Haruspex

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A haruspex ( Latin ; plural: haruspices = "seer") was an ancient fortune teller who, as a fulgurator , interpreted lightning and prophesied primarily from the bowels of sacrificial animals . The animal's liver was seen as a microcosm that reflects the state of the world. As a hepatomantie also divination from the liver, performed by a haruspex.

etymology

The word haruspex was formed by the Romans when the expression haru ("entrails") still existed in the Latin language , but which died out before the onset of Latin literary evidence. It is possible that an Etruscan word + haru , which can be translated as “the consecrated” and which took on the meaning “entrails” in Latin, was linked with the verbal root spec- “to look”. Analog was the word auspex ( "bird rain"), which the later period augur mentioned and with the auspices designated dealt cult specialists formed.

history

Bronze liver from Piacenza

Originally, this type of sign interpretation ( Etrusca disciplina ) was native to the Etruscans as a liver show , but the Haruspices were already active in Rome during the royal period . Obviously, prophecy from animal entrails was based on Babylonian models. The attitude of the Romans and the Republic to the haruspices has fluctuated throughout history. Cato considered them a fraud. The prophecies of the Haruspices had to be confirmed temporarily by the Senate . It was only towards the end of the republic that they were combined into a college of 60 members, which was reorganized in 47 by Emperor Claudius . Under Constantine the Great , their rights and especially their questioning by private individuals were largely restricted; under Constantius II , any kind of divination was forbidden, but under Julian it was allowed again for a short time. In the 7th century bans had to be issued against the activities of the Haruspices, who consequently still practiced.

Haruspices did not only exist in Rome, the colonies and municipalities also had their own haruspices, which were usually recruited from the noble and influential members of a community. The same applies to the staffs of the Roman legions and the emperors , who, like Sulla and Caesar , usually had personal haruspices.

Haruspices did not belong to the Roman priesthood, but they could also belong to a college of priests during the imperial period, when there were even freedmen among them. As a rule, however, they were more likely to be priests of non-Roman deities outside Rome. Nevertheless, they played a significant role in the founding of Roman cities and new temples. The Romans even learned the art of limitation from the Haruspices .

When the Goths reached Rome under Alaric in 408 AD, Haruspices offered their help to the Bishop of Rome, Pope Innocent I.

literature

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gertraud Breyer : Etruscan language in Latin excluding the specifically onomastic area. Peeters, Löwen 1993, pp. 352-354.
  2. ↑ H. LeB .: Haruspieces. In: Lexicon of the Old World. Volume 2. Artemis, Zurich / Munich 1990.
  3. ^ Paul Kunitzsch : Science in the Dialogue between Orient and Occident. In: Fachprosaforschung - Grenzüberreitungen 8/9, 2012/2013 (2014), pp. 477-482 (Lecture on the occasion of the opening of the special exhibition "Ex Oriente lux? Paths to Modern Science" of the State Museum of Nature and Man in Oldenburg on October 25, 2009 ), here: p. 478.
  4. ↑ Tacitus : Annales 11:15.
  5. ↑ In Cicero : De divinatione 2.51 the anecdote is stored that Cato is surprised that the Haruspices don't have to laugh when they meet each other.
  6. ↑ Lexicon of the Old World. Volume 2. Artemis, Zurich / Munich 1990.
  7. ↑ Marie Theres Fögen : The expropriation of fortune tellers. Studies on the imperial monopoly of knowledge in late antiquity . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1993. ISBN 3-518-58155-4 , pp. 34-39 (34); with reference to CTh. 9.16.2, a. 319: After that, sacrificial showers, priests and rituals were forbidden to cross the doorsteps of private houses under the pretext of friendship. Instead, the liturgies of (past) customs should be celebrated at public altars and in temples. (Note: This passage is also the first mention of the Haruspices in a law.)
  8. ↑ Zosimos 5:41.