else, because you, even in this remote corner of the earth
where I live, are held to be the greatest in dignity of station and in
love for all sciences and for mathematics, so that you, through your
position and judgment, can easily suppress the bites of slanderers,
although the proverb says that there is no remedy against the bite of
calumny."

In chapter X. of book I., "On the Order of the Spheres," occurs a more
detailed presentation of the system, as follows:

"That which Martianus Capella, and a few other Latins, very well knew,
appears to me extremely noteworthy. He believed that Venus and Mercury
revolve about the sun as their centre and that they cannot go farther
away from it than the circles of their orbits permit, since they do
not revolve about the earth like the other planets. According to this
theory, then, Mercury's orbit would be included within that of Venus,
which is more than twice as great, and would find room enough within it
for its revolution.

"If, acting upon this supposition, we connect Saturn, Jupiter, and
Mars with the same centre, keeping in mind the greater extent of their
orbits, which include the earth's sphere besides those of Mercury and
Venus, we cannot fail to see the explanation of the regular order of
their motions. He is certain that Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars are always
nearest the earth when they rise in the evening--that is, when they
appear over against the sun, or the earth stands between them and the
sun--but that they are farthest from the earth when they set in the
evening--that is, when we have the sun between them and the earth. This
proves sufficiently that their centre belongs to the sun and is the same
about which the orbits of Venus and Mercury circle. Since, however, all
have one centre, it is necessary for the space intervening between the
orbits of Venus and Mars to include the earth with her accompanying
moon and all that is beneath the moon; for the moon, which stands
unquestionably nearest the earth, can in no way be separated from her,
especially as there is sufficient room for the moon in the aforesaid
space. Hence we do not hesitate to claim that the whole system, which
includes the moon with the earth for its centre, makes the round of that
great circle between the planets, in yearly motion about the sun,
and revolves about the centre of the universe, in which the sun rests
motionless, and that all which looks like motion in the sun is explained
by the m