Latin — 1533, repaired
Prima quaeque auspicia in opere cuiusque initio accipienda sunt: ut si vestem tuam in initio operis a soricibus corrosam senseris, desine ab inceptis; si egrediens offenderis in limine, aut in via impegeris pede, contine iter; si quid mali ominis in principio negotii tui tibi occurrerit, differ inchoata, ne vel tota intentio frustretur, aut inutiliter compleatur: sed expecta donec omine meliore fausta agendis arripias hora.
Videmus animalia permulta ex vi quadam ipsis a natura insita, prodigiosa atque fatidica: nonne galli cantu horas sollertissime indicant, et aliis aptis in leone, sugit; aves complures cantu et garritu, muscae acri picturae pluviam pronunciant; et delphines crebris supra aquas saltibus tempestates praecurrunt. Longum esset retexere omnia praesagia, quae ex avibus et animalibus didicere Phrygii, Cilices, Arabes, Umbri, Tusci, et alii populi, qui auguria secuti sunt, quae per illos multis experimentis et exemplis comprobata sunt. In omnibus namque sunt abscondita futuri oracula: maxima autem quaeque tibi aves ominosae praenuntiabunt. Hae sunt quas ex hominibus in aves conversas esse referunt poetae.
Itaque cum cornix loquatur, diligenter auscultato, situmque eius, sedentis aut volantis, a dextris an a sinistris, loquax an clamosa an silens, praecedat an sequatur, transeuntisve expectet adventum, an fugiat, quo se recipiat, omnia diligenter attende. Dicit Orus Apollo in hieroglyphicis: Geminae cornices nuptias significant: quoniam hoc animal duo ova parit, ex quibus marem et feminam generari oportet; si autem, quod rarissime evenit, duo mares generentur, aut duae feminae, iugatae mares cum feminis alteri cornici non admiscentur, itidem neque feminae alteri mari, sed dissociatae solae degunt. Ideo unicae cornici occurrentes augurantur futurum, ut vidualis vita sibi vivendum sit. Idem etiam portendit columba nigra: haec enim post maris interitum semper sola degit.
Corvos autem non minore diligentia observabis; hos namque rebus maioribus praeferri, et cornici praeiudicare dicunt: et sensit Epictetus Stoicus philosophus et gravis autor, si cui corvus adversum crocitaret, vel corpori vel fortunae, vel honori, vel uxori, aut natis adversa portendere. Deinde cygnos, qui aquarum secreta praenoscunt, considerabis; eorum namque hilaritas non modo nautis, sed quibusque praeterea peregrinantibus felices praesagiunt eventus, nisi fortioris superentur superventu, utputa aquilae, quae potentissima imperii sui maiestate omnium avium fidem, si contra loquatur, evacuat: cunctis siquidem avibus altius volat, profundiusque perspicit, et ab ipsius Iovis arcano nuntia excluditur; altitudinem et victoriam, sed per sanguinem portendit: quia non aquam, sed sanguinem bibit. Locrensibus adversus Crotonienses dimicantibus, aquila supervolans contulit victoriam. Hieroni, ad prima belli egredienti, aquila ex improviso residens in clypeo, regem illum futurum praenuntiavit. Nascente Alexandro Macedone, duae aquilae tota die supra domum sedentes, omen duplicis imperii Asiae et Europae ei portenderunt. Eadem Lucio Tarquinio Prisco, Demarati Corinthii filio, ob seditionem domo profugo, et in Hetruriam profecto Romamque petenti, pileum auferens ac alte volans rursum capiti reponens, Romanorum regnum illi portendit.
Iam vero et vultures significant difficultatem, duritiem, et rapacitatem, quod in origine urbis condendae experientia verificatum est: futurae quoque stragis loca ostendunt septem diebus praevenientes; et quoniam in eam partem respiciunt, in qua altera pars inferior futura est, tanquam inhiantes occisorum maiori numero, ideo solebant antiqui reges speculatores mittere, qui renuntiarent, quam in partem versi respicerent vultures.
Phoenix autem [†Austrii, sense unclear — possibly a corrupted adjective or place-name] singularis felicitatis successum pollicetur, qua visa nova Roma melioribus maiorum auspiciis condita est. Pellicanus, quia filiorum causa periclitatur, significat hominem amicitiae suae pietati subiturum discrimen. Pi[c]a avis Pictavorum urbi nomen dedit, ac gentis lenitatem colore et voce praefiguravit. Ardea rerum arduarum auspicium est. Ciconia, concordiae avis, concordiam facit.
