ASTRŎLŎGĬA

astrology. A belief very early arose, which still prevails unshaken in the East, that a close connection subsisted between the position and movements of the heavenly bodies and the fate of man. Few doubted that the destiny of a child might be predicted with certainty by those who were skilled to interpret the position of the stars at the moment of his birth, and that the result of any undertaking might be foretold from the aspect of the firmament when it was commenced. Hence a numerous and powerful cla of men arose who were distinguished by various designations. From the country where their science was first developed, they were called Chaldaei or Babylonii ; from observing the stars, astronomi , astrologi , plane tar i i ; from employing diagrams such as were used by geometricians, mathematic i ; from determining the lot of man at his natal hour, genethliac i ; from prophesying the consummation of his struggles, ἀποτελεσματικοί ; while their art was known as ἀστρολογία , μετεωρολογία , γενεθλιαλογία , ἀποτελεσματική , Ars Chaldaeorum , Mathesis , or, from the tables they consulted, πινακική . Their calculations were termed Babylonii numeri , Χαλδαίων μέθοδοι , Χαλδαίων ψηφίδες , Rationes Chaldaicae ; their responses when consulted Chaldaeorum monita , Chaldaeorum natalicia praedicta , Astrologorum praedicta . The stars and constellations to which attention was chiefly directed were the planets and the signs of the zodiac, some of which were supposed to exert uniformly a benign influence ( ἀγαθοποιοὶ ἀστέρες ), such as Venus, Jupiter, Luna, Virgo, Libra, Taurus; others to be uniformly malign ( κακοποιοὶ ἀστέρες ), such as Saturn us, Mars, Scorpio, Capric or nus; others to be doubtful ( ἐπίκοινοι ἀστέρες ), such as Mercurius. The exact period of birth ( hora genital is ) being the critical moment, the computations founded upon it were styled γένεσις ( genitura ), ὡροσκόπος ( horoscopus ), or simply θέμα , and the star or stars in the ascendant sidus natalitium , sider a natal it i a . Astrologers seem to have found their way very early into Italy. In B.C. 139 an edict was promulgated by C. Cornel i us His pall us, at that time praetor, by which the Chaldaeans were ordered to quit Italy within ten days, and they were again banished from the city in B.C. 33, by M. Agrippa, who was then aedile. Another severe ordinance was levelled by August us against this cla , but the frequent occurrence of such phrases as “ expulit et mat he maticos ,” “ puls is Italia mathematic is ,” in the historians of the empire prove how firm a hold these pretenders must have obtained over the public mind, and how profitable the occupation must have been which could induce them to brave disgrace, and sometimes a cruel death. ASTỸNŎMI ( ἀστυνόμοι ), or street-police of Athens, were ten in number, five for the city, and as many for the Peiraeeus. The astynomi and agoranomi divided between them most of the functions of the Roman aediles. [ Agoranomi . ] ĂSῩLUM ( ἄσυλον ). In the Greek states the temples, altars, sacred groves, and statues of the gods, generally po e ed the privilege of protecting slaves, debtors, and criminals, who fled to them for refuge. The laws, however, do not appear to have recognised the right of all such sacred places to afford the protection which was claimed, but to have confined it to a certain number of temples, or altars, which were considered in a more especial manner to have the ἀσυλία , or jus asyli . There were several places in Athens which po e ed this privilege; of which the best known was the Theseium, or temple of These us, in the city, near the gymnasium, which was chiefly intended for the protection of ill-treated slaves, who could take refuge in this place, and compel their masters to sell them to some other person. In the time of Tiberius, the number of places po e ing the jus asyli in the Greek cities in Greece and Asia Minor became so numerous, as seriously to impede the administration of justice; and, consequently, the senate, by the command of the emperor, limited the jus asyli to a few cities. The asylum, which Romulus is said to have opened at Rome to increase the population of the city, was a place of refuge for the inhabitants of other states, rather than a sanctuary for those who had violated the laws of the city. In the republican and early imperial times, a right of asylum, such as existed in the Greek states, does not appear to have been recognised by the Roman law; but it existed under the empire, and a slave could fly to the temples of the gods, or the statues of the emperors, to avoid the ill-usage of his master.