ing centuries.

In examining therefore the records of eclipses which have been handed
down to us from A.D. 100 forwards through more than 1000 years, I shall
not offer my readers a long dry statement of eclipse dates, but only
pick out here and there such particular eclipses as seem to present
details of interest for some or other reason.

On April 12, 237 A.D., there was, according to Julius Capitolinus, an
eclipse of the Sun, so great "that people thought it was night, and
nothing could be done without lights." Ricciolus remarked that this
eclipse happened about the time of the Sixth Persecution of the
Christians, and when the younger Gordian was proclaimed Emperor, after
his father had declined the proffered dignity, being 80 years of age.
The line of totality crossed Italy about 5 p.m. in the afternoon, to the
N. of Rome, and embraced Bologna.

Calvisius records, on the authority of Cedrenus, an eclipse of the Sun
on August 6, 324 A.D., which was sufficiently great for the stars to be
seen at mid-day. The eclipse was associated with an earthquake, which
shattered thirteen cities in Campania. Johnston remarks that no more
than three-fourths of the Sun's disc would have been covered, as seen in
Campania, but that elsewhere in Italy, at about 3 p.m., the eclipse was
much larger, and perhaps one or two of the planets might have been
visible.

On July 17, 334 A.D., there was an eclipse, which seems to have been
total in Sicily, if we may judge from the description given by Julius
Firmicus.[67]

Ammianus Marcellinus[68] describes an eclipse, to which the date of
August 28, 360 A.D., has been assigned. Humboldt, quoting this
historian, says that the description is quite that of a solar eclipse,
but its stated long duration (daybreak to noon), and the word _caligo_
(fog or mist) are awkward factors. Moreover, the historian associates it
with events which happened in the eastern provinces of the Roman
Empire; but Johnston seems in effect to challenge Marcellinus's
statement when he says, "It is true that there was an annular eclipse of
the Sun in the early morning on the above date, but it could only be
seen in countries E. of the Persian Gulf."

About the time that Alaric, King of the Visigoths appeared before Rome,
there was a gloom so great that the stars appeared in the daytime. This
narrative is considered to apply to an eclipse of the Sun, which
occurred on June 18, 410 A.D. The eclipse was an annular one, but a