An Outline of Roman Divination as Illustrated in the First Decade of Livy´s History

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Loyola University Chicago

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Master's Teses Teses and Dissertations

1938

An Outline of Roman Divination as Illustrated inthe First Decade of Livy's History

John Philip Carroll Loyola University Chicago

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Recommended CitationCarroll, John Philip, "An Outline of Roman Divination as Illustrated in the First Decade of Livy's History" (1938). Master's Teses.

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AN OUTLINE OF ROMAN DIVINATION AS ILLUSTRATED

IN THE FIRST DECADE OF LIVY'S HISTORY

John Phil ip Carrol l

A Thesis Submitted in Par t ia l Fulfi l lment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

in Loyola University

1938



VITA

John Phi l ip Carrol l , teacher

in Chicago Public Schools, A.B.

Loyola University 1936, graduate

Chicago Normal College, graduate

ass i s t an t in Loyola Universi ty

1936-38.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chaptar

I The P r o b ~ e m - In troductory .............. 1

I I ItAuguria Im pe t ra t iv a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

I I ! tt-Auguria Oblat iva It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

IV Influence af Greek and EtruscanDivinat ion on Roman Divinatio.n ......... 56

V Conclusion and Summary • • • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • 71



CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Religious systems are always a point of in teres t

among students of ancient ethnology because a knowledge

of them is essent ia l to a complete picture of ancient

cultures as a whole. The rel igious systems of ancient

peoples are in teres t ing also because they hold a strange

fascination and mystery for us of the Christ ian Era.

And the topic is no less complicated than i t is in ter

est ing. Even for as circumscribed a topic as I intend

to outl ine in these pages -viz •• Roman Divination. there

is s t i l l need of adequate treatment despite centuries

of research. William W. Fowler (X:-!ll ,n .37) . who has

writ ten one of the best general treatments of Roman

rel igion, makes note that the system of Roman divinat ion

i s • ••••• a n extremely complicated subjec t . - The topic

of Roman divination was chosen as the subject of th is

thesis because an acquaintance with i t , a t l eas t in out

l ine form, is very helpful to an understanding of Roman

cul ture . The bearing that the Roman divinatory system

had on Roman pol i t ics i s alone worthy of note, even when

tha t system had degenerated to a mere formality and a

meaningless observance of t rad i t ion . For example, the

taking of auspices was so bound up with public l i fe that

1



armies could be recalled from the f i e l d ~ the comitia

could be disbanded, and elections postponed by the mere

report of unfavorable omens.

Another point that makes the Roman divinatory

system worthy of note is the fact that i t had dis t inct ive

elements in i t that were opposed to the divinatory systems

of other cul tures . and these elements reflected in prin-

ciple to some degree the Roman character . I refer here to

the very definlteil.ess of the Roman system i t se l f as re

f lect ive of the Roman penchant for order; to the reluc-

tance of the Romans to Show excessive cur iosi ty in regard

to future e v ~ n t s as indicative of thei r bel ief of the i r

proper re la t ion to the deity -v iz . , one of s t r i c t contract

(cf .p.72J; to the off ic ia l disdain for the Etruscan harus-

pex (even though he was frequently consulted) as showing

the original serious simplicity of the Romans in the i r

dealings with the deity_

When we speak of Roman divinat ion, we almost

invariably re fe r to the Roman s ta te system of augury.

A dis t inct ion might be made between th is and the divi

nation of the family, which was something ra ther informal.

Every family had a god as a patron for each single event

of daily l i fe -e .g . , for plowing. harvest , ra in, the

hearth; for bir th , m a r r i ~ g e , death. These dei t ies were

2





One must be very careful in using him as a source for

the ear l ie s t days of Rome's his tory . I t i s a well known

faul t of his tha t he imposes on Romans of the days of

the kings and early Republic, customs and r i t es known

only to a l a t e r day (c f .p .45 ,n . ) . However, in the matter

of augury he could hardly be charged with allowing

himself too much freedom. For his aim was to show the

difference in such matters between the old and the new,

to show the original charaSter and s incer i ty of the

old pract icas . His descript ion of the taking of the

auspices in the case of Romulus and Remus (c f .p .8) .

for example, may be based on a legend, but a t l eas t

we can suppose that the taking of auspices from birds

was a favori te of f ic ia l pract ice . The same holds t rue

in the case of the inauguration of Numa Fompilius by

observation of the l ightning f lash. The point is the

same as that which underlies the his tor ian ' s attempt

to depict the rugged c h a r ~ c t e r of the ancient Romans;

Many of his famous characters , such as Scaevola and

Coriolanus, may have been legendary, but the t r a i t s of

character they showed were probably genuine ( V I ~ l l 3 ) .Thus, although there is much legend and play of imagi-

nation in Livy's work, especial ly in the f i r s t decade,

4



he s t i l l remains a fundamentally re l iable source for

such a thing as the augural pract ices of the ancient

Romans. Fowler (X:-208) has th is to say of him:- ItLi vy

is the only histor ian who has presented for us in any

substance the r ~ l i g i o u s side of Rome's public l i f e . 1t

* *

In th is treatment of Reman divination an attempt

was made to adhere solely to. the f i r s t ten books ef

Livy. These books furnish material enough for i l lus t ra t ion,

containing evidence ranging frem the very founding of the

augural college ( L i v . ~ I ~ x V i i i J to. the days when the

taking of auspices was no l6nger considered ser iously

and was leo.ked on with disdain (Liv. :X.xlJ . However,

occasionally I was cOmpelled to make reference to a

book l a te r than the tenth for the sake of completely

expla ining a pOint.

Likewise, authors other than Livy -v iz . , Cicero,

Pliny, etc., . are referred to as confirmatery evidence.

5



CHAPTER I I

AUGURIA IMPETRATIVA

A ~ D e f i n i t i o n and 1mportance

Roman divination consisted o f two main divisions

v i z . ~ auguria impetrat iva and auguria oblat iva . The

auguria impetrat iva were signs or manifestat ions of

6

the divine wil l specif ical ly sought or sol ic i ted . Litera l ly

the term s igni f ies augural signs received as direct resul t

of a prayer: IMPETRATUM (impetrar'e) means "something

obtained as a re su l t of a prayer or wish." That is , the

chief magistrate def ini te ly wanted a f3vorable oaen and

besought the deity for it. The procedure was then

carried out to see i f the sign asked for was forthcoming.

The auguria oblat iva , although not always signs hap-

hazardly obsarved, were not specif ical ly sought. That i s ,

often ' a ' sign was sought, as in the case of the feeding

of the sacred chickens, but here a favorable sign was

not specif ical ly sought.. The ma.gistrate se t up the con-

dit ions at tendant on a proper observation and then noted

the re su l t - - favorable or unfavorable. A u g u r 1 ~ impetrativa

were usually taken, a t leas t or iginal ly , through the

observation of birds . Hence the process was called aus-

picium, a contracted form of avispicium (ttlooking a t the



birds t t) .. So general was this pract ice of taking signs

from birds tha t the word ausEicium became almost generic

for any manifestat ion, or interpre ta t ion thereof , of the

wil l of the gods.

In the early days of Rome consulta t ion of auspicia

in a l l important public events (and private:Pliny,HN.X.2l)

was the habitual , nay indispensable procedure. In public

af fa i rs taking the auspices was almost tantamount to

off ic ia l author i ty . and the phrase auspicium imEeriumque

completed the designation of the range of o.fficial

power (XXVIII:-823). The reason fo r this is tha t the

public magistrate was responsible for the divine sanction

for acts within hie j u r i s d i c t i o n ~ The r ight of in i t i a -

t ing an undertaking bore the responsibi l i ty Qf gett ing

th is sanct ion. Livy (Liv:I .xxxvl ..6 ) shows the importance

of the auspices:

Auguriis certe sacerdotioque auguriumtantus honos access i t u t nih i l bel l idomique postea n l s i auspicato gereretur ,canci l la populi , exercitus vocati ,summa rerum, ubl aves non admislssentdirimerentur .

(Liv:-VI.xli)

Ausplciis hanc urbem conditam esse,auspici is bello ec pace domi milit iaequeornnl ger i , quis es t qui ignoret?

7



In alignment with Livy •. Cicero (Cic:De Div.I .xxvi i i )

records :-

Nihil fere quondam majoris re i nis i

a'uspic9:to ne privatim quidem gere-batur . . . . . . . I t a q u e s in is t ra dum nonexquirimus, in dira a t in vi t iosaincurrimus

The taking of auspices trom birds dates from

the very ear l i es t days ofRome

according to Livy.

When the two legend9:ry chiefs , Romulus and Remus, sought

the kingship of the new ci ty , they f i r s t of a l ~ had

recourse to the birds ( L i v ~ I . v i . 4 - v i i . 2 ) :

Quoniam gemini essent nee aeta t i s

verecundia discrimen fa cere posset,ut d1i, quorum tu telae ea loce assent ,auguri is legerent , qui nomen novaeurbi daret , qui conditam imperioregeret , falatium Romulus, RemusAventinum ad inaugurandum templa caplunt . Pr ior i Remo augurium venisset e r tu r , sex v u l t u r e a ~ Jamque nuntiatoaugurio cum duplex numerus Romulo seostendisset , utrumque regem suamultitudo consalutaverat: temporei l l i praecepto, a t hi numero aviumregnum t r a h e b a n t ~

When Tarquinius Priscus, in a cr is is with the

Babines, sought to add to the number of centuries a l r e ~ d yenrolled by Romulus, he was frustrated by the augur

Attus Naevius, who said that the birds refused the i r

8



approval (Liv:I.xxxvi):-

Auguriis cer te sacerdotioque augurumtantus honos accesai t ut nihi l • • . • •summa

rerum, ubi aves non admisissentdirimerentur .-

In th is instance also s t ress is laid on the importance

of taking the auspices, for , when Tarquinius Friscus

sought to cast disparagement on the procedure by chal

lenging the augur, the l a t t e r took the challenge and

with cer ta inty and dispatch clove a whetstone with a

razor (Liv:I .xxxvi .4t :

Cum i l l e augurio rem expertus perfecto futuram dix isse t t "Atqui hocanimo agi tavi t" inqui t , "te novacula

cotem discissurum; cape haec e tperage quod"aves tuae f i e r i possep o r t e n d u n t . ~ Tum i l ium haud cunctanter discfdisse cotem ferunt .

We might note here too one of the f i r s t examples

of how augury CQuld intervene to f rustrate a pol i t ica l

act ion. rrhis pract ice became more and more prevalent

in the l a te r Republic, when augury became merely a

form with no real rel igious sp i r i t behind i t .

