The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

means signs obtained from the gods by request. I will call this impetrative divination. This
type corresponds to ritual divination. These two types are the basis of the first distinction in
the typology of divination.
1
2
3
4
Agent
Agent
Agent
Figure 3.2. Communication with a Counter Intuitive Agent
Now that we have specified what divination does, we need to specify how this is achieved.
Based on the ethnographical record, it is possible to distinguish three major interrelated
elements in divination: motivation, sign production and sign interpretation. The motivation is
what leads to a question posed by a questioner. Without a motivation to know something,
sign production and sign interpretation would not be relevant. The sign production is the
process that leads to the sign, which is finally interpreted. There are differences between the
two kinds of divination, not in the motivation or interpretation, but in the sign production.
Impetrative divination always employs an operator and a technique, whereas oblative
divination relies on a salient event. The outcome of both is a sign. This gives us a typology of
components in divination (see table 3.1.)
Motivation Sign production Sign interpretation
Impetrative Questioner Operator Technique Sign Interpreter
Oblative Questioner Salient event Sign Interpreter
Table 3.1. Typology of divination components
CIA
CIA
CIA
Agent CIA
Initiates
Responds
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