portended changes on earth.

The Biblical expression 'hosts of heaven' for the starry universe admirably reflects the conception held by the Babylonian astrologers.

Moon, planets and stars constituted an army in constant activity, executing military manoeuvres which were the result of deliberation and which had in view a fixed purpose.

It was the function of the priest--the barqu, or 'inspector,' as the astrologer as well as the 'inspector' of the liver was called--to discover this purpose.

In order to do so, a system of interpretation was evolved, less logical and less elaborate than the system of hepatoscopy, which was analyzed in the preceding chapter, but nevertheless meriting attention both as an example of the pathetic yearning of men to peer into the minds of the gods, and of the influence that Babylonian-Assyrian astrology exerted throughout the ancient world" (Jastrow).( 17) (16) Philostratus: Apollonius of Tyana, Bk.