Favorinus’ criticism of the Chaldeans (1)

Text
Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 14.1.6-8:
For the greatest difference between men and gods was removed, if man also had the power of foreknowning all future events. Furthermore, he thought that even the observations of the stars and constellations, which they declared to be the foundation of their knowledge, was by no means a matter of certainty. “For if the original Chaldeans,” said he, “who dwelt in the open plains, watched the movements and orbits of the stars their separations and conjunctions, and observed their effects, let this art continue to be practised, but let it be only under the same inclination of the heavens as that under which the Chaldeans then were. For the system of observation of the Chaldeans cannot remain valid, if anyone should wish to apply it to different regions of the sky.”

Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae 14.1.6-8

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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