2 ms·

I read somewhere that in Roman times the test to become a soldier was to look at the Pleiades cluster and if you could see seven stars you would pass the eye te

• eesmith 8y ago
  That doesn't sound quite right. Of what use is a vision test where it's easy to memorize the answer? In English Pleiades is also known as the Seven Sisters, because of the ancient Greek myth. I can easily believe that Pleiades was also associated with 7 in general Roman culture. It doesn't help that more than 7 stars can be visible. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades says "Its light is dominated by young, hot blue stars, up to 14 of which can be seen with the naked eye depending on local observing conditions.") Muhammad was written to have been able to see 12. If someone says there are 9 stars, is that a sign of good vision? Or simply a guess? Then there's the observation that other cultures see six stars. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_in_folklore_and_literature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_in_folklore_and_liter... . In modern times only 6 stars are usually visible to the naked eye, and there are proposals for why 7 was used in Ancient Greece; eg, stellar variability or a numerological leaning towards 7.