The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

concern of the agent, or because the occurrence belongs to a culturally established catalogue of
signs, or finally because the occurrence is so attention demanding in itself that it seems to
demand an explanation. Omens imply a basic cultural model: This model specifies the relation
between the omen and fortune and misfortune by reference to the gods as communicators of the
omen. We further found that this model was widely disseminated in Roman culture. We can
therefore conclude that the conceptualization of omens as signs from the gods of impending
fortune or misfortune was widespread in Roman culture.
The prodigy system
Now let us look in more detail at omens directed towards the state at large. These were called
prodigia. We have reasonably good sources concerning their character, identification and
interpretation. Prodigies were a special kind of omen that circulated among the population and
was eventually reported to a magistrate. This magistrate related it to the senate, which decided
whether it should be accepted or rejected. If it was accepted it was given to one of three priestly
colleges for interpretation. They produced a response on the basis of which the senate decided
what to do.
Brief sketch of acceptance procedure.
There are several distinct parts of what we could call the prodigy system. 199 The overall purpose
of the prodigy system is to identify and interpret prodigies. The reason is that, as we saw in the
previous section, prodigies are omens to the state in general. They are signs that the state is on
the way towards some misfortune. It is therefore necessary to interpret what action is necessary
to avert the impending misfortune and achieve a fortunate result. Prodigies were probably
reported all year, but it was the duty of the consuls, after their assumption of office on the ides of
March 200 , to expiate the prodigies according to the decisions of the senate (Bloch 1963: 120;
Wülker 1903: 27). From a passage in Livy (Liv.22.1.14-16) five distinct parts of the process can
199 For descriptions see (Bloch 1963: 120-129; Linderski 1995: 58; Rosenberger 1998: passim; Wülker 1903: 26-
50). For an analysis of the different parts of the prodigy institution as a distributed cognitive system see (Lisdorf
2004c).
200 We do occasionally hear about prodigies at the end of the year, for example Liv.39.56.6 and Liv.41.28.1. It is
possible that the system changed or Livy moved the annalistic material.
204