Re: Hellenistic deliniations
Is it too much to suggest that people who really want to learn Hellenistic astrology buy a few books? Honestly,I don't think it is something one can pick up on a thread without a lot of previous study. Which all takes time. If you have a good grasp of modern astrology; or better yet of neo-traditional astrology, you can see better how Hellenistic astrology was put together. But this takes years of study, not days or weeks.
Put differently you wouldn't take your drivers' license for a 16-wheeler until you've passed the basic driver's license test in a small automatic shift sedan. You wouldn't apply to law school prior to graduating from high school.
If it is too much to suggest that people begin a collection of astrology books, a good place to start is the Skyscript website, which has many articles and links. Or just google Chris Brennan or Robert Schmidt. A good recent textbook on traditional astrology is Avelar and Rebeiro. You can order it via amazon.com or try the American Federation of Astrologers' on-line book shop. Joseph Crane's books have been mentioned.
Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos is available in most university libraries. A major urban public library might have it. Your local library could get it for you via Interlibrary loan. Although he was possibly the modern astrologer of the 2nd century AD, his book is one of the easier ones to follow. If you are interested only in birth-chart interpretations, you can skip his material on weather prediction and mundane astrology.
Vettius Valens Anthologies is available for free on-line at the website of Mark T. Riley. I don't find Valens so easy to follow, and he spends a lot of time on length-of-life calculations, which don't interest me; but hey, it's free.
You can purchase copies of the following through amazon.com and possibly elsewhere: Dorotheus of Sidon, Firmicus Maternus, and Rhetorius the Egyptian. These are relatively easy to follow. Purists will criticize the Bram translation of Firmicus, but I wouldn't worry about it if you're just starting out. These may also be available to you through Interlibrary loan.
If you live near a university or college with a classics department, their library will probably carry these, and normally you can get a library card as a member of the community.
A couple of other sources have been translated into English, but so far as I can tell, they are harder to come by via a major Internet book-seller.
I am not particularly interested in practicing Hellenistic astrology, at least not so far, but I am very interested in astrology's historical origins.