As I was looking more intently at the Earth, "Pray tell," said Africanus, "how long has your mind been fixed on the ground? Do you not see the temples to which you have come? You should know that all things are held together by nine orbs, or rather globes: of these one is outermost, of the heavens, which embraces all of the rest—the high god himself enclosing and containing all else, on which are fixed those bodies around which the stars are turned along their eternal course. Of these, seven have been laid beneath it which proceed in reverse, opposite the motion of the heavens. From these, one sphere possesses that globe which on Earth they call 'Saturn'; then, there is the man of fortunate and beneficial birth, that bright body called 'Jupiter'; then, that red and dreadful gleam called 'Mars"; next and middle of the seven, that called 'the Sun' holds its region, commander and prince and director of light to all the rest, mind and orderer of the world, of such great size that it should illumine and fill all with its light. These like companions follow it about, the one 'Venus' and the other 'Mercury'; and in the lowest orb, the Moon is lit by the rays of the Sun and turned about. Moreover, already nothing below escapes mortality and frailty, except for the souls of humans, which were gifts given by god; above the moon, all things are eternal. For she, who is at the center and ninth, the Earth, is not moved and is lowest, and in her is carried all weightiness by her own gravity.
Quam cum magis intuerer:, "Quaeso," inquit Africanus, "quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris? Novem tibi orbibus vel potius globis conexa sunt omnia, quorum unus est caelestis, extimus, qui reliquos omnes complectitur, summus ipse deus arcens et continens ceteros; in quo sunt infixi illi, qui volvuntur, stellarum cursus sempiterni. Cui subiecti sunt septem, qui versantur retro contrario motu atque caelum. Ex quibus summum globum possidet illa, quam in terris Saturniam nominant. Deinde est hominum generi prosperus et salutaris ille fulgor, qui dicitur Iovis; tum rutilus horribilisque terris, quem Martium dicitis; deinde subter mediam fere regionem Sol obtinet, dux et princeps et moderator luminum reliquorum, mens mundi et temperatio, tanta magnitudine, ut cuncta sua luce lustret et compleat. Hunc ut comites consequuntur Veneris alter, alter Mercurii cursus, in infimoque orbe Luna radiis solis accensa convertitur. Infra autem iam nihil est nisi mortale et caducum praeter animos munere deorum hominum generi datos; supra Lunam sunt aeterna omnia. Nam ea, quae est media et nona, Tellus, neque movetur et infima est, et in eam feruntur omnia nutu suo pondera."
As I was looking more intently at the Earth, "Pray tell," said Africanus, "how long has your mind been fixed on the ground? Do you not see the temples to which you have come? You should know that all things are held together by nine orbs, or rather globes: of these one is outermost, of the heavens, which embraces all of the rest—the high god himself enclosing and containing all else, on which are fixed those bodies around which the stars are turned along their eternal course. Of these, seven have been laid beneath it which proceed in reverse, opposite the motion of the heavens. From these, one sphere possesses that globe which on Earth they call 'Saturn'; then, there is the man of fortunate and beneficial birth, that bright body called 'Jupiter'; then, that red and dreadful gleam called 'Mars"; next and middle of the seven, that called 'the Sun' holds its region, commander and prince and director of light to all the rest, mind and orderer of the world, of such great size that it should illumine and fill all with its light. These like companions follow it about, the one 'Venus' and the other 'Mercury'; and in the lowest orb, the Moon is lit by the rays of the Sun and turned about. Moreover, already nothing below escapes mortality and frailty, except for the souls of humans, which were gifts given by god; above the moon, all things are eternal. For she, who is at the center and ninth, the Earth, is not moved and is lowest, and in her is carried all weightiness by her own gravity.
Quam cum magis intuerer:, "Quaeso," inquit Africanus, "quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris? Novem tibi orbibus vel potius globis conexa sunt omnia, quorum unus est caelestis, extimus, qui reliquos omnes complectitur, summus ipse deus arcens et continens ceteros; in quo sunt infixi illi, qui volvuntur, stellarum cursus sempiterni. Cui subiecti sunt septem, qui versantur retro contrario motu atque caelum. Ex quibus summum globum possidet illa, quam in terris Saturniam nominant. Deinde est hominum generi prosperus et salutaris ille fulgor, qui dicitur Iovis; tum rutilus horribilisque terris, quem Martium dicitis; deinde subter mediam fere regionem Sol obtinet, dux et princeps et moderator luminum reliquorum, mens mundi et temperatio, tanta magnitudine, ut cuncta sua luce lustret et compleat. Hunc ut comites consequuntur Veneris alter, alter Mercurii cursus, in infimoque orbe Luna radiis solis accensa convertitur. Infra autem iam nihil est nisi mortale et caducum praeter animos munere deorum hominum generi datos; supra Lunam sunt aeterna omnia. Nam ea, quae est media et nona, Tellus, neque movetur et infima est, et in eam feruntur omnia nutu suo pondera."