Latart .hen Tarquinius Superbus was preparing

to undertake the great public project of dedicating a

temple to Jupi ter on the Capitol , the birds were again

9



consulted.. They gave assent to the rescinding of a l l

the exis t ing temples on the Capitoline except tha t of

Terminus. This was interpreted as prophetic of the

s t ~ b i l i t y of the Roman s ta te ( L i v : I . l v . 3 - 5 } ~

Nam cum omnium sacellorum • . . . . • •exaugurationes admitterent aves, inTermini fano nan addixere; idque omenauguriumque i ta acceptum es t , nonmotam Termini sedem unumque eum

deorum non evocatum sacra t i s s ib i

f inibus firma stabi l iaque cunctaportendere.

Again when the ~ l e b e i a n s were f ighting for land

jus t ice and Rome was a t war with Veii and there was a

general unrest heightened by prodigies, recourse to

auspices was had before anything could be decided.

ThroJgh the auspicium the gods gave the reason for

the unrest -v i z . , fa i lure of the Romans to observe the

:LO

r i tes of rel. igion . This was taken as so sure and def ini te

that the Vestal uppia was summarily punished as the

culpr i t (Liv I I . x l i i .10 l l ) : :

Accesaere ad aegras jam omnium mentesprodigia cae les t ia , prope cotidianasin urbe agrisque ostentant ia minas;motique i ta numinis causam nullam aliamvates canebant publice privatimquenunc ext is nunc per aves consul t i , quamhaud r i te sacra f i e r i . Qui te r rores

tandem eo evasere ut Oppia virgo Vestal isdamnata inces t i poenas dedet i t .



B. Method

As to the method of taking the auspices, there

is copious evidence in class ic Latin authors, and Livy

lends his share . Firs t of a l l , who were allowed to

taka the auspices? • . . • • Apparently th is r igh t belonged

to the body of Roman patr ic ians in general . Livy

(Liv:-VI.xli) alludes to t h i s . In a speech ref lect ing

patr ic ian haughtiness Appius Claudius says:-

M-Quid de rel lgionibus atque auspic i i s .quae propria deorum immortalium contemptio atque injur ia es t , loquar? . • .Penes quos ig i tu r sunt auspic i i moremaj orum?' Nempe penes pa t res ; nam pIe be iusquidem magistratus nullus auspicato creatur ;nobis adeo propria sunt auspicia ut nonsolUm quos populus creat patr ic ios magist ra tus non a l i t e r quam auspicato c r e e t ~sed nos quoque ips i sine suffragio populiauspicato interregem prodamus e t privatimauspicia habeamus, qu&e i s t i ne in magistrat ibus quidem habent. Quid ig i tu r al iudquam t o l l i t ex civi ta te auspicia qui pIebeios consules creando a patr ibus, quiso l i ea habere possunt, aufert?

Naturally enough". then, the patr ic ians directed this

power to the i r chie,f magistrate or "Rex"', and hence

the correlat ion of power, ~ u s E i c i u m imperiumque,

mentioned above. The " ' R e x ~ , of course, in l a te r days

was the consul .

Besides the chief magistrate there were what

11



were known as augurs ( l} . These men were to see that

the ceremony of the taking of the auspices went off r ight

and to in terpret whatever signs were sen t . To a l l aprear

ances they performed and interpreted the auspicium,

but the r ight of augury - i . e . , the f i r s t and or iginal

r ight of spectio Cct'.p.16 ~ note) remained with the

chief magistrate (XXVIII:-823; X:30l) . According to

( l JLest any confuSion arise on the posi t ion of the

chief magistrate, Who was also the Pontifex Maximus. le tme note this=:-

From the ear l i es t days of the organized ci ty-s ta teof Rome the chief magistrate - - a t f i r s t the king, l a te rthe consul - - was also the head of re l ig ion. The sacraof the s ta te were in h is care . He was the PontifexMaximus. As such he was the head of the Colle6ium ~ -t i f icum, which was the off ic ia l re l igious board consis

t ing of threa, nine, and l a te r f i f teen members. Thework of th is Collegium was much wider in scope thanthat of the Collegium Augurale.

With the end of the kingly period much of theformal work of sacr i f ic ia l r i t ua l passed to the special lyappointed Rex Sacrorum; but under the Pontif icesmuch r i tua l i s t i c work was s t i l l carried on concerningthe s ta te and concerning family l1fe:- They dictated thevotum for temples" for games; they catalogued thedei t ies to be off ic ia l ly recognized ( L i v ~ r v . x x v i i ) ;they had the ent i re charge of the calendar with i t srel igious fes t iva l s ; they kept the archives of the s ta te ;they supervised the sacra of individual famil ies; theysupervised marriage and bur ia l .- The Collesium Augurale. ins t i tuted under Numa

(Liv:-I .xvi i i .6) had nothing to do with the worship ofdei t ies , but was merely concerned with interpret ing omens.Everything had to be reduced to system for the Romans, andtha t was the task of the augurs within the province ofdivination (XI :-833; XV:'330-332)'.

12



Livy (Liv:I .xxxvi.3) the famous Attus Naevius was augur

for the scept ica l Tarquinius Priscus, and i t was his

task to see tha t the ceremony was properly performed and

to interpre t the s ign.When Numa insis ted tha t the gods shoJld be con-

sui ted, he did not do i t alone but was aided by an augur,

as Livy says ( L i v ~ I . x v i i i ~ 6 ) :

Inde ab augure cui deinde honoris ergopublicum

idperpetuumque sacerdotium

fu i t , deductus in arcem •.....

In taking the a u g u r i ~ i m p e ~ r a t i v a from birds

the procedure was Similar to that employed in taking the

13

auguria from l ightning (as wi l l be described l a t e r ) ~Auguria impetrativa could be taken only within designated

spaces (1) .

(1 )

"The person who had the auspicia , i . e . , or i -ginally the "Rex", l ike the l a t e r magistrate, had towatch for signs from heaven; in order to do so he markedout a templum, a redtangular space (templum majus) bynoting cer ta in objec ts , t r e e s ~ or what not, beyond which,whether he looked a t earth or sky he nee_d take nonotice of what he saw. The spot where he took up hisposit ion for th i s purpose was i t se l f a rectangular space(templum minus). The usual place was the Arx, wherethe auguraculum, on which the magistrate taking theauspices pitched his tent (tabernaculum), looking to theeas t , 'f'i th the north as hi s l e f t or lucky s ide . t (X :-302) •



The kinds of ~ considered in auguria impe

t r a t iva were few in number. With some kinds of birds

the auspicia were determined by the i r f l igh t . Such

birds ware called a l i t e s , and included birds or p r e y ~l ike the eagle, hawk, and osprey ( X I V ~ ~ r t . "AUSPICIDM").

With other kinds of birds the auspicia were taken from

the i r sounds. Such were called oscines, and included

the raven, crow, and owl ( F e s t u s : 1 9 3 ~ C i c ~ D e Div.I .120) .

Livy refers to this in the words of Appius Claudius

( L i v : V I . x l i ) ~ who bemoans the loss of respect for the

divine wil l among the Romans:

"Quid enim esse • . . ~ ... ~ • ..si occeciner i t ."

When the divine consent was sought for some act

and was vouchsafed, the technical term of acceptance was

"admittunt aves" or "addicunt aves":

(Liv:I ..xxxvi.6)ubi aves non admisissent • • • • . • .

( L v :1..1v .3 , 4: )

Nam cum omnium sacellorum ....... . . . . .. .exaugurationes a d m i t t e r ~ n t aves, inTermini fano non addixere; •• •• •

However, sometimes the sign sought was not forth-

coming, and the auspices misca.rried by interrupt ion ( P l i n y ~

14



HN.VIII.223) .. Livy records such an interrupt ion in the

year 310 B .C. Papirius, the new dic ta tor , had named G.

Junius Bubulcus to be his master of horse; and when he

advocated a law confirming the authori ty, the matter was

stoDoed because the i l l - fa ted ward Faucia had the f i r s tJ,

vote (Liv.IX.xxxViii .15,16):

Papirius Cn. Junium Bubulcum magistrumequitum dixi t ; atque ei legem curiatimde imperio fe rent i t r i s t e omen diem d i f -

k '_ f id i t , quod Faucia curia fu i t principium,duabus insignis cladibus, captae urbis,e t Caudinae pacis , quod utroque annaejusdem curiae fuerat principium.

When such an interruption occurred the auspices had to

be repeated, and this could not take place unt i l the

following day ( L i v ~ I X ~ x x x i x ) :

Dictator postero die auspici iS repe t i t i sper tu l i t legem; • • • . • • o-

(*)NOTE:There are other types of divining from birds

besides consult ing the a l i t es and oscines. Suchtypes ware, for example, observation of en t ra i l s , observat ion of strange act ions of birds . These, however,are not to be classed under augur1a impetrativa butrather are examples of auguria. oblat iva ( X : 3 d 2 ) ~Through such media the divini ty, though not specif ical lysol ic i ted, sent signs of approval or disapproval ofsome undertaking already provisionalLy sanctioned (XXVIII:823) .. A fur ther and more detai led descr ipt ion of these

wil l be contained in a l a te r chapter .

15



the authori ty and leadership of the chief magistrate in

this matter in the person of Numa (Li v :-I .xvi i i ..6) :-

De se(Numa) quoque deos consuli j u s s i t .

Then the augur comes in as helper and in te rpre te r . He

leads the sovereign to the c l t a d e l ~

Ab augure . . . • • . • • • . . • d e d u c t u s in arcem.

(Consuls l a te r went to the Capitol) and here sa t him on

a stone elevation (solida se l la) facing the south:

ad meridiem versus consedit .

Here the augur took his seat on Numa's l e f t side with

head covered:

Augur ad laevam ejus capite velato sedemcepi t

and holding in his hand the well known s ta f r , the l i tuus :

dextra manu baculum sine nodo aduncum tenens,quem l i uum appel larunt •.

Next, facing the eas t , he marked off along the heavens

a l ine from east to west, cal l ing the s o u ~ h ~ r i g h t " and

the north " lef t - , and a landmark as fa r orf from himself

as he coulds e e ~

17



Inde ubi prospectu 1n u ~ b e m agrumquecapto deos precatus regiones ab orientead occasum determinavit , dextraa admeridiem partes laevas ad s e p t e n t r l o n e ~esse d ix i t ; signum c o n · t ~ a . quoad longissime

conspectumo c u ~ i

ferebant , animo f i n iv i t .

Then he made his prayer, specifying the sign he so

desired to appear within those l imi t s :

ItJupi te r , pater , s i es t fas hunc ~ · r u m a m Fom-pilium, cujus ego caput teneo, regem Romae

esse, ut tu signa nobis cer ta adclarassisin te r eos f ines quos feci ." Tum peregitverbis auspicia quae mit t i ve l l e t . Quibusmissis declaratus rex Numa de templo descendit ..

