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The Astronomica is a Latin poem written in hexameters and divided into five books about celestial phenomena. The Astronomica was penned c. AD 10 by a Roman poet whose name was likely Manilius; little is known of Manilius, and although there is evidence that the Astronomica was read by many other Roman writers, no surviving works quote him. The poem was rediscovered in 1417 by the Italian humanist and scholar Poggio Bracciolini, who had a copy made from which the modern text derives. The earliest extant work on astrology that is extensive, coherent, and mostly intact, the Astronomica describes celestial phenomena, and, in particular, the zodiac and astrology. The poem—which seems to have been inspired by Lucretius's Epicurean poem De rerum natura—espouses a Stoic, deterministic understanding of a universe overseen by a god and governed by reason. The fifth book of the Astronomica features a lacuna, which has led to debate about the original size of the poem; some scholars have argued that whole books have been lost over the years, whereas others believe only a small section of the work is missing.

Upon its discovery, the Astronomica was read, commented upon, and edited by a number of scholars. However, it never became as popular as other classical Latin poems, and it was neglected for centuries. This started to change during the early 20th century when, between 1903 and 1930, the classicist A. E. Housman published a critically acclaimed edition of the poem in five books. Housman's work was followed by the Latinist G. P. Goold's lauded English translation in 1977. Today, scholars consider the Astronomica to be highly technical, complicated, and occasionally contradictory; at the same time, many have praised Manilius's ability to translate complex mathematical computations into poetic verse.