Tables on the Phenomena of Aratus (e.g. Aratus & Hyginus, 1569) and the chronology of Maximus (c.f. Schissel, 1934) from the transscription and latin translation in the famous Uranologion by Denis Pétau or Dionysius Petavius (1630), c.f. petav_tr01:
"Achillis Tatij Isagoge ad Arati Phænomena, qui liber falsò Eratostheni tribuitur.", (Petavius, 1630, index).
Achilles Tatius' introduction to the Phenomena of Aratus. The book is incorrectly attributed to Eratosthenes.
Petavius gave the translation of the introduction by Achilles Tatius from the 3rd century (c.f. Oxford Reference, 2024) on Aratus' (c. 315-240 BC) hexameter prose adaptation of the (lost) Phenomena and Enoptron by Eudoxus of Cnidus:
"[...] largely responsible for turning astronomy into a mathematical science [...] was Eudoxus of Cnidus (ca. 390-337 B.C.). [...] we propose that Eudoxus was influenced by cosmological speculation, particularly that of the Pythagoreans and Plato. For, in their view, the circular motions of the heavenly bodies manifested a moral order that was ultimately analyzable by means of [...] whole-number ratios as melodious sound.", (Goldstein & Bowen, 1983, p. 332-333).
A description of astronomy, the world and the Earth is given (Petavius, 1630, p. 256-267):
"ERATOSTHENIS, ALIAS HIPPARCHI [Pseudepigraphus hic libellus. nam neutrius est], AD ARATI PHÆNOMENA.", (Petavius, 1630, p. 256).
ERATOSTHENES, ALIAS HIPPARCH (this book is by neither of them), ON THE PHENOMENA OF ARATUS.
De Zonis. PArallelis circulis zonæ quinque subjectæ sunt : Borealis, quæ tota supra terram eminnens est, inhabitabilis, alsiosa, Saturno dicata [...] Æstiua, cuius maior pars supra finitorem extollitur. Temperata in qua regio nostra sita est ; attributa Ioui [...] Æquinoctialis æqualem supra, infráque horizontem obtinens partem ; inhabitabilis est, exusta, Martis propria [...] hic enim tam ipsam, quàm totam sphæram mediam diuidit [...] Hiemalis contra atque æstius maiore sui parte sub horizonte latet ; habitabilis ; temperara ; dicata Veneri [...] Australis, quæ tota delitescit, inhabitabilis, frigida, ad Mercurium pertinens [...] Colliguntur ambitus terræ supra finitorem, scrupula 30 ; stadiorum verò 126000.", (Petavius, 1630, p. 266).
About the Zones: Parallel to the circles there are five sub-zones: The North, which is entirely above the Earth, uninhabitable, sticky and dedicated to Saturn. The Summer, the greater part of which is emphasized above the limiter, is the climate in which our region is located and attributed to Jupiter. The equinoctial part, having an equal part above and below the horizon, is uninhabitable, scorched and proper to Mars, for here it divides both, itself and the whole sphere in the middle. The greater part of Winter, in the contrary to Summer, is hidden below the horizon; habitable; temperate; dedicated to Venus. The South, which is entirely hidden, uninhabitable and cold is belonging to Mercury. Areas above the limiter of the earth are collected, 30 scruples, indeed 126000 stades.
Zones in arc length
La
Zone sc pt st
Borealis Saturn sexagesima sex 25200
Æstius Jupiter quinque 21000
Æquinoctialis Mars octo 33600
Hiemalis Venus quinque 21000
Australis Mercury quinque 25200
Colliguntur 30 126000
It should be noted that here the names of the planets are assigned to the zones of the Earth.
For implications of the descriptions of the arc lengths petav_tab01, Walker et al. (2009) and Williams (2024).
Excerpt from the chronology of Maximus, S. MAXIMI COMPUTI, which extends from the Neolithic period of 5500 BC until the early Middle Ages (833 AD, 912 AD, respectively).
