Dorotheus of Sidon ( grc-gre, Δωρόθεος Σιδώνιος, c. 75 CE - ?? CE) was a 1st-century

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

astrologer Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...

and astrological

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, who, during the

Hellenistic Period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...

, wrote a didactic poem on

horoscopic astrology Horoscopic astrology is a form of astrology that uses a horoscope, a visual representation of the heavens, for a specific moment in time in order to interpret the inherent meaning underlying the alignment of the planets in astrology, planets at th ...

, known as the ''Pentateuch'' (Πεντάτευχος; lit. five books; more commonly known in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

as ''Carmen Astrologicum''). The ''Pentateuch'', which was a textbook on

Hellenistic astrology Hellenistic astrology is a tradition of horoscopic astrology that was developed and practiced in the late Hellenistic period in and around the Mediterranean Basin region, especially in Egypt. The texts and technical terminology of this tradition o ...

, has come down to us mainly from an Arabic translation dating from around 800 AD carried out by

Omar Tiberiades Omar Tiberiades or Abû Hafs 'Umar ibn Farrukhân Tabarî (d. ca. 815), (Persian ابن فرخان طبری) was a Medieval Persian astrologer and architect from Tabaristan. The historical Tabaristan region is in the present-day Mazandaran Provi ...

(itself a translation of a

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...

translation from the original

). The text, fragmentary at times, is therefore not entirely reliable and is further corrupted by interpolations by the later Persian translators. Nevertheless, it remains one of our best sources for the practice of Hellenistic astrology, and it was a work of great influence on later

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

and

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

astrologers. The late 1st century, a time when Dorotheus is believed to have flourished, was a period of intense astrological development, following two millennia of accumulated tradition. Very little is known about Dorotheus himself. Dorotheus most likely lived and worked in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, which, in addition to being the most important scholastic center in the

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

world, was also the main location where the oldest

Mesopotamian Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

and Egyptian astrological techniques were synthesized together in order to create

. According to

Firmicus Maternus __NOTOC__ Julius Firmicus Maternus was a Roman Latin writer and astrologer, who received a pagan classical education that made him conversant with Greek; he lived in the reign of Constantine I (306 to 337 AD) and his successors. His triple career m ...

, Dorotheus was originally a native of the city of

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

(Firmicus, ''Mathesis'', 2, 29: 2).

References

External links

Ἀποτελεσματικά (Apotelesmatica), original text online & biography
- on Dorotheus and contemporaries
Article on Dorotheus of Sidon's life, works, and legacy

Publications

*''Dorothei Sidonii Carmen Astrologicum'', ed.

David Pingree David Edwin Pingree (January 2, 1933, New Haven, Connecticut – November 11, 2005, Providence, Rhode Island) was an American historian of mathematics in the ancient world. He was a University Professor and Professor of History of Mathematics ...

, Teubner, Leipzig, 1976. **Dorotheus of Sidon, ''Carmen Astrologicum'', tr. David Pingree, English translation of the Arabic re-published by Ascella Publications (London, 1993). Re-published again by Astrology Classics (Bel Air, MD), 2005. *Robert Hand, Introduction to ''The Record of the Early Sages in Greek.'' Project Hindsight. (Golden Hind Press, Berkeley Springs, WV, 1996.) (Online at

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorotheus Of Sidon Ancient Greek astrologers People from Sidon