The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

calf ran away and spattered many of the bystanders with blood. This was the worst possible sign
in a sacrifice (Latte 1960: 388). He was advised to wait for his colleague before engaging
Hannibal in direct battle, but he did not like that advice and ordered them all to attack
immediately. When he mounted his horse it stumbled and threw him over its head. This was seen
as a bad omen. Further the standard bearer reported that he could not pull up the standard. This
was seen as another omen. Flaminius’ army made it to the lake Trasumennus, where Hannibal
attacked the Romans by surprise. This is one of the most memorable defeats of the Romans. Livy
tells us that 15000 Romans and Flaminius himself perished in the battle. It can be seen that the
omens almost literally suggest that Flaminius should wait for the other consul. 190
There are not so many examples of positive omens, but one example involves Publius Scipio
Africanus, who conquered Hannibal (Liv.29.27.12-13). He was renowned for his religious
reverence (Liv.26.19.3-4; Gel.6.1.6). At the close of the second Punic war Scipio was sailing
along the African coast looking for a place to disembark his troops. He asked what the nearest
promontory was called. He was told it was called pulchri promuntorium, the promontory of
beauty. 191 Scipio took this as an omen and landed the ship there. The troops were disembarked
without any problems and eventually Scipio celebrated many victories in Africa. 192
These two stories both relate to probably the most central war in Roman self consciousness,
the second Punic war. Their value is not in whether they describe any historical realities, but in
that they were told and express common assumptions among the Romans. The first shows how
omens were foretelling the defeat of Lake Trasumennus because of neglect of religious duties;
the second shows how an omen foretells the eventual victory because of compliance with
religious duties. We can fit the different components within the cultural model for omens we
found above (see fig.10.2).
190 There are many other stories like this one, see for example Verg.A. 3.358; Ov.Ars.1.212, Ov.Met.10.4;
Cic.Dom.55; Cic.Ver.2.6.18.
191 Loebs edition has “Cape of the Fair God”. This is because Polybius in a parallel passage makes reference to
Apollon. That does not seem an accurate translation. The modern name is Ras Sidi Ali el Mekki.
192 Similar examples can be found in Ov.Met.10.277; Ep.17.159; Pl.Per.4.8.6; Hor.S.3.11.45
195