Divination Practices in Titus Livy: The Religion of Ancient Rome Part 3

"A number of prodigies were seen and reported:  in the Temple of Concord an image of Victory on the gable was struck by lightning, but the little ornaments along the guttering caught it as it came down, so that it fell no father; it was reported at Anagnia and Fregellae the wall and gates had been struck; at Forum Subertanum steams of blood flowed all day long at Eretum it rained stones, and at Reate a mule had a foal.  These signs and wonders were expiated by the sacrifice of full-grown victims, a day of public prayer was orderd and nine days were deoveted to religious ceremonies."  Titus Livy


The above is a list of prodigies that had occurred after the election of consuls in 210 BC, several hundered years removed from when Livy had recorded them in The War with Hannibal.  The list itself shows how "superstitious"  a people the Romans actually were and also shows how difficult it must have been for the diviners of the ancient world to make sense of what could be simple nonsense.  The modern mind at least, would consider paying heed to such things as lightning as a divine symbol from above, as nonsense.  This truly shows that the Romans believed fervently in the divine presence and communication withihn the world of men.  Of all the works personally reviewed, there is none that presents such lists of divination and superstition as those present within the accounts of Titus Livy.  The works of Titus Livy themselves, are indeed propagandist works, written at the reign of Augusts Caesar (c. 30BC-AD14) in order to help support his reign.  Despite the fact that there are exceptional lists of omens, sadly their meanings are never truly given to the reader. 

The justification of the foundation and ruler of the city of Rome itself came from the practice of auspices: 
Remus is said to have been the first to recieve an omen:  six vultures appeared to him.  The augury had just been announced to Romulus when doulb ethe number appeared to him.  Each was saluted as king by his own party. The one side based their claim on priority of the appeared, the other on the number of birds. Then following an angry altercation; heated passions led to bloodshed; in the tumult Remus was killed. 

This shows that the belief was, even at the creation of the city, the gods made their presence known.  There is no account given as to whether a question was strictly asked to resieve the omen that Remus and Romulus had, so instead of calling this an auspice it would serve purposes better to place it within the catergory of augury; that is, the divine making its presence known without any question being asked.  It is uncertain what rule the vulture played within the religion of Ancient Rome; like many aspects of the religion, one can only speculate the meaning through the use of a variety of other sources.

Stay tuned for Part 4- the conclusion of the Religion of Ancient Rome!!!