This article is a study of the system of “time-lords” (χρονοκράτορες) in Greek astrology, by which forecasts were given on the basis of the division of the lifespan into periods of 129 months, ruled by the planets in succession. The origins of the system, which probably lie in ancient Egyptian astrology, remain obscure, but a more detailed picture of its development and use in the Greco-Roman period can be gained from literary sources alongside applications in the papyrological record, including a substantial new text of the second century CE published here with translation and commentary.
