Book 2, Chapter 35

73 “Can an auspice so forced and wrung out contain anything divine? That the earliest augurs did not use it is shown by an ancient decree of our college, which states that any bird can give the tripudium. Then it would be an auspice if the bird revealed itself—provided it were free to do so. Then that bird might seem Jupiter's interpreter and attendant. But now, caged and starved, it rushes at a lump of porridge, and if something drops from its mouth, do you think this an auspice, or imagine Romulus used to take auspices in this way?

74 “And do you not think that those taking the auspices used to watch the sky themselves? Now they give orders to the chicken-keeper, and he makes the report. We regard a thunderbolt on the left as the best auspice for everything except assemblies. This exception was established for political reasons, so that the state's leading men should have authority to interpret the conditions for assemblies, whether for trials before the people, the passage of laws, or the election of magistrates. ‘But on receipt of Tiberius Gracchus's letter, the consuls Scipio and Figulus resigned their office when the augurs ruled that their election was flawed.’ Who denies that augury has a discipline? I deny its power of divination. ‘But the haruspices are diviners. When Tiberius Gracchus brought them into the Senate because of the sudden death of the man who collapsed while reporting the vote of the first voting century, they said the officer conducting the vote was not duly appointed.’

75 “First consider whether they meant the man who had been polling the century: he was the one who died, and they could have said that by conjecture without divination. Next, perhaps they spoke by chance, which can never be excluded from this kind of matter. What could Etruscan haruspices know about the proper taking of an augur's observation post or the law of the city's sacred boundary? I agree with Gaius Marcellus rather than Appius Claudius—both were my colleagues—and think that although augural law was originally established through belief in divination, it was afterward preserved and maintained for the republic's sake.

73 “Can an auspice so forced and squeezed out have anything divine in it? We have evidence that the earliest augurs did not use it: an old decree of the college says that any bird can produce the food-dropping sign. It would then be an auspice if a bird showed itself—provided it was free to do so. Then that bird might seem Jupiter’s interpreter and attendant. But now, if a bird shut in a cage and half dead from hunger rushes at a lump of porridge, and something falls from its beak, do you think that is an auspice? Or that Romulus used to take auspices that way?

74 “Surely in the past those seeking auspices kept their own watch on the sky? Today the chicken keeper gets the order, and they get his report. Except at assemblies, no sign ranks higher with us than lightning on the left. That exception was established for political reasons, so the leading men of the state could interpret the signs for assemblies, whether the people were acting as a court, passing laws, or choosing magistrates. ‘But after Tiberius Gracchus wrote to them and the augurs judged their election faulty, the consuls Scipio and Figulus resigned their offices.’ Who denies that augurs have a system of rules? I deny divination. ‘But haruspices are diviners. When the man announcing the first century’s vote suddenly collapsed and died, Tiberius Gracchus took the haruspices before the senate. They said the officer taking the vote had not been lawfully authorized.’

75 “First, consider whether they meant the officer who had taken the century’s vote. He was the man who had died. They could have inferred that without divination. Second, perhaps they spoke by chance, which must never be ruled out in this kind of case. What could Etruscan haruspices know about whether an augural tent had been properly placed, or about the law of the city’s sacred boundary? Of my two colleagues, Gaius Marcellus and Appius Claudius, it is Marcellus whose view I share. I think the law of the augurs, though originally established because people believed in divination, was later kept and maintained for the sake of the state.