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3.6 The lunar months were observed, the other two having been added to them by Numa, as we were saying, until the reign of Gaius Caesar; but they say that he, having surpassed others in fortune and wisdom and especially in astrology, upon coming up to Rome, added eleven intercalary days to the lunar months and in this way made the year a solar one. 3.7 That it is called bissextile because every four years the Romans count twice the sixth day before the Calends of March, and in this they observe the life-giving number; this belongs to Aphrodite, and Aphrodite is the guardian of the Romans.3.8 That the moon has closely mounted upon all that is generated, and all things here are clearly governed by her, as the oracles say: Nymphs of the spring and all watery spirits, and chthonic and airy and sub-radiant lunar recesses, riders and drivers of all heavenly and starry and abyssal matter. For the mutable body having been poured around the earth according to its own proportion of weight, it was necessary for that which was to approach it to partake of every power. Wherefore god, having fitted the lunar sphere, which partakes of all the power of the active spheres, near to the whole sensible world, established it as guardian of the elements. Whence also the mystic account represents Hecate as four-headed on account of the four elements; and the fire-breathing head of the horse clearly refers to the sphere of fire, the bellowing head of the bull with a certain daemonic roar to that of air, the bitter and unstable nature of the water-snake to that of water, and the punishing and avenging head of the dog to the earth. Whence also the poets call her Cerberus, as if flesh-devouring. Since, therefore, the moon rules the four elements, it was with reason that the ancients assigned the beginning of the year to both lights at once. 3.9 The festivals of sowing, called by the Romans Sementivae, that is, of sowing, did not have a fixed day, because not every season is suitable for the beginning of sowing; for it is either too early on account of the rains or too late on account of delays. They were celebrated for two days, not in succession but with seven days in between; and on the first they sacrificed to Demeter, that is, to the Earth that receives the fruits; then after seven days to Kore, the guardian of the fruits, since every seed sprouts on the seventh day, and not only seed, but also among living things birds observe the rule of seven upon three in their generation, with the exception of geese and those which the naturalists note; for on the third the heart begins to move, on the seventh the whole is supplied with blood, on the fourteenth the body is articulated, and on the twenty-first, when the shell breaks, it utters a sound. For the power of the heptad is very great; for the number in it is unmixed and motherless, neither begetting nor being begotten, like each of the numbers in the decad. Whence also the Pythagoreans attribute the heptad to Athena; for they say that by the period of the week all immortal things are preserved. And for this reason they call her the virgin of a mighty father, because she is the offspring of the monad alone, which contains and sustains all things; for the monad is the cause of all things. It is also called judgment, because by its number all things receive their outcome one way or the other. And this is clear from the general age of men; for in the sixty-third year—and it contains seven nines—one's life is judged, when the soul-governing, which is the seventh, and the body-forming, which is the ninth, come together. 3.10 Numa, everywhere honoring the odd but not the even number, arranged the festivals of the month in three parts; for the tripod is proper to Apollo, and indeed it is an image of the monad. In this way also he arranged the festivals of the month; for since there are said to be three of the

