Vettius Valens

From HellenisticWiki

Vettius Valens was a Roman astrologer who was conceived on May 13, 119 CE, and born on February 8, 120 in the ancient city of Antioch, which is now modern day Antakya, Turkey. Today Valens is known for his encyclopedic 9 book long astrological treatise called the Anthology (Ἀνθολογίαι).

Editions of Valens' Anthology

The original critical edition of Valens’ work was carried out by Kroll,[1] with a later critical edition completed by Pingree in 1986.[2] According to Pingree we owe the survival of a large portion of Valens’ Anthology to the noted 16th century English scholar John Dee, who compiled a massive collection of ancient and medieval texts at his library in Mortlake, England.[3] Dee apparently acquired his manuscript of Valens in 1556.[4]

Translation Project

Some chapters of Valens' Anthology are being translated in the Vettius Valens Translation Project on this wiki.

Endnotes

• 1. Guilelmus Kroll, Vettii Valentis Anthologiarum Libri, Berolini apud Weidmannos, 1908.
• 2. David Pingree, Vettii Valentis Anthologiarum Libri Novem, Lipsiae, 1986.
• 3. David Pingree, Classical and Byzantine Astrology in Sassanian Persia, pg. 228.
• 4. Pingree, Vettii Valentis Anthologiarum Libri Novem, pg. x.