The Astronomica of Manilius is a poem in five books, at least partly written under the Emperor Augustus, which purports to teach the reader the art of astrology and the means by which an accurate horoscope may be cast. It is, therefore, a text from the classical age of Roman literature which
deals with a topic to whose enduring popular interest any daily Western newspaper will testify. And yet, despite some notable modern exceptions, the infamously...