The dissemination of divination in roman republican times

The words not in bold face indicate the parts of the model, which are empirically
accessible. In impetrative divination the questioner, operator and interpreter can differ or be
the same, but they need to be human. They can also be composed of several persons in a
group. The technique is a sequence of actions leading to the production of a physical sign.
This technique can employ humans, animals or any other physical object capable of
producing a sign. The sign can be any distinguishable physical event. For oblative divination
as for impetrative, the questioner and interpreter can differ or be composed of several
persons, but they need to be human. 22 Let us look at some examples (see table 3.2.)
Motivation Sign production Sign interpretation
Practice Questioner Operator Technique Sign Interpreter
The oracle in NN Pythia Ecstasy Verses Priests in
Delphi
Delphi
Termite NN NN Twig inserted into Termites have NN
oracle
a termite mound eaten/not eaten
among the
Azande
the twig
Ifa
NN Babalawo The number of Pattern and NN
divination
palm nuts recitation of
among the
remaining in the associated myth
Yoruba in
hand – repeated to
Nigeria
generate a pattern
Poison
oracle
among the
Azande
NN Boy/Reciter Administration of
poison to a chick
Table 3.2. Examples of impetrative divination
Death/survival of
chick
People came from all of Greece to the Delphic oracle with questions. The prophetess,
NN or some of
the old men
Pythia, entered into a trance in which she would utter verses as answers to the questions
(Diod.Sic. 16.26. 4-5, Strabo 9.3.5). These would then be interpreted by the locally residing
priests (Parke & Wormell 1956). The technique used employs a human, Pythia, as sign
22 In a perceptive comparative analysis of divination historian of religion, Jørgen Podemann
Sørensen, arrives at a similar scheme as basic for divnation. According to Sørensen divination will
always imply “1. The experiment 2. The exemplar text 3. The ad hoc interpretation” (Sørensen
1999 186). 1. corresponds to what I have called technique, 2. corresponds to sign, and 3.
corresponds to the interpreter. I have expanded these distinctions somewhat with the questioner
and operator and included oblative divination. Appart from this Sørensen points to other features
as general for divination in a cross-cultural perspective that also apply to the account given here.
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