The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

according to Cicero, the point is that in the old days it was better. To be sure, this is described
as a practice without efficacy, but it does not reflect insincerity. It is interesting to dwell for a
moment on what produces the lack of efficacy. It can be seen from Cicero’s description that
the representation of the action can adequately be described according to normal human
intentional action: the birds are starved by the pullarius with the intention that they eat and
drop something on the ground when fed. It follows that there is no deficiency in the
intentional structure. The action does not open for the representation of a counterintuitive
agents; i.e. Jupiter. Instead of showing that ritual didn’t matter the, source indicates that ritual
was crucial for divination to work.
The second example takes place in 249 during the first Punic war. Publius Claudius Pulcher
was appointed consul and gained the command of the fleet in Sicily. Here the Carthaginian
admiral Atarbas was attacking. Cladius' fleet had just been reinforced with extra ships, which
is probably why he got the idea to make a surprise attack on Atarbas (Polyb.1.49). Before the
attack he consulted the chickens as was customary. But, alas, poor Claudius did not win
support for his idea from the chickens: they refused to eat. He therefore said that they might
drink when they wouldn't eat, and threw them into the sea (Suet.Tib.2.). He then attacked,
and it ended with a great defeat for the Roman navy (Flor.anth.1.18, Suet.Tib.2, V.Max.8.1
ext.4). This story shows the opposite of the Romans in general not taking the auspicium ex
tripudio seriously. The divination had produced a clear answer: that an attack would lead to
disaster, which was what happened. The problem is that the individual, P. Claudius Pulcher,
did not take it seriously. Indeed, the point of the story is that divination is truthful, and one
should follow its pronunciations.
A third case, rarely mentioned 132 , also throws some light on the ritual aspect. It takes place
during the third Samnite war before the battle of Aquilonia in 293. In Livy (10.40) we are
told a story about the consul Papirius and his army just itching to attack. Before attacking
they had to take the auspices. The consul does this and leaves it to the pullarius to report
whether the birds ate. The pullarius caves in to public pressure and reports that the birds did
eat and drop the food to the ground although they didn't. The consul orders the attack, but
hears of the misconduct of the pullarius through his nephew and says: "if the man who is
watching the omens makes a false report, he brings down the divine wrath on his own head.
As far as I am concerned, I have received the formal intimation that the chickens ate eagerly.
Divination (Linderski 1982)
132 See however (Linderski 1993: 61f)
155