so precisely between the Earth and the sun, that total solar eclipses are perfect. It bothers me."

The Graeco-Roman historian Cassius Dio, writing between AD 211-229, relates the anecdote that Emperor Claudius considered it necessary to prevent disturbance among the Roman population by publishing a prediction for a solar eclipse which would fall on his birthday anniversary [1 August in the year AD 45]. In this context, Cassius Dio provides a detailed explanation of