Cleomedes
Lawrence Witmer (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520233256
- eISBN:
- 9780520928510
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520233256.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
At some time around 200 A.D., the Stoic philosopher and teacher Cleomedes delivered a set of lectures on elementary astronomy as part of a complete introduction to Stoicism for his students. The ...
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At some time around 200 A.D., the Stoic philosopher and teacher Cleomedes delivered a set of lectures on elementary astronomy as part of a complete introduction to Stoicism for his students. The result was The Heavens (Caelestia), the only work by a professional Stoic teacher to survive intact from the first two centuries A.D., and a rare example of the interaction between science and philosophy in late antiquity. This book contains an English translation of The Heavens, along with an introduction, notes, and technical diagrams.Less
At some time around 200 A.D., the Stoic philosopher and teacher Cleomedes delivered a set of lectures on elementary astronomy as part of a complete introduction to Stoicism for his students. The result was The Heavens (Caelestia), the only work by a professional Stoic teacher to survive intact from the first two centuries A.D., and a rare example of the interaction between science and philosophy in late antiquity. This book contains an English translation of The Heavens, along with an introduction, notes, and technical diagrams.
Alan C. Bowen and Robert B. Todd
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520233256
- eISBN:
- 9780520928510
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520233256.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
The Heavens (Caelestia) is the only surviving work by Cleomedes. In the absence of any external biographical information on him, his floruit has to be inferred from the probable date of his treatise. ...
More
The Heavens (Caelestia) is the only surviving work by Cleomedes. In the absence of any external biographical information on him, his floruit has to be inferred from the probable date of his treatise. While in the Caelestia he deals primarily with elementary astronomy and some aspects of cosmology, he also anticipates and assumes instruction in Stoic physical theory, and cites without explanation doctrines from Stoic metaphysics, epistemology, semantics, and logic. Since Cleomedes admitted using material from Posidonius, his work was sometimes seen simply as a repository of Posidonian doctrines and treatises, or, in more modified claims, as an amalgam of earlier Stoic literature and Posidonian components. If any source is to be assigned to the conjunction of rigorous reasoning, observations, and physical theory that is so pervasive in the Caelestia, the only possible candidate is Posidonius, even if Cleomedean demonstrative procedures are not regarded as Posidonian in every detail.Less
The Heavens (Caelestia) is the only surviving work by Cleomedes. In the absence of any external biographical information on him, his floruit has to be inferred from the probable date of his treatise. While in the Caelestia he deals primarily with elementary astronomy and some aspects of cosmology, he also anticipates and assumes instruction in Stoic physical theory, and cites without explanation doctrines from Stoic metaphysics, epistemology, semantics, and logic. Since Cleomedes admitted using material from Posidonius, his work was sometimes seen simply as a repository of Posidonian doctrines and treatises, or, in more modified claims, as an amalgam of earlier Stoic literature and Posidonian components. If any source is to be assigned to the conjunction of rigorous reasoning, observations, and physical theory that is so pervasive in the Caelestia, the only possible candidate is Posidonius, even if Cleomedean demonstrative procedures are not regarded as Posidonian in every detail.