C . Str ic tness of Roman Augural Method

The whole Roman system of divination wasm a ~ k e d

by formalism and s t r i c t officiousness.. Based on the

contract re la t ion oetwean gods and men, i t admitted of

no arbi t rary and haphazard procedures.. What happens to

anyone who would neglect the prescribed form is well

i l lus t ra ted by Livy ( L i v ~ I . x x x i . 6 ) in the case of Tullus

Hosti l ius when the l .a t ter 's base sp i r i t drove him to

seek consolat ion in r i t ua l :

Ipsum regem tradunt volventem commentariosNumae,_ cum ib i quaedam occulta sollemnlasacr i f ic ia Iovi Elicio facta lnvenisset ,

·18



operatum i i s sacr is se abdidisse; sednon r i te initum aut curatum id S8crum

esse, nec solum nullam ei oblatam caelestium speciem. sed ir"a Iovis s01l ic i -t a t i prava rel igione fulmine ictum cum

domo conflagrasse.

Least of a l l could cheating or fa l s i ty of any kind be

condoned. When the chicken-keeper, in honest hope and

expectat ion of victory over the Samnites, fa ls i f ied the

report of the manner of the feeding of the sacred chickens

to the leader Papirius he fe l t the wrath of the offended

deity in the guise of a random javel in ( L i v ~ X . x l , x l i J ~

Dux militum, miles ducis ardorem (bel l i inSamnites) spectabat . Is ardor omnium etiamad eos qui auspicio intererant p e r v e n i t ~nam cum pul l i non pascerentur, pullarius

auspicium mentiriausclS

tripudium solistimumconsuli nunt iav i t . Consul laetus auspiciumegregium esse e t deis auctoribus rem gesturos pronuntiat signumque pugnae proponit • . .... .. . ,

Dum his intentus imperator era t altercat10inter pullarios orta de auspicio ejus dieiexauditaque ab equitibus Romanis, qui rem

haud spernendam ra t i Spurio Papir io, f ra t r i sf i l io consulis , ambigi de auspicio renunt i averunt . Iuvenis ante doctrinam deos spernentem natus rem inquisitam, ne quid in com-

pertum defer re t , ad c o n s u ~ e m de tu l i t . Cuii l l i ~ "Tu quidem macte vi r tu te di l i ient iaque

e s t o ~ Ceterum qui auspicio adest s i quidf a l s l nunt ia t , in semet ipsum religionemrecepi t : mihi quidem tripudium nuntiatum;populo Romano exerci tui qui egregium auspic1um e s t . · Centurionibus deinde imperavitut i pullari , )s inter prima signa consti tuerent .

19



•.•.•..•.•Friusquam clamor t o l l e r e t u rc o n c u r ~ e r e t u r q u e , emisso tenere pi lo

i c tus pul la r ius ante s igna cec i d i t .Quod ubi consul i nuntiatum e s t , ~ D iin p roe l io s u n t ~ , i nqu i t ; "habet

poenam noxium caput ."

20



CHAPTER I I I

AUGURIA OBLATIVA

As already br ief ly noted, there was another

division of Roman divination - tha t of auguria .2£-

la t ivat

i . e . , signs offered or given; OBLATUM (ob &:

fe r re) means l i t e ra l ly "anything brought. offered, or

presented." This was a vast f ie ld and included a l l

unsolici ted signs from the gods. I t included those

unsoliCited signs which were a part of the augural

system and which demanded a def ini te mode of proce-

dure; i t included the great mass of portents and pro-

digies ; i t included signs of a l l spr ts which seemed

in any way unusual . The accidental nature of the

l a t t e r classes l e f t them open for addition and adultera-

t ion and a t the mercy or caprice of the individual

concerned a t anyone time in the i r in terpreta t ion.

Such private in terpreta t ion did take place, and in

the days of the la te Republic and Empire almost every-

one seems to have found occasion, in some national

criSiS or a t other important times, to report that

he had seen or heard some sign from heaven. Originally

th is whole matter of observing signs (auguria ot la-

t ivaJ was l imited to the precinct of the augural college,

21



as was the matter of interpret ing the ausuria impe

t ra t i va. (I J

When a consultat ion had been completed and re -

ported favorable ( i m p e t r a t l v a ) ~ there was s t i l l a

poss ib i l i ty of the d i s a p ~ r o v a l and interference of

the divini ty by some suLsequent sign. These Signs

were not def ini te ly sol ic i ted of the gods, Nor were

they, on the other h a n d ~ always and p u r e ~ accidental .

The pOint is tha t , i f a sign appeared, i t was merely

observed to be favorable or unfavorable by the augur

who had se t up the proper condit ions for the divina-

tory ac t . In the case of the a u g u r i ~ impetrativa

a def ini te and favorable sign was prayed for and ex-

p e c t e d ~ I f i t was not forthcoming, i t could be again

sol ic i ted a t another t ime. Moreover, when unsolic i ted

signs appeared, the recognit ion of them _as very often

a t the discret ion of the magistrate concerned. I f

( l} However, l e s t i t be supposed that divination was

22

practiced only among magistrates and members of the augural

college, le tme

remark tha t concurrent with s ta te divinat ion there was in very early t imes widespread practice ofthe individual noticing and interpre t ing Signa -6 .g . , especiall .y, sounds and act ions of birds, dogs, &c. Such iscommon to the peasantry of a l l nat ions . Cicero (Cic:-DeDiv:I .xxv i i i l says that nothing was carried on "nis i auspicato.ne privatim q u i d e m . ~ A certain Nigidius Figulus wrote aboo:k ent i t led ~ D e Augurio Privato" ..

But the f o r m a l i z ~ t i a n of diVination a t Rome tendedin some way to discredi t private practice and to put the

brand of tnon-genuine' on many of them. Also the observat ion and in terpreta t ion of the actions of farm animals andphenomena of nature, which among the people of the f ie ldswas natural enough, became meaningless in the city(X:-299).



that person 'Wished to recognize the omen, the proper

term was ~ a c c i p i o o m e n ~ . ( ~ } . ( C i c ~ D e DiV.I .c i i i ) . In

recording the t a le about Hercules Livy alludes to

th is pract ice ( L i v ~ I . v i i . 1 I ) ~

Dextra Hercules data acciperese amen i m p l e t ~ r u m q u e fata aracondita ae dicata a i t .

And again in the case of C a m i l l u s ( L i v ~ V . l v . 2 J ~

Qua voce aJdi ta et senatus acciperese omen excurla egressus conclamant.

A. Demanding Formal Procedure

That these auguria oblat iva implied, in some

types, not merely observation of some accidental pheno-

mena of natura we know from the fac t that there were

defini te procedures and rules of ubserving and in te r -

pret ing the signs tha t were sen t . In the system of

(1 )

But the power of not accepting omens or acceptingthem came into abuse; so tha t in l a te r days a ma6istrateunder law m i ~ h t not refuse an unfavorable s ign.

23



the augurs there were dist inguished f ive main var ie-

t i es of signa ( X X V I I I ~ 8 2 3 ) . These were: signa a ) ~c a e l ~ . b J ~ avibus, c j ~ t r ipudi i s , d ) ~ quadrupediis ,

e ) ~ d i r i s .

I . Tripudiam solistimum

Here again -viL. •• in the signa ~ tripuc!i i s ,

oirds were involved or more s p e c i f i c a L ~ y t chickens.

This developedinto

a signum mil i tare , or augury

taken when the army was on the march. Livy gives a

goad example of the taking of auspices from the sacred

chickens as a f ie ld augury ( L i v ~ X . x l . 5 t 6 ) :

Dum h is (bel lo in Samnites)in tentus imperator era t . a l t e rca t ioin ter pul lar ios orta de auspicioejus die i •• . • .

I t beL1e evidently impractical for a general on the

march to await the lengthy and often uncertain con-

di t ions prerequisi te to the taking of the auspices

from the observance of c-irds or l ightning, the taking

of auspices from the feeding of the sacred chickens

took prominence as the universal procedure in the army.

The sacred chickens (pu l l i ) were a par t of the re-

t i n u e ~ In such case the observation was taken from

24



the eating of the birds - - not that they a te , but how

they a te . The pract ice was to feed them grain. and, i f

from the g r e e d i n e s ~ ' l or hunger of the fowl any kernels

fe l l from the i r beaks, the sign was unfavorable. Livy

(Liv:xl i •.8) makes direc t reference to th i s :

"Quid enim esse s i pul l i non pascantur . • ?

The term ~ t r ieudi is has i t s origin in the words

te r and pudiare (pes) - i . e . , ,tto s t r ike thr ice

with the fee t" .e l ) . Cicero (Cic:De Div. I I . lxx i i ) gives

an inkling of the manner of taking the auspices ~t r ipudi is in the following wordS:

(1)

"Quintus Fabi, te mihi in auspicio

esse volo." Respondet. "Audivi".Hic apud majores nostros adhibebaturper i tus , nunc qui l ibe t . Peritumautem esse necesse es t e u m ~ qui , s l lentium quid s i t , inte l legat ; id enimsi lentium dicimus in a u s p i c i i s ~ quodomni vi t io care t . Hoc in tel legereperfect i auguris e s t . 1111 autem,qui in auspicium adhibetur . cum i t almperavit is qui auspicatur , ttDicito,s i

si lentium assetvldebi tur ," nec

" • . tripudium - the rebounding of corn &c.being thrown to chickens, by which soothsayers madethei r divinat ion. tFer urbem ire canentes carminacum t r ipudi i s , solemnique sa l ta tu ju s s i t ' (Liv:I .xx) ."( cf . XXIX, "TRIPUDIUM "; XIV: art." AUGUR).

25



nec suspic i t nec circumspicit jstatim respondet, ~ s i l e n t i u m essevider i ' . TUm i l l e : 'Dici to s ipascentur . ' 'Pascuntur . ' • • • . _Quae pascantur necne quid refer t?

Nihil ad auspic ia ; sed qUia, cumpascuntur, necesse est aliquid exare cadere et terram pavire -' terr ipavium' primo, post ' t e r r i pudium' dictum es t ; hoc quidem jamt tr ipudium' dic i tu r . Cum ig i tu roffa cecidi t ex ore pul l i , tum aus-picanti tripudium solistimum nun-t iatur. t t

The usual time for taking the auspices ~t r ipudi i s was in the dead of night . This was pro-

bably to insure condit ions free from d i s t u r b a n c e ~and an atmosphere was provided in keeping with the

mysterious character of the act i t s e l f . Livy re -

cords two cases of th i s :

(Liv:X.xl ..2JTert ia vig i l ia n o c t i s ~ jam re la t i sl i t t e r i s a col lega. Papir ius s i lent io surgi t et pullarium in auspi-cium mi t t i t .

(Liv:IX.xxxvii i .14)Nocte deinde s i len t io . ut mos es t ,L.Papirium dictatorem dix i t .

This gradual change to the importance of the

tripudium for augury together with the fact that

26



very often the chicken-·keeper himself (pul la r i us) p

ra ther than the chief magistrate in the f i e ld . had

complete charge of such auspices was indicat ive of

the 6eneral loss of importance tha t augury suffered .

