Harley 647, fol.10v Illustration of the constellation Eridanus, and text, c.820-40 (vellum)

The oldest surviving exemplar of Cicero's Latin translation of Aratus's (c. 315-240 B. C.) Phaenomena. Made in France, probably in Rheims, about 820-840, this manuscript has a copy of a famous poem on the constellations and planets. The result of several layers of translation and being added to, the poem is a late Roman version of a Latin translation done in the 1st century BCE by Cicero. Cicero had translated a Greek poem written in the 3rd century BCE by Aratus. Hence, it was known as the 'Aratea'. Eridanus /ᵻˈrɪdənəs/ is a constellation in the southern hemisphere, represented as a river.