Grues, a gruere antiquo verbo, quasi congruere dicti, semper adferunt quod expedit, atque inimicorum insidias cavere faciunt. Cucupha gratitudinem indicat, solet enim haec parentibus senio confectis gratiam referre; contra hippopotamus paricida, ingratitudinem meritorum et iniustitiam nuntiat. Origis avis invidiosissima, invidiam significat. Iam laetitia ex minoribus avibus: Pica animal loquax, hospites nuntiat; albanellus praetervolans, si a sinistris ad dextram fertur, hospitis hilaritatem [portendit]; si contrario [se fert], contrarium indicat. Stryx avis semper mugiens, infausta est, et etiam noctua: quae quia noctu ex improviso aggreditur pullos, quemadmodum mors de improviso supervenit, ideo mortem praenuntiare dicitur; nonnunquam tamen, quia noctis tenebris non caecatur, hominis diligentiam et vigilantiam significat, quod residens in Hieronis hasta comprobavit.
Bubone vero Dido dum misceret Aeneae infaustum sensum, inde cecinit Poeta: "Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo / saepe queri, et longas in fletum ducere voces" (verse, summarized — see flag). Et alibi: "Ignavus bubo, dirum mortalibus omen" (verse, summarized — see flag). Idem in Capitolio cecinit, quum res Romana apud Numantiam inferior fuit, atque quum Fregellae ob facta in Romanos coniuratione sunt dirutae. Inquit Almadel, bubones et nycticoraces cum ad insolitas regiones mansionesque divertunt, iudicio esse earundem regionum et aedium homines morituros, propterea quod aves illae delectantur cadaveribus, eaque praesentiunt: morituri autem homines iam in potestate cadavera sunt.
Sed et de accipitre litis nuntio canit Naso: "Odimus accipitrem, quia vivit semper in armis" (verse, summarized — see flag). Laelius Pompei legatus in Hispania inter pabulatores occiditur; id fatum accipiter supra caput volitans sibi praenuntiasse dicitur. Et inquit Almadel, quod eiusdem speciei aves inter se pugnantes regni mutationem significant; si vero speciei diversae contra se in vicem bellum gerant, et quam plurimum non visae conveniant, novam regionis illius fortunam portendunt.
Minutulae etiam aves, adventu vel recessu suo familiam augeri vel minui portendunt; earum vero volatus quanto serenior, tanto laudabilior. Unde Melampus augur, ex aviculae volatu Graecorum stragem coniecit, quando ait: "Videmus ut nulla serenos ales agit cursus" (verse, summarized — see flag). Hirundines, quoniam moribundis pullis latebras parant, patrimonium amplum vel a mortuis legatum portendunt. Vespertilio fugienti occurrens evasionem significat: nam ipsa, licet pennas non habeat, tamen evolat. Passer autem fugienti malis maximis est, ipse enim accipitrem fugiens ad noctuam percurrit, apud quam aeque periclitatur: tamen in amoribus boni auspicii est, siquidem libidine concitus, septies in hora coit. Apes regibus bona omina sunt, nam populi obsequentem monstrant; muscae vero importunitatem et impudentiam significant, quia abactae continuo nihilominus redeunt.
Aves etiam domesticae auguriorum non sunt expertes; nam galli cantu suo spem et iter inchoantis promovent. Quin et Tiberio nascituro praegnans Livia mater ovum gallinae subductum eo usque sinu suo fovit, donec gallus insigniter cristatus exclusus est: unde augures interpretati sunt nasciturum puerum fore regnaturum. Et scribit Cicero apud Thebaidam gallos gallinaceos cantu, dictos noctibus Boeotiis, adversus Lacedaemones praesagisse victoriam: quod augures ita interpretati sunt, quoniam avis illa victa silet, canit autem si vicerit.
Simili ratione etiam ab aliis animalibus et bestiis, eventuum omina capiuntur; nam occursus mustelae ominosus est. Leporis occursus itinerantibus timendus est, nisi capta ceperit. Mulus quoque infensus est, quia sterilis est. Porcus vero perniciosus, talis est enim eius natura, ideo perniciosos homines significat. Equus iurgii et pugnae rationem habet: unde apud Vergilium, visis equis albis, exclamat Anchises: "Bellum, o terra hospita, portas; / bello armantur equi, bella haec armenta minantur" (verse, summarized — see flag). Tamen quando curru iuncti occurrunt, quia concordi iugo trahunt, pacem significant sperandam.
Asinus inutilis est: profuit tamen Mario, qui cum a Marsis hostis patriae pronuntiatus, vidit asinum oblatum pabulum spernentem, ad aquam properantem, quo augurio ostensam sibi salutis viam ratus, auxiliarem amicorum turbam oravit, hoc unum auxilii genus exhiberent, et se ad mare conducerent; quo impetrato, parvae superimpositus carinae Syllae victoris manus evasit: utcunque tamen asellus in augurio occurrat, semper laborem, patientiam, impedimenta significat.
Lupus vero obvius bonus nuntius est, cuius efficacia visa est in Hierone Siculo, cui lupus in litterario ludo tabulam eripiens successum regni firmavit, tamen eius, quem antea viderat, vocem praecludit. P. Africano et C. Fulvio Coss., Minturnis lupus vigilem laniavit, quando Romanus exercitus in Sicilia a fugitivis superatur. Quin et perfidos significant, et malae fidei homines: quod notum est in Romuli progenie; nam fides quam matre lupa olim suxerunt, et sibi invicem ab initio servaverint, velut lege quadam naturae, manavit ad posteros.
