Book 2, Chapter 12
Original Latin
28 Ut ordiar ab haruspicina, quam ego rei publicae causa communisque religionis colendam censeo. Sed soli sumus; licet verum exquirere sine invidia, mihi praesertim de plerisque dubitanti. Inspiciamus, si placet, exta primum. Persuaderi igitur cuiquam potest ea, quae significari dicuntur extis, cognita esse ab haruspicibus observatione diuturna? Quam diuturna ista fuit? aut quam longinquo tempore observari potuit? aut quo modo est conlatum inter ipsos, quae pars inimica, quae pars familiaris esset, quod fissum periculum, quod commodum aliquod ostenderet? An haec inter se haruspices Etrusci, Elii, Aegyptii, Poeni contulerunt? At id, praeterquam quod fieri non potuit, ne fingi quidem potest; alios enim alio more videmus exta interpretari, nec esse unam omnium disciplinam.
29 Et certe, si est in extis aliqua vis, quae declaret futura, necesse est eam aut cum rerum natura esse coniunctam aut conformari quodam modo numine deorum vique divina. Cum rerum natura tanta tamque praeclara in omnes partes motusque diffusa quid habere potest commune non dicam gallinaceum fel (sunt enim, qui vel argutissima haec exta esse dicant), sed tauri opimi iecur aut cor aut pulmo quid habet naturale, quod declarare possit, quid futurum sit?
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.
28 “Let me begin with haruspicy, which I think should be maintained for the sake of the republic and our shared religion. But we are alone; we may search for truth without provoking ill will, especially I, who doubt so much. Let us first examine entrails, if you please. Can anyone be persuaded that the haruspices learned by long observation the things entrails are said to signify? How long was that observation? Over what span of time could it have been made? How did they compare their findings to establish which part was hostile and which favorable, which fissure pointed to danger and which to some advantage? Did Etruscan, Elean, Egyptian, and Carthaginian haruspices exchange these observations? Apart from being impossible, it is scarcely even conceivable: we see different peoples interpreting entrails in different ways, with no single discipline common to all.
29 “And certainly, if entrails possess some power to reveal the future, that power must either be bound up with the nature of things or be somehow shaped by the will and divine force of the gods. What can the nature of things, so vast and splendid, extending through every region and movement, have in common—I will not say with a chicken's gall, although some call these the most revealing entrails of all—but with the liver, heart, or lung of a fattened bull? What natural property do these possess that can reveal what is going to happen?
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.
28 “Let me begin with the practice of the haruspices. I think we should maintain it for the sake of the state and our common religion. But we are alone. We can search for the truth without causing offense, especially since I doubt most things. Let us look first at internal organs, if you agree. Can anyone be persuaded that the haruspices learned through long observation what these organs are said to signify? How long did that observation last? Across how many years could they have watched? How did they work together to establish which part stood for the enemy and which for themselves, or which split warned of danger and which promised a benefit? Did Etruscan, Elean, Egyptian, and Carthaginian haruspices compare their results? Not only could that not have happened; it cannot even be imagined. We see different peoples interpret internal organs differently. There is no single system shared by all.
29 “If these organs really can disclose future events, there are only two possibilities: nature is linked to that power, or the gods’ will and divine force somehow give it its shape. What can such a vast and splendid natural world, extending through every region and movement, have in common with a chicken’s gallbladder? Some people even say these organs give the clearest signs. But never mind a chicken: what natural quality does a fat bull’s liver, heart, or lung have that could reveal what will happen?
About this section
Book 2, Chapter 12 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 70 of 130 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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