Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 385 of 879
Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.6–I.40.1.7
Ancient Greek
p. 7666
Τῶν γε μὴν ἐμπεριεχομένων ἄστρων τὰ μὲν ἀπλανῶς τῷ σύμπαντι οὐρανῷ συμπεριφέρεται τὰς αὐτὰς ἕδρας ἔχοντα· μέσος δὲ ὁ ζῳοφόρος καλούμενος κύκλος ἐγκάρσιος ὢν διὰ τῶν τροπικῶν διέζωσται, κατὰ μέρη διῃρημένος εἰς δώδεκα ζῳδίων χώρας· τὰ δὲ πλανητὰ ὄντα οὔτε τοῖς προτέροις ὁμοταχῶς κινεῖσθαι πέφυκεν οὔτε [ἐν] ἀλλήλοις, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἑτέροις καὶ ἑτέροις κύκλοις, ὥστε τὸν μὲν προσγειότερον εἶναι, τὸν δὲ ἀνώτερον.
7
Τὸ μὲν οὖν τῶν ἀπλανῶν πλῆθος ἀνεξερεύνητόν ἐστιν ἀνθρώποις, καίπερ ἐπὶ μιᾶς κινουμένων ἐπιφανείας τῆς τοῦ παντὸς οὐρανοῦ· τὸ δὲ τῶν πλανητῶν εἰς ἑπτὰ μέρη κεφαλαιούμενον ἐν τοσούτοις ἐστὶ κύκλοις ἐφεξῆς κειμένοις, ὥστ᾽ ἀεὶ τὸν ἀνώτερον μείζω τοῦ ὑποκάτω εἶναι, τοὺς δὲ ἑπτὰ ἀλλήλοις περιέχεσθαι· πάντας γε μὴν ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀπλανῶν σφαίρας περιειλῆφθαι. συνεχῆ δὲ ἀεὶ τὴν θέσιν ταύτην εἶναι μέχρις οὗ αἰθὴρ ὁρίζεται, τὰ θεῖα ἐμπεριέχων σώματα καὶ τὴν τῆς κινήσεως τάξιν.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 40
p. 7676 · Fixed and wandering stars
Of the stars contained in it, some revolve with the whole heaven without wandering, keeping the same positions. Around its middle, the circle called the zodiac runs obliquely through the tropics, divided into twelve regions of signs. The wandering stars, however, naturally move neither at the same speed as the former nor [in] one another,993 but in distinct circles, one nearer the earth and another higher up.
7 · Nested circles
The multitude of fixed stars is beyond human discovery, although they move on a single surface, that of the whole heaven. The wandering stars, seven in all, occupy as many circles set one after another, so that each higher circle is larger than the one beneath it, and the seven are enclosed within one another. All are enclosed by the sphere of the fixed stars. This arrangement extends continuously to the limit of aether, which contains the divine bodies and the ordering of their motion.994
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 40 · I.40.1.6–I.40.1.7
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Stobaeus gathered Greek philosophy and poetry for his son Septimius. Volume I presents the dedication testimony, On Arithmetic, Book I through chapter 60, and the ancient contents of all four books. This complete bilingual edition includes an introduction and 2,117 explanatory notes.
Historical Text and Translation
The Greek follows Curt Wachsmuth’s 1884 Volume I, checked against the supplied scan. Gaps, lost-chapter headings, and uncertain attributions remain visible. Chapter 2 includes a labeled proposed reconstruction. The appendix outlines Books I–IV; the full texts of Books II–IV are outside this volume. Reader pages preserve the companion PDF’s numbering.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Prose and verse retain their distinct forms, with mixed passages preserving their quoted verse. Every passage is paired with its Greek and identified by the edition’s reference number. All 2,117 notes remain linked to their passages, with continuous numbering across the introduction and text.
Rights
Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 printing are in the public domain. The independent English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. The complete supplied edition is available as PDF, EPUB, Word, and Markdown. The PDF retains the fixed page locations used by the companion lexicon.