Leoni occurrere, cum sit hoc animal inter caetera fortissimum, omnibus terrorem incutiens, bonum est; sed leaenam mulieri occurrere malum est, quia conceptui impedit, nam leaena non patitur secundario. Ovibus et capris occursare bonum est. Legitur quoque in Ostentario Tuscorum, si hoc animal insolito colore fuerit indutum, portendi imperatori rerum omnium cum felicitate largitatem: unde Vergilius ad Pollionem canit: "Ipse sed in pratis aries iam suave rubenti / murice, iam croceo mutabit vellera luto" (verse, summarized — see flag).
Bonum etiam est occurrere bobus triturantibus, sed melius arantibus, qui etsi viam rumpentes iter tardant, moram tamen hanc hospitii gratia compensant. Canis in itinere faustus est, quod Cyrus expositus in silvis a cane ad regnum enutritus est; quem et angelus, Tobiae socius, non est aspernatus comite. Castor, quia venatoribus testiculos suos demordens abiectos relinquit, mali ominis est, et homini sibi ipsi damnum illaturum portendit. Iamque etiam ex minutis animalibus mures damna significant: quae cum in Capitolio aurum rosissent, omnium eodem die ambo consules iuxta Tarentum insidiis ab Hannibale intercepti sunt.
Locusta, quasi loco stare facta, aut loca urens, vota praepedit, et mali ominis est: contra cicadae iter promovent, et bonum rerum nuntiant eventum. Aranea a superioribus filum ducens, spem venturae pecuniae nuntiare dicitur. Similiter et formicae, quia norunt sibi providere, et tutas parare latebras, ideo securitatem et divitias portendunt, multitudinisque exercitum significant. Hinc cum Tiberii Caesaris mansuefactum draconem formicae devorassent, responsum fuit ut caveret multitudinis tumultum.
Si tibi occurrat anguis, cave a maledico inimico: nam hoc animal nullo alio membro pollet, quam ore. Anguis in regiam irrepens, Tarquinio casum suum augurata est. Duo angues in lecto Sempronii Gracchi reperti sunt, dictum ab haruspice, si marem aut feminam emitteret, aut sibi aut uxori brevi moriendum: ille uxoris vitam suae praeferens, occiso mare, feminam emisit, paucisque post diebus vita excessit. Sic vipera mulieres pravas scelestasque filios significat, et anguilla hominem significat omnibus infensum: haec enim seorsim ab aliis piscibus degit, nec iuncta cum aliis invenitur.
Inter omnia autem auspicia et omina, hominis nullum efficacius est, nullum potentius, nullum quod evidentius veritatem exponat: eius igitur occurrentis conditionem, aetatem, sexum, professionem, situm, gestum, motum, exercitium, complexionem, habitum, nomen, verba, sermonem, omnia diligenter notabis, et requires: nam cum caeteris animalibus tam multa insint praesagiorum lumina, non dubium est haec multo efficaciora clarioraque humanae animae esse infusa, quod et Tullius ipse testatur, inquiens humanis animis naturaliter quoddam auspicium inesse suae aeternitatis, ad omnes rerum series, et causas cognoscendas.
In fundamentis Romanae urbis, caput hominis integra facie repertum, magnitudinem imperii praesagivit, et monti Capitolii nomen indidit. Brutiani milites contra Octavium et M. Antonium praeliaturi, in castrorum porta Aethiopem offenderunt: quem licet ut adversae rei augurium illico trucidarent, tamen infeliciter pugnatum est, atque Brutus et Cassius ambo duces interiere. Ipse etiam Aethiopum occursus vulgo ominosus habetur, magis autem si matutinus fuerit: quia id hominum genus plurimum e mortuario, veluti vultures, ex morticiniis victitat.
Close translation
The first auspices of any kind are to be taken at the beginning of any undertaking: so that if you perceive your garment gnawed by shrew-mice at the start of a work, desist from what you have begun; if going out you stumble on the threshold, or strike your foot in the road, hold back from the journey; if anything of ill omen meets you at the outset of your business, put off what has been begun, lest either the whole intention be frustrated, or be completed to no purpose: but wait until, under a better omen, you seize a propitious hour for doing the thing.
We see very many animals, by a certain power implanted in them by nature, to be prodigious and fate-telling: does not the cockerel most cleverly mark the hours by his crowing, and [†passage obscure — sense of 'aliis aptis in leone, sugit' uncertain, see flag]; do not many birds by song and chatter, flies by their sharp biting, foretell rain; and do not dolphins by frequent leaps above the water run before storms? It would be a long task to unfold all the presages that the Phrygians, Cilicians, Arabians, Umbrians, Etruscans, and other peoples who have followed auguries have learned from birds and animals, which have been confirmed among them by many experiments and examples. For in all things are hidden oracles of the future: but the greatest of all, birds of ill omen will announce to you. These are the ones the poets relate to have been men once turned into birds.
