The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

e distinguished: nuntiatio, relatio, susceptio, responsum and decision. The prodigies that had
been reported (nuntiatio) to a magistrate were related (relatio) to the senate, who decided
whether or not to accept them (susceptio): the senate then sent the prodigy to one of the
specialized priesthoods for interpretation, which was written down in a responsum which forms
the basis for what the senate decides to do. Let us consider these in more detail.
Nuntiatio
Nuntiatio is the designation used for the report of a potential prodigy to a magistrate. But we
should briefly consider what comes before this process. Different terms are used for how the
prodigies occur: factum (Liv.21.62.1), apperare (Obs.54, 56; August.C.D.3), evenere
(Liv.40.59.6), accidisse (Cic.Div.2.19) and visum (Liv.40.19.1) (cf. Luterbacher 1967: 43-44).
There seems to have been no single term for how the prodigy occurred contrary to the other parts
of the process. Sometimes we hear that a person or persons have themselves seen what is
reported (Liv. 40.19.1; Gel.4.6.2), but more commonly we just hear that they were reported.
There does not seem to have been any restrictions as to who could report it. We hear of reports
by priests (Liv. 40.19.2; Gel.4.6.2), administrators (Strabo 6.2.11; Liv.32.1), a governor (στρατη
γον), proconsuls, a propraetor and finally a private person (45.16.5) (Wülker 1903: 26-27). That
it was probably relatively common to report prodigies can be seen from a senatorial decree from
193 BCE that stipulates that a prodigy of earthquakes should not be reported when it has already
been reported and treated. 201 Some reports were written down and sent to the senate. An example
of this is a proconsul writing from Macedonia to report a prodigy (Liv.32.1.11).
In a way prodigies resemble urban myths. Before they were reported they had probably gone
through a period of oral circulation. This, at least, is the impression we get from Cicero. In De
responso haruspicum we hear of a prodigy which has not been reported yet, but which is
apparently widely known (Cic.Har.62). Another indication that oral circulation was prior to a
report is the existence of doublets. Sometimes we hear of a prodigy and just a couple of years
later we hear it repeated (Rawson 1991a: 4-5). An example is the birth of a colt with five legs in
201 The passage runs: “Ne quis, quo die terrae motu nuntiato feriae indicate essent (..) eo die alium terrae motum
nuntiaret” (Liv.34.55.4). The passage is a bit difficult and has been used by Kurt Latte to show that the Romans
used prodigies as manipulation (Latte 1960: 265-268). This however is pushing the conclusion too far, since the
passage only stipulates that when a prodigy has already been reported and treated it should not be reported again.
It seems to be more concerned with bureaucratic efficiency than with manipulation.
205