Thronos: Historical Grammar of Furniture in Mycenaean and Beyond, edited by Rachele Pierini, Alberto Bernabé, and Marco Ercoles

Abstract

In an attempt to read the fortunes of kings and the powerful in the Ptolemaic sky, Hellenistic astrologers have often used the image of a throne and a stool, as a metaphor for elevation, exaltation, upward ascent, and success. These λαμπήναι or θρόνοι were the basis of interpretive techniques still in use in the Middle Ages and early modern period, to predict the success of an undertaking or the victory and prosperity of a ruler.