The Comet Of 44 B.C. and Caesar's Funeral Games

, by Ramsey, John T.; Licht, A. Lewis; Marsden, Brian G.

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ISBN: 9780788502743 | 0788502743
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 5/1/1997

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This unique collaboration between a classicist and physicist at the University of Illinois at Chicago is the first work to combine the evidence from both China and Rome for the spectacular daylight comet of 44 BC, perhaps the most famous comet in antiquity. This investigation, which alsoexamines allusions to this comet in astrological literature from later antiquity, sheds new light on the significance of the comet as a powerful symbol in the political propaganda that launched Augustus' career.

Illustrations
Foreword
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
The Prevailing View of the Celebration in 45 B.C. and the Evidence of Ad Atticum XIII 44	p. 19
Mommsen's Theory	p. 21
Weinstock's Theory	p. 23
The Evidence of Ad Atticum XIII 44	p. 25
Presentation of Cicero's Academica to Varro	p. 29
Brutus' Journey	p. 29
Letters from Astura	p. 30
The ludi Apollinares in 45 B.C.	p. 32
The Date of Ad Atticum XIII 44	p. 37
Revised Chronology of Mid-July to 1 August	p. 39
The Transformation of the Ludi Veneris Genetricis into the Ludi Victoriae Caesaris
The Arguments against Moving the Games in 45 B.C.	p. 41
The Arguments for Moving the Games in 44 B.C.	p. 44
Nature of the Celebration in 44 B.C.	p. 48
Scale of the Celebration in 44 and Later History	p. 54
The Ancient Accounts of the Comet of 44 B.C.
The Historical Reality of Caesar's Comet	p. 61
The Observations of Caesar's Comet	p. 75
The Chinese Sighting	p. 75
The Roman Sighting	p. 84
Intermediate Sightings?	p. 91
The Troubling Silence of our Sources
The Sighting in May	p. 95
Eruption of Mt. Etna	p. 99
The Sighting in July	p. 107
Missing Chinese Report	p. 107
Silence of Cicero	p. 112
Probability of the Two Sightings Being Attested by Both Western and Far Eastern Sources	p. 116
The Probable Orbit of Comet Caesar
The July Outburst	p. 119
The Orbital Parameters	p. 124
The Comet's Path as Seen from the Earth	p. 130
Identifying the Comet	p. 133
The Interpretation of Caesar's Comet as a Positive Omen
Statement of the Problem	p. 135
Physical Appearance of the Comet and Contemporary Debate Concerning its Classification	p. 137
Astrological Interpretations of Comets	p. 145
The Sidus Iulium and Octavian's Birth Sign Capricorn	p. 147
Greco-Roman Sources	p. 155
The Date of the Dedication of the Temple of Venus Genetrix in 46 B.C.	p. 179
The Date of the ludi Veneris Genetricis in 46 B.C.	p. 183
The Description of Caesar as Victory's "Neighbor"	p. 185
Parallels between Augustus' Memoirs and Later Sources	p. 189
Was the sidus Iulium Perhaps a Nova or Supernova?	p. 191
Was There a Solar Eclipse Visible from Rome in 44 B.C.?	p. 193
The Determination of a Parabolic Orbit from Two Sightings and Perihelion Distance	p. 195
Bibliography	p. 199
I. Names and Subjects	p. 217
II. Greek Words	p. 227
III. Sources	p. 229
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

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The Comet Of 44 B.C. and Caesar's Funeral Games

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