In episode 401 Dr. Benjamin Dykes joins the podcast to talk about his new translation of the astrological work of the 4th century astrologer Firmicus Maternus.

Firmicus was a lawyer and astrologer from the 4th century who wrote one of the longest surviving texts on astrology that has survived from antiquity, which is titled Mathesis.

Firmicus' work is unique because it was written in Latin, and it preserves a lot of material from earlier Greek sources that did not survive into modern times, such as the works of Asclepius or Nechepso and Petosiris.

The text also contains huge amounts of delineation material, where Firmicus explains how to interpret different placements in a person's birth chart.

During the course of the interview we discuss Firmicus' life and work, Ben's motivation for translating this book, and some of the interesting features of the Mathesis.

You can get a copy of Ben's new translation of Firmicus here:

Firmicus Maternus Mathesis

This episode is available in both audio and video versions below.

Timestamps

00:00:00 A new translation of the Mathesis

00:09:52 The life and dating of Firmicus Maternus

00:19:50 Firmicus' philosophy and religious views

00:30:40 Later conversion to Christianity

00:37:00 Mathesis as the first comprehensive astrological text in Latin

00:57:00 Mitigating conditions

01:10:00 Firmicus views on fate

01:31:28 The Thema Mundi

01:38:33 Firmicus using whole sign and equal houses together

01:49:29 Firmicus' emphasis on the Moon

01:55:47 Apotelesmata and chart synthesis

01:59:35 Lots as houses/places

02:08:08 Fixed stars

02:13:32 Popularity of Firmicus in later tradition

02:17:53 Ben's upcoming projects

02:19:14 Patrons and sponsors

Watch the Video Version of This Episode

Watch the video version of this episode on Firmicus Maternus on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoNf5JVNMZI

-

Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available: Episode 401 transcript

Listen to the Audio Version of This Episode

Listen to the audio version of this episode or download it as an MP3: