CHAP. VIII. not deviate to any very great extent, in their views of the Universe, from Aristotle and the views which were generally entertained. In the centre of the C. The Universe reposes the globe of the earth; around universe. it is water, above the water is air. These three strata form the kernel of the world, which is in a 2 state of repose, and around these the Ether revolves in a circle, together with the stars which are set in it. At the top, in one stratum, are all the fixed stars; under the stratum containing the fixed stars are the planets, in seven different strata -Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, then the Sun, and in the lowest stratum, bordering on the region of air, is the Moon.3 Thus the world consists, as with Aristotle, of a globe containing many strata, one joining the other.1 The conical shape of the earth is a matter of course, and is mentioned by Ach. Tat. Isag. 126, c; Plut. Plac. iii. 10, 1 ; 9,3. Cleom. Met. p. 40, gives a proof of it, for the most part taken from Posidonius. 2 Heraclit. Alleg. Hom. c. 36, and Diog. 145, also affirm that the earth is in the centre, unmoved. The reason for this fact is stated by Stob. i. 408, to be its weight. Further proofs in Cleomed. Met. p. 47. Nor is the world the more exalted spots project 3 Stob. Ecl. i. 446: Toû dè . . . κόσμου τὸ μὲν εἶναι περιφερόμενον περὶ τὸ μεσον, τὸ δ ̓ ὑπομένον, περιφερόμενον μὲν τὸν αἰθέρα, ὑπομένον δὲ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὰ ἐπ' αὐτῆς vyрà κal тdy ȧéрa. The earth is the natural framework, and, as it were, the skeleton of the world. Around it lies water, out of which 2, 1; i. 6, 3; Diog. 140; Cleomed. Stob. i. 356; Plut. Plac. ii. CHAP. unlimited, as Democritus and Epicurus maintain; nor, indeed, can it be, consistently with being material.' The space within the world is fully occupied by the material of the world, without a vacant space being left anywhere. Outside the world, however, is an empty place, or else howthe Stoics asked-would there be a place into which the world could be resolved at the general conflagration? Moreover, this empty place must be unlimited; for how can there be a limit, or any kind of boundary, to what is immaterial and nonexistent ?4 But although the world is in empty space, it does not move, for the half of its component elements being heavy, and the other half light, as a whole it is neither heavy nor light.5 Met. pp. 39 and 46; Heraclit. 1 Stob. i. 392; Simpl. Phys. 2 Diog. 140; Stob. i. 382; Plut. Plac. i. 18, 4; Sext. Math. vii. 214; Theodoret, Cur. Gr. Aff. iv. 14; Hippolyt. Refut. Hær. i. 21. Sen. Nat. Qu. ii. 7, observes that motion is possible by means of ȧrTimepiσTaois, without supposing the existence of empty space. A number of arguments against the existence of empty space may be found in Cleomed. Met. p. 4. 3 Cleomed. Met. 2 and 5. Chrysippus, in Stob. i. 392: The Empty and the Non-Material is unlimited, ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ μηδὲν οὐδέν ἐστι πέρας, οὕτω καὶ τοῦ μηδενός, οἷόν ἐστι τὸ κενόν. The Empty could only be bounded by being filled. To the same effect, Cleomed. p. 6. On the unlimited beyond the world, see Diog. 140 and 143; Stob. i. 260 and 382; Plut. Sto. Rep. 44, 1; C. Nct. 30, 2; Plac. i. 18, 4; ii. 9, 2; Theodoret, 1. c. Posidonius denied the infinite size of the Empty. Chrysippus, in affirming that the world occupies the centre of space, was therefore contradicting himself; and to this fact Plut. Def. Or. 28, draws attention. Achil. Tat. Isag. 126, ▲; 132, CHAP. VIII. of nature. tional parts The stars are spherical masses,' consisting of fire; but the fire is not in all cases equally pure, and is sustained, as Heraclitus taught, by evaporations D. Irrafrom the earth and from water.3 With this process of sustentation the motion of the stars is brought into connection, their orbit extending over the space in which they obtain their nutriment." Not only A; Stob. i. 408. According to Stob. i. 442, Plut. C. Not. 30, 2 and 10, Plac. ii. 1, 6; i. 5, 1, Diog. 143, Sext. Math. ix. 332, Ach. Tat. 129, D, the Stoics had various names for the world, according as the Empty was included or excluded in its conception. Including the Empty, it is called rò rav; without it, öxλov. The way, it was said, is neither material nor immaterial, since it consists of both. Plut. C. Not. 1 Diog. 145; Plut. Plac. ii. 14, 1; 22, 3; 27, 1; Stob. i. 516; 540; 554; Ach. Tat. 133, D. 2 According to Cic. N. D. ii. 15, 40, Diog. 144, Stob. Ecl. i. 314; 519; 538; 554; 565, Plut. Fac. Lun. 5, 1; 21, 13, Plac. ii. 25, 3; 30, 3, Galen, Hist. Phil. 15, Philo, De Somn. 587, B, Achil. Tat. Isag. 124, D; 133, c, the stars generally consist of fire, or, more accurately, of πῦρ τεχνικόν, or Ether. The purest fire is in the sun. The moon is a compound of dull fre and air, or, as it is said, is more earth-like, since, owing to its proximity to the earth, it takes up earthy particles in vapour. Perhaps it was owing to this fact that it was said to receive its light from the sun (Diog. 145), which, according to Cleomed. Met. p. 106, and Plut. Fac. Lun. 16, 12, is not only on its surface, but reaches into it some depth. Cleomed. 