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The earliest known astrological chart is Babylonian, dating from 409 BC. In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, the ancient Greeks developed the idea of the 12 signs of the zodiac. They saw a relationship between people's personalities and their season of birth and thus identified 12 character types which they connected to the signs named for 12 constellations. Zodiac is Greek for "circle of animals".
Other systems of astrology were developed independently in China, in the Americas and elsewhere. Premodern observers noticed that the annual patterns of the movement of the stars coincided with such events as the advent of springtime, changes in weather and the migration of birds every year. Without knowing why these phenomena occurred together, other events were said to be affected by the stars as well. In medieval Europe, important political and military decisions were often made in consultation with astrologers.
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