As I wrote last Thursday, the Roman and Greek deities were not the sort of benevolent, all-knowing and omnipotent beings which people worship in this day and age. They were super-powered jerks who treated humanity like contemptible ants, unless they wanted something from one of us. If you read through The Illiad, it becomes apparent that the Greeks, and by extension, the Romans, believed in gods that delighted in solving conflicts with each other by using us, whether it was creating a massive war, transforming someone into an animal, or holding an arbitrary contest and making one of us the judge (RIP Paris). So, besides continual sacrifice and donation to local temples, how would you avoid the anger of these gods? Better yet, how would you determine the gods' moods in the first place? After all, if Neptune, the god of the ocean, is angry about something, it's probably a good time to keep your boats in dock for awhile and sell your exports locally. But if he's in a good mood, then ship it quick! What you'd need is a diviner of spirits, which you could find in temples throughout the Mediterranean who employed a variety of techniques. Let's look at two kinds: Haruspices and Augurs.
Haruspices specialized in the liver and entrails. No, they didn't measure for iron content or alcohol concentration, but would carefully observe the livers of freshly slain animals, typically a hare or sheep, and discover from its coloration and appearance just what the gods were up to. This practice actually dates back to the Babylonian Empire circa 1500's BCE. It spread throughout the Middle East, eventually reaching up to Asia Minor, where the Etruscans lived. They later migrated to Italy and ruled over it for awhile, bringing the practice with them. This bronze liver map was discovered in 1877 in Piacenza, Italy, and is known as the Piacenza Liver:
As you can see, various parts of the liver have been labeled to give the Haruspex a better idea of how to interpret the organ. The most frequent clients of Haruspices were Roman nobility who would want to know if their ventures would be successful, and whether they should proceed with their plans. There are many recorded cases of plans being called off because of a bad liver, and likewise several cautionary tales of people who disregarded bad signs.
Marcus Claudius Marcellus (268-208BCE) was quite the successful Roman politician during his time, and was elected Consul for the fifth and final time in 208. Two years later, he was chasing Hannibal Barca's army throughout Italy, hoping to drive the Carthaginians back across the sea. One day, he and 220 horsemen were going to scout a nearby hill in the hopes of making a camp there, taking the highest ground in the vicinity and thus securing themselves from the enemy. The story goes that he was making a sacrifice that morning, and the Haruspex was thrown into a fit of horror to see that both of the animals' livers were seriously deformed and misshapen. Marcellus laughed it off and went on his recon trip regardless, only to meet with an ambush on the hill in which he and all his men were killed.
Augurs were birdwatchers who could interpret the actions of birds and determine the course of action that people should follow. They were employed mostly in the field with armies, divination being a huge part of ancient warfare. Many armies would stay or march depending on what the birds around them did, but since birds tend to flee from areas where large groups of men are traveling, I doubt they slowed them up too much.
Josephus relates a humorous story of Mosollom, a Jewish soldier marching with Alexander the Great's army. He was a brave and skilled horse archer, and apparently not very superstitious. An Augur was holding up the army because he was observing a bird and claimed that how it took to flight would tell them whether they should move on or go back to their camp. Mosollom promptly drew an arrow and killed the bird, which riled up his companions and the Augur. He replied, “Why are you so mad as to take this most unhappy bird into your hands? For how can this bird give us any true information concerning our march, who could not foresee how to save himself? For had he been able to foreknow what was future, he would not have come to this place, but would have been afraid lest Mosollam the Jew should shoot at him, and kill him." Zing!
While sacrificing to the gods helped to avoid their wrath, divination was considered a good way of knowing what was on their minds. The ancient worldview was much different than ours, especially when it comes to the spirit world. They believed that there were two parallel and codependent universes: ours and the world of the gods. Neither universe was self-contained, and what happened in one would happen in the other, to a certain degree. If an army whose leader belongs to the cult of Apollo defeats and army that follows Diana, the ancients believed that this meant Apollo and Diana were having some kind of feud which Apollo had won, at least for now. Likewise, if a Haruspex kills a rabbit and discovers something odd about its liver, it is because the gods' plan in the spirit world is revealed through this animal's organs.
A likely practical origin of animal divination is when a dog barks shortly before an earthquake or storm. Though it may be coincidental, the ancient peoples believed firmly in the predictive behaviors and entrails of animals. It seems likely that the law of averages is at work here, combined with anecdotal evidence like the death of Marcellus. Some of my friends believe that when a friend or acquaintance dies, two more people they know will die because people die in 3's. The next time someone tells me this, I just might accuse them of divination.
Pax vobiscum
No comments:
Post a Comment