stella errans

Latin noun
calqued from Greek

Last edited: 2024-07-15
Primary meaning planet
Literal translation wandering star
Variants
errans stella
stella errans
Edited by
planet celestial object

quinque etiam stellae errantes, quae planetae a Graecis vocantur,

‘also five wandering stars which are called πλανῆται by the Greeks’

— Firmicus Maternus, Mathesis 1.9.5

Genre: astrological compendium
Provenance: Sicily
Date: ca. 334 CE

Firmicus Maternus. 1897. Ivlii Firmici Materni Matheseos Libri VIII, ed. W. Kroll, F. Skutsch. Stuttgart: B. G. Teubner. 1.35

Quibusdam antiquorum haec placet ratio. Cum ex stellis errantibus altera se alteri applicuit, confuso in unum duarum lumine facies longioris sideris redditur; nec hoc tunc tantum evenit, cum stella stellam attigit, sed etiam cum appropinquavit; intervallum enim quod inter duas est illustratur ab utraque inflammaturque et longum ignem efficit.

‘Some of the ancient scholars favour this explanation: when one of the planets has come into conjunction with another the light of both blends into one and presents the appearance of an elongated star. This happens not only when planet touches planet but even when they only come close. For the space between the two planets lights up and is set aflame by both planets and produces a train of fire.’

— Seneca, Natural Questions 7.12.1

Genre: philosophy
Date: 62/63 CE

Seneca. Natural Questions, Volume II: Books 4-7. Translated by Thomas H. Corcoran. Loeb Classical Library 457. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972. 250-251

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). stella errans (Lemma #880). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/880/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). stella errans (Lemma #880). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/880/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2024). stella errans (Lemma #880). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/880/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2024) stella errans (Lemma #880), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/880/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac880,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2024},
	title = {stella errans ({Lemma} #880)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/880/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/880/},
}