time nor diminished by
old age; it is neither the least bit warped by its motion nor wearied by its
speed: it will remain the same forever, since the same has it always been. No
different heaven did our fathers see, no different heaven will our posterity
behold.
Comment:
Here Manilius states that the heavens are unchanging. Some may note the
procession is changing the star positions, but those that were aware of the
procession marked it and calculated it so that even its motion was regular and
expected. While old stones are rounded and new stones are jagged, young people
are filled with energy and old people move slow and tired, the stars and their
motion hold steady and unchanged through time.
deus est, qui non mutatur in aevo. 523
numquam transversas solem decurrere ad Arctos 524
nec mutare vias et in ortum vertere cursus 525
auroramque novis nascentem ostendere terris, 526
nec lunam certos excedere luminis orbes 527
sed servare modum, quo crescat quove recedat, 528
nec cadere in terram pendentia sidera caelo 529
sed dimensa suis consumere tempora gyris 530
non casus opus est, magni sed numinis ordo. 531
It is God, and changes not through the ages. That the Sun never deviates to the
crosswise-lying Bears and never changes direction, setting course Eastward and revealing the birth of a new morning to the lands; that the Moon
does not exceed her appointed orbs of light, but preserves the regularity of
her waxing and waning; that the stars poised in heaven fall not upon Earth but
take fixed periods of time to accomplish their orbits: all this is not the
result of chance, but a great divine order
(magni numinis ordo).
Comment: "It is God (deus est) and it doesn’t change throughout the ages." This indicates
the concept of the material realm of birth being that which changes, therefore
dying/decaying. And the heavens are representing the unchanging realm – that which
is unchanging is eternal/divine. Therefore, the heavens are god- the eternal,
divinity, and move by a great divine order (magni numinis ordo). This makes the
movement of the planets the hands of the divine and therefore reading them is
not reading a chance happening but the order of the great divinity.
The Vedic view is that everything is changing and
decaying, but that the nave of the wheel of time (which could be interpreted as
the axis of the heavens) is the eternal (amṛta). On a chariot, the axel remains
still, while the wheel spins about it. The spinning is not possible without the
axis to move around, yet it remains still/unchanging. The Vedas are indicating
that it is the center- the changer that is eternal, or that which is making
change happen is eternal. Time is the maker of change, so Time is seen as the
eternal unchanging one who insures that everything changes. Hence the saying, ‘the
only thing that doesn’t change is that everything will always change.’ Here I
think Manilius is seeing the heavens as that which doesn’t change (instead of the
nature of what moves them). He is seeing the Kālapuruṣa (the manifestation of
time- that which we use to observe time), as opposed to Kāla (Time) himself. [But
it is hard to read a translation (or foreign language) and have exact clarity
if he is referencing the sky and planets or that which is moving them, but this
is my present interpretation.]
Haec igitur texunt aequali sidera tractu 532
ignibus in varias caelum laqueantia formas.533
altius his nihil est; haec sunt fastigia mundi; 534
These then are the constellations which decorate
the sky with even spread, their fires panelling the ceiling of heaven with
various designs. Higher than these there is nothing, for they are the roof of
the universe…[I skip a few verses for the next profound verse].
Ipse autem quantum convexo mundus Olympo 539
obtineat spatium et quantis bis sena ferantur 540
finibus astra, docet ratio, cui nulla resistunt 541
claustra nec immensae moles caecive recessus; 542
omnia succumbunt, ipsum est penetrabile caelum. 543
How great is the space
occupied by the vault of the heavens (mundus
Olympo) and how great the territory within which the twelve signs of the
zodiac move, we learn from reason, reason that no barriers or huge masses or
dark recesses withstand; all things yield to reason, and it can penetrate the
sky itself.
[1] Latin
from G.P. Goold, Manilius Astronomica
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977) pp 46-49. The translation is
from the same text with minor variation added by this author. Most of my edits to
the translation are marked in italics where synonyms replace the original words
that I think convey more directly the meaning intended.
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