ABSTRACT
Western astrology as we know it appeared as first Mesopotamian, then Greek, astral divination with some Eygptian influences. The origins of many key elements of the astrological tradition – the planetary identities, zodiacal signs, risings and settings – developed between its origins around 2000 bce and the fifth century bce, when natal astrology first appeared. Astrology played an increasingly important role in Roman life, although largely in populist and overtly political contexts. One response was a capable critique by Cicero, but a more fruitful course followed in the wake of Alexander the Great’s conquests, whereby Greek astrology spread to Persia and throughout Eastern Asia as far as India, where it interacted with local cosmo-religious knowledge to produce Indian astrology. The early modern period has too often been described, by those wilfully mistaking contemporary rhetoric for reality, as marking the death of astrology.
