page_title: Tetrabiblos
section_title: Book IV: Individual horoscopes (external accidentals)
hierarchical_section_title: Tetrabiblos / Book IV: Individual horoscopes (external accidentals)
caption_attribution_description: From Petrus Apianus&#59; Gemma Frisius&#32;(1539)&#32;Petri Apiani cosmographia, per Gemmam Phrysium, apud Louanienses medicum ac mathematicum insignem, restituta: additis de adem re ipsius Gemmae Phry. libellis, ut sequens pagina docet, Antwerp&#58; In pingui gallina Arnoldo Berckma[n]no [Arnold Birckmann], OCLC 1113627241. Schema huius præmiʃʃæ diuiʃionis Sphærarum. COELVM EMPIREVM HABITACVLVM DEI ET OMNIVM ELECTORVM Ⅰ0 &#160; ♌ &#166; Decimŭm Cœlŭm ♋ &#166; Primŭ Mobile ♊ &#166; &#160; ♉ &#166; &#160; ♈ &#166; &#160; ♓ &#166; &#160; ♒ &#166; &#160; ♑ &#166; &#160; ♐ &#166; &#160; ♏ &#166; &#160; ♎ &#166; &#160; ♍ &#166; 9 &#160; ♋ &#166; Nonŭ Cœlŭm ♊ &#166; Criʃtallinŭm ♉ &#166; &#160; ♈ &#166; ⊕ &#160; ♓ &#166; &#160; ♒ &#166; &#160; ♑ &#166; &#160; ♐ &#166; &#160; ♏ &#166; &#160; ♎ &#166;⊕ &#160; ♍ &#166; &#160; ♌ &#166; 8 ••••••★ ♋ &#166; (•) Octaŭum •• ♊ &#166; (•) Firmamentŭ • ♉ • &#166; •••••• ♈ &#166; ••★••★••• ♓ &#166; •••★• ♒ • &#166; ••••••••• ♑ &#166; •••★ ♐ &#166; ••••••• ♏ &#166; ★•★ ♎ &#166; ••••••• ♍ &#166; ••★•••• ♌ &#166; 7 COELÛ &#160; ♃ SATVRNI &#160; ★ 6 ♄ IOVIS &#160; ★ 5 ♂ MARTIS &#160; ★ 4 ☉ SOLIS &#160; ☼ 3 ♀VENERIS &#160; ★ Z ☿ MERCVRII &#160; ★ Ⅰ ☾ LVNÆ &#160; ◯ &#160; ☽ &#160; ◯ (•) Star aligned with following word; only two sizes of stars are used, relative positions ignored English: The scheme of the aforementioned division of spheres. · The empyrean (fiery) heaven, dwelling of God and of all the selected · 10 Tenth heaven, first cause · 9 Ninth heaven, crystalline · 8 Eighth heaven of the firmament · 7 Heaven of Saturn · 6 Jupiter · 5 Mars · 4 Sun · 3 Venus · 2 Mercury · 1 Moon Latina: Schema huius praemissae divisionis sphaerarum. · Coelum empireum habitaculum dei et omnium electorum · 10 Decimum coelum primu mobile · 9 Nonu coelum cristallinum · 8 Octavum [coelum] firmamentu · 7 Coelu saturni · 6 [Coelu] Iovis · 5 [Coelu] Martis · 4 [Coelu] Solis · 3 [Coelu] Veneris · 2 [Coelu] Mercurii · 1 [Coelu] Lunae Compare to: Sacrobosco's De sphaera mundi
context_page_description: Tetrabiblos 'four books', also known in Greek as Apotelesmatiká "Effects", and in Latin as Quadripartitum "Four Parts", is a text on the philosophy and practice of astrology, written in the 2nd century AD by the Alexandrian scholar Claudius Ptolemy.