And so when a crow speaks, listen carefully, and note its position — sitting or flying, on the right or on the left, whether chattering, clamorous, or silent, whether it goes before or follows, whether it awaits the arrival of one passing, or flees, and whither it betakes itself: attend to all of this diligently. Horus Apollo says in the hieroglyphics: twin crows signify a marriage, since this creature lays two eggs, from which a male and a female must be produced; but if, which very rarely happens, two males are produced, or two females, the males, once paired, do not mix with the females of another crow-pair, likewise neither do the females with another male, but, separated, they live alone. Therefore those who meet a single crow forecast that a widowed life is to be lived by them. The black dove portends the same thing: for she, after the death of her mate, always lives alone thereafter.
Crows, moreover, you will observe with no less diligence; for these, they say, are preferred in greater matters, and take precedence over the crow: and Epictetus the Stoic philosopher, a grave authority, held that if a raven croaked against anyone, it portended adversity to body, or fortune, or honor, or wife, or children. Next you will consider swans, which foreknow the secrets of the waters; for their gladness portends happy outcomes not only to sailors but also to travelers besides, unless they are overcome by the onset of a stronger bird, as for instance the eagle, which by the most powerful majesty of its rule empties the credit of all other birds if it speaks against them: for it flies higher than all birds, and sees more deeply, and is the secret messenger excluded [i.e., admitted] from Jove's own counsel; it portends loftiness and victory, but by blood: because it drinks not water, but blood. When the Locrians fought against the Crotoniates, an eagle flying overhead brought them victory. To Hiero, going out to his first battle, an eagle, unexpectedly settling on his shield, foretold that he would be king. At the birth of Alexander of Macedon, two eagles, sitting the whole day above the house, portended to him the omen of a double empire, of Asia and of Europe. The same to Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, son of Demaratus of Corinth, when, having fled his home on account of sedition, and having set out for Etruria and being bound for Rome, an eagle, taking away his cap and, flying high, replacing it again on his head, portended to him the kingdom of the Romans.
Now vultures, too, signify difficulty, hardness, and rapacity, which was verified by experience at the founding of the city: they also show the places of a future slaughter, arriving seven days beforehand; and since they look toward that part in which the lower [weaker] side is to be defeated, as though gaping after the greater number of the slain, therefore the ancient kings used to send out scouts, to report toward which part the vultures turned to look.
The Phoenix, moreover, [†obscure — 'Austrii', unclear whether corrupted adjective or proper name] promises the successful outcome of unique felicity, at the sight of which new Rome was founded under better auspices than her elders'. The pelican, because it endangers itself for the sake of its young, signifies that a man will undergo a crisis for the sake of loyalty to his friendship. The magpie [†species uncertain, see flag] gave its name to the city of the Pictavi, and prefigured the gentleness of that people by its color and voice. The heron is an auspice of arduous matters. The stork, the bird of concord, brings about concord.
Cranes, from the old verb 'gruere,' as if named from 'congruere' (to agree together), always bring what is expedient, and cause one to beware the ambushes of enemies. The hoopoe [†species uncertain, see flag] indicates gratitude, for it is accustomed to repay thanks to its parents worn out by old age; the hippopotamus, by contrast, a parent-killer, announces ingratitude for merits and injustice. The oriole [†species uncertain, see flag], a most envious bird, signifies envy. Now for gladness from lesser birds: the magpie, a talkative creature, announces guests; the hen-harrier [†species uncertain, see flag], flying past, if it is borne from the left to the right, [portends] the host's gladness; if the contrary [direction], it indicates the contrary. The screech-owl, a bird always moaning, is inauspicious, and so too the little owl: which, because at night it unexpectedly attacks the chicks, just as death comes on unexpectedly, is therefore said to foretell death; sometimes, however, because it is not blinded by the darkness of night, it signifies a man's diligence and watchfulness, which it proved by perching on Hiero's spear.
By the horned owl [bubo], moreover, while Dido was mixing an ill-omened feeling into Aeneas, the Poet accordingly sang: "Alone on the rooftops, with funereal song, the horned owl often complains, and draws out long notes into weeping" (verse, summarized — see flag). And elsewhere: "the cowardly horned owl, a dire omen to mortals" (verse, summarized — see flag). The same bird sang on the Capitol, when the Roman cause fared worse at Numantia, and when Fregellae was razed on account of a conspiracy against the Romans. Almadel says that when horned owls and night-ravens turn aside to unaccustomed regions and dwellings, it is a sign that the men of those same regions and houses are about to die, because those birds delight in corpses, and foresense this: for men about to die are, so to speak, already corpses in [the bird's] power.
But of the hawk, too, as a messenger of strife, Naso sings: "We hate the hawk, because it always lives in arms" (verse, summarized — see flag). Laelius, Pompey's legate, was killed in Spain among the foragers; this fate a hawk, flying above his head, is said to have foretold to him. And Almadel says that birds of the same species fighting among themselves signify a change of kingdom; but if birds of different species wage war against each other in turn, and, having never before been seen, come together in very great number, they portend a new fortune for that region.
