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H: Roman Constellations
16: Roman celestial globes
Early Greek and Roman Celestial Globes
The beginning of construction of celestial globes can hardly be earlier than the existence of a spherical theory of the heavens.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) proved that the earth was round. Over 100 years later the Greek mathematician Erastosthenes of Cyrene (276-194 BCE) is said to have calculated the circumference of the earth with considerable accuracy.
Allusions to the existence of celestial globes date to the Greek scientists Eudoxus of Cnidos (circa 409-356 BCE) and Archimedes of Syracuse (circa 287-212 BCE). The Greek philosopher Anaximander (circa first half of the 6th-century BCE) possibly invented the celestial globe. (The Roman writer Cicero (a statesman, lawyer, and philiosopher) (106-43 BCE) in On the Republic (quoting (from 166 BCE) Gaius Gallus, a Roman consul and astronomical writer) states that the (Pre-socratic) philosopher Thales of Miletus (6th-century BCE) constructed a celestial globe. However, this seems improbable.) Though there is really no positive statement for such in ancient literature it is thought that Eudoxus likely constructed a celestial globe. The early writers Cicero (On the Republic) and Ovid (a Roman poet) (43 BCE-17/18 CE) (Fasti (= The Calendar) state that Archimedes (287-212 BCE) constructed a celestial globe and also a mechanical planetarium. The celestial globe was marked with the constellations and stars and the mechanical planetarium had the ability to imitate the motions of the sun, moon, and 5 "wandering stars" (= planets) as viewed from the earth. By turning a crank handle the apparent "natural" course of the sun, moon, and 5 planets around the earth could be observed. Cicero (quoting Gaius Gallus from 166 BCE) relates that after the Roman conquest of Syracuse (Sicily) in 212 BCE the Roman consul Marcellus (who led the conquest) brought both globes to Rome. The celestial globe was placed in the Temple of Virtue and the mechanical planetarium was kept by Marcellus. (In the particular passage in the De re publica (On the Republic) Cicero is writing of a discussion that takes place among a group of learned Romans in 129 BCE. One member of the group relates an incident in 166 BCE involving the Roman consul Gaius Gallus at the home of Marcus Marcellus, the grandson of the Roman consul Marcellus who conquered Sicily in 212 BCE.)
The most significant impulse for the representation of celestial figures on a celestial globe came from the astronomical poem Phainomena by Aratus of Soli (circa first half of the 3rd-century BCE). Celestial globes were produced to explain the poem.
A small bronze coin (in the British Museum) from Roman Bithynia (a territory northwest of Asia Minor (now in Turkey)) shows Hipparchus seated before a small celestial globe. Depictions of Hipparchus on coins (made in his honour) from Roman Bithynia were common for the 2nd-century BCE. (This supports the tradition that Hipparchus was born in Bithynia.)
The purely scientific celestial globes of the ancient Greeks and Romans were mostly constructed of wood. They were constructed with the key celestial circles, a dark blue background to represent the night sky, and the stars were indicated by their apparent brightness and colour. The apparent magnitude of stars was represented by discs of 6 different sizes and their colour by either red or yellow.
Rudimentary celestial globes, both large and small, appear as a symbol on coins and art work to identify Urania, the Roman Muse of Astronomy. Common depictions of Urania show her holding an apple-sized celestial globe in one of her hands. In other depictions (i.e., on mosaic pavements) Urania is depicted standing beside a globe resting on a stand with a pointer held in an outstretched hand. Aratus was also depicted in similar decorative schemes. On a mosaic floor (dating to circa 40 CE) from the ancient Roman city of Mérida in Spain Aratus of Soli is depicted standing beside a celestial globe on a stand and (like Urania, the Roman muse of Astronomy) has a pointer held at arm's length and pointing toward the globe. The globe is resting on a stand comprised of 4 legs. (The city of Mérida was founded in 40 CE by Emerita Augustus to house retired legionaries. The particular mosaic was recovered in 1834 and is now on display in the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano, Mérida.)
