The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

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Chapter 10 - Signa oblativa In this chapter we see how omens were conceptualized and how widespread this conceptualization was in Roman republican times. The English term omen is used as a general term for all words meaning omen. When using the Latin term I shall use omen in italics. First, the omen vocabulary will be analyzed and then the different types of omens. All instances of omens are conceptualized according to a simply cultural model. This model specifies that omens are communications from the gods about future success or misfortune. In order to see whether this was widespread, the frequency of omen words will be analyzed. It will be argued that the cultural model for omens was widely disseminated. Subsequently the prodigy system will be analyzed as it is the most detailed record of omens over a long period of time. The omen vocabulary in Latin Let us first look at the vocabulary which the Romans used to describe omens. In Latin there are several different words, which would simply be rendered omen in English. The nouns are augurium, auspicium, dirum, monstrum, portenta, ostenta, miraculum. There are many adjectives denoting either a good omen (faustus and bonus) or a bad omen (dirus, detestabilis, funestus, sinister, tristis, infaustus and adversus). In actual use there is a great overlap and figurative usage, but it is possible to sketch the primary senses of the different nouns. 185 An Omen is in general a sign to an individual, but it may also be directed towards a group signified by that individual, such as the army in the case of an army commander, or the state in the case of a consul. It signifies something that will happen in the future, either good or bad. It is not always described explicitly as stemming from the gods. There is, however, a Latin idiom used frequently by Cicero “quod omen di avertant 186 , which could be translated to something like 185 For general accounts of the omen vocabulary in Latin see (Bloch 1963: 84f; Riess 1995: 355-358; Wülker 1903: 1) 186 There are other variants like quod di immortales omen avertant (Cic.Har.41) quod Juppiter omen avertat (Cic.Brut 1.12.1), quod di omen obruant (Cic.Har.20). 190
“may the gods avert (bad) omens”. This could indicate that omens were in general conceptualized as stemming from the gods or Jupiter. • Augurium in a technical sense is confined to the acts by the augurs watching the birds, that is an impetrative sign (see above chapter 9), but, since many of the same birds used in the augural discipline were also observed as oblative signs, the word augurium came to be applied to omens as well (Linderski 1986: 2294-2295). • Auspicium is likewise a technical term denoting impetrative observation of signs, mostly birds, by non-augurs, that is, magistrates or private people (Linderski 1986; see above chapter 9). For the same reasons as the augurium the auspicium could be used for oblative signs as well. • Dirum is a bad sign taken to show the anger of the gods. • Monstrum is the most common designation of the strange or unnatural (Riess 1995: 355). It is described by Festus as what shows the future and reminds one of the will of the gods (Fest.122 L). It is most often something negative, i.e. a warning (Bloch 1963: 85) • Portentum/Ostentum. Portentum is according to Festus a bad sign, while ostentum is a good sign (Fest. 284 L). This is, however, not an accurate description of the actual usage since they often appear as synonyms. They seem to be more vague and general terms (Bloch 1963: 85). • Prodigium was usually described as a sign of divine anger. It concerns the state in general and foreshadows a disaster if nothing is done. Usually some ritual has to be performed to avert the disaster. There is, as mentioned above, also a large number of adjectives that modify the omen to express whether it is good or bad. They can sometimes be used elliptically without the noun to designate an omen. Detection of an omen There are, as we saw above in chapter 5, three basic ways a physical occurrence can become salient and interpreted as an omen. First, the occurrence in some way relates to a current concern of the agent; second, the occurrence belongs to a culturally established catalogue of signs; third, the occurrence is so attention demanding in itself that it seems to demand an explanation. 191
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The Dissemination of Divination in
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Chapter 8 - Sources to Roman Divina
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List of Figures Figure 3.1. Types o
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Acknowledgements Certain parts of t
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people. It is almost unanimously ag
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that precludes the investigation fr
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asic cognitive functions could acco
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Lienard & Feeney 2006), prayer (Bar
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“the making clear of something”
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In chapter 5 it is argued that obla
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Chapter 1 - History of divination a
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with *-eu appears in two forms. One
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involving the Korinthian Polyidos.
