Astronomy and Tidal Analysis Applied to the Study of Julius Caesar's Commentarii
7 Pages Posted: 4 Aug 2016
Date Written: August 2, 2016
Abstract
A beautify example of forensic astronomy and geophysics, applied to a specific problem of history, is given by the work of Thomas Lewin. He used the references to natural phenomena in the Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Gallico to determine times and places of the Caesar campaigns in Britain. In “The invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar”, published in 1859, Lewin explains how, using ephemeris and tidal data, he deduced the date and the place from where Caesar departed from Gaul and the place where he landed for the first time in Britain. Besides the Lewin’s analyses, in this paper we will give also some considerations on the orientation of Caesar’s navigation by night, using the stars of Ursa Minor, Ursa Major and Draco.
Keywords: Archaeoastronomy, Forensic Astronomy, Forensic Geophysics, Tidal analysis, History, Julius Caesar
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