Simplicius et la rotation des astres : histoire d’une scolie du Petit Commentaire de Théon d’Alexandrie

Abstract

Theon of Alexandria’s Little Commentary to Ptolemy’s Handy Tables, written in the 4th century, was a very successful astronomical treatise during Late Antiquity and the whole Byzantine era, as one can see from the numerous scholia from different periods found in the Greek manuscripts from the 14th to the 16th century. One of these scholia has a very original history : it is a reshaped excerpt from Simplicius’ commentary to Aristotle’s De caelo, in which the author mentions Ptolemy’s “ tables” and deals with the question of the rotation of celestial bodies. Relying on the main manuscript witnesses, this scholion is here edited for the first time. Moreover, its complete textual history will be considered, from its redaction by Simplicius and its transfer to the margins of Theon’s commentary – which may have been an initiative of Stephanus of Alexandria (6th c.) – until the different textual versions found in the Greek astronomical manuscripts until the Renaissance.