The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

If the sign was lightning (ex caelo) the sign would also be indicative of whether it was
positive or negative. Cicero writes that lightning from the left side was the best sign, except
when it was concerning an assembly (comitium) (Cic.Div.2.74). An instance of the sign of the
auspicium de caelo being thunder comes from Dionysius Hallicarnassus (Dion.Hal.
Ant.Rom.2.5.). Here Romulus is asking Jupiter whether he should be king of the city, and a
flash of lightning came from the left to the right. Although it is a legendary narrative about
Romulus, there is reason to assume that it describes common practice regarding magistrates
at the time of Dionysius (Valeton 1890: 219-221).
The technique is thus a technique ritualized by formulaic speech, with a focus on birds or
lightning as the producers of the signs. It is furthermore a binary technique giving a yes or no
to a question concerning a future action.
Ritualization The technique can be said to be ritualized, because the actions cannot be
adequately represented as intentional action. People do not usually erect tents, sit completely
still, and look out their opening past midnight in response to a question. There is thus a
deficiency in the intentional structure. This deficiency is repaired by the context. The person
seeks an answer to a question and the birds flight or song, comes to be signs of the answer to
that question. Since no one controls the birds or lightning and the birds or lightning do not
usually communicate with humans, some other hidden agent is inferred, that is, Jupiter.
The most famous example of manipulation involving the auspicium de caelo is from the
consulate of Bibulus and Caesar (59 BCE). In this year the consular colleague of Caesar,
Bibulus, was so effectively bullied by Caesar that he could not do anything (Syme 1960: 44).
In consequence he was watching for signs in the sky. Normally, if a consul was watching for
signs, the day would not be fit for official decisions (agere cum populo) in the comitia, and
thus legislation and decisions made on such a day were not valid (Cic.Dom.39, Dio
Cass.38.13.4f). According to the historical sources, Bibulus was looking for signs during the
entire consulate, which in principle made all decisions in that period invalid (Cic.Har.48).
This could be seen as manipulation, but there is nothing to suggest that Bibulus was not
performing the actions correctly, nor either that he did not believe in the efficacy of
divination. It is actually quite probable that he would be looking for signs to deal with the
difficult situation, not primarily to obstruct political action, which was evidently inefficient
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