Even the smallest birds, by their coming or going, portend that a household will be increased or diminished; and the calmer their flight, the more praiseworthy. Whence Melampus the augur, from the flight of a little bird, guessed the slaughter of the Greeks, when he says: "We see how no bird pursues a calm course" (verse, summarized — see flag). Swallows, since they prepare hiding-places for their dying chicks, portend an ample inheritance, or a legacy from the dead. A bat, meeting one who flees, signifies escape: for she, though she has no feathers, nevertheless flies. But the sparrow is a very great evil to one fleeing, for it, fleeing the hawk, runs for refuge to the little owl, with whom it is equally endangered: yet in matters of love it is of good omen, since, roused by lust, it copulates seven times an hour. Bees are good omens for kings, for they show a compliant people; but flies signify importunity and shamelessness, because, though driven off, they nonetheless return at once.
Domestic birds too are not without a share in auguries; for the cockerel by his crowing furthers the hope and the journey of one setting out. Indeed, when Tiberius was about to be born, his pregnant mother Livia kept a hen's egg taken from beneath the hen warm in her own bosom, until a remarkably crested cock was hatched out: whence the augurs interpreted that the boy about to be born would one day reign. And Cicero writes that, among the Thebans [†sense uncertain — 'apud Thebaidam' likely refers to Boeotia/Thebes, see flag], barnyard cocks, by crowing, said to have been on Boeotian nights, foretold victory against the Lacedaemonians: which the augurs interpreted thus, because that bird is silent when defeated, but crows if it has won.
By similar reasoning, omens of outcomes are also taken from other animals and beasts; for the encounter with a weasel is ominous. The encounter with a hare is to be feared by travelers, unless, once caught, it has been taken. The mule likewise is unfavorable, because it is sterile. The pig, moreover, is pernicious — such indeed is its nature — and therefore signifies pernicious men. The horse has to do with quarrel and battle: whence in Vergil, on seeing white horses, Anchises exclaims: "War, O hospitable land, you bring; for war are these horses armed, these herds threaten wars" (verse, summarized — see flag). Yet when horses meet yoked to a chariot, because they draw in a concordant yoke, they signify that peace is to be hoped for.
The ass is useless: yet it profited Marius, who, when pronounced an enemy of his country by the Marsi, saw an ass, spurning the fodder offered to it, hastening to water, and, thinking that by this augury a way of safety had been shown to him, begged the crowd of his allied friends that they show him this one kind of help, and convey him to the sea; which being granted, he escaped the hands of Sylla the victor, set upon a small boat: however the little ass may occur in augury, it always signifies labor, patience, and hindrances.
But a wolf met on the way is a good messenger, whose efficacy was seen in Hiero of Sicily, for whom a wolf, snatching away his writing-tablet in the schoolroom, confirmed his future success in the kingdom, yet cut off the voice of the one he had previously seen [i.e., of a rival]. In the consulship of P. Africanus and C. Fulvius, at Minturnae a wolf mauled a sentinel, at the time when the Roman army in Sicily was overcome by deserters. Wolves also signify the treacherous, and men of bad faith: which is well known in the offspring of Romulus; for the loyalty which they once sucked from their wolf-mother, and which they preserved toward one another from the beginning, flowed down to their descendants as though by a certain law of nature.
To meet a lion — since this animal is, among all others, the bravest, striking terror into all — is good; but for a woman to meet a lioness is bad, because it hinders conception, for the lioness does not conceive a second time. To meet sheep and goats is good. It is also read in the Etruscan Book of Portents [Ostentarium Tuscorum] that if this animal [the ram] is clothed in an unaccustomed color, it portends to the emperor a bountifulness of all things together with felicity: whence Vergil sings to Pollio: "But the ram himself, in the meadows, will now change his fleece to sweetly-blushing purple, now to saffron-yellow" (verse, summarized — see flag).
It is also good to meet oxen threshing, but better still those plowing, who, even though by breaking up the road they delay one's journey, nonetheless compensate for this delay by the favor of their company. A dog on a journey is auspicious, since Cyrus, exposed in the woods, was nourished to kingship by a dog; whom also the angel, Tobias's companion, did not disdain as a fellow traveler. The beaver, because, biting off his own testicles, he leaves them cast away for hunters, is of ill omen, and portends that a man will bring loss upon himself. And now, from the smallest animals: mice signify losses; for when they had gnawed gold in the Capitol, both consuls, on the same day, were intercepted near Tarentum by an ambush of Hannibal's.
The locust, as though made to stand still in place, or as one that scorches places, hinders vows [prayers/undertakings], and is of ill omen: cicadas, by contrast, further one's journey, and announce a good outcome of affairs. The spider, drawing its thread from above, is said to announce the hope of coming money. Likewise also ants, because they know how to provide for themselves, and to prepare safe hiding-places, therefore portend security and riches, and signify a multitude of an army. Hence when ants devoured a tamed serpent [dragon] belonging to Tiberius Caesar, the answer given was that he should beware the tumult of the multitude.
