Diotimos Library · Renaissance Collection · Bilingual Edition
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I
Proem and Books I–IV · Latin with an independent English translation
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Facing Pages · Branch 151 of 174
Book IV · Chapter 1 · §§ 43–47
Latin
p. 304Cuius numeri signum in sphaera prima habemus et ultima. In prima quidem per Zodiacum cernimus animalia siderea duodecim. In quolibet autem illorum stella quaedam est principalis tamquam cor animalis illius in caelo picti, in quo quidem corde vitam agit anima totius sideris principalis. Illic igitur animae divinae duodecim a Pythagoricis collocantur: in Arietis corde Pallas; in corde Tauri Venus; Geminorum Phoebus particularis; Cancri Mercurius; Leonis Iupiter particularis; Virginis Ceres; Librae Vulcanus; Scorpionis Mars; Diana Sagittarii; Capricorni Vesta; Aquarii Iuno; Piscium vero Neptunus.
In ultima quoque sphaera, scilicet terra, duodecim vitae sunt hominum. Quippe vitam agunt homines per rationem cerebro assignatam, per iram cordi, per concupiscentiam iecori attributam. Si quis nulla harum virium uti dicatur, ne spirabit quidem. Si quis ratione sola, non amplius erit homo; immo impossibile est animam corpori coniunctam sola incedere ratione. Sola quoque irascendi vi uti nequit, quia haec semper vel rationi servit vel cupiditati. Sola etiam cupiditate non potest; haec enim roboratur semper vel a ratione depravata vel ab iracundia. Ergo necessarium est aut per omnes illas vires incedere aut per duas.
Prima igitur humana vita erit quae ratione utitur magis, ira minus, concupiscentia minime. Secunda quae ratione magis, minus concupiscentia, ira quam minimum.
Tertia quae magis ira, ratione minus, libidine minimum.
Quarta quae ira magis, cupiditate minus, ratione minime. Quinta quae libidine multum, ratione parum, ira paululum. Sexta quae multum libidine, ira parum, paulum ratione. Ita ex communi trium virium usu sex vitae conficiuntur. Nascuntur sex aliae ex usu duarum.
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I: Book IV
p. 305We have a sign of this number in the first and the last sphere. In the first, throughout the Zodiac, we behold twelve stellar creatures. In each of them one star is principal, like the heart of that creature portrayed in heaven; within that heart lives the principal soul of the whole constellation. The Pythagoreans therefore place twelve divine souls there: Pallas in the heart of Aries; Venus in the heart of Taurus; a particular Phoebus in Gemini; Mercury in Cancer; a particular Jupiter in Leo; Ceres in Virgo; Vulcan in Libra; Mars in Scorpio; Diana in Sagittarius; Vesta in Capricorn; Juno in Aquarius; and Neptune in Pisces.
In the last sphere likewise, namely earth, there are twelve modes of human life. Human beings live through reason assigned to the brain, anger assigned to the heart, and desire assigned to the liver. If someone is said to use none of these powers, he will not even breathe. If he uses reason alone, he will no longer be human; indeed, it is impossible for a soul joined to the body to proceed by reason alone. Nor can it use only the power of anger, because anger always serves either reason or desire. Nor can it live by desire alone, for desire is always strengthened either by corrupted reason or by anger. It must therefore proceed either through all these powers or through two of them.
The first human life, then, will be the one that employs reason most, anger less, and desire least. The second employs reason most, desire less, and anger least of all.
The third employs anger most, reason less, and desire least.
The fourth employs anger most, desire less, and reason least. The fifth employs much desire, little reason, and very little anger. The sixth employs much desire, little anger, and little reason. Thus six lives are formed from the joint use of the three powers. Six others arise from the use of two.
Socrates
Reading Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I · Book IV · IV.1.43–IV.1.47
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology places the immortality of the soul at the center of an extended philosophical ascent through body, soul, angel, and God. This exact page-aligned Renaissance edition presents the authorial Proem and Books I–IV in a newly established Latin reading text with an independent English translation prepared by Diotimos Editions.
Historical Text and Translation
The Latin reading text is based on the Florence editio princeps printed by Antonio Miscomini on 7 November 1482 and principally collated against the Paris 1559 printing, with a 1641 Opera printing used only as a late control and OCR aid. Abbreviations are expanded, spelling and punctuation are conservatively normalized, and substantive departures among the witnesses are documented in the edition’s apparatus.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independently worded English translation in house. It aims for a dignified but readable modern register while preserving Ficino’s argumentative sequence, metaphors, technical distinctions, repetitions, conditions, purpose clauses, and direct appeals; long periods are divided only where clarity requires it.
Rights
Ficino’s Latin source work is in the public domain. The 2026 English translation and Diotimos editorial matter are original to this edition and remain © 2026 Diotimos.