Romans were highly interested in astrology and all the Roman statesmen and military leaders like Julius Caesar and Emperor Tiberius, had their horoscopes casted. Emperor Hadrian's horoscopes was so detailed, that it predicted the hour of his own death.

The major astrological figure of the Roman era was Julius Firmicus Maternus, an astrologer, lawyer and Christian. Firmicus lived in the 4th century AD and is notable for spanning the divide between Christian and pagan thought.

The decline of the Roman Empire after the sacking of Rome by the Goths in 410 AD, began the decline of European scholarship and European astrology until its re-introduction in the Middle Ages.

With the fall of the Roman Empire, and the barbarization of Europe, it entered its 'dark ages' when knowledge of classical science and philosophy was lost for several centuries.