This device was described by Cicero in the first century B.C.E. as a kind of planetarium ​ — a mechanical model capable of replicating in miniature the movements of the sun, the moon, and the five planets visible to the naked eye.
Saskaņā ar Cicerona aprakstu, šī sfēra ir bijusi planetārijs — mehānisks debess sfēras modelis, kas ļāvis miniatūrā atveidot Saules, Mēness un piecu ar neapbruņotu aci saskatāmo planētu kustību.