The flight and song of birds in Roman auspices

The word auspice very probably derives from avis, bird, and specere, to look. The name itself therefore recalls the origin of the practice: the observation of birds. For the Romans birds were natural messengers between sky and earth, and their behaviour, observed within a bounded space and at an appointed moment, could reveal whether the gods approved of an undertaking.

Alites and oscines

The augurs distinguished two broad categories. The alites were birds that gave signs by their flight: the eagle, bird of Jupiter, and the vulture were the most important. The oscines instead gave signs by their voice: among them were the raven, the crow and the owl. Some species, such as the woodpecker, sacred to Mars, had a special place in the doctrine and often appear in the stories of Rome's origins.

Direction mattered too. A raven croaking on the right or a crow on the left could make an auspice valid, and Cicero, in De divinatione, cites precisely this example to show how subtle, and in his view arbitrary, the augural rules were. The sources also mention the parra, a bird that cannot be identified with certainty, whose call was considered ill-omened and could advise the interruption of an action.

Signs sought and signs offered

Auspices were also divided according to the way they presented themselves. Those called impetrativa were signs that had been requested: the magistrate, usually before dawn and in silence, watched the sky waiting for an answer. Those called oblativa were unrequested signs that appeared spontaneously. To the latter the magistrate could choose to give weight or not, and his choice itself had ritual value.

For the observation to be valid, silentium was required, that is, the absence of any disturbance. Any interruption, a sudden noise or a falling object, could make the auspice void. This meticulous attention to form was not an oddity: it reflected the idea, widespread throughout Roman religion, that the relationship with the gods was an agreement to be carried out without error.

From rite to formality

Over time the observation of wild birds became increasingly rare. Cicero already complains that the magistrates of his day took the auspices hastily, often contenting themselves with the sacred chickens or a mere formal announcement. He himself, although an augur, admitted that the ancient science of birds had largely been lost through the negligence of the nobility.

This does not mean that the auspices had lost their importance. They remained indispensable for the validity of public acts, but their value was by then mainly legal and civic. Cicero himself argued that they should be preserved for the benefit of the Republic and out of regard for popular opinion, even though their ability to reveal the divine will seemed doubtful to him.

Yet the image of the augur scanning the sky remained alive in Latin culture. The birds of Jupiter continued to appear on the standards of the legions, and the eagle became the very symbol of Roman power. Language still preserves an echo of this practice: the Italian word for wishing someone well, augurare, unknowingly repeats a term tied to the ancient art of the augurs.