an melius manet illa fides, per saecula prisca illac solis equos diversis cursibus isse atque aliam trivisse viam, longumque per aevum exustas sedes incoctaque sidera flammis caeruleam verso speciem mutasse colore, infusumque loco cinerem mundumque sepultum? fama etiam antiquis ad nos descendit ab annis Phaethontem patrio curru per signa volantem, dum nova miratur propius spectacula mundi et puer in caelo ludit curruque superbus luxuriat nitido, cupit et maiora parente, deflexum solito cursu, curvisque quadrigis monstratas liquisse vias orbemque recentem imposuisse polo, nec signa insueta tulisse errantis meta flammas currumque solutum.
Perhaps that belief is more justly held which asserts that here in ages past the horses of the Sun pursued a different course and wore another path; over long centuries the track was burnt up and the constellations scorched by the flames, losing their sky-dark appearance beneath an altered hue: ash spread over the region and buried heaven beneath it. A story also comes down to us from ancient times that Phaethon sped through the stars in his fathers chariot; whilst looking more intently at the unfamiliar spectacle of heaven and boyishly sporting in the sky as he proudly revelled in the glittering chariot, longing to surpass his father, he veered from the accustomed course and with a swerving team left the appointed track and branded a fresh circuit upon the heavens: the inexperienced signs could not withstand the fires which wandered from their guide-post and a chariot out of control.
final_alignments\Manilius_Astronomica_Book1.json