If a snake crosses your path, beware a slanderous enemy: for this animal is powerful in no other limb than its mouth. A snake creeping into the palace foretold to Tarquin his own downfall. Two snakes were found in the bed of Sempronius Gracchus, and it was said by the haruspex that, if he released the male or the female, either he himself or his wife must soon die: he, preferring his wife's life to his own, killed the male and released the female, and within a few days departed this life. So the viper signifies depraved women and wicked sons, and the eel signifies a man hostile to all: for this fish lives apart from other fish, and is not found joined together with others.
But among all auspices and omens, none is more effective than man, none more powerful, none that sets forth the truth more evidently: you will therefore diligently note and inquire into the condition, age, sex, occupation, position, gesture, movement, activity, complexion, bearing, name, words, and speech of the one you encounter, and all else: for since so many lights of presage are present even in other animals, there is no doubt that these are infused into the human soul far more effectively and clearly, which Tully himself also attests, saying that in human minds there is naturally a certain auspice of their own eternity, for the knowing of all the sequences and causes of things.
In the foundations of the city of Rome, a human head found with the face whole foretold the greatness of the empire, and gave the Capitoline hill its name. Brutus's soldiers, about to do battle against Octavius and Mark Antony, encountered an Ethiopian at the gate of the camp: whom, although they at once slaughtered as an augury of an adverse outcome, nonetheless the battle was fought unsuccessfully, and both commanders, Brutus and Cassius, perished. The encounter with Ethiopians itself is commonly held to be ominous, but especially so if it occurs in the morning: because that race of men lives for the most part off the mortuary, like vultures, feeding on corpses.
Modern rendering
The first omens of any undertaking should be read at its very start: if you notice your clothing gnawed by mice as you begin a job, drop it; if you stumble on the threshold going out, or stub your foot on the road, hold off traveling; if anything ill-omened crosses your path at the start of a venture, postpone what you've begun, so the whole effort isn't wasted or completed for nothing — wait instead for a better omen and seize a favorable hour.
Many animals, by a power nature built into them, are prophetic and fate-telling: doesn't the rooster mark the hours by crowing more cleverly than anyone, and [†obscure passage in the source, sense uncertain — see flag]; don't many birds forecast rain by their song and chatter, flies by their sharp bite, and don't dolphins, by leaping repeatedly above the water, run ahead of storms? It would take too long to list every omen that the Phrygians, Cilicians, Arabs, Umbrians, Etruscans, and other peoples who practiced augury learned from birds and animals — confirmed among them by many trials and examples. Hidden oracles of the future lie in everything, but the biggest ones come to you through birds of ill omen. These are the same birds the poets say were once human beings, transformed.
So when a crow calls, listen closely — note whether it's perched or flying, on your right or left, whether it's chattering, screeching, or silent, whether it goes ahead of you or follows, whether it waits for a passerby to arrive or flees, and where it goes. Watch all of it carefully. Horapollo says in his Hieroglyphics that a pair of crows signifies a marriage, since the bird lays two eggs that must produce one male and one female; but if, very rarely, two males or two females hatch, the males, once paired, won't mix with the females of another pair, and likewise the females won't mix with another male — instead they separate and live alone. So anyone who meets a single crow can expect to live a widowed life. A black dove means the same: after her mate dies she lives alone from then on.
Watch ravens just as closely — they're said to outrank the crow and take precedence in bigger matters. Epictetus the Stoic, a serious authority, held that a raven croaking against someone foretold trouble for the body, fortune, reputation, wife, or children. Next, consider swans, which know the secrets of the water: their cheerfulness forecasts good outcomes not just for sailors but for travelers generally — unless overridden by a stronger bird, such as the eagle, which by its supreme authority cancels out every other bird's credibility if it says otherwise. The eagle flies higher and sees farther than any other bird, and is the secret messenger let into Jupiter's own councils; it signifies loftiness and victory, but through blood, since it drinks blood rather than water. When the Locrians fought the Crotoniates, an eagle flying overhead gave them the win. As Hiero went out to his first battle, an eagle unexpectedly landed on his shield and foretold he would be king. When Alexander of Macedon was born, two eagles sat above the house all day, foretelling his rule over both Asia and Europe. The same happened for Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, son of Demaratus of Corinth: fleeing home over political unrest and heading for Etruria and then Rome, an eagle snatched his cap, flew high, and set it back on his head — a sign he would become king of Rome.
Vultures signify hardship, harshness, and greed — proven true at Rome's own founding. They also show up seven days ahead of a coming slaughter, at the site of it, and since they watch the side that's about to lose, as if already hungry for the greater number of dead, ancient kings used to send scouts to report which way the vultures were looking.