2 . Entra i ls

Entrai l s of birds were also consulted for

s igna. Such a pract ice of divining from observance

of the ent ra i l s of a victim show the influence of the

Etruscan augural r i t e s ~ with, however, some basis

in indigenous Roman re l ig ious pract ice . I ts use as

an ausoicium mil i tare arose from the need of some+ - •• -

sor t of augury in the f i e ~ d to get divine sanct ion

for any move. Since the pro-consul and pro-praetor

haJ no r ight of augury of the i r own, the secondary

r ight of extispicium became important in campaigns

where the chief magistrate was absent . Cicero (Cic:

De Div.I.xcv) says of i t :

Omitto nostros, qui nih i l in belloSine ext is a g u n t ~ nih i l Sine aus-pic i i s domi ..... .

During the war with Veii . recorded by Livy,

recourse was had by the Romans to th is method of

27



consult ing en t ra i l s . The his tor ian ( L i v : I I . x l i i ~ l O , l l )says!

Sed ad bella: externa prope super-

erant vi res . abutebanturque i i sin te r semet ipsos certando. Acces-sere ad aegras jam omnium mentesprodigia caeles t ia , prope cotidianasin urbe agrisque. ostentant ia minas;motique i ta numinis causam nullamaliarn vates canebant publice priva-timque nunc ext is nunc per aves con-su l t i , quam haud r i te sacra f i e r i .

Again the inspection of ent ra i l s was used to

lend weight to the portentous dreams of two Roman

consuls. The interpre ta t ions were found to coincide

( L i v r V I I I . v i . 1 2 } ~

Hos ubi nocturnos visus in te r se con-sules contuierunt , piacui t averruncan-dae.deum i rae victimas caedi; slmulut,. s i ext is eadem quae in 60mnio visafuerant portenderentur, a l te r uterconsuium fata irnpleret. Ubi responsaharuspicum ins ident i jam animo tac i taere l ig ioni c o n g r u e r u n t ~

This practice of consultat ion of ent ra i l s

was an Etruscan innovation, and wil l be further d i s -

cussed l a t e r .

28



B. Portents and Prodigies

Besides the observance of entrai ls and the

feeding of the sacred chickens, which was practiced

in the f ie ld ra ther than elsewhere (signum mil i tare) ,

observance of the general f l ight of birds, the i r

sounds and actions, was taken and given interpre ta-

t ion . These observances are not to be confused with

the practice in the case of the a l i t e s and oscines of

the augurium ~ m p e t r a t i v u m , where a defini te favorable

sign was so l ic i ted .

l ~ Strange act ions of animals

In 293 B.C .. , when Papirius was leading the Romans

against the Samnites, his courage, as well 8S that

of the army, was bolstered by the cry of a raven

(Liv:X ..xl .5- l1) :

Ante consul em haec dicentem corvusvoce clara occinui t ; quo laetus au

g u r 1 ~ consul, adfirmans nunquam humanis rebus magis praesentes in ter fuisse deos. signa canere e t clamorem t o l l i juss i t ..

The raven again plays an important and auspi-

cious part by i t s f l igh t and strange action during

the war generaled by Camillus against the r ~ u l s . On

th is occasion in the single combat between a hero

29



from the Roman camp and one from the camp of the

Gauls a raven suddenly appeared and took his part

in the fray (Liv:VII ..xxvi .3-5) :

Minus insigne certamen humanumnumine interposi to deorum factum;namque conserenti jam manum Romano corvus repente 1n galea consedi t , in hostem versus. Quodprimo ut a ~ g u r i u m caelo missumlaetus accepi t t r i b u n u s ~ p r e c ~ t u sdeinde, s1 divus s i diva esset quis ib i praepetem misisset , volenspropi t ius a d e s s e t ~ Dictu mirabile rtenui t non solum ales captam semelsedem, sed quotienscumque certemeninitum es t , levans se a l i s as oculosque host is rostro e t unguibusappet i t , donec terr i tum prodigi it a l i s visu oculisque simul ac menteturbatum Valerius obtruncat; corvusex conspectu elatus orientem pa t i t .

Pliny records that the presence of the raven

s o m e t i m e s ~ as here, betokened divine good wil l (Pl in:

HN.X.xv).

However, the presence of the raven in the d i-

vinations of most cultures generally betokened i l l

favor (XXVII:367).

The case of Lucumo the Etruscan is also a

famous one: While s i t t ing in his C8r en route to

Rome from Etruria an eagle descended on him and acted

in manner strange (Liv:I .xxxiv.8,9}:



Ad Janicu1um for te ventum eratoIbi ei carpento sedenti cum uxoreaquila suspensis demissa l en i te ra l i s pilleum aufer t , superque C9rpentum cum magno clangore voli tans,rursus velut ministerio divini tus

missa capi t i apte reponit ; indesublimis abi i t .

There was l i t t l e doutt tha t th i s Was an omen of divine

good wi l l from the words of in terpretat ion voiced

by Lucumo's wife and by the fac t of his l a te r career .

This case i s also a good example of the ex-

treme nicety of Etruscan in terpretat ion of such omens

( L i v ~ i b i d . ) ~ Great things could be e x p e c t e d ~

Excelsa e t al ta sperare complexavirum jubet .

because:-

earn a l i tern, ea regione cael i" e tejus dei nuntiam venisse, circasummum culmen homlnis ausp1ciumfec1sse, levasse humano superpositum capl t i dacus, ut divini tuseidem redderet .

Birds were not the only animals used as media

through which the w11l of the gods was made evident .

All and every sor t of animal might be the source of

an ominous message. Thus in the case of Tarquin, when

he was enga6ed in extending his public works project ,

31 .



a snake's appearance in the palace was interpreted

as an omen (Liv : I . lv i .4 ) :

Haec agent i portentum t e r r ib i l ev i s u m ~ anguis ex columna l igneaelapsus cum terrorem fugamque inregia fec isse t .

And well might i t be a cause of foreboding to the

king ("anxi is implevit cur is") ; for i t indicated his

great unpopularity and was vindicated short ly af te r

in his overthrow and the end of kingly rule a t Rome.

In B.C. 295, when the Samnites and Gauls were

warring, the ordinary forest scene of a wolf chasing

a hind was given the importance of a special omen of

victory ( L i v : X . x x v i i . 8 - l 0 ' ~

Cum instructae aCies s tarent ,

cerva fugiens lupum e montibusexacta per camp0s in te r duas aciesdecurr i t ; inde diversae ferae,cerva ad Gallas, lupus ad Romanoscursum def lex i t . Lupo data in terordines via; c e r v ~ m Galli confixere.

Tum ex antesignanis Romanus miles"I l lac fuga", inqui t , Met caedesv ver t i t , ubi sacram Dianee feram

jacentem videt i s ; hinc vic tor Martiusl ~ P Q s ~ integer et in tac tus , gent isnos Martiae e t conditor is nostr iadmonuit ....

This c ~ s e has a l l the appearance of a psychological

32



coup charac ter i s t ic of the prac t ica l Rome,ns, who

employed everything a t hand to advantage.

When the Terent i l ian law was taken up in 459 B.C.

and there was t rouble over the consuls for tha t year,

an ox was heard to speak ( L i v ~ I I I . x . 6 ) :

Anno deinde insequenti lex Teren-t i l i a ab toto re la ta colleg10 novosadgressa consules es t ; erant consu-le s P . Volumnius, Servius Sulpicius• . • . • •. _• . • • • • Bovem locutam, cui re i

priore anna fides non fuerat , creditum.

On the same occasion a flock of birds was seen

to perform in a e t r a n ~ e way (Liv: ib id . ) :

Inter a l ia prodigia e t carne plui tquem imbrem ingene numerus avium

in tervol i t3ndo rapuisse fe r tu r .

Such prodigies were often concomitant with

a pol i t ica l or social c r i s i s . The anxiety of plebians

and patriCians was a t a pitch, and the patr icians

strove through the te r ror of reported prodigies to

se t t le the sp i r i t of the plebians (as well as by other

means -v i z . , in tent ional ly ins t igat ing war). Very

s o l e ~ n l y the Sybill.1ne books were consulted (Li v I I I .x . 7) :

Li t r i per duumviros sacrorum ad i t i j



and the answer was given, a hint to the p l e b i a n s ~

• . • . • • in te r cetera monitum ut sed i -t ionibus abst ineretur .

In 457 B.C., when the Roman army was warring

in Central I ta ly and in ternal s t r i f e was rampant, the

Capitol was declared to be purif ied on aGcount of the

unnatural sequence of act ion of wolves and dogs (L1v:-

III .xxix.8.9): :

Extreme a n ~ o agitatum de l e ~ e abt r ibunis es t ; sed quia duo exerci-tus aberant , ne quid fe r re tur adpopulum patres tenuere; plebes vic i tut quintum eosdem t r i b u n ~ s creare t .Lupos visos in Capitolio ferunt acanibus fugatos; ob id prodigiumlustratum Capitolium esse .

2 . Natural phenomena

Natural phenomena are never without the i r effects

on human nature . This is especial ly t rue of primit ive

peoples who have not had the enlightenment of scien-

t i f i c explanation to dispelth i s

dread of the elements.Such phenomena bore meaningful import among the ear ly

Romans, as Livy a t t e s t s . Some of these phenomena

were normal enough, but i f they happened to occur a t

a time of nat ional c r i s i s , they were t reated as signa.

34



a} Earthquakes

Earthquakes, s ta r t l ing in themselves and dread-

fu l . were always ominous. In 433B . C ~

a tRome

thespread of a disease was given the rank of a portent

from the fact tha t other prodigies, and especial ly

an earthquake, happened c o n t e m p o r a n e o ~ s l y (Liv:IV:xxi .5) :

Ceterum magis vis morbi ingravescens c ~ r a e erat terroresque ac prodigia . maxime quod crebris motlbuste r rae ruere in agris nuntiabanturtec ta ..

At another time a chasm, reputedly the work

of an earthquake, was a direct ac t of the gods and

could only be sat isf ied by the heroic se l f sacr i f ice

of one Martius Curtius (L1v :'VII .v i .1-5)

Eodem anno, seu motu terrae seuqua vi a l i a , forum medium fermespecu vasto conlapsum in immensamalt1tudinem dic i tur ; neque eamvorag1nem conjectu te r rae , cum

pro se quisque gereret , expler ipotuisse, priusquam Romanus posset;id enim 1111 loco dicandum yatescanebant, s1 rem publicam Romanem

perpetuam esse vel ien t . Tum M.

Curtium, juvenem bello egregium,c a s t i g a s ~ e ferunt dubitantes anullum magis nomanum bonum quam arma

35



virtusque asse t , et s i lent io factotempla deorum immortalium, quae foroimminent, Capitoliumque intuenteme t manus nunc in caelum nunc in pe

tentes ter rae hiatus ad deos manusporrisentem se devovisse; equo deinde• . • . . . . . . • • . • se in specum immisisae.

