The Augers of Ancient Rome
This week, while surfing the couch and working through my post root canal pain, I finally discovered Rome, the HBO series. I am rather shocked at myself that it took me so long to finally watch – being both a Classical Studies major and a fan of HBO, one would think I would have rented season 1 sooner.
One of the things that fascinates me about all ancient cultures is their belief in superstition and magic. However, I should point out that our modern culture is certainly full of it as well, although I suspect that we shroud it slightly behind centuries of religious tradition. Before monotheistic faith became prevalent, the world was full of esoteric secrets, beliefs and practices – both fascinating and profane.
In ancient Rome, the augur was a member of the Roman “priestly” class, tasked with interpreting divine purpose or plan from the songs and flight patterns of birds[*] – known as the taking of the auspices. Looking at this practice from the year 2009, it seems… ridiculous. But I ask myself: is it any more “ridiculous” than anything else? The fact is, in the year 2009, we still have a massive proliferation of beliefs, practices, ideas, and visions that sustain themselves from well over 2000 years ago – and a great deal of the world finds something in them worth believing. At a very base level, I would think that making decisions based on the flight pattern of birds would be similar to making decisions based on the use of dowsing rods…
Once again, I find myself circled back to my new favourite quote (and yes, I am quoting myself): “I believe in the possibility of everything, and the probability of nothing.”
[*] – Also by examining the entrails of birds or other animals for omens
May 15th, 2009 at 12:50 am
The heart of political and commercial life in ancient Rome, the Foro Romano still has several important archeological artifacts that have survived to this day. There are ruins of several temples as well as arches constructed by various emperors to celebrate triumphs