10. There are inquirers into nature  44  οἱ φυσικοὶ was the name given to the Ionic and other philosophers who preceded Socrates. Lucian (Ner. 4) calls Thales φυσικώτατος. who with a great display of words give reasons for the immobility of the earth. Placed, they say, in the middle of the universe and not being able to incline more to one side than the other because its centre is everywhere the same distance from the surface, it necessarily rests upon itself; since a weight which is everywhere equal cannot lean to either side. It is not, they go on, without reason or by chance that the earth occupies the centre of the universe. It is its natural and necessary position. As the celestial body occupies the higher extremity of space all heavy bodies, they argue, that we may suppose to have fallen from these high regions, will be carried from all directions to the centre, and the point towards which the parts are tending will evidently be the one to which the whole mass will be thrust together. If stones, wood, all terrestrial bodies, fall from above downwards, this must be the proper and natural place of the whole earth. If, on the contrary, a light body is separated from the centre, it is evident that it will ascend towards the higher regions. Thus heavy bodies move from the top to the bottom, and following this reasoning, the bottom is none other than the centre of the world. Do not then be surprised that the world never falls: it occupies the centre of the universe, its natural place. By necessity it is obliged to remain in its place, unless a movement contrary to nature should displace it.  45  cf. De Cœlo. ii. 14, 4. ῎Ετι δ᾽ ἡ φορὰ τῶν μορίων καὶ ὅλης αὐτῆς ἠ κατὰ φύσιν ἐπἰ τὸ μέσον τοῦ παντός ἐστιν, διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ τυγχάνει κειμένη νῦν ἐπὶ τοῦ κέντρου. If there is anything in this system which might appear probable to you, keep your admiration for the source of such perfect order, for the wisdom of God. Grand phenomena do not strike us the less when we have discovered something of their wonderful mechanism. Is it otherwise here? At all events let us prefer the simplicity of faith to the demonstrations of reason.

Ἤδη δέ τινες τῶν φυσικῶν καὶ τοιαύταις αἰτίαις τὴν γῆν ἀκίνητον μένειν κατακομψεύονται. Ὡς ἄρα διὰ τὸ τὴν μέσην τοῦ παντὸς εἰληφέναι χώραν, καὶ διὰ τὴν ἴσην πάντοθεν πρὸς τὸ ἄκρον ἀπόστασιν, οὐκ ἔχουσαν ὅπου μᾶλλον ἀποκλιθῇ, ἀναγκαίως μένειν ἐφ' ἑαυτῆς, ἀδύνατον αὐτῇ παντελῶς τὴν ἐπί τι ῥοπὴν τῆς πανταχόθεν περικειμένης ὁμοιότητος ἐμποιούσης. Τὴν δὲ μέσην χώραν μὴ ἀποκληρωτικῶς τὴν γῆν, μηδὲ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτομάτου λαχεῖν, ἀλλὰ φυσικὴν εἶναι ταύτην τῇ γῇ καὶ ἀναγκαίαν τὴν θέσιν. Τοῦ γὰρ οὐρανίου σώματος τὴν ἐσχάτην χώραν ὡς πρὸς τὸ ἄνω κατέχοντος, ἅπερ ἂν, φησὶν, ὑποθώμεθα βάρη ἐκπίπτειν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄνω, ταῦτα πανταχόθεν ἐπὶ τὸ μέσον συνενεχθήσεται. Ἐφ' ὅπερ δ' ἂν τὰ μέρη φέρηται, ἐπὶ τοῦτο καὶ τὸ ὅλον συνωσθήσεται δηλονότι. Εἰ δὲ λίθοι καὶ ξύλα καὶ τὰ γεηρὰ πάντα φέρεται πρὸς τὸ κάτω, αὕτη ἂν εἴη καὶ τῇ ὅλῃ γῇ οἰκεῖα καὶ προσήκουσα θέσις: κἄν τι τῶν κούφων φέρηται ἀπὸ τοῦ μέσου, δηλονότι πρὸς τὸ ἀνώτατον κινηθήσεται. Ὥστε οἰκεία φορὰ τοῖς βαρυτάτοις ἡ πρὸς τὸ κάτω: κάτω δὲ ὁ λόγος μέσον ἔδειξεν. Μὴ οὖν θαυμάσῃς εἰ μηδαμοῦ ἐκπίπτει ἡ γῆ, τὴν κατὰ φύσιν χώραν τὸ μέσον ἔχουσα. Πᾶσα γὰρ ἀνάγκη μένειν αὐτὴν κατὰ χώραν, ἢ παρὰ φύσιν κινουμένην τῆς οἰκείας ἕδρας ἐξίστασθαι. Τούτων δ' ἄν σοι δοκῇ τι πιθανὸν εἶναι τῶν εἰρημένων, ἐπὶ τὴν οὕτω ταῦτα διαταξαμένην τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίαν μετάθες τὸ θαῦμα. Οὐ γὰρ ἐλαττοῦται ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς μεγίστοις ἔκπληξις, ἐπειδὰν ὁ τρόπος καθ' ὃν γίνεταί τι τῶν παραδόξων ἐξευρεθῇ: εἰ δὲ μὴ, ἀλλὰ τό γε ἁπλοῦν τῆς πίστεως ἰσχυρότερον ἔστω τῶν λογικῶν ἀποδείξεων.