Page 9 - (DK) Eyewitness - Mars

The first astronomers

Ptolemy gathered ideas about the heavenly bodies from earlier scientists. His
great book on astronomy, The Almagest, included the teachings of astronomer
Hipparchus (190–120 bc), as well as the philosopher Aristotle (384–322 bc).
These thinkers understood that the
Earth and the heavenly bodies were
part of a “cosmos”—an orderly,
organized system.

CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY
Ptolemy (c. ad 100–c. ad 170) contributed
greatly to mathematics, optics, and
geography, and his theories dominated
astronomy until the 16th century. He is
pictured holding an armillary sphere—a
model of the heavens also seen at right
near Hipparchus. Ptolemy lived in
Alexandria, Egypt, a center of intellectual
achievement and learning.

ARISTOTLE
This Greek philosopher divided the
cosmos into Earth and Heavens, with
the Earth at the center. Heavenly
bodies revolved around the Earth.
This geocentric system inspired
Ptolemy, who built his own theories HIPPARCHUS
upon Aristotle’s “spherical cosmology.”
Born in Bithynia (now Turkey), Hipparchus was
one of the greatest astronomers of all time. He
was extremely accurate in his research, charting as
many as 1,000 stars and also planets. He developed
mathematical methods for finding geographic
locations by measuring the positions of stars.
This system made navigation at sea possible.

God of war and battle

The ancient Romans worshiped Mars as the
divine protector of their empire. He was also
the father of Romulus and Remus, the
mythological founders of the city of Rome. Mars
was second in importance only to Jupiter, the chief
Roman god. Mars inspired the name for the month
of March, when Roman armies traditionally began
their military campaigns.
She-wolf “Martial” is a term for
being warlike.
MARS IN
ARMOR MINERAL OF PROTECTION
Rome was a great Iron oxide hematite, shown above, and iron
empire in the 4th were symbols of Mars in ancient Rome.
century ad, when Soldiers believed that amulets made of these
this bronze statue of Romulus minerals offered magical protection in battle.
Mars was cast, showing and Remus
him in body armor.
Mars was guardian of
the emperor as well as MARS COIN
the leading military The profile of Mars in a
god worshiped by ROMULUS AND REMUS legionnaire’s helmet
Rome’s legions. Mars had twin sons, Romulus and decorates this coin of
Remus, whose mother was a princess. the Roman Empire. In
The babies almost died, but were early Rome, Mars was also
nursed by a wolf—a creature sacred to the protector of crops and
Mars. The twins built Rome on the herds, and farmers called
place where they were rescued. him Silvanus.