100, believes that it has also a light of its own. Diog. 145; Stob. i. 532; 538; 554; Floril. 17, 43; Plut. De Is. 41; Sto. Rep. 39, 1; Qu. Com. viii. 8, 2, 4; Plac. ii. 17, 2; 20, 3; 23, 5; Galen, Hist. Phil. 14; Porphyr. Antr. Nymph. c. 11; Cic. N. D. iii. 14, 37; ii. 15, 40; 46, 118; Sen. Nat. Qu. vi. 16, 2; Heraclit. Alleg. Hom. c. 36 and 56; most of whom affirm that the sun is sustained by vapours from the sea, the moon by those of fresh water, and the other stars by vapours from the earth. The stars are also said to owe their origin to such vapours. Chrysippus, in Plut. Sto. Rep. 41, 3, adds: oi d' ȧσтépes éк OaλÁJONS uerà TOû ηλíov àvántovtai. Plut. Ibid. 2: Ĕu↓vxov yeîтaι TÒV ἥλιον, πύρινον ὄντα καὶ γεγενημένον ἐκ τῆς ἀναθυμιάσεως εἰς πυρ μeraßarovons. Id. C. Not. 46, 2: γεγονέναι δὲ καὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἔμψυχον λέγουσι τοῦ ὑγροῦ μεταβάλλοντος εἰς πῦρ νοερόν. Stob. i. 532; Cic. 1. c.; Macrob. Sat. i. 23, quoting Cleanthes and Macrobius; Plut. Plac. ii. 23, 5. Diogenes of Apollonia had already expressed similar views. Further particulars as to the courses of the stars in Stob. i. 448; 538; (1) Stars. СНАР. the sun, but the moon also, was believed to be larger than the earth.1 Plato and Aristotle had already held that the stars are living rational divine beings; and the same view was entertained by the Stoics, not only because of the wonderful regularity of their motion and orbits, but also from the very nature of the material of which they consist.2 The earth, likewise, is filled by an animating soul; or else how could it supply plants with animation, and afford nutriment to the stars? 3 Plut. Pl. ii. 15, 2; 16, 1; Diog. 1 Stob. i. 554. This statement, Upon the oneness 103, only calls the world half that size; and Cleomed. p. 96, calls it considerably smaller than the earth. The other stars are some of them as large, and others larger than the sun. Posidonius, according to Plin. His. N. ii. 23, 85, estimated the moon's distance from the earth at two millions, and the sun's distance from the moon at 500 million stadia. He estimated the earth's circumference at 240,000, according to Cleomed.; at 180,000, according to Strabo, ii. 2, 2. 2 Conf. Stob. i. 66; 441; 518; 532; 538; 554; Floril. 17, 43; Plut. Sto. Rep. 39, 1; 41, 2; C. Not. 46, 2; Plac. ii. 20, 3; Diog. 145; Phædr. Nat. De. Col. 3; Cic. N. D. i. 14, 36 and 50; ii. 15, 39 and 42; 16, 43; 21, 54; Acad. ii. 37, 110; Porphyr. 1. c.; Achill. Tat. Isag. c. 13. Hence, in several of these passages, the sun is called a νοερὸν ἄναμμα (or taμμa) èk baλáoons. 3 Sen. Nat. Qu. vi. 16, discusses the point at length. See also Cic. N. D. ii. 9, and Diog. 147. of the soul which permeates all its parts depends, in the opinion of the Stoics, the oneness of the universe. CHAP. VIII. Most thoroughly, however, did the Stoics and, (2) Meteorin particular, Posidonius '-devote themselves to in- ology. vestigating those problems, which may be summed up under the name of meteorology. This portion, however, of their enquiries is of little value as illustrating their philosophical tenets. It may therefore suffice to mention in a note the objects which it included, and the sources whence information may be obtained. The same treatment may apply 1 Diog. vii. 152 and 138, mentions a treatise of his, called μετεωρολογική οι μετεωρολογική OTOIXEίwois; also, vii. 135, a treatise Tepl μeTeάpwv, in several books. Alexander, in Simpl. Phys. 64, 6, speaks of an nous μETEWPOλOYIKWV, which, judging by the title, may be a commentary on Aristotle's meteorology. Geminus had made an extract from this book, a portion of which is quoted in Simpl. Posidonius is probably the author of most of the later statements about the Stoic meteorology. He appears also to be the chief authority for Seneca's Naturales Quæstiones. 2 On the Milky Way, which Posidonius, agreeing with Aristotle, looked upon as a collection of fiery vapours, see Stob. i. 576; Plut. Plac. iii. 1, 10; Macrob. Somn. Scip. i. 15. On the comets, which are explained in a similar way, Stob. i. 580; Arrian, in Stob. i. 584; Diog. vii. 152; and, particularly, Sen. Nat. Qu. vii. We learn from the latter that On Zeno held, with Anaxagoras and |