the deity is a loving one who cares for the welfare of the people
he created. Th e ancient Romans saw their relationship with
the gods in somewhat diff erent terms. A god was to be hon-
ored, but the relationship was oft en one of bargaining. Public
vows, for example, were made to form a legal contract with a
god, in which the person making the vow promised to per-
form an act to honor the god in exchange for the god’s favor.
Th us, for example, armies vowed publicly to build a temple
to a god in exchange for a victory in war. Th e god might or
might not choose to grant the person’s wish, but the person
still owed a duty of loyalty to the god.
Th e notion of bargaining required a way for people to
communicate wishes to the gods and for the gods to com-
municate their intentions to humans. Th e ancient Romans
believed that the gods communicated their wishes through
omens that had to be read by a class of priests. Th is was the
role of the College of Augurs. To carry out their function the
augurs took part in two types of activities; the activities were
supervised by civil magistrates, but the augur was present to
interpret the results and report his conclusions.
One activity was to read the intention of the gods by in-
terpreting patterns in the fl ights of birds in a templum, or sa-
cred space. Th e magistrate and augur marked out the sacred
space and then waited for birds to fl y overhead. Alternatively,
augurs interpreted the behavior of specially selected sacred
chickens. For example, grain would be fed to the chickens by
a pullarius, or “chicken man,” and whether they ate the grain
or how enthusiastically they did so was taken as an omen.
Th ese kinds of omens were read in connection with virtually
any sort of political activity: an election, a war, the passage
of a statute, and so on. Th e rules for conducting these ritu-
als were extremely detailed and complex. If even the smallest
detail was overlooked or conducted improperly, the ritual was
deemed invalid and had to be redone. Oft en the Roman Sen-
ate reviewed the conclusions of the augurs and, if they deter-
mined that the ritual was improperly conducted, ruled that it
had to be conducted again.
Th e other ritual activity the augurs supervised was divi-
nation through animal sacrifi ce. An animal such as a goat
was ritually sacrifi ced and its exta, or entrails, especially the
gallbladder and liver, were examined. Th e augurs who con-
ducted this ritual were a suborder of the augurs called harus-
pices—literally, “men who look at guts.” Th ere were 60 offi cial
haruspices, though others practiced this type of divination
unoffi cially. It is believed that this type of divination was an
Etruscan practice that the Romans absorbed. Again, the re-
quirements were very specifi c. A particular animal had to be
selected, including size, gender, age, and color, depending on
the god whose will was being questioned. Th e animal was
blessed, carried to an altar in procession, and killed with a
single blow. If the animal struggled or if the haruspex tripped
or slipped, it boded ill. Th e haruspex then examined the en-
trails. If there was anything wrong with them, such as gall-
stones or spots, it was a sign that the gods had rejected the
sacrifi ce and a new animal had to be slaughtered. If the en-
trails were fl awless, that was a sign that the gods approved the
course of action being proposed.
Th e Romans believed that they could read the will of
the gods in at least three additional ways. One consisted of
monstra, or prodigies, from which the modern word monster
comes. Monstra could consist of any natural but strange oc-
currence, such as the birth of a calf with two heads or severe
lightning. When such an event occurred, the Senate called
in haruspices to inquire into the prodigy and interpret the
gods’ will. Th e monstra were not necessarily punishments or
prophecies of doom; rather, they were warnings that the gods
felt neglected, giving the Romans a chance to respond and
perhaps mend their ways.
A second additional way the Romans read the will of
the gods was through the Sibylline Books. Th ese books date
back to the monarchial period in Rome and the reign of
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (r. 534–510 b.c.e.), or Tarquin
the Elder. Th is was a period in Roman history that remains
shrouded in legend. It is known that the Sibyls were priest-
esses and prophets in ancient Greece. One of these, who lived
in Cumae, a Greek colony northwest of Naples, Italy, was the
most famous and has been known to history as the Sibyl. Ac-
cording to the legend, she arrived in Rome to sell Tarquin
nine books that, she claimed, foretold the history of Rome.
Initially Tarquin rejected her off er, so she burned three of
the books and renewed her off er. Again Tarquin refused, so
she burned three more. Tarquin relented and purchased the
remaining three.
Th e Sibylline books were not prophetic, but they did
include advice on what Romans should do when signs from
the gods were inauspicious, or unfavorable. Th e books were
housed in the Temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill in Rome
until the temple and its contents were destroyed by fi re in 83
b.c.e. In charge of the books were the duoviri sacris faciun-
dis, or “the two men for sacred actions,” yet another order
of priests, albeit a small one. Later the number of priests in
charge of the books increased to 10 and then to 15. Normally
the Senate ordered the duoviri or haruspices to consult the
books in cases of crisis or emergency or when they had ob-
served monstra. Th e usual recommendation that came from
consulting the books was for Rome to import a new god or
cult, oft en from Greece. Th e duoviri played some role in es-
tablishing the new cult, at which point their role ended.
A fi nal additional way the Romans believed they could
learn the will of the gods was in the interpretation of dreams.
According to the Roman historian Livy (59 b.c.e.–17 c.e.), in
293 b.c.e. an epidemic broke out on the Italian peninsula. Af-
ter the Sibylline Books were consulted, it was concluded that
they directed the Romans to build a cult site and temple for
the Greek god of medicine, Aesculapius, on an island in the
Tiber River. Th is temple became a hospital of sorts, where ill
or troubled Romans went to recover by making sacrifi ces to
Aesculapius. Patients slept in the temple and asked the god to
explain what was wrong with them in a dream. Th e temple
priests then interpreted the dream.860 religion and cosmology: Rome