  Ptolemy's Almagest was an authoritative text on astronomy for more than a thousand years, and the Tetrabiblos, its companion volume, was equally influential in astrology, the study of the effects of astronomical cycles on earthly matters. But whilst the Almagest as an astronomical authority was superseded by acceptance of the heliocentric model of the Solar System, the Tetrabiblos remains an important theoretical work for astrology.
  Besides outlining the techniques of astrological practice, Ptolemy's philosophical defense of the subject as a natural, beneficial study helped secure theological tolerance towards astrology in Western Europe during the Medieval era. This allowed Ptolemaic teachings on astrology to be included in universities during the Renaissance, which brought an associated impact upon medical studies and literary works.
context_section_description: Book IV is presented with a brief introduction to reaffirm  the arrangement of content as previously described. It starts with the topics of riches and honour. Ptolemy says: "as material fortune is associated with the properties of the body, so honour belongs to those of the soul".  Chapter 2, on material wealth, employs the "so-called 'Lot of Fortune'" although Ptolemy's instruction conflicts with that of many of his contemporaries in stating that for its calculation "we measure from the horoscope the distance from the sun to the moon, in both diurnal and nocturnal nativities".  Ptolemy's reputation ensured this approach to calculation was adopted by many later Medieval and Renaissance astrologers, although it is now realised that most Hellenistic astrologers reversed the formula of calculation for nocturnal births. It is notable that in his discussion "Of the fortune of Dignity", in chapter three, Ptolemy makes no reference to the Lot of Spirit (or Daimon), which would normally be used as the spiritual counterpart to the material wealth and happiness associated with the Lot of Fortune. This is viewed as a demonstration of his general dislike (declared in bk. III.3)  for "lots and numbers of which no reasonable explanation can be given".
  The subsequent chapter, the title of which is translated by Robbins as 'Of the Quality of Action', concerns professional inclinations and the significators of career advance (or decline). This is followed by the treatment of marriage in chapter 5, which is primarily referred to the Moon in a man's chart, to describe his wife, and the Sun in a woman's chart to describe her husband. Here Ptolemy shows employment of the astrological technique known as synastry, in which the planetary positions of two separate horoscopes are compared with each other for indications of relationship harmony or enmity. 
  The next four chapters complete the survey of natal themes, dealing with the topics of children (ch.6); friends and enemies (ch.7); the dangers of foreign travel (ch.8) and the quality (or type) of death (ch.9 – as opposed to the time of death considered in III.10).
  The final chapter of the work is described as "a curious one" for introducing a separate theme at the end of the book. This refers to the seven 'ages of man', which Ptolemy briefly mentioned in III.1 as a matter which varies the emphasis of astrological configurations according to the time in life they occur: "we predict events that will come about at specific times and vary in degree, following the so called ages of life.
  His argument is that, just as an astrologer must consider cultural differences "lest he mistake the appropriate customs and manners by assigning, for example, marriage with a sister to one who is Italian by race, instead of to the Egyptian as he should", it is necessary to consider the age in life that important astrological events occur. This is to ensure the prediction will "harmonise those details which are contemplated in temporal terms with that which is suitable and possible for persons in the various age-classes" and avoid out-of-context predictions such as imminent marriage for a young child, or "to an extremely old man the begetting of children or anything else that fits younger men". This leads into a discussion of the planetary themes of the seven ages of life which:
  ...for likeness and comparison depends upon the order of the seven planets; it begins with the first age of man and with the first sphere from us, that is, the moon's, and ends with the last of the ages and the outermost of the planetary spheres, which is called that of Saturn.
  The information in the passage can be summarised as follows:
  The book ends with a brief discussion of astronomical and symbolic cycles used in the prediction of timed events, which includes mention of (primary) directions, annual profections, ingresses, lunations and transits.
  The translator of the Loeb 1940 English translation, F. E. Robbins, reports a "puzzling problem" regarding the final paragraph of the book. One group of manuscripts have either been left unconc
caption: Ptolemy's geocentric celestial spheres; Peter Apian's Cosmographia (1539)
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