Book 1, Chapter 18
Original Latin
34 Iis igitur adsentior, qui duo genera divinationum esse dixerunt, unum, quod particeps esset artis, alterum, quod arte careret. Est enim ars in iis, qui novas res coniectura persequuntur, veteres observatione didicerunt. Carent autem arte ii, qui non ratione aut coniectura observatis ac notatis signis, sed concitatione quadam animi aut soluto liberoque motu futura praesentiunt, quod et somniantibus saepe contingit et non numquam vaticinantibus per furorem, ut Bacis Boeotius, ut Epimenides Cres, ut Sibylla Erythraea. Cuius generis oracla etiam habenda sunt, non ea, quae aequatis sortibus ducuntur, sed illa, quae instinctu divino adflatuque funduntur; etsi ipsa sors contemnenda non est, si [et] auctoritatem habet vetustatis, ut eae sunt sortes, quas e terra editas accepimus; quae tamen ductae ut in rem apte cadant, fieri credo posse divinitus. Quorum omnium interpretes, ut grammatici poëtarum, proxime ad eorum, quos interpretantur, divinationem videntur accedere.
35 Quae est igitur ista calliditas res vetustate robustas calumniando velle pervertere? Non reperio causam. Latet fortasse obscuritate involuta naturae; non enim me deus ista scire, sed his tantum modo uti voluit. Utar igitur nec adducar aut in extis totam Etruriam delirare aut eandem gentem in fulgoribus errare aut fallaciter portenta interpretari, cum terrae saepe fremitus, saepe mugitus, saepe motus multa nostrae rei publicae, multa ceteris civitatibus gravia et vera praedixerint.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the Latin in separate source-only tasks and reviewed throughout against it. Both books, all 130 chapters and 282 numbered sections; no historical English translation used. Latin transcription credited to the Perseus Project under CC BY-SA 4.0, Müller’s 1915 Teubner edition.
34 “I agree, then, with those who have said that there are two kinds of divination, one involving art, the other without it. Art belongs to those who pursue new cases by inference, having learned the old through observation. Those without art foresee the future not by reasoning or inference from observed and recorded signs, but through an excitation of the mind, or its unrestrained and liberated motion. This often happens to dreamers and sometimes to those who prophesy in frenzy, such as Bacis of Boeotia, Epimenides of Crete, and the Erythraean Sibyl. Oracles too belong in this category—not those drawn from lots duly shuffled, but those poured forth through divine impulse and inspiration. Yet lots themselves are not to be despised if they carry the authority of antiquity, as do those we are told emerged from the earth. I believe divine power can bring it about that a lot drawn fits the matter at hand. The interpreters of all these revelations, like scholars interpreting poets, seem to come very close to the divinatory power of those they interpret.
35 “What cleverness is this, then, that seeks to overthrow, by caviling, things strengthened by antiquity? I cannot discover the cause. Perhaps it lies hidden, wrapped in nature’s darkness: the god wished me not to know these things, but only to use them. Use them I will, and I will not be persuaded that all Etruria is mad about entrails, or that this same people goes astray about lightning, or falsely interprets portents. The earth’s rumblings, bellowings, and tremors have often foretold grave events truly, both for our republic and for many other states.
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation, made independently and directly from the Latin, never from the Musean edition. Both books and every numbered section; a separate Latin-source model review covered the entire text. No human specialist review is claimed.
34 “So I agree with those who say there are two kinds of divination: one that involves learned skill and one that does not. There is skill in those who use inference to investigate new cases, after learning about old ones by observation. But there is no learned skill in those who sense the future, not by reasoning or by drawing conclusions from signs they have observed and recorded, but through some excitement of the mind, or through its free and unrestrained movement. This often happens to people dreaming, and sometimes to people prophesying in a frenzy, like Bacis of Boeotia, Epimenides of Crete, and the Sibyl of Erythrae. Oracles belong to this kind too: not those drawn by lots made alike, but those poured out through divine impulse and inspiration. Yet lots themselves should not be looked down on if they have the authority of age, like those we are told came out of the earth. I believe divine power can make the lots, when drawn, fit the case exactly. The interpreters of all these things seem to come close to the divining power of those they interpret, just as scholars do to the poets they explain.
35 “What sort of cleverness is it, then, to try to undermine things firmly established by age through quibbling? ‘I cannot find the cause.’ Perhaps it lies hidden, wrapped in nature's darkness. The god did not want me to understand these things, only to use them. So I will use them. I will not be persuaded that all Etruria is crazy about sacrificial organs, or that this same people is mistaken about lightning, or interprets portents falsely. After all, rumblings, groanings, and movements of the earth have often truly predicted many serious events for our state and for other communities.
About this section
Book 1, Chapter 18 is part of On Divination by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 18 of 130 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
Open the work page for the full contents, every edition, and the download links, or go back to Explore to browse other complete works in the Roman tradition. The reader keeps your place when you are signed in and lets you compare the original with each translation, one edition at a time.