The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism [1911] - Get a Free Blog

ASTROLOGY AND MAGIC. 165
the seven spheres in which the planets that rule our
destinies move. 8 This Asiatic divination was first aristo
cratic 9 because the obtaining of an exact horoscope
was a complicated matter, and consultations were ex
pensive but it promptly became popular, especially
in the urban centers where Oriental slaves gathered in
large numbers. The learned genethlialogers of the ob
servatories had unlicensed colleagues, who told for
tunes at street-crossings or in barnyards. Even com
mon epitaphs, which Rossi styles "the scum of inscrip
tions," have retained traces of that belief. The cus
tom arose of stating in epitaphs the exact length of a
life to the very hour, for the moment of birth deter
mined that of death :
Nascentes morimur, finisque ab origine pendet. 10
Soon neither important nor small matters were
undertaken without consulting the astrologer. His
previsions were sought not only in regard to great
public events like the conduct of a war, the founding
of a city, or the accession of a ruler, not only in case
of a marriage, a journey, or a change of domicile; but
the most trifling acts of every-day life were gravely
submitted to his sagacity. People would no longer
take a bath, go to the barber, change their clothes or
manicure their fingernails, without first awaiting the
propitious moment. 11 The collections of "initiatives"*
that have come to us contain questions that make us
smile: Will a son who is about to be born have a big
nose? Will a girl just coming into this world have
gallant adventures? 12 And certain precepts sound al
most like burlesques: he who gets his hair cut while