The Auspices Prevail

Abstract

AbstractAlthough attacks on augural rulings still occurred in 217 bc, the catastrophe at Lake Trasumene and the disaster at Cannae in 216 combined to effectively render further public questioning of the auspices politically indefensible. The appointment of a Dictator in both years, as well as back in 249, should be seen as a response not merely to a military disaster but to a perceived rupture in the peace with the gods (pax deorum) caused by violations of the auspices and other religious rules. When in 215 M. Claudius Marcellus in his second consulship was found vitio creatus by the Augurs, he abdicated without delay and complaint, thus publicly demonstrating support for the rule of auspices. (As in 223, modern claims of augural manipulation run counter to the evidence.) Fabius Maximus in his actions as Consul in 215 and 209 further reinforced acceptance of the practice. Scattered instances of indifference to auspices are found in the second century bc, but no outright challenge. The augural finding in 162 that both Consuls were elected under flawed auspices (vitio creati) prompted their immediate abdication, without resistance. Instead, in the second and first century the debate over the efficacy and desirability of auspices shifted from the realm of practical politics to that of historiography and philosophical discourse.