Have you ever wondered how the people in ancient times make decisions and assume future events without watching the news, checking the weather forecast, or reading political or economic comments in the newspapers? Well, the ancient Romans had a quite interesting way of doing it, and not at all amusing as it may sound to us nowadays. It was a rather serious and well-thought endeavour with a series of rules. Let’s dive into all the kinds of divinations that they used and the way they all worked!
One of the most important categories of divination was auspicium, which involved observing birds to interpret the will of the gods. Another category of divination was ex caelo, which was performed by the decemviri or quindecemviri. These priests were responsible for maintaining the Sibylline Books, which contained prophecies, and for interpreting ill omens, such as abnormal weather phenomena, birth of alien creatures, and anything against the law of nature. The third category of divination was haruspicium, which was performed by the haruspex, who interpreted the entrails of animals to determine the will of the gods.
Auspicium
Auspicium (the Auspices) was a form of divination that involved observing the flight of birds and interpreting their movements and behavior. This was the duty of the augur, who was responsible for performing augury on everything from the security of vineyards to the commencement of wars. According to Cicero, the augur had to ensure that the gods' wrath was contained, thunders were pacified, and certain regions were kept free of objects and hindrances. The augur was also responsible for interpreting the meaning of the bird's flight, as well as the behavior of the bird, such as its chirping and wing movements.
The Auspices played a crucial role in the opening of the Senate conference, the enactment of assembly elections and laws, the entry of the general or head over the sacred borderline (pomerium) into the city, and the waging of a war. In each of these instances, the augur would observe the birds and interpret their movements to determine the will of the gods. If the birds' flight was deemed to be favorable, the act could proceed. However, if the birds' flight was deemed to be unfavorable, the act had to be postponed or canceled.
Ex Caelo
Ex caelo was a form of divination that involved interpreting the signs sent by the gods from the sky. This was the duty of the decemviri or (later) quindecemviri, who were responsible for maintaining the Sibylline Books, which contained prophecies, and interpreting ill omens. Ill omens were considered to be anything that the Romans held could be unnatural, such as abnormal weather phenomena, the birth of alien creatures, etc. However, even though quindecemviri interpreted these signs, it was up to the Senate to decide whether such phenomena were really unnatural.
The (quin)decemviri also had the responsibility of introducing new deities, if a god causing a certain phenomenon did not match any local deities. However, the supervision of the rituals for the new deities fell into the hand of pontifices. Livy's writings contain numerous instances of ill omens, most of which mainly concerning abnormal meteorological phenomena, such as buildings and statues being struck by thunder, falling of rains of blood, stone, and milk, etc., and appearances and births of alien creatures.
Haruspicium
The third form of divination used in ancient Rome was haruspicium (haruspicy), which was an important official priesthood in charge of interpreting omens. The haruspices were responsible for examining the liver of sacrificial animals to determine whether or not the gods had accepted the sacrifice. The Etruscan haruspices, who were brought to Rome in the middle of the Republic, were considered the highest ranking among the nobles in Etruria and wore distinctive pointed hats.
Until the mid-term of the Republic, haruspicy had not been deemed an operation under governmental jurisdiction. However, there are assumptions that the Senate issued a decree that the children of noblemen should be perpetually taught the traditional art of haruspicy, and those practicing haruspicy came to join the officialdom of Rome in the capacity of haruspex. This led to the formation of a team of haruspices who worked together to interpret omens, rather than individual haruspices working alone.
The haruspices carried with them a model of the liver, which they used as a sort of map to specify which phenomenon applied to each section. If the liver showed no sign of abnormality and all organs were healthy in color and shape, it was assumed that the gods had duly accepted the animal sacrifice. However, if any signs of abnormality were observed, such as yellowing or cloudiness, or if the organ was defective, it was assumed that the gods had not accepted the sacrifice or did not approve of the actions of the person offering the sacrifice. In such cases, either the practice of offering sacrifices continued until the signs were observed as gods had come to accept the offer, or a haruspex was summoned to decipher the meaning of the abnormal state of the organ.
Haruspices from Etruria were only summoned to Rome when the signs revealed could not be deciphered by the decemviri, or when certain specific places or some public spots of importance were struck by thunder, or when certain situations arose for which haruspicy was called.
Judging by all this, it is safe to assume that the ancient Roman system of divination was well-structured and quite complex. Although that system may seem peculiar and superstitious to us today, it was a serious and important endeavor for the ancient Romans to determine their future and make decisions in the present.
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