Epigenes of Byzantium
Epigenes of Byzantium was a Greek astrologer. He seems to have been an earlier supporter of astrology, which, though derided by many Greek intellectuals, came to be accepted after Alexander the Great conquered major parts of the Near East.
The sources for the life of Epigenes are Seneca the Younger, Pliny the Elder, and Censorinus.
Epigenes' claims to have been educated by the Chaldeans comes from the writings of Seneca. Pliny the Elder writes that Epigenes attests to the fact that the Chaldeans preserved astral observations in inscriptions upon brick tiles extending to a period of 720 years. Pliny calls Epigenes a writer of first-rate authority. Smith interprets this to mean that Epigenes came before Berossus.
It is unclear when Epigenes lived - he may have lived about the time of Augustus; some conjecture that he lived centuries earlier - but he is known to have refined the study of his chosen field, defining Saturn, for example, as "cold and windy." Along with Apollonius of Myndus and Artemidorus of Parium, he boasted of having been instructed by the Chaldean priest-astrologers.
The 55-km lunar crater Epigenes is named after him.
