Book 2, Chapter 38
Original Latin
80 Omitte igitur lituum Romuli, quem in maximo incendio negas potuisse comburi; contemne cotem Atti Navii. Nihil debet esse in philosophia commenticiis fabellis loci; illud erat philosophi potius, totius augurii primum naturam ipsam videre, deinde inventionem, deinde constantiam. Quae est igitur natura, quae volucris huc et illuc passim vagantis efficiat ut significent aliquid et tum vetent agere, tum iubeant aut cantu aut volatu? cur autem aliis a laeva, aliis a dextra datum est avibus ut ratum auspicium facere possint? Quo modo autem haec aut quando aut a quibus inventa dicemus? Etrusci tamen habent exaratum puerum auctorem disciplinae suae; nos quem? Attumne Navium? At aliquot annis antiquior Romulus et Remus, ambo augures, ut accepimus. An Pisidarum aut Cilicum aut Phrygum ista inventa dicemus? Placet igitur humanitatis expertis habere divinitatis auctores?
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.
80 “Set aside, then, Romulus’s augural staff, which you say could not be burned even in a tremendous fire; dismiss Attus Navius’s whetstone. Invented fables should have no place in philosophy. A philosopher should instead have examined, first, the very nature of the whole practice of augury, then its discovery, then its consistency. What natural power makes birds wandering at random here and there signify anything, now forbidding action and now commanding it by their song or flight? Why were some birds empowered to make an auspice valid from the left, others from the right? How, when, and by whom shall we say these things were discovered? The Etruscans, at least, have a boy plowed up from the earth as the founder of their discipline. Whom have we? Attus Navius? But Romulus and Remus lived some years earlier, both augurs, as we are told. Or shall we call these discoveries Pisidian, Cilician, or Phrygian? Are we content, then, to take as our authorities on the divine people untouched by civilization?
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.
80 “So leave out Romulus' curved augur's staff, which you say could not be burned in a huge fire. Disregard Attus Navius' whetstone. Philosophy has no room for invented tales. The more philosophical approach was to ask first what augury itself is, next how it began, and then whether it is consistent. So what natural force makes birds flying here and there at random indicate anything? How do their calls or flights sometimes forbid action and sometimes order it? Why were some birds assigned the power to confirm an auspice on the left, but others on the right? And what account can we give of who discovered these practices, at what time, and by what means? The Etruscans, at any rate, trace their teaching to a boy turned up by a plow. Whom do we have? Attus Navius? But Romulus and Remus lived quite a few years earlier, and both were augurs, as we have been told. Or shall we call these discoveries the work of Pisidians, Cilicians, or Phrygians? So we are happy to get our knowledge of the gods from people without civilized culture?
About this section
Book 2, Chapter 38 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 96 of 130 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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