Book 1, Chapter 47

105 “Why should I speak of augurs? That is your part: yours, I insist, should be the defense of the auspices. When you were consul, the augur Appius Claudius reported to you, after a doubtful augury for the state's safety, that a grim and turbulent civil war would arise. It broke out a few months later, and you crushed it in even fewer days. I strongly agree with that augur: alone within the memory of many years, he preserved the discipline not of chanting augural formulas but of divination. Your colleagues mocked him, calling him now a Pisidian, now a Soran augur. They thought augury contained neither foreknowledge nor any true understanding of the future; in their wisdom, they said that religious observances had been invented to sway the ignorant. That is far from the truth. Neither those shepherds whom Romulus led nor Romulus himself could have possessed the cunning to fabricate the semblance of religion in order to deceive the multitude. But the difficulty and labor of learning have made their negligence eloquent: they would rather argue that auspices mean nothing than learn what they mean.

106 “What could be more divine than the auspice in your Marius? Let me choose you above all as my authority:

‘Here suddenly the winged attendant of high-thundering Jupiter,Wounded by a serpent's bite, rises from a tree trunk,Herself transfixing in her savage talons the snake,Half-dead, its mottled neck still writhing heavily.She tears it as it writhes and bloodies it with her beak,Until her spirit sated, her bitter pain avenged,She casts it out, gasping, and dashes it mangled into the water,Then turns from the setting sun toward its radiant rising.Her, gliding in flight on her swift wings,Marius beheld, interpreter of the divine will;And as he marked the happy signs of his own glory and return,The Father himself thundered from the left quarter of the sky.So Jupiter confirmed the eagle's glorious omen.’

105 “Why should I speak about augurs? That is your role. It is you, I say, who ought to speak for the auspices. During your consulship you received a report from Appius Claudius the augur: the augury for the people's safety had given a doubtful result, and that there would be a grim and turbulent conflict at home. It broke out a few months later, and you put it down in even fewer days. I strongly agree with that augur. He was the only man in many years who kept hold of the discipline of divination, instead of merely chanting the formulas of augury. Your colleagues mocked him, calling him sometimes a Pisidian, sometimes an augur from Sora. They thought augury contained no foreknowledge or understanding of the future. In their wisdom, they said religious practices had been invented to influence the beliefs of the ignorant. That is completely wrong. Neither the shepherds Romulus led nor Romulus himself could have been cunning enough to invent sham religious observances to deceive the crowd. But the difficulty and effort of learning have produced an eloquent defense of neglect. They prefer to declare the auspices worthless instead of doing the work of learning their meaning.

106 “Where could we find a more divine bird sign than the one in your Marius? I would rather use you yourself as my authority:

“‘Here suddenly the winged attendant of Jupiter, whose thunder sounds on high,Rises from a tree trunk, wounded by a snake's bite,Herself piercing the snake with her fierce claws.Half alive, it moves its mottled neck with difficulty.As it twists about, she tears it and bloodies it with her beak.Now her anger is satisfied, now her bitter pain avenged.She drops it as it breathes its last, hurling its torn body into the water,And turns from the sunset toward the bright sunrise.Seeing her flying on swift wings and gliding,Marius, who read the will of heaven,Recognized happy signs of his own glory and return.The Father himself thundered from the left side of the sky.So Jupiter confirmed the eagle's clear omen.’