The Romans mostly derived their uranography and star lore from the Greeks. There are only three celestial globes which survive from Graeco-Roman times. All three globes reproduce all or most of the constellations known in Graeco-Roman culture. These are: (1) the well-known Farnese Globe; (2) the recently discovered Mainz Globe; and (3) the recently discovered Kugel Globe. Of these only the Farnese Globe is a large globe. Both the Mainz Globe and the Kugel Globe are miniature globes. (In complete contrast there are numerous surviving representations of the 12 signs of the zodiac in the art of the Graeco-Roman Period.) Deborah Warner (The Sky Explored (1979)) mentions the existence of a fragment of a metal planisphere from an anaphoric clock dating to the 2nd-century CE.
A marble celestial globe (thought to be Roman) in the museum of the German town of Arolsen (now Bad [= Spa] Arolsen) was discussed by Rudolph Gaedechens (1834-1904, Professor of Classical Archaeology, Jena) in his book Der marmorne Himmelsglobus des fürstlich Waldeck'schen Antikenkabinettes zu Arolsen (1862). It showed the zodiacal band with a sequence of images of the zodiacal signs. Similarly to other Arolsen museum items (such as the Byzantine coin collection) it is presently dispersed (or apparently so).
The Kugel Celestial Globe
The Kugel Globe is dated circa 300-100 BCE. It may be the earliest celestial globe to survive from Classical antiquity. It is a small globe 6.3 cms in diameter, made of gilt silver, and is held in the Gallery J. Kugel Antiquaries in Paris (France). It was acquired by this Gallery circa 1996. It is thought to have originated as a copy of an older existing sphere that had been repaired. This is because it appears to have reproduced the repair rivets on the original globe in the mistaken belief that they were depictions of celestial details. This would indicate that the artisan who made the copy was not knowledgeable in astronomy. The originator of the globe is unknown. It does not follow the Graeco-Roman astronomical norms of the period as defined by the astronomer Hipparchus. The size and positions of a number of constellations are misplaced. (Also, Libra is not depicted on the Kugel Globe.) The position of the ties linking the two fish of Pisces is derived from the Catastérismes of Eratosthenes (and this iconographic tradition is also copied in the De Astronomia of Hygin). The constellation of the Horse has no wings and be either a representation of the horse Helicon or the horse Pegasus (but without the wings). Hélène Cuvigny has suggested that the stylistic discrepancies in the representation of the constellations could mean they have been copied from different sources. Jim Fuchs has suggested that the crudely engraved (pair of) Hunting Dogs were added well after the globe was originally engraved. (If genuinely astral they represent the earliest known depiction of Boötes' dogs.) Also, the usual norm of representing the constellations has been ignored (or perhaps there was no awareness of such). The constellation figures (with the exception of Sagittarius) are not depicted from the perspective of an observer positioned outside the celestial sphere looking back towards earth. Consequently, the constellation figures are shown from the front - not from the back as was the usual manner of depiction.
The Mainz Celestial Globe
The Mainz Globe is dated (by a painstaking analysis of the engraving style) to circa 150-220 CE (the Roman imperial period). It is a small bronze (brass) globe, 11 cms in diameter, that was acquired in 1996 by the Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum in Mainz (Germany). It is believed to have originated in Roman Egypt. (This identification of its place of origin is due to the single iconographic peculiarity of Aries reclining in the Zodiac.) It is a complete celestial globe in that it depicts all 48 Classical constellations (but does not fully agree with the star-catalogue of Claudius Ptolemy) with relative precision. The constellations are depicted from the outside (looking toward earth). On the Farnese Globe a number of constellations are not depicted and others are damaged. The Mainz Globe is the oldest known complete celestial globe found to date from Graeco-Roman antiquity. Though the Mainz Globe is not a scientific work the starry sky and principal celestial circles are quite accurately depicted. There are the lines of the ecliptic, the colures, the equator, and the tropics. The zodiac is also quite accurately depicted. The longitudes of a number of stars (such as Sirius, Aldebaran, and Orion) are incorrect. It originally formed part of a sundial and was positioned on top of the gnomon. The entire Milky Way is quite accurately depicted on the Mainz Globe and this is the first (and only) complete depiction known. The originator of the globe remains unknown. Part of the value of the Mainz Globe is its value as evidence in confirming ancient references to precise celestial globes.
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