senate consulted the augurs and declared that he was vitio creatum, that is, that there
was a defect in the election. The senate agreed and Marcellus had to abdicate (Livy
23.31.13). But there was another reason why he had to step down: for the first time
in Roman history, both consuls were plebeians. Marcus Claudius Marcellus accepted
the verdict of the augurs, but he reacted in a peculiar way. From that time on, when-
ever he planned an important undertaking and did not want to interfere with the
augurs, he traveled only in a closed litter (Cic. Div.2.77). In this way he could not
be seen and he could not see any signs occurring outside: bad omens would not
concern him. The college also acted on the day the magistrates took up their office,
at decisions of the assemblies, and at the start of a war (Linderski 1986: 2159– 62).
While the college of the augurs acted only when consulted by the senate, indi-
vidual augurs acted on their own initiative. Only the individual augurs held the
auspices or observed the sky (Cic. Leg.2.20f.). Of all Roman priests, the augurs had
the most prominent position. Cicero claimed that the highest and most important
authority was that of the augurs because they had the power to grant or refuse
permission to hold an assembly, to declare null and void the acts of assemblies, and
to force consuls to resign their offices (Cic. Leg.2.31). Notwithstanding Cicero’s
garrulousness and self-confidence, and notwithstanding the fact that Cicero was an
augur himself, his judgment is correct. Once an augur had perceived a bad sign, he
could close a session of the assembly with the formula alio die– “at another day.”
Any business already begun was abandoned. Such a procedure would buy time to
debate important issues again and to influence decisions. Generals of the late republic,
for example Mark Antony, proudly referred to their augurate in their coinage.
Auguria had no time limits and were performed only by the augurs. If a magis-
trate was inaugurated, the auguriumwould last for a year. In the case of a priest it
would last for his entire life and if a temple was inaugurated there was no time limit
at all. The most prominent example is the augurium salutis, an annual prayer, which
had fallen into oblivion and was revived by Augustus – the augurs asked the gods
if it was permissible for the magistrates to pray for the safety of the people (Vaahtera
2001: 133– 6).
In contrast to auguria, auspices were valid for one day only and could be held
by anybody. The result of an auspiciumwas a divine “yes” or “no”; interpretation
was not required. Again, the Romans were quite practical about divination: if an
auspiciumdid not lead to the expected divine approval of an intended undertaking,
it was repeated the following day. Auspices primarily meant signs from the observa-
tion of birds, but thunder and lightning could also be important. Festus, a lexico-
grapher of the second centuryad, knew of five different categories of signs: from the
sky (thunder and lightning), from the flight of birds and from the sounds produced
by birds, from sacred chickens (tripudium), from quadrupeds (given by animals),
and from unusual, threatening occurrences (Festus 316 L). Auspices from the flight
of birds require the magistrate to go to the place of observation before sunrise, to
define his templum, the religious delimitation of a specific area, and to wait for the
sign. As soon as the magistrate had received the sign he had been waiting for, the
session was over and the business could be started. Auspices regarding the res pub-
lica were held only by the magistrates or the individual augurs and were performed
before important decisions: assemblies, elections, and war.
Republican Nobiles 299