Chris Mowat, PhD Candidate
My PhD project is about identity construction within ancient divinatory practice. As any student of the ancient world will know, divination was common and varied! The following is a narrative piece in the style of a number of ancient “magical” texts, which use the letter form to create an element of authenticity to their practice. Each month I shall write a new letter to Caesar Augustus, telling him (and you!) of a different divinatory practice. Although this narrative piece is, of course, a fiction, the practice of haruspicy was actually exceedingly common in the ancient world and, in this case, the story of the founding by Tages is recorded by Cicero and Ovid as a (mostly) accepted historical event.
To Caesar Augustus, greetings.
I must apologise for my delay in writing to you. On the original day I had intended, the liver of my sacrifice contained an abnormal head, which warned me of the dangers of my intended plan for the day.
Haruspicy, the practice of divination by close scrutiny of the liver, is a practice I have always found to be viable. If only Julius Caesar had listened to Spurinna, the highest of haruspex in his warnings of the Ides of March, which were based upon this esteemed practice. But sometimes a fate cannot be avoided, no matter the attempts to divert its path.
I hope that you yourself, most August of the Caesars, still keep company with a haruspex or two. With some forms of divination, it is difficult to know the truth of what is spoken by the diviner, and indeed one can never be sure until after the proscribed event has happened. But haruspicy a practice based on the interpretation of signs that all can see, has a long standing tradition within the Senate. Although it does not reveal too much – the gods communicate only basic acceptances or disappointments through livers – it is well attested. If this is not enough to convince you, you should know that the interpretation is an ancient technique, with the skills comes directly from when Tages, who sprung from a clod of Earth within a Tarquinian field, professed the knowledge to the Etruscan people. They wrote this down on the spot, and these words are still preserved for us in the current days of your mighty Empire.
Many honours upon your family, and all of your descendants.
Christopher, son of Alexander greets you.
POLARIS 