Vettius Valens and the ancient authors
Hellenistic astrology is not a single textbook. It is a living conversation across seven centuries of Greek and Latin manuals, each with its own tables, techniques and worked example charts.
Vettius Valens of Antioch and his own nativity
No author gives us a clearer window into working ancient astrology than Vettius Valens of Antioch (second century CE). His nine-book Anthology contains over a hundred real example birth charts of clients, emperors, merchants, soldiers and travellers — and threading through the books is a recurring chart born on 8 February 120 CE in Antioch with Sagittarius rising, the Sun and Mercury in Aquarius in the third place, the Moon in Scorpio in the twelfth, Saturn in Cancer in the eighth, Jupiter in Aries in the fifth, Mars in Sagittarius in the first and Venus in Pisces in the fourth: Valens's own nativity.
You can open Vettius Valens's complete birth chart — wheel, dignities, lots, zodiacal releasing, profections and written reading — directly in the public demo charts with no sign-up required.
The principal authors of the tradition
| Author | Era & Place | Major work | Key doctrines in Occult Astrology |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nechepso & Petosiris | c. 2nd–1st c. BCE · Egypt | Foundational fragments | The Thema Mundi, the Lot of Fortune, whole-sign places and the Egyptian bounds |
| Dorotheus of Sidon | 1st c. CE · Sidon / Alexandria | Carmen Astrologicum (Books I–V) | Dorothean triplicity lords, profections, circumambulation and katarchic astrology (inceptions) |
| Claudius Ptolemy | 2nd c. CE · Alexandria | Tetrabiblos (Four Books) | Natural philosophy of the signs and planets, Ptolemaic bounds and triplicities, primary directions and the seven ages of life |
| Vettius Valens | 2nd c. CE · Antioch & Alexandria | Anthology (Nine Books) | Zodiacal releasing, loosings of the bond, decennials, Lot of Basis and Exaltation, and 120+ worked nativities |
| Antiochus of Athens | c. 2nd c. CE · Eastern Mediterranean | Introduction & Thesaurus | Definitions of sect, overcoming, spear-bearing, enclosure, bonification and maltreatment |
| Firmicus Maternus | 4th c. CE (c. 335) · Sicily | Mathesis (Eight Books) | Detailed planetary combinations across the twelve places, antiscia and decennials |
| Anonymous of 379 | 379 CE · Rome / Alexandria | Treatise on the Bright Fixed Stars | Thirty bright fixed stars, their planetary temperaments and effects on the angles and Moon |
| Paulus Alexandrinus | 378 CE · Alexandria | Introductory Matters | The seven Hermetic lots, monomoiria, thirteen-fold twelfth-parts and the thirty-six faces |
| Hephaistio of Thebes | c. 415 CE · Egypt | Apotelesmatics (Three Books) | Synthesis of Ptolemy and Dorotheus, decanic figures and inceptions |
Why the differences between authors matter
Ancient astrologers agreed on the core skeleton of the chart — sect, whole-sign places, the seven visible planets and the lots — but they debated specific tables and formulas. Should the Lot of Fortune reverse by night (Valens, Dorotheus, Paulus) or stay fixed as Sun-to-Moon (Ptolemy)? Should the water triplicity be ruled by Venus and Mars (Dorotheus) or Mars alone (Ptolemy)? Should the bounds follow the Egyptian table or Ptolemy's revision? Rather than hiding those choices, Occult Astrology lets you toggle between the classical schemes and see how the chart responds.
Read next: open Vettius Valens's birth chart in the live demo, read what Hellenistic astrology is, or browse all the techniques.
Questions
- Who was Vettius Valens?
- A second-century Greek astrologer born in Antioch on 8 February 120 CE who lived and practised in Alexandria. His nine-book Anthology is the most practical surviving manual of Hellenistic astrology, preserving over a hundred real birth charts and the only complete ancient treatment of zodiacal releasing.
- Can I view Vettius Valens's own birth chart?
- Yes. Valens used his own birth chart (8 February 120 CE, Antioch, with Sagittarius rising) as an anonymous working example throughout the Anthology. It is available to explore in full on the Occult Astrology Demo charts page.
- How do Vettius Valens and Claudius Ptolemy differ?
- Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos reorganizes astrology around Aristotelian natural philosophy (hot, cold, wet, dry), proposes revised bound and triplicity tables, and keeps the Lot of Fortune formula unreversed at night. Valens preserves the older Egyptian and Dorothean practice of whole-sign places, Egyptian bounds, night-reversed lots, decennials and zodiacal releasing.
- Who were the major Hellenistic astrologers?
- Dorotheus of Sidon, Claudius Ptolemy, Vettius Valens, Antiochus of Athens, Firmicus Maternus, Paulus Alexandrinus and Hephaistio of Thebes, drawing on the earlier Alexandrian tradition attributed to Nechepso, Petosiris and Hermes.
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