Ptolemy, or Claudius Ptolemaeus
Back to people overviewClaudius Ptolemy was a Greco-Roman scholar, most famous for the three manuscripts he produced on astronomy, geography, and astrology.
Almost nothing is known of Ptolemy’s life except that he lived in Alexandria and was a Roman citizen. His first book, the Almagest (c. 150 CE) was an astronomical text which advocated for a geocentric universe. His second text was the ‘Tetrabiblos’ (c. 150 CE), which focused on astrology. Ptolemy drew inspiration for his greatest work, the ‘Geographia’ (150 CE) from an atlas by Marinus of Tyre. The book is one of the most important cartographic treatises of all time. However, no Ptolemy originals survive.
