Claudius Ptolemy
100 – 170 Greco-Egyptian astronomer, geographer, astrologer, mathematician
The astronomer of Roman Alexandria whose Almagest, Geography, and Tetrabiblos ruled the heavens, the map, and astrology for fourteen centuries.
- Religion
- Hellenistic paganism; a natural philosopher of Roman Alexandria.
- Affiliations
- The scholarly world of Roman Alexandria.
Claudius Ptolemy worked in Roman Egypt and produced the three books that dominated their fields for over a thousand years: the Almagest, which set out an Earth-centered model of the cosmos; the Geography, which mapped the world by coordinates; and the Tetrabiblos, the standard handbook of astrology. His authority stood until Copernicus, Columbus, and the scientific revolution overturned it.
In the timeline
- 150 Ptolemy compiles the Almagest mentioned