-
Augury
- University of Georgia Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
13 Augury. Divination by omens, in particular the behavior of birds, an art known to Roman priests and others in the ancient world. Especially meaningful were birds in flight,4 a swerve to the left or right, and their cackles and caws, and the pecking patterns of certain sacred chickens, and entrails were read. The priests, the augurs, did not predict the future in a general way, but interpreted signs that told the fate of a specific course of action, which, Romans being Romans, was usually a military or political one. It would not serve to go against the gods, and a blessing or warning could be gleaned by those who watched with care for an ominous eagle. 4 “For a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter” (Eccles. 10:20). ...