[91]
But they did not live the same
number of years, for the life of Procles was shorter
by a year than that of his brother and his deeds were
far more glorious. But for my part I say that
even this concession which our excellent friend
Diogenes makes to the Chaldeans in a sort of collusive way,1 is in itself unintelligible. For the Chaldeans, according to their own statements, believe
that a person's destiny is affected by the condition
of the moon at the time of his birth, and hence they
make and record their observations of the stars
which appear to be in conjunction with the moon
on his birthday. As a result, in forming their
judgements, they depend on the sense of sight, which
is the least trustworthy of the senses, whereas they
should employ reason and intelligence. For the
science of mathematics, which the Chaldeans ought
to know, teaches us how close the moon comes to
[p. 475]
the earth, which indeed it almost touches; how far
it is from Mercury, the nearest star; how much
further yet it is from Venus; and what a great
interval separates it from the sun, which is supposed
to give it light. The three remaining distances are
beyond computation: from the Sun to Mars, from
Mars to Jupiter, from Jupiter to Saturn. Then
there is the distance from Saturn to the limits of
heaven—the ultimate bounds of space.
1 Praevaricatio is used of an advocate who acts in collision with the opposite side.
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