‹‹‹ Vitr. 9.1.11 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 9.1.13 ›››
12It appears more probable, that it is the heat which draws and attracts all things towards itself: we, in fact, see the heat raise the fruits of the earth to a considerable height, and the spray of waters from fountains ascend to the clouds by the rainbow: in the same manner the excessive power of the sun spreading his rays in a triangular form, attracts the planets which follow him, and, as it were, stops and restrains those which precede him, preventing them from leaving him, and, indeed, forcing them to return to him, and to remain in the other trinal sign.
12If then, at this great distance, our human vision can discern that sight, why, pray, are we to think that the divine splendour of the stars can be cast into darkness? Rather will the following way of accounting for it prove to be correct. Heat summons and attracts everything towards itself; for instance, we see the fruits of the earth growing up high under the influence of heat, and that spring water is vapourised and drawn up to the clouds at sunrise. On the same principle, the mighty influence of the sun, with his rays diverging in the form of a triangle, attracts the stars which follow him, and, as it were, curbs and restrains those that precede, not allowing them to make progress, but obliging them to retrograde towards himself until he passes out into the sign that belongs to a different triangle.