AUGURS, in ancient Rome, members of a religious college whose duty it was to observe and interpret the signs (auspices) of approval or disapproval sent by the gods in reference to any proposed undertaking. The augures were originally called auspices, but, while auspex fell into disuse and was replaced by augur, auspiciumn was retained as the scientific term for the observation of signs. Auspex = avi-spex, "observer of birds" ; augur may per haps=avi-gur, from garrire, to chatter (of birds), but is more probably to be referred to a lost verb augo, tell, so that the augur would be one who declares the will of the gods.
The early history of the college is obscure. Its institution has been attributed to Romulus or Numa. It probably consisted originally of three members, of whom the king himself was one. This number was doubled by Tarquinius Priscus, but in 30o B.c. it was only four, two places, according to Livy (x.6), being va cant. The Ogulnian law in the same year increased the number to nine, five plebeian being added to the four patrician members. In the time of Suila the number was 15, which was increased to 16 by Julius Caesar. This number continued in imperial times; the college itself was certainly in existence as late as the 4th century A.D. The office of augur, which was bestowed only upon persons of distinguished merit and was much sought after by reason of its political importance, was held for life. Vacancies were originally filled by co-optation, but by the Domitian law (104) the selection was made, by 17 out of the 35 tribes chosen by lot, from candidates previously nominated by the college. The insignia of office were the lituus, a staff free from knots and bent at the top, and the trabea, a kind of toga with bright scarlet stripes and a purple border.
The science of augury was contained in various written works, including a manual of augural ritual, and a collection of answers given by the college to the senate. The natural region to look to for signs of the will of Jupiter was the sky, where lightning and the flight of birds seemed directed by him as counsel to men. It was the duty of the augur, before the auspices properly so called (those from the sky and from birds) were taken, to mark out with his staff the templum or consecrated space within which his observations were intended to be made. At midnight, when the sky was clear and there was an absence of wind, the augur, in the presence of a magistrate, took up his position on a hill which afforded a wide view. After prayer and sacrifice, he marked out the templum both in the sky and on the ground and dedicated it. Within its limit he then pitched a tent, in which he sat down with covered head, asked the gods for a sign, and waited fcr an answer. As the augur looked south he had the east, the lucky quarter, on his left, and therefore signs on the left side were considered favourable, those on the right unfavourable. The practice was the reverse in Greece ; the observers of signs looked towards the north, so that signs on the right were regarded as the favourable ones, and this is frequently adopted in the Roman poets. The augur afterwards announced the result of his observations in a set form of words, by which the magistrate was bound.
Signs of the will of the gods were of two kinds, either in answer to a request (auspicia impetrativa), or incidental (auspicia obla tiva). Of such signs there were five classes: (I) Signs in the sky (caelestia auspicia), consisting chiefly of thunder and light ning, but not excluding falling stars and other phenomena. Light ning from left to right was favourable, from right to left unfavourable; but on its mere appearance, in either direction, all business in the public assemblies was suspended for the day. Since the person charged to take the auspices for a certain day was constitutionally subject to no other authority who could test the truth or falsehood of his statement that he had observed lightning, this became a favourite device for putting off meetings of the public assembly. Restrictions were, however, imposed in later republican times. When a new consul, praetor or quaestor entered on his first day of office and prayed the gods for good omens, it was a matter of custom to report to him that lightning from the left had been seen. (2) Signs from birds (signa ex avibus), with reference to the direction of their flight, and also to their singing, or uttering other sounds. To the first class, called alites, belonged the eagle and the vulture ; to the second, called oscines, the owl, the crow and the raven. The mere appear ance of certain birds indicated good or ill luck, while others had a reference only to definite persons or events. In matters of ordinary life on which divine counsel was prayed for, it was usual to have recourse to this form of divination. For public affairs it was, by the time of Cicero, superseded by the fictitious observation of lightning. (3) Feeding of birds (auspicia ex tripudiis), which consisted in observing whether a bird—usually a fowl—on grain being thrown before it, let fall a particle from its mouth (tripudiune sollistimum). If it did so, the will of the gods was in favour of the enterprise in question. The simplicity of this ceremony recommended it for very general use, par ticularly in the army when on service. (4) Signs from animals (pedestria auspicia, or ex quadrupedibus), i.e. observation of the course of, or sounds uttered by, quadrupeds and reptiles within a fixed space, corresponding to the observations of the flight of birds, but much less frequently employed. (5) Warnings (signa ex diris), consisting of all unusual phenomena, but chiefly such as boded ill. Such were various noises, the fall of a stick in a temple, the squeak of a mouse, stumbling, sneezing, or the seizure of anyone in the comitia by an epileptic fit (morbus comitialis). Being accidental in their occurrence, they belonged to the auguria oblativa, and their interpretation was rather a matter for the pontifices than for the augurs, when the incident was not already provided for by a rule.
Among the other means of discovering the will of the gods were the casting of lots, oracles of Apollo (in the hands of the college sacris faciundis), but chiefly the examination of the en trails of animals slain for sacrifice (see OMEN) . Anything ab normal found there was brought under the notice of the augurs, but usually the Etruscan haruspices (q.v.) were employed for this. The persons entitled to ask for an expression of the divine will on a public affair were the magistrates. To the highest offices, including all persons of consular and praetorian rank, belonged the right of taking auspicia maxima; to the inferior offices of aedile and quaestor, the auspicia minora; the differ ences between these, however, must have been small. The sub jects for which auspicia publica were always taken were the elec tion of magistrates, their entering on office, the holding of a public assembly to pass decrees, the setting out of an army for war. They could only be taken in Rome itself ; and in case of a commander having to renew his auspicia, he must either return to Rome or select a spot in the foreign country to represent the hearth of that city. The time for observing auspices was, as a rule, between midnight and dawn of the day fixed for any pro posed undertaking. The founding of colonies, the beginning of a battle, the calling together of an army, sittings of the senate, decisions of peace or war, were frequently occasions for taking auspices. The place where the ceremony was performed was not fixed, but selected with a view to the matter in hand. A spot being selected, the official charged to make the observation pitched his tent there some days before. A matter postponed through adverse signs from the gods could on the following or some future day be again brought forward for the auspices. If an error (vitiurn) occurred in the auspices, the augurs could, of their own accord or at the request of the senate, inform them selves of the circumstances, and decree upon it. A consul could refuse to accept their decree while he remained in office, but on retiring he could be prosecuted. Auspicia oblativa referred mostly to the comitia. A magistrate was not bound to take notice of signs reported merely by a private person, but he could not overlook such a report from a brother magistrate. For example, if a quaestor on his entry to office observed lightning and an nounced it to the consul, the latter must delay the public as sembly for the day.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-On the subject generally, see A. Bouche-Leclercq, Bibliography.-On the subject generally, see A. Bouche-Leclercq, Histoire de la divination dans l'antiquite (1879), and his articles, with bibliography, in Daremberg and Saglio's Dictionnaire des antiquites; J. Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung (iii. 1885) ; articles "Aug ures," "Auspicium," in Realencyklopddie (II. pt. ii., 1896) ; G. Wissowa, Religion and Kultus der Romer (1912), and by L. C. Purser (and others) in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (3rd ed., 189o) . (See also DIVINATION, OMEN, ASTROLOGY, etc.)