Chariot Races in the Byzantine Hyppodrome 1 by Gem I came across a passage in Ancient Astrology by T Barton, which may be of interest to some of us : 'A Byzantine text, which certainly preserved much older ideas, reveals how astrologers used their art to predict teh outcome of chariot races, oerhaps the most popular sport of teh Empire. There is a variety of methods offered, creative variations on the themes. One simple rule for predicitng the winning team runs like this: You must know that the Moon aids the Greens, the Sun the Reds, Saturn and Venus the Blues. So, when the Sun meets Venus, if at that moment the Blues are launching out on the course, then they will win. When it meets Mars, it it the Greens who win, for Mars is their ally: and when Jupiter is found on a cardine, then infallibly the Blues will win, above all if the Moon is deprived of light.(Catalogue of Manuscipts of Greek Astrologers) This text tells us of a specialist in questions of the hippodrome and his amazing predictions. It is not clear whether he sold his konwledge; he is only mentioned as speaking with the teams. At least in this case he would have a one-in-three chance of getting it right. And since the answer depended on the exact time of the race, there was room for manoeuvre in retrospect.' Some sort of colour method used there and the Reds and the Blues sound very familiar Last edited by Gem on Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:15 pm, edited 1 time in total. Quote Tue Apr 01, 2008 4:02 pm
2 by Ficina That's fascinating, Gem! So even back then they were probably shouting, "Come on, you Reds!" Quote Tue Apr 01, 2008 5:03 pm
3 by Gunhilde What, in the name of Jupiter, is a 'cardine'? A cardinal angle? In a cardinal sign? And what does 'deprived of light' mean in this context, do you think? An eclipse seems the most obvious; are there other manifesations? Historically curious, GH Quote Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:12 am
4 by Deb A cardine is an angle, and the Moon 'deprived of light' means close to the Sun (either an 'old' Moon or a New Moon). Quote Thu Apr 03, 2008 10:24 am
5 by Gunhilde Thank you, Deb. I learn something new and interesting every day from you! GH Quote Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:02 am