This story of Curt ius 's behavior is most probably

a legend, Just as Livy ca l l s i t (fabula) , and indeed

i t is handed down apparently only as the basis for

the naming of the Curt1.an Lake. Bu.t we may suppose

the poss ib i l i ty of such a c le f t in the earth as well

as the t e r ror i t occasioned.

b) Floods

Whatever thing a t a l l threatened the peace of

l i f e in a violent way was portentous. In th i s regard

floods were hardly of less importance than earthquakes.

In 398 B.C. during the siege of Veii, among other

unnamed portents , the one which was the cause of uni-

versa l wQrry and dread to the Romans was the over-

fl.ow of the Alban Lake. The ominous aspect was in

creased by the fa i lure of the Romans to notice any

nor::1al reason for the flood (Li v -:'1 .xv. l , 2):-

36



Prodigia interim multa nunt iar i , . . • .. . . . . . .... in unum omnium curae versaesunt , quod lacus in Albano nemoresine u l l i s caelest ibus aquis causavequa a l ia quae rem miraculo eximeret,

in a l t i tudinem insolitam crev i t .

c) Lightning and Thunder

Lightnin5 and thunderbolts , of course, are

spectacular weapons of the rulers of the universe.

In our treatment of auguria imeetrat iva the ful-

~ sinistrum L we found, was a highly favorable

sign (CicrDe Div. I I . lxx iv) . As a freely given sign,

however, (augurium oblativumJ l ightning was fraught

with t e r ror . Cicero notes in his De Divinatione (Cic:

De Div . I I .x l i i i ) :

Jove tonante fulgurante comitiapopuli habere nefas

Livy (Liv:-I .xxxi.6) records tha t when Tullus Hosti-

l iu s , in his fever ish conversion to re l igious prac-

t i ce , undertook, but improperly, a r i te to Jupi ter

Elicius , he was struck dead by tha t god's own per-

sonal weapon - a t h u n d e r ~ o l t : -

• • . . . • . • nec solum nullam ei oblatamcaelestium speciem, sed i ra Iovisso l l i c i t a t i prava rel igione fulminetctum cum domo conflagrasse.

37



The resentment of heaven was l ikewise mani-

fested on another occasion by a storm with dreadful

noise, which took place when the Latins under the

abusive Annius were appealing to the Romans in re fer -

ence to violated t rea t ies (Liv:VIII .v i .1-3) :

• . . . . • vocem Anni spernentls numinaIovis Romani a ~ d i t a m . Certe, cum

commotus i ra se a vest ibula templic i t ~ t o grado pror ipere t , laps us per

gradus capite gre.viter offenso impactus imo i ta est saxo ut sopi re tur .Exanimatl.lm auctores quoniam nonomnes sunt, mihi quoque in incertor31ictum s i t , s icu t inter foedarumruptorum testat ionem ingenti f ra gore cael i procellam efusam;

Here again the t ru th of the story is in doubt

according to Livy's own words (Liv : ib id . ) :

nam et vera esse et apte ad repraesentandam iram deum f ic ta possunt.

But a t l eas t i t shows that the wrath of Jupi ter usually

was expected to show i t se l f in the thunderbolt . This

bel ief held also among the Greeks (I l iad:VII .478-81).

Again l ightning was used as a weapon fo r chas

t i s ing the Romans, when d ~ r i n g t he i r confl ic t with

the Samnites in 295 B.C. many of Appius Claudius 's

38



army were reported to have been struck by l ightning

eLi v :X .xxx 1 8 - 1 0 1 : -

Felix annus bel l ic is rebus, pest i l en t ia gravis prodigiisque so l l i c i tu s ; nam• • . . • • • in exercitu AppiCl.audi plerosque fulmini bus ictosnuntiaturn es t .

Lightning or thunder, being the especial weapon

of Jupi ter , might be expected to occur as a prodigy

where a violent reversa l of human act ion was demanded

by that deity._ This was brought out when the Romans

were a t war with the Aequi in 470 B ~ C ~ Very evidently

i t was not proper for them to at tack the Aequian camp

on one par t icu lar day. for the moment they did they

were repulsed by a clap of thunder and ha i l . Upon

the i r re t rea t the sky cleared almost miraculously.

They accepted the repulsion as nothing short of pro-

digious (Liv:II . lxi i .2 .3) : -

Eadem anno Valerius consul cumexercitu in Aequos profectus cumhostem ad proelium el icere nonposset . castra oppugnare es t ador tus . Prohibuit foeda tempestascum grandine BC tonitr-ibus caelodejec ta . Admirationem deindeauxit signa receptui dato adeot ranqui l la sereni tas reddita utvelut numine aliquo defense. castraoppugnare iterum re l igio fuer i t ..

39



d)Pest i lence

Pest i lence or disease was recognized as one

of the great foes of humankind, and at leas t on one

occasion became the too.l by which the gods struck

a blow for jus t ice . In the bickerings between the

Roman patr ic ians and plebeians in 384 B .c •. the gods sent

a pest i lence, which had no aprarent natural cause,

as a punishment for the exacution of Manlius on the

Capitol - - the very man who had a shor t time before

saved that home of the gods from the Gauls and who

died apparently the champion of the plebeians (Liv:

VI ..xx .1S, 16) :

Pas t i len t ia etiam brevi consecuta nul l i s occurrentibus tantaecladis causis ex Manliano supp11-cio magnae par t i videri orta:violatum Capitolium esae sanguineservator is nec dis cordi fuissepoenam ejus oblatam prope oculissu is , a quo sua templa ere pta emanibus hostium essent .

3 .. Unnatural phenomena

Unnatllral. phenomena, or nature act ing out of

order, were reported ra ther frequently.

a ) U n u s ~ a l Showers

Unnatural showers were noticed a t several

times and seam to have evidenced heaven's displeasure

40



a t the in ternal rel igious sta te of Rome, usually fol -

lowing a wave of prosper i ty: In the very ear ly days

of Rom0'S existence, af te r king Tullus had defeated

the Sabines in bat t le and while the Romans were in

comparative contentment and peace. a surpr is ing rain

of stones was r ~ c o r d e d as having taken place on the

Alban Mount. When Roman envoys reported th is a t home,

a nine-day celebration was held and established as

a regular custom af te r such a prodigy (Liv: I .xxxi .1-5) :

Devictis Sabinis cum in magnagloria magnisque opibus regnumTull i ac to ta res Romana esset .nuntiatum regi patribusque estin monte Albano lapidibus pluvisse.Quod cum credi vix posset , missisad id visendum prodigium, in con

spectu haud a l i t e r quam cum grandinem vent i glomeratam in terras

agunt, crebri cecidere caelo lapides .

In ful f i l lment of a vow made in combat agains t

the Aurunci and Latins in 345 B . C., a temple was de-

dicated to Moneta. But the dedication was followed

by a shower of stones showing divine displeasure, and

a dicta tor was a ~ p p o i n t e d to establ ish def ini te days

of worship ( L i v ~ V I I . x x v i i i . 6 ~ 7 ) :

Anno postquam vota erat a e ~ e sMonetae dedicatur C. Marcio

41



Rutulo tert ium Tito ManlioTorquato iterum consul ibus.Prodigium extemplo dedicationem secutum, simile vetusto

m ~ n t i s Albani prodigio; namquee t lapidibus plu i t e t nox in te r -diu viaa in tendi ; l ibr isque in -spect is cum plena rel igione c i-vita a esse t __ . . . . . • ( 1) ..

Just what the c ~ u s e of the divine displeasure

was is not mentioned; but here again we have a re-

f lect ion of the pract ice of the Roman patr ic ians of

t ~ r n i n g a prodigy to use as a means of confirming

the i r disparagement of the plebeians - in th i s case the

consul G. Marcius Rutu1us. At any rate , Livy records

tha t they appOinted a dic ta tor for the re l ig ious emer-

gency (Liv: ibid .) :

Senatui p1acuit dictatorem f e r i -arum c o n s t i t u e n d ~ r u m causa d ic i .

And a f t e r supplic8tion was made there was an in terreg-

numwhich terminated in a complete patriCian consul-

ship - - the l a t t e r probably not by accident (Liv:VII.

xxvii i .9, lO):-

(1 )

The usual meaning given to "rel igione" here

i s the e x t e n s i o n ~ "foreboding of divine displeasure ."

42



Et res haud ulla ins igni ad me-moriam Causa ad interregnum redi t ;ex interregno, ut id actum vider iposset , ambo pa t r i c i i consulescreat i sunt.-

In the year 295 B.C. success in war with the

Samnites was accompanied by a shower of earth, among

other vexatious prodigies ( L i v ~ X . x x x i . 8 - l 0 ) :

Felix annus bel l ic i s rebus, pest i -

len t ia gravis prodigiisque so l l i -ci tus;- nam e t terra mul t ifariampluvisse • . . . . . •nuntiatum es t .

The "terre multifariam pluvisse" sounds l ike a re-

ference to a mere dust storm, which of course could

be loa.ked on as prodigious i f i t were of any length

or importance._

In 461 B.C .. during the great disturbance over

the Terent i l ian Law, a strange shower of flesh was

reported to have been se3n and seems l ike the others

to have been interpreted as a warning of re l igious

c ~ r e l e s s n e s s , for the duumvirs immediately consulted

the books for sacred r i t es (Liv:-III .x.6) :

Inter a l ia prodigia et carne plu i t ,quem imbrem ingens numerus aviumintervoli tando repuisse fer tur ; quodin terc idi t , sparsum i ta jacuisse peraliquot dies , ut nih i l odor mutaret .

43



Fires ; Light and Darkness

Unusual f i res or displays of l ight or darkness

were always loQked on as portending something, usually

ev i l . In a class by i t se l f is the strange unconsuming

flame reported in the case of Servius Tullius as a

proof that he was divinely fated to rule (Liv:I .xxxix . l ,2) :

Eo tempore in regia prodigium visueventuque mirabile fu i t . Puerodormienti, cui Servio Tullio fu i t

nomen, caput ars is se terunt mul-torum in conspectu. PLurimo ig i tu r clamore inde ad tantae re i miraculumorto excitos reges, e t cum quidamfamiliarum aquam ad restinguendamfe r re t , a t regina retentum, sedato-que earn tumultu moveri vetuissepuerum donec sua sponte experrectusesse t . Max cum samno e t flamrnamabisse .

Another example of this sor t is the case of Lavinia,

reported in Vergil , Aen. v i i .

In times of disaster one of the usual pheno-

mena was that of apparent f i re in the sky. This was

reported twice in the troublous times around 460 B.C.

once, in 460, af te r the army under postumius had

returned to Rome, the sky was reported as apparently

on f i re . Again in 459 B.C., when agi ta t ion about the

Terent i l ian Law was a t a height , i t was noted that

the sky was on f i re , as well as other wonders ( L i v ~III .v .14):-

44



ut Romam reditum es t , just i t iumremissum. Caelum visum est ardereplurimo igni , portentaque al ia autobversata oculis aut venas ex te r r i t i sostentavere species . His avertendis

terroribus in triduum fer iae indictae,per quas omnia delubra pacem deumexposcentium virorum mulierumque turbaimplebantur. (1) .