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3.6 Ἐτηρήθησαν οἱ σεληνιακοὶ μῆνες, προστεθέντων αὐτοῖς τῶν ἑτέρων δύο ὑπὸ τοῦ Νουμᾶ, ὡς ἐλέγομεν, ἕως τῆς Γαΐου Καίσαρος ἡγεμονίας· αὐτὸν δέ φασι τύχῃ καὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ διαφερόντως ἀστρολογίᾳ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀποκρύψαντα, ἀναβάντα εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην δέκα καὶ μίαν ἐπεμβαλομένην ἡμέραν τοῖς σεληνιακοῖς μησὶν ἐπιδοῦναι καὶ ταύτῃ ἡλιακὸν ἀποτελέσαι τὸν ἐνιαυτόν. 3.7 Ὅτι βίσεξτον λέγεται διὰ τὸ δὶς πρὸ ἓξ Καλενδῶν Μαρτίων ἀριθμεῖν παρὰ τετραετίαν Ῥωμαίους, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τὸν ζωογονικὸν ἀριθμὸν ἐπιτηροῦντας· Ἀφροδίτης δὲ οὗτος, ἔφορος δὲ Ῥωμαίων Ἀφροδίτη.3.8 Ὅτι ἡ σελήνη προσεχῶς ἐπιβέβηκε τῷ γεννητῷ παντὶ καὶ πάντα κυβερνᾶται τὰ τῇδε ἐναργῶς ὑπ' αὐτῆς, ὡς τὰ λόγιά φασι· Νύμφαι πηγαῖαι καὶ ἐνύδρια πνεύματα πάντα καὶ χθόνιοι κόλποι τε καὶ ἠέριοι καὶ ὕπαυγοι μηναῖοι πάσης ἐπιβήτορες ἠδ' ἐπιβῆται ὕλης οὐρανίας τε καὶ ἀστερίας καὶ ἀβύσσων. τοῦ γὰρ μεταβολικοῦ σώματος κατὰ τὴν σφετέραν τοῦ βάρους ἀναλογίαν τῇ γῇ περιχυθέντος ἀναγκαῖον ἦν τὸ μέλλον πλησιάζειν αὐτῇ πάσης μετέχειν δυνάμεως. διὸ περιαρμοσάμενος ὁ θεὸς τὴν σεληνιακὴν σφαῖραν πάσης μετέχουσαν δυνάμεως τῶν δραστηρίων σφαιρῶν πλησίον τοῦ παντὸς αἰσθητοῦ παρεστήσατο ἔφορον τῶν στοιχείων. ὅθεν καὶ τετρακέφαλον τὴν Ἑκάτην ὁ μυστικὸς παραδίδωσι λόγος διὰ τὰ τέσσαρα στοιχεῖα· καὶ ἡ μὲν πυρίπνους τοῦ ἵππου κεφαλὴ δῆλον ὡς εἰς τὴν τοῦ πυρὸς σφαῖραν ἀναφέρεται, ἡ δὲ τοῦ ταύρου μυκωμένη δαιμόνιόν τινα μυκηθμὸν εἰς τὴν τοῦ ἀέρος, ἡ δὲ τοῦ ὕδρου πικρὰ καὶ ἄστατος φύσις εἰς τὴν τοῦ ὕδατος, ἡ δὲ τοῦ κυνὸς κολαστικὴ καὶ τιμωρὸς εἰς τὴν γῆν. ὅθεν καὶ Κέρβερον αὐτὴν οἱονεὶ κρεωβόρον οἱ ποιηταὶ προσαγορεύουσιν. αὐτῆς οὖν τῆς σελήνης τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων κρατούσης εἰκότως οἱ παλαιοὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ ἔτους ἀμφοτέροις ἅμα ἀνέθεντο τοῖς φωσίν. 3.9 Αἱ τοῦ σπόρου ἑορταί, αἱ λεγόμεναι παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις σημαντῖβαι, τουτέστι σπόριμοι, οὐκ ἔλαχον ὡρισμένην ἡμέραν, ὅτι οὐκ εὐπρεπὴς πᾶς καιρὸς εἰς ἀρχὴν σπόρου· ἢ γὰρ πρώϊμος διὰ τὰς ἐπομβρίας ἢ ὄψιμος διὰ τὰς βραδυτῆτας γίνεται. ἤγοντο δὲ ἐπὶ δύο ἡμέρας, οὐκ ἐφεξῆς ἀλλὰ μέσον γινομένων ἑπτά· καὶ τῇ μὲν πρώτῃ ἱεροποίουν ∆ήμητρι, οἷον τῇ Γῇ τῇ ὑποδεχομένῃ τοὺς καρπούς· εἶτα μετὰ ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας Κόρῃ, τῇ τῶν καρπῶν ἐφόρῳ, ἐπεὶ πᾶν σπέρμα ἑβδομαῖον προκύπτει, καὶ οὐ σπέρμα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐμψύχων τὰ πτηνὰ τὸν ἑβδομαῖον ἐπὶ τριάδι κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν φυλάττει λόγον, ἐξῃρημένων χηνῶν καὶ ὅσων οἱ φυσικοὶ σημαιοῦνται· ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς τρίτης ἄρχεται ἡ καρδία κινεῖσθαι, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἑβδόμης τὸ σύμπαν αἱματοῦσθαι, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτης διαρθροῦσθαι τὸ σῶμα, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς εἰκάδος πρώτης ῥηγνυμένου τοῦ κελύφους ἀφιέναι φωνήν. μεγίστη γὰρ ἡ δύναμις τῆς ἑπτάδος· ὁ γὰρ κατ' αὐτὴν ἀριθμὸς ἀμιγής ἐστι καὶ ἀμήτωρ, μήτε γεννῶν μήτε γεννώμενος, ὡς ἕκαστος τῶν ἐν τῇ δεκάδι ἀριθμῶν. ὅθεν καὶ οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι Ἀθηνᾷ τὴν ἑπτάδα ἀνατίθενται· τῇ γὰρ περιόδῳ φασὶ τῆς ἑβδομάδος πάντα ἀθάνατα διασώζεται. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καλοῦσιν αὐτὴν παρθένον ὀβριμοπάτραν, διότι τῆς μονάδος τῆς πάντα περιεχούσης καὶ ὑποστησάσης μόνης ἐστὶ γέννημα· αἰτία γὰρ πάντων ἡ μονάς. λέγεται δὲ καὶ κρίσις διὰ τὸ τῷ ταύτης ἀριθμῷ πάντα λαμβάνειν τὴν ἐπὶ θάτερον ἔκβασιν. καὶ τοῦτο δῆλον ἐκ τῆς καθολικῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡλικίας· ἐπὶ γὰρ τοῦ ἑξηκοστοῦ τρίτου ἐνιαυτοῦ-ἑπτὰ δὲ ἐννεάδων ἐστὶ συνεκτικός-ἡ γένεσις κρίνεται, τοῦ ψυχοκρατητικοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν ἕβδομος, καὶ τοῦ σωματοπλαστικοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν ἔννατος, συνιόντων ὁμοῦ. 3.10 Ὁ Νουμᾶς πανταχοῦ τὸν περιττὸν ἀλλ' οὐ τὸν ἄρτιον ἀριθμὸν τιμῶν τριχῆ τὰς ἑορτὰς τοῦ μηνὸς διετύπωσε· τρίπους γὰρ οἰκεῖος Ἀπόλλωνος, καὶ γὰρ τῆς μονάδος ἐστὶν εἰκών. ταύτῃ καὶ τὰς τοῦ μηνὸς ἑορτὰς διέταξε· τριῶν γὰρ εἶναι λεγομένων τῶν