The sundial of Emperor Augustus - english translation

[nicola severino]

Dear Friends, I send this translation of my message about the Augustus sundial article of Maes. Hope it is now more easy to read. transalation by Jeck Aubert. Thanks to Jack and thanks to your all. Nicola Severino Translation:      In paying my compliments to Frans W Maes for the full and interesting article titled "The Sundail of Emperor Augustus: Rise and Decline of a Hypothesis" appearing in the NASS publication Compendium Volume 12, n. 3 of Septembner 2005, I would like to express my opinion and comment on this investigation.   The article appears to be very complete, a full 15 pages out of the total 40 pages of the review.  It is rich from the point of view of historical and documentary research and suggests a number of hypotheses and conclusions.  First, I would like to note that I am not completely convinced that the oblelisk of Caesar Augustus in the Field of Mars, today visible in the Plaza Montecitorio, really represented in its time the upright gnomon of a complete monumental sundial.    The trace of a sundial of these dimensions, in effect, would not provide an effective display of time from the point of view of a human being who passed by but rather would have to haave been "read" from the perspective of a bird skimming above it at a certain height.  ("so large that the time would only have been readable from a bird's eye perspective" according to the Maes article.).   Nobody however, has been able to demonstrate the contrary, that is to say that the Emperor Augustus had wanted to build a sundial of these demensions because it could be read not from the site but from the many nearby hills of Rome.  Certainly this is a hypothesis of suggestive of what a megalomaniac like he might have wanted.   I do not understand why the article uses the title "decline of a hypothesis" when this conlusion is not supported by incontrovertable proof that might lead to such an affirmation.     There is a consideration of Girolamo Fantoni in his article "The meridian of Augustus" in Clocks, the measure of time, Technimedia, Rome, n. 10, 1988 page 107 where he says: "In effect, it is very probable that the layout of the sundial of Augustus was such that the shadow of the ball that surmounted the obelisk, which symbolized August, the Sun Apollo, touched the Alter of Peace at a given moment to confirm that Aubusuts was born for peace.  In fact, these altars [?] designated the equinoctal line that coincided with the date of birth of the emperor, September 23.  Furthermore, the axis traced from the obelisk to the alter of peace made a right angle with that of the obelisk of the mausoleum of Augustus. "  Fantoni, in turn, took his point of departure from Dosi-Schnell in Space and Time, editions Quasar, Rome 1992.  This perfect coincedence of topography of the Field of Mars is called into question by Maes only as the forth conclusion at the end of the article, but on the basis of what?  The hypothesis of Fantoni seems to me much more probable.   The fans of Athanasius Kircher, who was not at all bad as a gnomonist... can follow his alternative hypothesis that the sundial of Augustus was not only a meridian line but actually traced out a sundial complete with declination curves, etc.  The fact that these cannot be found because it is impossible to excavate the subsoil of modern Rome for such an investigation (except for the unique and fortuitous discovery of Buchner), does not seem to allow the preponderance of weight to lead to either one or the other of the hypotheses.   The historical documentation is not sufficiently clear and complete to draw definitive conclusions.   Finally, I am once more disturbed by the evidence that Italian research and publication always seems to be in last place in the international panorama, and it seems to me indeed strange that such a carefully reseached documentary investigation missed the unique work in the Italian language, and in the world that deals in depth with the history of this obelisk, that is to say, my book "History of the Obelisk and Sundial of Caesar Augustus in the Field of Mars." written in 1996 and published in 1997 which consists of 69 pages and in which I analyze for the first time the history of this obelisk-dial through the most important documents published at that point, and where for the first time was presented an analysis of historic texts through some coded manuscripts of Salmasio and Rezzonici.     This, despite the fact that my book is mentioned on all my gnonomic web sites, (freely downloadable as of a few days ago) and on my CD-Rom "Opera Omnia" of which to my great surprise there is no trace to be found in either the article nor the bibliograpby of Maes.   Nicola Severino ----- Original Message ----- From: John Carmichael To: Sundial List Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2005 5:55 PM Subject: How was the Nass Conference? I was in the hospital having spinal surgery (for two herniated disks), so unfortunately I missed going to the NASS conference this year.  I know we'll get to read all about it in the next Compendium, but I'm anxious to hear how it went. How were the workshops?And who won the Sawyer Dialing Prize this year?   thanks   John