orbis

Ex hoc animo hi sempiterni stellarum ignes, qui globosae rotunditatis specie formati circulos suos orbesque celeri festinatione perficiunt

‘Out of this Soul the everlasting fires of the stars accomplish the swift completion of their orbits’

Si vero deficiens ad ipsos radios Solis accesserit et ipsi orbi eius quodammodo glutinata fuerit [...]

‘if it goes towards the very rays of the Sun and becomes, as it were, glued to his orb’

Varia et multa terrarum orbis expirat, quaedam umida, quaedam sicca, quaedam calentia, quaedam concipiendis ignibus idonea.

‘the terrestrial globe exhales many different particles, some wet, some dry, some hot, some suitable for starting fires.’

Primo igneus ac rubicundus orbis fuit clarumque lumen emittens, quanto vinceret noctem; deinde paulatim magnitudo eius districta est et evanuit claritas; novissime totus intercidit.

‘At first it was a fiery red disc, emitting a light so bright that it dispelled the night. Then gradually its size diminished and its brightness faded. Finally it disappeared entirely.’

celestial circle of a certain altitude

Ergo ὁρίζων, sive finiens circulus, quinque illos orbes quos modo dixi fieri scindit et efficit decem partes, quinque ab ortu, quinque ab occasu.

‘Accordingly, the horizon, or limiting circle, splits those five belts, whose location I just described, into ten sectors, five in the east and five in the west.’

bene noverit orbem fluminaque et portus, mundum ventosque, necesse est iamque huc atque illuc agilem convertere clavum et frenare ratem fluctusque effundere rector, iam remis agere et lentas inflectere tonsas.

‘The pilot must have sound knowledge of the earth, its rivers and havens, its climate and winds; how on the one hand to ply the mobile helm this way and that, and brake the ship and spread apart the waves, and how on the other to drive the ship by rowing and to feather the lingering blades.’

Formam eius in speciem orbis absoluti globatam esse nomen in primis et consensus in eo mortalium orbem appellantium

‘Its shape has the rounded appearance of ashape of world. perfect sphere. This is shown first of all by the name of ‘orb’ which is bestowed upon it by the general consent of mankind.’

Defectus CCXXIII mensibus redire in suos orbis certum est, solis defectus non nisi novissima primave fieri luna, quod vocant coitum, lunae autem non nisi plena, semperque citra quam proxime fuerint;

‘It is certain that eclipses recur in cycles of 223 months—eclipses of the sun only when the moon is in her last or first phase (this is called their ‘conjunction’), eclipses of the moon only at full moon—and always within the period of their last occurrence;’

si quartam orbis rutilus cinget, et ventos et imbres praemonebit.

‘If the moon on her fourth night is surrounded by a bright ring, this will be a warning of both wind and rain.’