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The 15 th edition of the Encyclopae
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Chapter 2 - A History of Modern Div
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and games of chance a secondary dev
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causes. This is also the case conce
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Evans-Pritchard also uses a lot of
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through casting the decision “upo
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transformed and new relations are g
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Somewhat between the great currents
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efutations. With this article Zeitl
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the function of divination. Special
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Chapter 3 - Definition and typology
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means signs obtained from the gods
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producer. In this case we see that
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Chapter 4 - Impetrative Divination
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ontogenetic histories. Some feeling
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direct people in their life. It can
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or potential misfortune or lack of
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Before making blood-brotherhood Bef
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It was argued that emotion was cent
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Figure 4.2. Intentional action It i
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Figure 4.4. Ritualized action in di
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was the counterintuitive agent who
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education. 43 These problems requir
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Credibility 4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 2 1,5 1
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Clairvoyant, and Astrologist. There
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Materials A booklet similar to the
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Summary The thesis of this chapter
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present existence, as the slogan go
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Let us presently consider how hyper
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1963). Michotte had subjects watch
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another that they were playing agai
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monkeys. There is evidence that in
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Sperber and Wilson programmatically
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humans communicate by producing sig
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Let us consider some examples of th
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Henrich and Gil-White supply precis
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communicator (T.S. Elliot) or a mil
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professors are not routinely attrib
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thought it most likely the main cha
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Chapter 5 - Oblative divination 82
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her life”. 85 In the example the
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in the city. To most modern people
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answer. In oblative divination the
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Figure 6.1. brings together the obs
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questions on how much disease there
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While many good and detailed models
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Unexpected event Figure 6.3. Web of
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Chapter 7 - Research history on Rom
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assumption is that divination, espe
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It can be seen that Latte's as well
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oth shared the same attitude toward
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vastly different views on what legi
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& Scheid 1994; Linder & Scheid 1993
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the observation. If the fear thesis
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Based on the evidence available to
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linear regression analysis was made
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Page 141 and 142: Post-republican writers Verrius Fla
Page 143 and 144: M. Servius Honoratus Marius Servius
Page 145 and 146: The only full description we have o
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Page 149 and 150: All places where auspices should be
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Page 153 and 154: The credibility value of the greate
Page 155 and 156: according to Cicero, the point is t
Page 157 and 158: Utility and Credibility value The a
Page 159 and 160: History Since it is mentioned in th
Page 161 and 162: Technique Let us consider public so
Page 163 and 164: Private sortition Private sortition
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Page 167 and 168: Extispicy is a form of divination w
Page 169 and 170: public use of extispicy are perform
Page 171 and 172: (North 1990). In Etruria these indi
Page 173 and 174: Sibylline books The Sibylline Books
Page 175 and 176: The word vates can probably be trac
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Page 179 and 180: Howevere, there are practices in wh
Page 181 and 182: Technique Descriptives Credibility
Page 183 and 184: History Let us see how these observ
Page 185 and 186: Summary To summarize the conclusion
Page 187 and 188: as specified in equation 3, but it
Page 189: Dissemination Private sortition Pub
Page 193 and 194: excelled every race and every natio
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Page 199 and 200: very widespread 196 and along with
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Page 203 and 204: 1,2 1 0,4 0,2 0 Omen words in Greek
Page 205 and 206: e distinguished: nuntiatio, relatio
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Page 237 and 238: Appendix 2 The Guzul In Central Aus
Page 239 and 240: Appendix 4 Roman Words Omen Prodigi
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Theocritus 21261 1.88 1.88 0 0 0.32
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Moon fell down Capua Goats got wool
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Note: *this is possibly not a separ
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Temple of Ceres struck by lightning
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Sheep with two heads born Suessa Pi
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12 year old hermaphrodite discovere
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Cows were talking Campania Bronze c
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*This prodigy may be the same as th
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156 Storm destroys sacred places on
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* Since the Graecostasis was right
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An owl was seen on the Capitol Roma
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* Rasmussen counts as two (Rasmusse
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Sun formed a disc like a shield at
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Two calfs were found in the entrail
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Fire in the sky Note: While this pr
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Tornado ripped of roofs Bridge coll
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Doors to the temple of Fortuna open
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Appendix 6 Examples of counterintui
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Bibliography Primary Sources 220 La
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Secondary sources Abbink, J. 1993:
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Bering, J. M. and Johnson, D. P. 20
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Callaway, H. 1970: The Religious Sy
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Dumezil, G. 1970: Archaic Roman Rel
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Guillaumont, F. 1984: Philosophe et
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Koenig, M. A., Clement, F., and Har
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Luterbacher, F. 1967: Der Prodigien
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Patton, L. L. 2000: "The Magic in M
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Schilling, R. 1979: "A propos des "
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Taylor, L. R. 1949: Party Politics
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Woodward, J. 2000: "Explanation and
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Oprindeligt blev divination forklar
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menneskelig perception eller ræson
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I kapitel 6 sammenlignes observatio
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Den sidste ligning udtrykker, at sa
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The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

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