[adrian_b]

In Antiquity the planets were believed to move around the Earth, not the Sun, so they estimated the distances from the planets to the Earth.

While there was no way to estimate a numeric distance, they have correctly estimated which planets are closer and which are more distant, based on their angular speed on the sky.

So it was always correctly believed that Saturn is the farthest from the Earth, because it has the slowest angular speed, followed by Jupiter, then by Mars.

It was believed that there are 7 special celestial bodies, adding the Sun and the Moon.

However I am not aware of any association between Saturn and the number 6.

Saturn and Jupiter became associated with black lead (i.e. lead) and white lead (i.e. tin), because Saturn is less bright and it moves slower on the sky than Jupiter, like the lead is less bright and also heavier than the tin.