The phoenix [†obscure — a word in the source, 'Austrii,' is unclear, possibly corrupted; see flag] promises unique good fortune — the new Rome was founded under better omens than her predecessors after one was sighted. The pelican, because it risks itself for its young, signifies that someone will risk everything out of loyalty to a friendship. The magpie [†species uncertain, see flag] gave its name to the city of Poitiers, and its color and voice prefigured that people's gentle nature. The heron is an omen of hard undertakings. The stork, the bird of harmony, brings harmony.
Cranes — named, as if from the old verb for "agreeing together" — always bring useful news, and help you watch for enemies' traps. The hoopoe [†species uncertain, see flag] signals gratitude, since it repays its aging parents' care; the hippopotamus, by contrast, which kills its own parent, signals ingratitude and injustice. The oriole [†species uncertain, see flag], a deeply envious bird, signals envy. As for cheerful news from smaller birds: the magpie, a chatterer, announces guests; the hen-harrier [†species uncertain, see flag], flying past from left to right, means a happy household for the host; the reverse direction means the opposite. The screech-owl, always moaning, is unlucky, and so is the little owl — because it attacks chicks at night without warning, the way death arrives without warning, it's said to foretell death; but sometimes, because darkness doesn't blind it, it instead signals a person's alertness and vigilance, as proved when one perched on Hiero's spear.
As for the horned owl: when Dido was falling into her ill-fated feelings for Aeneas, the poet wrote of it (verse, summarized — see flag: a lone owl on the rooftops crying a funeral song). And elsewhere: the cowardly owl is a dire omen to mortals (verse, summarized — see flag). The same bird cried out on the Capitol when Rome's cause faltered at Numantia, and when Fregellae was destroyed for conspiring against Rome. Almadel says that when horned owls and night-ravens turn up in places they don't usually frequent, it's a sign the people of that place are going to die — because those birds feed on corpses and sense death coming; the dying are, in effect, already corpses within the bird's reach.
On the hawk as a messenger of conflict, Ovid writes (verse, summarized — see flag: we hate the hawk because it lives always armed for war). Laelius, Pompey's officer, was killed in Spain among his foragers; a hawk flying over his head is said to have foretold this to him. Almadel adds that birds of the same species fighting each other signal a change of government, while birds of different species warring with one another, especially species never seen together before that suddenly congregate in large numbers, signal a new turn of fortune for that region.
Even the smallest birds signal, by arriving or leaving, that a household will grow or shrink — and the calmer their flight, the better the sign. The augur Melampus predicted the slaughter of the Greeks from a small bird's flight, saying: no bird flies a calm course here (verse, summarized — see flag). Swallows, because they build hiding places for their dying young, signal a large inheritance or a bequest from the dead. A bat crossing the path of someone fleeing signals escape, since she flies despite having no real feathers. But a sparrow is very bad news for someone fleeing, since in fleeing a hawk it runs for cover to an owl, where it's just as much in danger — though in matters of love it's a good sign, since aroused by lust it mates seven times an hour. Bees are a good omen for rulers, since they show a compliant people; flies signal rudeness and shamelessness, because no matter how often you drive them off, they come right back.
Even farmyard birds carry omens: the rooster's crowing encourages hope and speeds a traveler's journey. When Tiberius was still unborn, his pregnant mother Livia kept a hen's egg warm against her own body until a strikingly crested rooster hatched from it — the augurs read this as meaning her son would one day be emperor. And Cicero writes that in Boeotia [†"apud Thebaidam" — likely Thebes/Boeotia, sense uncertain, see flag] barnyard roosters crowing at night foretold victory over the Spartans, which the augurs explained this way: the bird stays silent when beaten, but crows when it has won.
On the same principle, omens are drawn from other animals too. Meeting a weasel is a bad sign. Meeting a hare is something travelers should fear, unless it is then caught. A mule is likewise unlucky, being sterile. A pig is harmful — that's simply its nature — so it signals harmful people. The horse signals conflict and battle: in Vergil, seeing white horses, Anchises cries out (verse, summarized — see flag: this land brings war; these horses are armed for war, these herds threaten war). Yet when horses appear yoked to a chariot, pulling together in harness, they signal that peace can be hoped for.
The donkey is useless — yet it once helped Marius: declared an enemy of the state by the Marsi, he saw a donkey turn down the food offered it and rush instead toward water; reading this as a sign pointing him toward safety, he asked his allies for exactly this one kind of help — passage to the sea. Granted it, he escaped the forces of the victorious Sulla aboard a small boat. Still, whenever a donkey shows up as an omen, it generally signals hard work, patience, and obstacles.
A wolf crossing your path, though, is good news — proven with Hiero of Sicily, for whom a wolf snatched a writing tablet in the schoolroom and confirmed his coming success as ruler, while silencing a rival he'd seen earlier. Under the consuls P. Africanus and C. Fulvius, a wolf mauled a sentry at Minturnae at the very moment the Roman army in Sicily was being overrun by deserters. Wolves also signal treachery and bad faith — well known from Romulus's own line: the loyalty his people once nursed from their wolf-mother, and kept among themselves from the start, passed down to their descendants as if by a law of nature.
