The Astronomica is a Latin didactic poem about celestial phenomena, written in hexameters and divided into five books. It was written c. AD 10–20 by a Roman poet whose name was likely Marcus Manilius. The earliest work on astrology that is extensive, comprehensible, and mostly intact, the poem focuses heavily on the zodiac. It espouses a Stoic, deterministic understanding of a universe overseen by a god and governed by reason. It was rediscovered in the 15th century by the Italian humanist and scholar Poggio Bracciolini, who had a copy made from which the modern text derives. The Astronomica was read, commented upon, and edited by scholars, but then was neglected for centuries. This started to change during the early 20th century when the classicist A. E. Housman published a critically acclaimed edition of the poem. Housman's work was followed by the Latinist G. P. Goold's lauded English translation in 1977.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomica_%28Manilius%29
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1815:
War of the Seventh Coalition: Napoleon Bonaparte fought and lost his final battle, the Battle of Waterloo, in present-day Belgium. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo
1982:
The body of Italian banker Roberto Calvi, known as "God's Banker" due to his close association with the Vatican, was found hanging from scaffolding beneath London's Blackfriars Bridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Calvi
2009:
NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, its first mission to the moon in over ten years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Reconnaissance_Orbiter
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
meet one's Waterloo: To be decisively defeated by an encounter with a powerful opponent or a problem that is too difficult. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meet_one%27s_Waterloo
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We observe that nothing creates fascists like the threat of freedom. Pleasantville is the kind of parable that encourages us to re- evaluate the good old days and take a fresh look at the new world we so easily dismiss as decadent. Yes, we have more problems. But also more solutions, more opportunities and more freedom. I grew up in the '50s. It was a lot more like the world of Pleasantville than you might imagine. Yes, my house had a picket fence, and dinner was always on the table at a quarter to six, but things were wrong that I didn't even know the words for. --Roger Ebert https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert