Haruspices

[Favonius Cornelius]

With Ursus and his thread on the Etruscans, I felt that it would be appropriate to also speak of of the haruspices, which were a somewhat unofficial part of the Roman state cult and yet were tied to the official augurs and can be said to have been the predecessor to the augur.

 

The Etruscan civilization was a deeply religious one, and a fundamental part of of their religion was divination, the determination of the will or thoughts of the gods through a worldly medium. The most popular method of divination by the haruspex was that of inspection of entrails, though they also watched the world for a variety of other signs such as the flights of birds. Distinct areas of an animal's liver (usually a goat or some other small animal) related to different aspects of a particular point of question, and the condition of these areas could reveal the favor or disfavor of a thing. One great archaeological find was this haruspex stone which outlined the various areas important to divination, giving us a priceless glimpse into the exact formulae behind the rites. The haruspices were a college of their own much like the pontiffs or augurs of Rome, but outside the state cult, who's numbers were restricted to 60 across the known world.

 

Eturia, homeland of the Etruscans, was located north of Rome. After Rome's expansion into all of Italy, Etruria became of great value to students of religion in Rome. Sons of important families who were destined by hereditary right to assume the position of augur would study in Etruscan cities such as Caere with the local haruspices and learn from them the proper methods of divination. Though they played such an obviously important role in Rome's religion, the haruspices as a group were not formally recognized as a part of the Roman state cult until the time of Emperor Claudius. Perhaps this could be seena as a power play by the Republican Rome, afraid to give such power to a people at one time dominant over Rome. The relation however between the haruspices and the augurs, like so many other aspects of early Rome, clearly shows the imprint of Etruscan influence. In times when the Sibylline books and inherited religious knowledge did not offer the proper course of action for a given situation, the haruspices were consulted, almost a nod to the patronal origins of Roman religion.

 

Haruspices were often popular with individuals who could not use the state functions of religion to satisfy their need to know the will of the gods, and were consulted frequently. Sometimes their influence was too much for some leaders of state and their freedom was curbed or their reputation soiled as with Cato the Elder. Their influence lived on, and indeed it is said that the soothsayer who warned of Caesar's demise on the Ides of March was none other than a haruspex.

Edited November 14, 2005 by Favonius Cornelius

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

So the soothsayer was a haruspex. I always imagined the soothsayer as some lowly deformed plebeian. Now, I have a new image.

[Pantagathus]

I've always gotten the impression from different texts that the Haruspices were highly esteemed whether official or not.

 

It is clear from anecdotes in Livy especially that they were summoned from Erturia to all parts of Roman territory to make judgements on particular omens.

[Favonius Cornelius]

I've always gotten the impression from different texts that the Haruspices were highly esteemed whether official or not.

 

It is clear from anecdotes in Livy especially that they were summoned from Erturia to all parts of Roman territory to make judgements on particular omens.

 

We know that Cato the Elder and Cicero spoke ill of them, and during various times during the imperial period some emperors made attempts to control the influence of 'fortune tellers and astrologers.' These fortune tellers and astrologers are indeed a seperate breed of diviners, but during those times I would not be suprised if also the haruspices suffered some negative.

 

On the whole I agree, they were indeed respected, but I think there were elements in Rome which did not like their influence, most probably augurs and other high ranking members of the Roman aristocracy. (For example with Cato, a man who scorned anything outside of Roman culture, and Cicero a proud augur!)