In tha t same year the sky again was reported

to be on f i re ( L i v ~ I I I . x . 6 ) ~

Eo anno caelum ardere visum.

These l ights may have bean nothing more than

what we know as the Aurora Borealis . The Aurora i s

recorded as a disastrous sign among most primitive

peoples (Y.XVII:-3671'.. Pliny {pl.in:HN . I I .27} holds the

same view, even though he a t t r ibutes i t to a natural

cause.

Here again, a lso , does the prodigy seem strangely

coincidental with patr ic ian unrest . After the prodigy

the duumvirs announced that as a remedy the Romansshould refra in from fact ional s t r i f e .

(1) '

The fes t ivals here mentioned seem to be ananachronism of the his tor ian . Such fes t iva ls of supplication appear to have been of Greek origin as the ' l ec-t i s te rn ia ' and of

someWhatl a te r date in Rome than 460 B.C.

(XIV:-art. SUPPLICATIO).

45



In 345 B.C. a t the dedication of the temple

of Moneta an unusual curtain of darkness was repor-

ted and thought to forebode divine displeasure (Liv:

VI I :-xxv i i i ..6, 7 ) :-

Prodigium extemplo dedicationemsecutum • • • • . . . . . . • •e t nox interdiuvisa in tendi .

4..

Psychical and Physiological Phenomena

a) Extraordinary Creatures

Outstanding physiological and psychical pheno-

mena were also loo!<ed upon as portentous. Animals

often, from the conditions of the i r bir th or from

ather circumstances, were thought to show the hand of

the gods. At the time of the reign of Servius Tull ius

there was reported the presence of one heifer on the

farm of a cer ta in Sabine farmer, which was of extraor-

dinary s ize and beauty. This was def ini te ly re -

garded as a prodigy according to Livy (Liv:-I .xlv.4-6):

Bos in Sab1.nis nata cuidam pat r ifamiliae dic i tur miranda magnitudine ac specie; f ixa per multasaetates cornua in vest ibula templiDianae monumentum e i fuere miraculo.Habita, ut era t , res prodigi i locoes t .

45



Again in the days or Tarquinius Superbus"

when that ru ler was dedicating a temple to Jupi te r

on the Capitoline, a human head was said to have been

found by the excavators of the temple ( L i v ~ I . l v . 6 ) :

• . • . . . . . . • secutum aliud magnitudinemimperii portendens prodigium es t ;caput humanum integra facie aperient ibus fundament a templi dic i tur aparui s se . Quae visa species haud per am-bages arcem eam imperi i c a p ~ t q u ererum fore p o r t e n d e b a t ~ idque i tacecinere vates ..

b) Dreams and Apparitions

Dreams and appar i t ions , of course. from the i r

very nature were looked upon as supernatural . Dreams

seem to have bean an accepted medium through which the

gods would recalL men from some violat ion or defec-

t ion of worship. In the days of Coriolanus a certain

plebeian, as related a t length by Livy(Liv:II .xxxvi.2-8) ,

was ad'lressed by Jupi te r himself in a dream. The

god said tha t the leading dancer a t the games had not

been to his l i k ing . When the man f9i led to report

th is through fear , the divine wrath was borne out

by severe punishment. His son was taken, and he himself

47



la id low with i l lness ;

Haud i ta multo post Tito Latinio ,de plebe homini, somnium fu i t ;visus Juppiter dicere s ib i ludispraasultatorem displ icuisse; nis imagnifice instaurar::-ntur ei L..l.di,perlculum urbi fore; i r e t , ea consulibus nunt iaret . Quamquam haudsane l iber erat rel igione animus,verecundia tamen majestat is magistratuum timorque vic i t , ne in orahominum pro ludibrio abi re t . Magnoi l l l ea cunctat io s t e t i t ; fi l iumnamque in t ra paucos dies amis i t .

Cujus repentinae cladis ne causedubia esse t , aegro animi eadem i l l ain somnis observata species visaes t rogi tare , sa t in magnam spre t inuminis haberet m e r c e ~ e m ; majoremins tare , ni eat propere ac nunt ie tconsulibus; jam praesent lor res eratoCunctantem tamen ec prolatentem lngensvis morbi adorta es t debi l i t a te subi ta .Tunc enimvero deorum i ra admonuit.

Fessus ig i tur molis praeter i t i s in s t a n t i b u s q ~ e consil io propinquorumadhlbito cum visa atque audita e tobservatum to t iens somno Jovem, minas

i r a s q ~ e caelestes repraeseniatas cas i bus suis exposuisset consenau indeh9.ud dubio omnium qu,i aderant inforum ad cDnsules l ec t ica defere tur .Inde in curiam jussu consulum delatuseadem i l la cum patr ibus ingenti omnium

admiratione enarrasset , ecce aliudm i r ~ c u l u m . Qui captus omnlbus membriadelatua in curiam esset , eum functumoff ic io pedibus suis domum redisae t r a ditum memoriae es t .

Again in 339 B.C., in an important bat t le with

the Latins , the same appari t ion appeared to both consuls

while asleep in camp - - a superhuman f igure, who told



them tha t victory would ensue for that general 's

nation who would offer himself and a legion of the

enemy in bat t le as a sacr i f ice to the Dii Manes (Liv:

VII I .v i .9 - l l ) :

Ib l in quiete utrique consuli eademdic i tu r visa species v i r i maJorisquam pro humano habitu august ior is

que. dicent is ex una aCie impera-torem, ex a l t e ~ a exercitum DeisManibus Matrique Terrae deberi .

utr ius exerci tus imperator legioneshostlum superque eas se devovisset .eJus populi part isque victoriam fore .

d) Voices

Probably the most direct form of prodigy of a l l ,

because most speoi f ic . was tha t of supernatural voices.

They often were reported in connection with some cr i -

t i c a l event. When the newly formed Roman Republic was

warring on the Tarquins and the i r fol10wing from vei l ,

and both armies were deadlocked, a voice. presumably

that of Silvanus, was reported to be heard from the

Arislf'.ln forest . . The tex t of the message was tha t the

Romans had los t one man less than the Etruscans and so

must be given the decision ( L i v : I I . v i i . 2 , 3 ) ~

49



Adiciunt miracQla huic p u g n a e ~s i lent io proximae noctis exs i lva Arsis ingentem editam vocemjSilvani vocem earn creditam; haecdic ta : uno plus Tuscorum cedidisse

in acie ; vincere bello Romanum. I tacerte inde abiere Romani ut victores .Etrusci pro v ic t i s .

At another time, in 391 B . C . ~ j us t pr ior to

the great sack of Rome by the Gauls, a plebeian named

Marcus Caedicius declared that he had heard a voice

in the Nova Via bidding him t e l l the magistrates

that the '}auls were coming.. Unfortunately the

portent was neglected (Liv:V • xxxii ...6,.7):

Eodem anno Marcus Caedicius deplebe nQntisvit t r ibunis se in

Nova Via, ubi nQnc aacellum es tsupra aedem Vestae, vocem noct iss i ~ e n t i o audisse clariorem humana,quae magistrat ibus dic i juberetGallos adventare. Id, ut f i t • • . .• . . . • spretum .

What happened is now his tory .

In 377 B.C ., during a campaign of the Romans

against the Lat ins , the temple of Mater Matuta was

the sole building of Satricium that was not razed

and that because an awesome voice repulsed the un-

50



scrupulous soldiery, threatening te r r ib le r e t r i b ~ -t ion i f the temple were f i red ( L i v : V I . x x x i i i . 4 ~ 5 ) :

nec al iud tectum (Satricum) ejus

superfui t urbis , cum faces par i tersacr is profanisque in icerent , quamMatris Matutae templum; inde eosnec sua re l igio nec verecundia deumarcuisse dici tur sed vox horrendaadi ta templo cum t r i s t ibus minis,ni nefandos ignes procul delubrisamovissent.

AccompanyinR the ra in of stones on the Alban

Mount, reported from very ear ly t imes. there was

presented to the Roman envoys the sound of a mighty

voice issuing from the mountain grove warning the

Albans to celebrate sacr i f ices forsaken through

neglect or in preference for the worship of another

nation (Romans) (Liv:I .xxxi.2-·6):

• . . . . . _missis ad id visendum pro-digium • . • . . • . . • • Visi etiam audirevocem ingentem ex summi cpcuminisluco, ut patrio r i tu sacra Albanifacerent , quae velut dis quoque

simul cum patr ia re l ic t i s oblivionidederant, e t aut Romana sacra susceperantaut fortunae, ut f i t obirat i cultumrel iquerant deum. Romanis quoqueab eodem prodigio novendiale sacrumpublice suspeptum e s t ~ seu voce cael e s t i ex Albano monte missa - - nam idquoque t r ad i tu r .

51



Here again i s reference made to the sUEplicatio,

and again does Livy's chronology seem to be awry. He

is apparently "writing i t into" the pract ices of the

Romans of very ear ly days (c f . F ..45) •

5 . Accidental Occurrences

Accidental occurrences were often looked on

as ominous. This was sometimes due to the fact tha t

they agreed substant ia l ly with some notion already

in the minds of the Roman people.

In 390 B.C., af te r the destruct ion of Rome

by the Gauls,many Romans wanted to change the s i te

of the i r capi tol and suggested moving to Vei i . The

senators , seeing the implications of such a move

and being desirous of s tar t ing a l l ove r again a t

Rome, seized on an accident to confirm the i r sug-

gest ion. They said i t was a meaningful omen when

close by the curia a centurion cried out to his

standard bearers to f ix the i r ensigns and prepare

to pitch camp ( L i v ~ V . l v . l t 2 ) : -

• . . . . . • • centur ia in comitio exc l a m a v i t ~ "Signifer , statue signum;hic manebimus optime." Qua voce

52



audita e t senatus accipe se omenex curia egressus conclamavit e t

plebs circumfusa adprobavit .

The Romans chose to recognize i t as a divine

warning of the f a l l of Rome and of the fa l l 01' Ca-

millus himself when tha t leader , some years before

the Gall ic invasion, stumbled and f e l l on his way from

prayer (Liv:V.xxi.16}:

Convertentem se in ter hanc venerationem t rad i tur memoriae prolapsumcecidisse; idque omen pert inuissepostea eventu rem conjectantibusvisum ad damnationem ipsus C a m i l l l ~captae deinde utbis Romanae, quodpost patAcos acci-di t annos cladem.

The portentous character of some accidents

was heightened by the unusual character of the acci-

dents themselves: That the Titer should back up

and flood the circus a t the very time when gam.es

were being held there to appease the gods and to

secure removal of a c u r ~ e n t pest i lence (363 B.C.)

was taken as a reject ion by the gods of the appeal

(Liv :VII . i i i . I ,2 ) :

nec tamen ludorum primum initiumprocurandis rel igionibus datum aut

53



rel igione animos aut corpora morbisl ~ v a v i t ; quin etiam, cum medios for teludos circus Tiberi superfuso i n r i gatus i m p e d i s s e t ~ id vero, velut aver-s is jam dis aspernantibusque placamina

i rae , t e r r o ~ e m ingentem f ec i t .

