The sphere of Saturn (Cicero, De re publica, 6.17)

Author: Cilleruelo, Álvaro Cancela
Title: The sphere of Saturn (Cicero, De re publica, 6.17)
Review/Collection: Hermes Volume 150, issue 3
Editor: Franz Steiner Verlag
Year edition: 2022
Pages: 369-375
Keywords: Philologie - Filologia - Philology, Philosophie - Filosofia - Philosophy
Description: [Cilleruelo, Álvaro Cancela][Abstract] This paper argues that at Cicero, De re publica 6.17 the manuscript text unum globum should be kept instead of the conjecture summum globum. This conjecture is unanimously attributed to Fr. Boll (1910), but it was proposed already in 1790 by G. W. Maier. The use of unus in this context, in which the set of harmonic spheres of our cosmos is described, can be explained as an alternative to primus when referring to the first element of a sequence; further instances in Cicero’s works support this interpretation.
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Author initials: Cilleruelo 2022