per mill year
XI VI nat S AD patriarch
230 230 -5270 Adam annus natus erat
205 435 -5065 Seth
I 190 625 -4875 Enos
170 795 -4705 Cainan
165 960 -4540 Malaleel
II I 162 1122 -4378 Iared
165 1287 -4213 Enoch
167 1454 -4046 Mathusala
III 188 1642 -3858 Lamech
II 500 2142 -3358 Noë
: : : :
7 4232 -1268 Essebon
10 4242 -1258 Aelon
8 4250 -1250 Abdon
VIII 40 4290 -1210 Philistæi
20 4310 -1190 Sampson
40 4350 -1150 Interregni & pacis
20 4370 -1130 Heli sacerdos
: : : :
17 5281 -219 Ptolemæus Philopator
23 5304 -196 Ptolemæus Epiphanes
X 35 5339 -161 Ptolemæus Philometor
29 5368 -132 Ptolemæus Euergetes
16 5384 -116 Ptolemæus Physconis
: : : :
See petav_tab02, petav_tab03, petav_tab04, Maximus (n.d., fol. 240r-241r), Schissel (1934, p. 270) and also Schneider (1952, p. 519 ff.), Pinches (1911) or Frayne (1997, 2021).
Further and more profound information on the subject of Byzantine chronology can be found at Gelzer (1880, 1898a, b).
Aratus, & Hyginus, G. I. (1569). Arati Solensis Phaenomena Et Prognostica Interpretibus m. Tullio Cicerone, Rufo Festo Avieno, Germanico Caesare, Una Cum Ejus Commentariis: ; c. Julii Hygini Astronomicon. 1st ed. Coloniae Agrippinae: Apud Theodorum Graminaeum. https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-53915.
Engels, D. (1985). The Length of Eratosthenes’ Stade. The American Journal of Philology 106 (3): 298–311. http://www.jstor.org/stable/295030.
Frayne, D. (1997). Ur III Period (2112-2004 BC). Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctt13x1qkz.
———. (2021). Presargonic Period: Early Periods, Volume 1 (2700-2350 BC). Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=dfi9zgEACAAJ.
Gelzer, H. (1880). SEXTUS JULIUS AFRICANUS UND DIE BYZANTINISCHE CHRONOGRAPHIE. Vol. I: DIE CHRONOGRAPHIE DES JULIUS AFRICANUS. Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von B. G. Teubner. https://archive.org/details/sextusjuliusafr02gelzgoog.
———. (1898a). SEXTUS JULIUS AFRICANUS UND DIE BYZANTINISCHE CHRONOGRAPHIE. Vol. II.1: Die Nachfolger des Julius Africanus. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung. https://archive.org/details/sextusjuliusafr01gelzgoog.
———. (1898b). SEXTUS JULIUS AFRICANUS UND DIE BYZANTINISCHE CHRONOGRAPHIE. Vol. II.2: Nachträge. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung. https://archive.org/details/sextusjuliusafr00gelzgoog.
Goldstein, B. R., & Bowen, A. C. (1983). A New View of Early Greek Astronomy. Isis 74 (3): 330–40. http://www.jstor.org/stable/232593.
Maximus. (n.d.). Vat.gr.505 ed. Vatican: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.505.
Oxford Reference. (2024). Achilles Tatius. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095347168.
Petavius, D. (1630). VRANOLOGION sive systema variorvm authorvm. qvi de sphaera, ac sideribvs, eorvmove motibvs Graece commentati sunt. LVTETIAE PARISIORVM: Sumptibus Sebastiani Cramoisy, via Iacobaea, sub Ciconiis. M. DC. XXX. CVM PRIVILEGIO REGIS CHRISTIANISS. https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-2004.
Pinches, T. G. (1911). Review of Sumerian Administrative Documents, Dated in the Reigns of the Second Dynasty of Ur, from the Temple Archives of Nippur Preserved in Philadelphia. Vol. III, Part i, by d. W. Myhrman & h. V. Hilprecht. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 571–73. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25189899.
Schissel, O. (1934). NOTE SUR UN CATALOGUS CODICUM CHRONOLOGORUM GRAECORUM. Byzantion 9 (1): 269–95. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44168086.
Schneider, N. (1952). PATRIARCHENNAMEN IN ZEITGENÖSSISCHEN KEILSCHRIFTURKUNDEN. Biblica 33 (4): 516–22. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42618775.
Walker, M., Johnsen, S., Rasmussen, S. O., Popp, T., Steffensen, J. -P., Gibbard, P., Hoek, W., Lowe, J., Andrews, J., Björck, S., Cwynar, L. C., Hughen, K., Kershaw, P., Kromer, B., Litt, T., Lowe, D. J., Nakagawa, T., Newnham, R., & Schwander, J. (2009). Formal Definition and Dating of the GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) for the Base of the Holocene Using the Greenland NGRIP Ice Core, and Selected Auxiliary Records. Journal of Quaternary Science 24 (1): 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.1227.
Williams, D. R. (2024). Planetary Fact Sheets. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.html.