Meeting a lion is good, since among all animals it is the bravest and strikes fear into everyone; but a woman meeting a lioness is bad luck, since it prevents conception — a lioness cannot conceive a second time. Meeting sheep or goats is good. The Etruscan Book of Portents also says that if this animal [the ram] appears in an unusual color, it signals abundance and good fortune for the ruler — hence Vergil writes to Pollio (verse, summarized — see flag: the ram itself will dye its fleece purple or saffron in the meadows).
It's also good to meet oxen threshing grain, and even better to meet them plowing — though they slow your journey by tearing up the road, they make up for the delay with good company. A dog on the road is lucky, since Cyrus, abandoned in the woods, was raised to kingship by a dog, and the angel who traveled with Tobias didn't turn down a dog as a companion either. The beaver, which bites off its own testicles and abandons them to hunters, is a bad omen, signaling that a person will bring harm on themselves. Even tiny animals carry meaning: mice signal loss — when mice gnawed gold in the Capitol, both consuls were ambushed and killed by Hannibal near Tarentum on the same day.
The locust, as though rooted in place or scorching the ground, blocks plans and is a bad sign; cicadas, on the other hand, speed a journey along and signal a good outcome. A spider spinning its thread from above is said to signal money on the way. Ants likewise, because they know how to plan ahead and build safe shelters, signal security and wealth, and represent a large army. That's why, when ants ate a tamed pet snake belonging to Tiberius Caesar, the interpretation given was that he should watch out for unrest among the masses.
If a snake crosses your path, watch out for a slanderous enemy — this creature's only real weapon is its mouth. A snake creeping into the palace foretold Tarquin's own downfall. Two snakes were found in Tiberius Gracchus's bed [Sempronius Gracchus], and the soothsayer said that whichever one he released, male or female, either he or his wife would soon die; he chose his wife's life over his own, killed the male, released the female, and died within days. In the same way, a viper signals wicked women and depraved sons, and an eel signals someone hostile to everyone, since it lives apart from other fish and is never found among them.
Of all omens, though, none is more powerful or clearer than a human being. So note everything carefully about anyone you meet: their condition, age, sex, occupation, posture, gesture, movement, activity, temperament, bearing, name, words, and speech. Since so many signs of the future exist even in animals, there's no doubt these are present far more strongly and clearly in the human soul — as Cicero himself attests, saying that human minds naturally carry a kind of foreknowledge of their own eternity, letting them grasp the whole sequence and causes of things.
When Rome's foundations were being dug, a human head found intact, face whole, foretold the empire's future greatness, and gave the Capitoline hill its name. Brutus's soldiers, about to fight Octavian and Mark Antony, met an Ethiopian man at the camp gate; though they killed him on the spot as a bad omen, the battle still went badly, and both commanders, Brutus and Cassius, died. Meeting an Ethiopian is commonly held to be an ill omen generally, and especially so in the morning, since that people was believed to live largely off the dead, like vultures feeding on corpses.
Editorial flags — draft status
- uncertain: 'aliis aptis lconc sugat' — the clause following the rooster-crowing sentence does not resolve into confident Latin; translated with an explicit lacuna marker rather than invented sense.
- uncertain: Species name 'Cucupha' (rendered as hoopoe) — OCR/period-spelling uncertain, not confidently matched to a standard Latin zoological term.
- uncertain: Species name 'Origis avis' (rendered as oriole) — identity genuinely uncertain, possibly a Greek-derived or corrupted name; needs page-image check.
- uncertain: Species name 'albanellus' (rendered as hen-harrier) — plausible but not confidently identified bird name.
- uncertain: 'Pica avis Pietavoru[m]' — the bird-name element 'Pica'/'Pi[c]sta' is OCR-uncertain even though the city-name payoff (Pictavi/Poitiers) is confident.
- uncertain: 'Au0trii' describing the phoenix — genuinely unrecoverable OCR form, kept bracketed as [†Austrii] per anti-hallucination rule 1.
- uncertain: 'apud Thebaidam' in the Cicero/rooster-crowing/Boeotia anecdote — place-name form is ambiguous between 'Thebes' and a possible corruption; translation glosses as Thebes/Boeotia but this is not certain.
- verse: Multiple verse quotations throughout (Vergil's Dido/owl lines, 'Ignavus bubo...', Ovid's 'Odimus accipitrem...', Melampus's line, Anchises on the white horses, Vergil to Pollio on the ram) — OCR of verse is unreliable per spec rule 2; all summarized in prose in close/modern rather than reconstructed or versified, Latin kept as OCR-derived running text.
- list: This entire chapter is effectively a long correspondence-list (animal → omen meaning) in the spirit of spec rule 3; every species identification not already flagged individually above should still be treated as needing verification against page images, since OCR damage is pervasive throughout (~2-4% per spec, likely higher in this particular chapter given proper-name and rare-word density).