The strange circumstance of the n a t u r ~ l deaths

of the ent i re Pot i t i i family - - twelve branches of th i r ty

individuals with the i r offspring af te r they had

entrusted the i r heredi tary r i t e s to public servants

was taken as a warning to men not to viola te the esta

blished routine of re l ig ion. The l a te r blindness of

Appius Claudius, advocate of t he i r Sinful act ion, was

also not without meaning (Liv:IX .xxix .9- l l ) :

Eodem Appio auctore Pot i t ia gens,cUJus ad aram maximam Herculisfamil iare sacerdotium fuera t , servospublicos minis ter i i delegandi causasollemnia ejus sacr i docuerat.. Tra-di tur inde, dictu mirabile et quoddimovendis s t3tu suo sacr is religionemfacere posset cum duodecim familiaeea tempestate ~ o t i t i o r u m essent ,puteres ad t r ig in ta , omnes in t ra annumcum

s t i rpe exst inc tos; nee nomen tantumPotit iorum in ter isse sed censorem etiammemori deum i ra post al iquot annos lu minibus captum.

As natura l as the f a l l of Annius appeared when

he was leaving the Roman temple flushed and nervous

54



CHAPTER IV.

INFLUENCE OF GREEK AND ETRUSCANDIVINATION ON ROMAN SYSTE!l

There is undoubtedly in Roman divinat ion much

tha t is dis t inc t ly original to the Roman c ~ l t u r e ;there is also much that shows the influence of other

classical cul tures , especiall.y ancient Etruria and

Greece.

Fi r s t of a l l , i t is a t rue but s t r ik ing fact

that the anCient people of Rome were not inclined

to employ divinat ion to fore te l l future events .

Augury was performed to obtain the sanction of the

gods to r some intended undertaking, and to ~ r e c o g n i z ethe warnings proceeding from the gods. 1t ( X I ~ 8 2 2 ) .

here was a true I ta l ic method of forete l l ing the

uture -v iz . , by what was known as sor tes or lots -

"small rods or plates bearing inscript ions and strung

t o ~ e t h e r (serere) · (XI:82l ) . Cicero ( C i c ~ D e D i v ~ I I . 8 5 )describes the method used in divining from sor t e s .

from lo ts of one kind or another was preva-

ent a l l ove r I ta ly and from ear l i es t days even down

to the Empire. OffiCially, however, the pract ice of

56





Qr elsewhere was not Roman but dis t inct ly Greek ( X I I I ~128-131). One may, of course, find scat tered refer

ences in Latin l i t e ra tu re tha t wOuld seem to point to

the existence of such pract ices on Raman so i l (XI:82l , ( l ) .

But often these l ines of inscript ion are misunderstood.

They apparently do not signify rea l Roman pract ice but

\ .a pract ice brought to Rome and connected with the wor-

ship of a l ien dei t ies -e .g . J Asklepios, ISiS, Mithra.

We cannot suppose, however, that the Romans

were any less natural than other people in that they

recognized dreams and even saw some signif icance in

them. That the ancient Romans thought that occasionally

they could even be the media of communication between

gods and man we could assume. Livy records two cases

of the divine wil l manifest through dreams. In one

instance the his tor ian goes into a lengthy descr ip-

t ion of how Jupi te r made manifest his disapproval

of some deta i l of procedure a t the public games through

a dream to one Titus Latinius ~ l v : I r . x x x v i . 4 - 8 ) .And again two consuls in the f ie ld werB said to have

( lJ V e r g . ~ A e n . V I I . 8 1 f f .Ovid :-Fasti IV.649 f f .

P l a u t . ~ u r c u l . 266

58



received in sleep the sama appari t ion te l l ing the

conditions of victory in the war with the Latins

(Li v ::VIII v i J ..

S t i l l th is is not to admit that the dream or

dream oracle was considered a serious par t of the

formal re l igious pract ice of the ancient Romans as

i t was with the Greeks.

Likewise the ~ n o m i c oracle as a means of fore-

te l l ing the future was not found among the pract ices

of the ancient Romans. AS ~ . W . Fowler s ta tes ( X ~ 2 9 7 ) ~

There a re . indeed. ancient t racesof a prophetic a ~ t a t Rome, but asthe his tor ian of divinat ion (Cicero]has well o b s e ~ v e d , they are a l l connected not with hUr.lan beings but with

div in i t ies .

In proof of this Fowler refers to the ancient deity

Carmenta who "may very probably represent some dim

t radi t ion of a numen a t whose shrine women might gain

some knowledge as to the i r fortunes in chi ldbir th ,

jus t as outside Rome, a t Fraeneste and Antium, For-

tuna seems to have had t h i ~ ~ i f t in his tor ica l t imes."

(X:197). Livy himself refers to the divini ty of Car-

menta in s p e ~ k i n g of the rel igious character of Numa

59



(Li v :-1 •v ii .8) :-

• . • • . • • • e n e r a ~ i l i s v ir miraculo lit-

terarum re i novae in te r rudes a r -

tiumh o m i n e s ~

venerabil ior div in i -ta te credi ta Carmentae matris t .

quam fatiloquam ante Sibyl lae inItal iam adventum miratae eae gentesfuerant .

Actually what was construed as an oracle among

the ancient Romans was not a t a l l the oracle of the

Gres.cs. I t was not a prophecy coming from some "frant ic"

or inspired human being about the occurrence and out-

come of future events, as we find recorded of the

Etruscans (Liv:-V.xv.lO):-

Itaque quae tum cec iner i t divinbspi r i tu ins t inctus (vates" ea senec ut indicta s in t revocare.

Concerning "possession" as ~ h e source of oracles,

Fowler (X:-3l0.n.12) s ta tes : ttIn the so called I ta l ian

oracles there is no question of i t . t t The Romans had

no oracle fixed a t some popular shr ine , or the center

of any def ini te r i t ua l . The chief feature of Greek

divinat ion was the marked importance of def ini te ly

establ ished oracular shrines, especial ly of Zeus a t

60



D o d o n a ~ and of Apollo a t Delphi. Roman oracles may

be classed under the single and very general term

of "Voices" or "sounds" of nature, which, of course,

were sUbject to in terpre ta t ion , as being the direct

voice of some god. Thus Livy ( L i v ~ I . x x x i . 3 ) t e l l s

t ha t when, af te r prosperity and peace had returned

to Rome with the defeat of the Sabines, envoys were

sent to inquire into a ra in of stones on the Alban

M o u n t ~ a voice was heard coming from the M o u n t ~

Visi etiam audire vocem ingentemex summi cacuminis luco, u t patr ior i tu sacra Albani facerent , quaevelut dis quoque simul cum patr ier e l i c t i s oblivioni dederant, •••• _

Here we may notice tha t reference to any future

events is not found, but merely the disapproval of

the gods aver some neglect . And the "voice- is not

that of any " te l le r of oracles . It

Again during the war between Rome and Veii , the

god Silvanus (presumably] voiced his decision from

the forest ( L i v ~ I r . v i i . 3 ) . Here, too, what passes

as a goad example of the Raman aracle is fa r d i f fe r -

ent from the human learned aracle of the Greeks.

The case is the same in other examples tha t Livy

61



gives us: The oracle issues from some dei ty who

in the case is not bothered with divining the f u t u r o ~The Latina were kept from razing the temple of Mater

Matuta by the warning of an awe-inspiring voice (Liv:

xxxi i i .5J . Jus t before the sack of Rome by the Gauls

a cert8in Marcus Caedicius said he had heard a voice

-more than human" bidding him t e l l the magistrates

that the Gauls were coming (Liv-;V.xxxii .6-8).

As close as we come to references of any human

or3cles among the Romans 1s in the case of the Car-~ Marciana. These '.'Vere cer ta in verses of pro-

phetic nature at t r ibuted to one Cneius Marcius (cf .

Liv :-"!:'{V .x l i ) . They were even brought into of f ic ia l

recognit ion in 212 B.C. (: '<I:82l). However, a close

checku:) proved them to be simply sentences from the

Greek S ~ b y l l i n e records in Lat in. and the i r existence

does not establ ish Marcius as a prophet .

As fo r the Sibyll ine oracles themselves, we

should note tha t they were introduced early into

Rome and had the i r interpre ters in the persons of

the ~ e c e m v i r J l sacr is faciundis . These were or i -

/

ginally not or9.cles but sentences (X.{Bdffol ) spe-

cifyihC; sacr i f i ces , supr:licat ions , and such, by

62



which danger and divine wrath could be averted ( X I ~ 8 2 6 ) .The Roman syatem of divinat ion was, then,

essent ia l ly different from that of the Greaks. The

Romans sought in the i r ~ r a c t i c e some s ign of the

approval or disapproval of the deity on some under-

taking. The Greeks through divination wanted zea10usly

to learn the fu ture . They were imbued with " • . • . . the

craze for knowledge of the fu ture ." The Romans learned

what they sought primarily in things around them; the

G r e a ~ s learned the future direct ly by the voice of

the gods speaking through the prophetess inspired or

possessed in a dream,

Yet in the observance of promiscuous phenomena

of nature the f ield of portents and prodigies __ ,

a much less sY3tematized and of f i c i a l par t of the di-

vinatory ar t , s imi la r i t i es between the two cultures

are very understandable. People of whatever nat ion

or age wi l lu s u ~ l l y

take cognizance of such happenings

and at tach to them an ominous meaning. Often the

aspect of the phenomenon i t se l f needs no explanat ion.

For example, earthquakes and f loads are seen as harm-

fu l omens by everyone.

63



But beyond th is a cer ta in diffusion of bel ief

between different c ~ l t u r e s can sometimes be noted.

Resemblances are often toa close to be purely arb i -

t r a ry . In one case, a t leas t , does the bel ie f of the

ancient R o m ~ n s in th is matter of prodigies resemble

the doctrine of the Greek philosopher Empedocles,

who believed that dif feren t parts of animals had

separate origins (X"'{VII:365). Arms, heads, eyes, e tc .

sprang u? apar t from bodies; heads of one species

sprang up supported by the trunk of another species,

e tc . Among the Romans the occurrence of prodigious

bir ths was strange and fu l l of foreboding.. Livy

(Liv:XXVII.xxxvii; XXXI.xii) t e l l s of several such

b i r t h s ~ a lamb with a pig 's head; a pig with a human

head; a horse with five f ee t . Elsewhere in Roman

l i t e ra ture ara recorded beings quite as strange

(cf : L u c r e t ~ V . 8 3 7 ; Plin:HN.VII . i i ; VII . i i i ) .

