According to the evidence of the inscriptions in imperial times, not every city of
the Roman empire had so many and such diverse apparitores(Fear 1989). In the
cities as in Rome, these attendants were part of the representation and public appear-
ance of the highest magistrates and in Rome of some priests as well. Hence, they
were deemed necessary for public rites performed by the magistrates (and priests in
the city of Rome) and some, like the praecoor the municipal haruspex, even took
over an active part in these rites.Haruspices: Specialists in Divination
Divination was used and applied in the Roman world from the first contact of Rome
with haruspicesat the end of the fifth centurybc(Livy 5.15) into the early sixth
centuryad (Haack 2003: 216 –21). Divination was meant to interpret the will and
attitudes of the gods toward the community and individuals indicated by signs and
omens. There was a discussion going on about the origins of the science of divina-
tion – Etruscan, Greek, or Sabine – but most of the ancient authors (e.g. Livy, Dionysius
of Halicarnassus) thought of divination as an Etruscan ritual and cognitive system.
The so-called haruspices, men specialized in the Etruscan discipline of divination, were
integrated into public and private Roman religion and cult. The Etruscan discipline
was thought to encompass three different sections, written down in sacred books
describing the different techniques of divination about prodigies (prodigia), signs
(monstra), and marvels (ostenta) (Capdeville 1997: 477–95): the libri haruspicini
(Thulin 1912: 2449–54) concerning entrails of animals, fulgurales(1912: 2441–9)
concerning lightning, and rituales(1912: 2455– 68) concerning the rites for found-
ing a city and the like. These books were translated into Latin during the first
centurybc. Some handbooks are supposed to have retained the Etruscan sacred
formulae in their original form combined with an explanatory commentary in Latin
(Capdeville 1997: 501– 4).
The first haruspicesin Rome were at the service of the senate and the magistrates
(Thulin 1912: 2433; Haack 2003: 51–75). Although most of the stories about the
early republican haruspicesseem to be fictitious in detail and circumstances, these
anecdotes are telling in their substance: after the Romans’ violent kidnapping of
a first haruspexin 406/396bcfrom the Etruscans (Livy 5.15), we hear next of a
haruspexexplaining to the consuls of the year 340bc, Decius and Manlius, the mean-
ing of the entrails of the sacrificed victims before a decisive battle against the Samnites
(Livy 8.9.1). The inner organs in the victims predicted Decius’ death, but in all other
respects the signs were favorable. Here, as well as in many other later incidents and
anecdotes, the main aim of divination for the Romans can be seen: to learn about
the will of the gods, especially to find out whether the gods are favorable to the
Romans and are willing to help them and their leaders in case of war. As a rule, the
negative interpretation of signs is always reported as having consequences: either
magistrates like Fabius Maximus (Livy 23.36.10; 27.16.15) took the right lesson from
it – in his case a delay of his marching off in 215bcand again in 209bcduring
the war against Hannibal – or magistrates like Tiberius Gracchus in 212bcor Marcellus
336 Marietta Horster