Did Ptolemy Use Whole Sign Houses?

The question of Ptolemy’s preferred method of house division came up on the discussion forum on Skyscript recently. I said that I had always thought that Robert Schmidt did an adequate job in his translation of the Tetrabiblos in pointing out the instances in which Ptolemy clearly employed whole sign houses. I suggested that anyone… Continue reading Did Ptolemy Use Whole Sign Houses?

Full Translation of Vettius Valens’ Anthology Released

A full translation of the Anthology of the 2nd century astrologer Vettius Valens was released online yesterday for free. The translator is a retired classics scholar named Mark Riley, who posted a PDF of the translation on his website (here is a direct link to the PDF). (Update June 3, 2025: I published an edited… Continue reading Full Translation of Vettius Valens’ Anthology Released

The Glyph for the Ascendant in Hellenistic Astrology

The glyphs or symbols that are commonly used by modern astrologers to represent the planets and signs of the zodiac were only firmly established in the Middle Ages.  While there is evidence that some of these glyphs may have evolved out of certain symbols that were used during the late Hellenistic tradition, and some possibly… Continue reading The Glyph for the Ascendant in Hellenistic Astrology

Video Tutorials for Enabling Ancient Greek Keyboard Layout

Meredith Garstin and I created a couple of YouTube videos in order to show people how to setup their computers so that they can type words in ancient Greek on their keyboard. We created one video in order to show users how to setup their keyboards so that they can type in Greek for users… Continue reading Video Tutorials for Enabling Ancient Greek Keyboard Layout