- chapter 26: Haruspicy and augury –
44 Rosenberg 2011, 293 gives a date for Julius Obsequens in the fourth century ce. MacBain
- Peter L. Schmidt, s.v. “Obsequens, Julius.” Brill’s New Pauly.
45 Hohti 1975, esp. 427–429. Rawson 1985, 304–305.
46 Schofi eld 1986, 49 (quoting Rawson).
47 Weinstock 1951, esp. 124–125.
48 De div., tr.
49 Wardle 2006, 282 (quoting Briquel).
50 For other passages in Dionysius that are relevant, see Thulin I, 7. and Vaahtera 2001, 113,
117–122. The other Greek historian noted for recording relevant information on Etruscan
divination is Plutarch (ca. 46–120 ce), who as a priest at Delphi had a natural interest in
religious practice. Thulin 1909, 7, 21, 67. For evaluation of the usefulness of Greek historical
writing as source material for Etruscan religion, see Vaahtera 2001.
51 McBain 1982.
52 Of course, they must always be read as creative reconstructions of Etruscan culture. For some
key examples, see de Grummond, 2006a, 3, 197–198, 208–211.
53 NH 10.28, 30, 33, 35–49; de Grummond, 2006a, 41–42.
54 Weinstock 1951, 123.
55 QN 2.32, 39, 41, 45, 47, etc; de Grummond and Simon, 2006, Appendix B, 214–215.
Weinstock 1951.
56 K. Sallmann, s.v. “Censorinus,” Brill’s New Pauly, vol. 3, col. 105; Pfi ffi g, 1975, 159–160.
57 F. Mora, s.v. “Arnobius,” Brill’s New Pauly, 2, cols 17–18.
58 W. Suerbaum, s.v. “Servius,” Brill’s New Pauly 13, cols 333–335.
59 De nuptiis 1.45–61. See de Grummond 2006a, 44–46.
60 De div. 2.18.42. See also van der Meer 1987, 27–29.
61 Defi nitively published and discussed in Turfa 2012.
62 The earliest evidence for augury known to me appears in a bronze statuette of a priestly fi gure
looking up toward the heavens, probably in an act of augury: Cristofani 1985, 267 (no. 39; ca.
500–480 bce); de Grummond 2005, 307. Roncalli 2010, 124–125, contextualizes a gold ring
bezel (likely dating to the 6th century bce) as having a divinatory signifi cance, perhaps showing
the practice of lekanomanteia, another technique shared between Mesopotamia and Etruria.
63 Rochberg 2004, 3–4, notes the relevance of the phrase of A. L. Oppenheim, “stream
of tradition,” in regard to Mesopotamian transmission of omen texts from Sumerian and
Akkadian times down to the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian phases.
64 Starr 1983, 1, 5, 108–109, referring to the great library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, where
the divinatory texts are proportionately the largest body of material.
65 Rathje 1979.
66 Burkert 1992, 41–42.
67 Related in the second century bce by Gellius. Small 1982, 45–46.
68 Turfa 2012, Chapter 10.
69 Burkert 1992, 46–48; Rasmussen 2003, 135 and notes 196–197; Annus 2010, 11. For
examples of Babylonian model livers, see Nougayrol 1955.
70 Maggiani 2005, 57; Starr 1983, 15.
71 Burkert 1992, 46, 181; Flower 2008, 33–34; Rasmussen 2003, 137.
72 Koch-Westenhoff, 51–52. The term Manzāzu, is sometimes translated as “Station,” but is
better understood to mean “the Presence.”
73 Nougayrol 1955; Maggiani 1982, 85.
74 Oppenheim 1977, 196; Starr 1983, 44–45; Rasmussen 2003, 138.
75 Rochberg 2010.
76 Turfa 2012, part II.
77 Turfa 2012, Chapter 10, brings up numerous comparanda for the concerns of the omens
from the Near East but, as she notes, there is no Eastern brontoscopic calendar that matches