The Roman s ta te system of augury did not easi ly

survive the influence of the E t r ~ s c a n s as i t did that

of the Greeks. To any student of the history of Rome

the interweb of the fortunes of these two nations

is obvious and important. Several of the kings of

64



65

early Rome were Etru.scans -N iz • , the Tarquine." And i t

was r ight 'back in the very early days of Etruscan

kingship and domination that the influence of the

Etruscans on Roman ral igious l i fe began. The Etrus-

cans seem always to have been masters of re l igion

and divinat ion. Religious practice and r i tua l

formed a great par t of the i r cul ture . ( l ) ~ With them

rel igion was an important p r o f e s s i o n ~ The early

period of Etruscan superiori ty a t Rome ( X ~ 2 3 7 , 2 3 9 , 2 4 5 , 2 5 8 )would, of course, explain the poss ibi l i ty of the

inroad of rel igious bel ief and practice ( V I I : 3 7 9 ) ~for the years covered by Livy's f i r s t decade. Dur

ing the Hannibalic Wars also we know that there was

another great inf lux of Etruscan customs. As the

years went by the discipl ina a_uguralis a t Rome was

superseded to a great extent by the Etruscan ar t ,

and also as a resu l t became finalLy corrupt and

meaningless and a tool of unscrupulous s ta te leaders

( X ~ 3 0 7 J 3 4 6 ~ 3 4 7 , . 3 9 l ) . The augural college became

a par t of pol i t i ca l l i f e ~ The augurs were public

men and they secularized the i r power of interpre

t a t ion . "They could declare a magistrate ' v i t io

creatus ' whether they had been present a t the taking

(l)"Accepisse id au.gurium laete dic i tur Tanaquil , per i ta ,ut vulgo Etrusci,caelestium prodigiorum mulier"(L:I .xxxiv) .



Thus the pract ice of divining from l ightning

was E t r ~ s c a n in orig in . This was the method used

when, as Livy (Liv : I .xvi i i .6 ) d e s c r i b e s ~ the augur

toak Numa up on a stony promontory to seek a sign

approving that monarch's sovereignty. In th is passage

l ightning is not specif ical ly mentioned as the sign

sought for , but the very technical descr ipt ion of the

division of the heavens wOuld hardly seem necessary

for any observation of the f l ight and song of birds

(X:::303 ~ n . ) .

~ s p i c i u m , . or observance of entra i1s, was also

original ly and essent ia l ly an Etruscan procedure, (1)

although early used as supplementary to divinatory

r i t e s among early I t a l i c peoples (Liv:XXII.xviJ. The

his tor ian also records that during the war with Veii

in 480 E ..C., recourse was had to the oBservation of

en t ra i l s (L iv : I I .x l i i .18) t

nunc ext is nunc per aves consul t i .

The influence and importance of the haruspex grew

apace a t Rome and in the l a t e r Republic the h a r u s p i c a t i ~

(1)I t is a fact tha t observance of the ent ra i l s of

a sac r i f i c i a l victim was resorted tc in or igina l Romanpractice tc sea i f the animal was sui table . And alsoi f the animal were found unsuitable i t consti tuted a

signum oblativum (Liv :x l i .15) . Such extispicium.neverassumed 1n original Roman divinatory a r t the importancetha t i t did among the Etruscans and la te r a t Rome throughthe i r influence ( X X V I I I ~ 8 2 4 , 8 2 5 ) .



was taken before a l l important events to give a

knowledge -of ten in detai l - of the i r outcome (Liv:

XXVII.xv),.

And also the influence of the Etruscan diviners

made i t se l f fe l t in the matter of portents and pro-

digies. . The Etruscan treatment of such phenomena far

overlapped the Roman pract ice . Here again the habit

of reading theo u t c o ~ e

of future events from theseprodigies was contrary to the orig inal Roman view,

which has already been described merely as a sign

that a l l was not well between heaven and ear th . Livy

(Liv;XLII.xx.l) records a case wherein the harusEex,

from observation of a prodigium of l ightning,does

not stop a t an in terpreta t ion that t e l l s merely the

consent of the dei ty for an action but precisely

describes the aspect of future events .

But the f ine and ingenious point to which the

struscans had reduced the a r t of divinat ion was not

respected by the Roman mind. Although in the .days

of the l a te r Republic h a r u s p i c a ~ ~ was taken before

a l l important undertakings" i t was pret ty much of

a mere formali ty. There seemed to be no rea l rel igious

68



sp i r i t in it. I t had refined the or ig ina l JUS d i-

vinum to a l ega l formula, thereby ki l l ing the rea l

sentiment.The

harus£ices were never admitted off i

c ia l ly to the Roman ~ o l l e g l u ~ ausurale, probably

more because of th i s overformalizatian of divin9tory

r i tua l than from any general disdain based on the i r

foreign or ig in . For any par t icular occasion, i f the

harusEex were wanting, theRomans

hired one from

Etrur ia , where a def ini te t ra ining schoal was estab-

l ished to supply men learned in divinatory l o re .

Livy records an example of th is (Liv:V.xv.l,2):-

• .• e t quia host i lus Et ruscis .per quos ea procurarent, haruspices non erant .

And again,

• • • • . . idque i t a cecinere Yates, quiquein urbe erant quos que ad eam rem consultandam ex Etrur ia acciverant .

Such recourse to foreign methods of divinat ion

was not an uncommon thlng for the Romans, but i t was

more an expression of supers t i t ion than one of or i -

ginal re l igious fee l ing . This was the case during

59





CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

Such, in out l ine , is the system of divi

nation practiced off ic ia l ly and publicly among the

ancient Somans. That i t was a highly formalized

system, and original ly a t l eas t an expression of

the j J S divinum or t rue re l ig ious sp i r i t of the

Roman people we can hardly doubt. Only as such is

a study of i t worth while.

Several pOints a r ~ outstanding in th i s system

as dis t inc t ly Roman:- In recapi tu la t ion of the examples

presented, we can note J as already referred to , tha t

there was l i t t l e freedom evidenced in the taking of

auspices. One f inds l i t t l e reference from the days

of the kings and the early Republic to any wandering

prophets and soothsayers. Public divinat ion was under

s ta te rule and survei l lance. There was always a de-

f in i te mode of procedure. This adherence to exact-

ness in divinatory r i t e came, we may suppose, as a

resul t of the underlying Roman bel ief about man's

re la t ion with the gods -v iz . , tha t of cont rac t . Man's

71





"Is not a l l divination inquiring into the future in

one way or another7" • . . . • Apparently not with the

ancient Romans, a t leas to r i g i n a l ~ y .

In the i r augury

they sought merely the sanction of the deity for some

aotion a t hand. Their duty was always to be in har

mony with the gods. I f they obtained evidence of

such approval they rested content , not worried about

things in the off ing. I t is a fact that what is

recorded as the only or iginal I ta l i c method of fore

t e l l ing the future -Viz . , the s o r t e s ~ was lOoked on

with disrespect by the heads of the Roman s ta te re

l ig ion (c f . ~ . 5 7 ) .In times of cr i s i s , of course, people wil l do

things to console the i r sp i r i t s , wil l s e i ~ e on any,

device to sa t i s fy thei r bewilderment and t repidat ion.

The Romans on several occasions had recourse to the

Greek oracle a t Delphi, as noted above (c f . Liv:V.xv;

I . l v i ' ~ and to the prognosticat ion of Etruscan sooth

sayers . In such cases the sVi t i t of supers t i t ion

apparently overcame the i r s tol id Roman dignity and

t rad i t iona l feel ing in this matter. And outside the

pale of formal.iaad s ta te re l igion i t is probable tha t

the common people had fu l l recourse to the practices



of other nations a t a l l t imes, especial ly during the

days of the l a te r Republic and Empire, when prac t i -

t ioners of various eastern cul ts found the i r way to

R o m e ~ Cato the Elder apparently f e l t i t necessary

to inser t in his work De Agri Cultura, V.iv:-

haruspicem augurem hariolum Chaldaeumne quem consulisse velit- .

AndCicero in his

~ D i v i ~ a t i o n e ,I.cxxxii:-

Nunc i l l a tes tabor , non me sor t i legosneque eos, qui quaestus causa hariolentur ,ne psychomantia quidem, quibus APf,ius,amicus tuus, u ti solebat , agnoscere:

'Non habao denique nauci Marsum augurern;non vicanos haruspices, non de circo ast ro logos;non Is iacos conjectores , non in terpretessamni urn; ,

non enim sunt ei aut scient ia aut ar te d iv in i .

Even Ennius had his to say on th i s matter, and is

quoted by Cicero (Cic:DeDiv.I .cxxxi i ) :

~ s e d sJpers t i t ios i vates impudentesquehar iol iaut iner tes aut insani aut quibus egestasimperat,qui s ib i semitam non sapiunt , a l t e r i mon-s t rant viatTI;quiuus divi t ias pol l icentur , ab i i s drachmamips i petunt .de his d iv i t i i s s ib i deducant drachmam reddantcetera . tt

74



In the days of empire, i f we may believe Pliny,

people had recourse to soothsayers in time of sickness

( F l i n ~ E p . I I . x x . 2 f f ) . From Juvenal we learn that

soothsayers were consulted about the poss ibi l i t ies of

marria, e (Juv:Sat .VI.588).

The most prominent ones practiced in such a r t

were the Chaldaei and mathematici, the l a t t e r referred

to by Tacitus ( T a c ~ H i s t . I . x x i i ) ~

genus hominum potentibus infidum,sperant i tus fa l lax , quod in c ivi ta tenostra e t vetqbi tur semper e t re t ine-bi tur .

And such pract ices even penetrated to the

home c i rc les of the emperors, where seamingly every

new doctr ine, every type of supers t i t ious totem or

charm Was cul t ivated (cf . XXVI).

More pert inent to our work, Livy records examples

of the great discipl ina Etrusca. From his historyci ta t ions have been made to prove that the Romans

off ic ia l ly e m p l ~ ) y e d E t ~ u s c a n soothsayers and diviners .

He shows the growing use of the pract ice of observing

ent ra i l s , of forete l l ing a detai led future from a

mereprodigy - - both dis t inc t ive features of the dis-

cipl ina Etrusca. His work i l lus t ra tes in a general

75



way the complete h i s to ry of divina t ion among the

Romans, and the s p i r i t t h a t prompted i t s p r ~ c t i c e

from a s p i r i t of r ~ l i g i o u s f ea r and obl iga t ion as

shown Gspecia l ly in th e awesomeness of the inc iden t

of A t t ~ s Naevius cleaving the Whetstone fo r a proud

and scep t i ca l king ( L i v ~ I . x x x v i . 4 ) , to the ca re les s -

ness of the chicken-keeper (L iv :X.x l ) which showed

the disdain of l a t e r ~ e n e r a t i Q n s fo r the augura l a r t .

* *

76



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Documents

An Outline of Roman Divination as Illustrated in the First Decade of Livy´s History