Alexander the Great

[Jim Eshelman]

I've been asked for the horoscope of Alexander the Great. Fagan published this decades ago in American Astrology, but I won't have time to dig through back issues to find it, and don't have the chart in my files. I'll attempt to reconstruct it here, though I encourage/request anyone who has access to better information to post it.

History records that he was born either on the 20th or 21st of July, 356 BC, in Pella, Macedonia (40N46, 22E32). The time of his birth is well documented because of the story that what would have been a pre-dawn birth was held back by extreme measures so that he would emerge just as the Sun broke the horizon.

The Sun theoretically broke the horizon at 4:36 AM LMT. Here's the chart for these data:

Alexander.jpg

The chart has obvious dominent elements: For one of history's greatest kings, the Sun is rising in Leo conjunct Venus (and square Pluto), with the Moon on the IC in Leo. Mercury is on the Eastpoint forming a T-square with Moon and Uranus (for one of the most ingenious of strategists, and someone personally tutored by Aristotle until age 16). Though background, Mars is in very close square to Neptune, which is just the right amount of madness and conviction to cause masses to follow him with enthusiasm. Jupiter is just a bit more than 9° from the IC.

A mundoscope for this exact moment shows the Sun 0°54' below the Ascendant, Venus 2°34' below the Ascendant, and the Moon 4°06' west of the IC. The only thing I find wrong and questionable about the chart is that Mars is in the immediate background - within 1' of the cadent cusp in mundo for this exact minute! This would imply that he wasn't a warrior so much as a leader - and I'm not sure history would agree with that.

His AstroMap is enormously interesting. The rising Sun-Venus line slices downward across the eastern edge of Egypt (and farther south). Pluto was on the Midheaven through the heart of the Middle East (roughly slicing through the middle of modern Iraq, where he defeated Darius). His campaign was halted in western India when his army eventually revolted, and the line of Saturn on his Midheaven nearly touches the western boundary of India (passing right through Karachi).

His death was either on June 10 or 11, 323 BC, in Babylon (32N29, 44E25: the modern Al Hillah, Iraq), from a raging fever (probably from a poison). Checking the transits for the midnight bridging these two days, we discover a New Moon in partile conjunction with his Mars (and square transiting Mars)! Pluto and Uranus were in partile conjunction (a meaning for the world: an age ended that night) and both had recently conjoined his Saturn. One can expect, therefore, that his power had been shaken.

For this birth chart, his final Sidereal Lunar Return had Pluto conjoined with Uranus on the Ascendant (conjunct natal Saturn), and a Sun-Neptune opposition just of the horizon. (His Demi-SLR was less dramatic, yet accurate: the only close angularity was natal Pluto exactly square the Ascendant, and natal Sun setting.) Secondary progressed Moon, already out of orb of opposition to his natal Mars, was half a degree from square his natal Neptune.

[Jim Eshelman]

A few things that might be of interest to investigators:

At the time for this chart (which, admittedly, could be a few minutes off in even the best case), Altair (in Aquila) was exactly setting - historically associated with exploration and boldness.

This also means that his Sun rose when Altair set. Furthermore, his Moon position set when Altair culminated. All of the main personal points (Sun, Mon, Angles) were related to this one fixed star. If there is an excellent example of this star's influence to be found, it is surely Alexander.

[Jim Eshelman]

... I encourage/request anyone who has access to better information to post it.

As luck would have it, I have been perusing old "Solunars" articles and skipped ahead to see if it was in my collection. Here it is, nested in a longer discussion of Napoleon Bonaparte, in the October 1959 American Astrology Magazine.

While Fagan used the date July 22, 356 B.C., to get a match with his horoscope I had to enter July 21. Fagan quotes a source that equates to between 10PM and midnight, so of course the chart is for 23:00 LMT. I have used the same geographic coordinates given by Fagan, though Wikipedia gives something slightly different:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pella_(municipality)

Alexander_SZ.jpg

Alexander_PV.jpg

-Derek

[Jim Eshelman]

Derek, do you remember the source for the information? The sunrise story (while possibly just a bit of legend, of course) is solidly in memory.

[Jim Eshelman]

Well, isn't that interesting! On closer examination, Fagan gave no source. A search around the web turned up this page:

http://www.skyscript.co.uk/sib_alexander.html

a horoscope by Ebenezer Sibly sourced to John Gadbury. at 9:26 PM on a different day! (And not well computed, from what I can see.)

What is the ultimate source of any of them? Are they to be rated as DD?

-Derek

[Jim Eshelman]

Possibly DD. There is certainly historic imprecision in the birth date (either the 20th or 21st) because of imprecisions: Contemporary sources recorded it as on "the 6th day of Hekatombaion" in the ancient Attic calendar, but there is surprisingly little certainty among scholars on exactly how that calendar was defined.

There is agreement on the place, the year, and (within a two-span, presuming there are no calendar misinterpretations) on the date. And there is the legend (reliable? mythic?) of his mother requiring the physicians to hold back the birth until the perfect moment of sunrise.

OK, trying to reconstruct from the calendar... The Attic calendar was really the Athenian calendar (so it wasn't in use in Macedonia - it's just the framework contemporary historians used to record the event). Each month began with the first sighting of the New Moon (this was Day 0: the month began the next day). A further problem, though, is that, most of the time, this was truly a local "first sighting," meaning that, say, cloudy conditions could alter the date of the start of the month - depending on the mood of the civil authorities of the time, it seems.

In 356 BC, the first New Moon after the summer solstice was July 14, 6:55 PM in Athens. One day later, hen sunset occurred at 7:31 LMT, the Moon was 13° past the Sun and omnly 7° above the horizon. I'm sure this wasn't enough altitude to see the new crescent. Therefore, I'd place the first sighting at sunset July 16, when the Moon was 13° above the horizon. This would make 1st Hekatombaion on July 17, and 6th Hekatombaion five days later on July 22.

FWIW a chart for sunrise on July 22 has the Moon at 28 LIB 59, in nearly partile opposition to Pluto. Other planets, of course, are moved slightly later than in the chart I posted.