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The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

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140,00<br />

120,00<br />

100,00<br />

80,00<br />

60,00<br />

40,00<br />

20,00<br />

0,00<br />

Prodigies<br />

0,00 5,00 10,00 15,00<br />

Distance<br />

Observed<br />

Logarithmic<br />

Figure 10.8. Correlation between number <strong>of</strong> accepted prodigies and<br />

distance.<br />

We can see a very clear relation between distance and number <strong>of</strong> accepted prodigies. This is<br />

consistent with what we expected based on the hypothesis that prodigies were taken as<br />

communicative stimuli from a counter<strong>in</strong>tuitive agent and the acceptance <strong>of</strong> them as perta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g to<br />

the Roman state at large was based on the basic communicative pr<strong>in</strong>ciple relevance. <strong>The</strong>re are<br />

some reservations though. First, it should be mentioned that the distribution is also consistent<br />

with other explanations: we would also expect that more prodigies would be reported to Rome<br />

the closer the location s<strong>in</strong>ce people would come to Rome more frequently the closer they lived.<br />

<strong>The</strong> distribution would thus reflect the prodigies reported to the senate. This explanation would,<br />

213

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