Thanks for the easily-accessible references (will of of much value to AW members searching into original material)
-Manilius (14 AD) is the first of any available astrological references: his "Astronomica" is the oldest remaining book we know of in the Western astrological tradition
-Nechepso and Petosiris are briefly mentioned in the above reference: allusion is made to their book: this book was the "Great Celestial Handbook", known to be available in Alexandria around 150 BC: this was a core book-possibly the original scroll source-in the hermetic tradition at the root of Western astrology, and was one of the references for Manilius and his associated "Greek professional school" at Rome, and also it is believed, for other very early Greco/Roman astrological authorities (other than Ptolemy) The "Handbook" was lost early in the Christian era; I have seen alleged copies of parts of it transcribed into Arabic, and have read a few scraps of this alleged transcription which were later translated into a broken-English, in the possession of a certain esoteric order with which I am in contact. Some of the material which I saw is very intriguing and inspired me to make investigations into certain astrological maters I would not have thought about otherwise- nonetheless, the actual source material (as really being from the great "Handbook") is problematical at best...
