The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

The credibility value of the greater auspices was very high since entire armies could be lost
based on the decision (Cic.Div.2.71, Liv.21.63.6-9, 22.7.1-4). Furthermore, elections to the
highest offices could be invalidated and the consuls would have to abdicate (Cic.Div.1.33,
V.Max.1.1.3). In the case of the censor, auspices were involved in capital punishment. For
the lower magistrates the credibility value was not very high since the meetings (contiones)
were of no great consequence, as no decisions were made.
We thus find a hierarchy in the credibility value of the auspices correlated to the level of
the prestige of the magistrate. The information acquired by the highest office is the most
certain, which can be seen in the severity of the measures taken on the basis of the
information. At the other end of the scale, the lesser magistrates, the credibility value is not
very high since the severity of the actions taken based on the information acquired were not
great.
History According to legend the auspices of Romulus created Rome (Liv.1.7.1) and it was
the first divinatory practice in use in Rome (Dion.Hal.2.5.). It is thus the oldest type known to
the Romans. Cicero mentions an old decree (decretum) in the possession of the augural
college which indicates that the auspicium ex caelo was older than the auspicium ex tripudio,
which is attested in the earliest historical records (Cic.Div.2.73). It is therefore probable that
this form belongs to the very earliest forms of divination. This assumption is strengthened in
the section on the augurium, of which the auspicium is a derivation of.
Cultural model The model is that the gods communicate with the Roman people through
the auspices (Serv.A.3.89). They give a warning that the intended action will lead to
misfortune in case it is an unfavorable sign and that it will lead to success if it is a favorable
sign (Liv.26.41.18). It resembles the model of omens analyzed below in chapter 10. Only
here the sign is not an omen, but produced ritually. Indeed it can be seen how intertwined
these conceptions are in the story of Flaminius, who neglects taking the auspices (which
would surely have told him that he was not on the right track), and consequently the gods
give him the signs in the form of omens instead (Liv.21.63-22.4).
Auspicium ex tripudio
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