The Horoscope of Ceionius Rufius Albinus

Abstract

In 1894 Theodor Mommsen suggested¹ that Ceionius Rufius Albinus was the person to whom the horoscope contained in the second book of the Mathesis of Firmicus Maternus referred. Circumstantial evidence led Mommsen to the conclusion that it was the praefectus urbi of the year 336/337 A.D. whose horoscope is discussed in detail by Firmicus. Mommsen did not, however, submit his thesis to the final test: whether or not the astronomical data agree with his hypothesis. It is the purpose of the present note to fill this gap. At the same time I wish to point out how easily problems of this type can be solved without going into a great many unnecessary details which are usually invoked in the dating of horoscopes by professional astronomers who are not familiar with the techniques of ancient astronomy and astrology, techniques which by their approximative character make quite meaningless the application of modern high precision tools.