Heraclides of Pontus. Astronomical fragments

Heraclides of Pontus (c. 388-310 BCE), a Platonic philosopher, worked in various literary genres and wrote on such topics as psychology, politics, literature, history, geography, astronomy and the philosophy of nature. Nothing is preserved. The present publication contains a collection of the testimonies about Heraclides' astronomical writings. He thought of an infinite universe, in fact believing that every star is a kosmos , located in the infinite either. He famously advanced the theory of terrestrial rotation, hypothesizing that the apparent diurnal rotation of the heavens is better explained by the rotation of the Earth, and in this context correctly observed that, unlike other planets, Venus as morning and evening star has the maximum elongation from the Sun's position (that is to say is never located far from the Sun). The evidences are translated and numbered according to a new edition by Schütrumpf et al. 2008.