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For centuries, people have tried to find out what the future holds. Hence, it was common to refer to all kinds of fortune-tellers or priests – augur or haruspices who they foretold from the entrails of animals. Special attention was also paid to all kinds of fortune-telling, which, as it was believed, were not a coincidence, but were interfering with the gods.
In the first century CE, Valerius Maximus divided the signs from which the opinion of the gods was read into:
- Auspicia – omens from the flight of birds
- Omina – oracles
- Prodigia – unusual fortune-telling phenomena
- Somnia – dreams
- Miracula – miracles
- Superstitiones superstition
Interesting Roman stories with fortune-telling and signs
Already at the very beginning of the formation of Rome, priests who were telling about the flight of birds took part. Remus noticed the six vultures first, followed by Romulus spotting twelve vultures. The greater number of birds decided about the foundation of the city – later Rome. According to tradition, Romulus became the first king of Rome on April 21, 753 BCE, when the settlement was also established.
The famous Tiberius Gracchus, as he was preparing to take office people’s tribune, asked to be tested gods to pullarius, a man who judges the success of actions based on the behaviour of the sacred chickens during feeding. Interestingly, pullarius forbade him to leave the house at all, which Tiberius ignored and he hit his leg hard when he left the house. Then, as he was walking down the road, three ravens screeched loudly and began to fight each other and accidentally dropped tiles on him. Later, the tribune was killed by Scipio Nazyki, and his body was thrown into the Tiber.
Another Roman, Publius Claudius, also sought advice from Pullarius during the First Punic War on a warship. Unfortunately, the hens did not want to leave the cage. Claudius, known for his violent nature, ordered them to be thrown into the sea saying “(…) because they do not want to eat, let them drink”. In the end, the fleet he commanded suffered a crushing defeat, and Claudius himself was killed.
It is not necessary to go to the fortune-teller right away; sometimes it is enough to keep your eyes peeled for “omens”. Consul Lucius Aemilius Paulus went home before going to the war against the Macedonian King Perseus (172-168 BCE). There he saw the saddened daughter Tertia and asked what was the cause of the sadness. She replied that her dog Perses was dead. Paulus took this as a good sign for the coming battle and won the victory over Perseus. He won huge spoils for Rome from Macedonia and Epirus and then celebrated in November 167 BCE. a glorious triumph in which he was led as a captive defeated Perseus.
A certain Roman matron – Cecilia, wife of Metellus, was looking for some sign of the marriage of her niece. To this end, she went with her niece to the temple. Spending quite a long time there, the weary girl asked her aunt to let her sit in her place for a while. Aunt replied: “I will gladly give you my place”. Cecilia could not have known that she had foretold the future with her words, because she herself died soon after, and Metellus married her niece.
Consul Quintus Petilius Spurinus during his war in Lig