AUCTŌRĬTAS. The technical meanings of this word correlate with those
of auctor. The auctoritas senatus was not a senatus-consultum; it
was a measure, incomplete in itself, which received its completion
by some other authority. Auctoritas, as applied to property, is
equivalent to legal ownership, being a correlation of auctor.
AUDĪTŌRĬUM, as the name implies, is any place for hearing. It was
the practice among the Romans for poets and others to read their
compositions to their friends, who were sometimes called the
auditorium; but the word was also used to express any place in which
any thing was heard, and under the empire it was applied to a court
of justice. Under the republic the place for all judicial proceedings
was the comitium and the forum. But for the sake of shelter and
convenience it became the practice to hold courts in the Basilicae,
which contained halls, which were also called auditoria. It is first
under M. Aurelius that the auditorium principis is mentioned, by
which we must understand a hall or room in the imperial residence;
and in such a hall Septimius Severus and the later emperors held
their regular sittings when they presided as judges. The latest
jurists use the word generally for any place in which justice was
administered.
AUGUR, AUGŬRĬUM; AUSPEX, AUSPĬCĬUM. _Augur_ or _auspex_ meant
a diviner by birds, but came in course of time, like the Greek
οἰωνός, to be applied in a more extended sense: his art was called
_augurium_ or _auspicium_. Plutarch relates that the _augures_ were
originally termed _auspices_. The word _auspex_ was supplanted by
_augur_, but the scientific term for the observation continued on
the contrary to be _auspicium_ and not _augurium_. By Greek writers
on Roman affairs, the augurs are called οἰωνοπόλοι, οἰωνοσκόποι,
οἰωνισταί, οἱ ἐπ’ οἰωνοῖς ἱερεῖς. The belief that the flight of
birds gave some intimation of the will of the gods seems to have
been prevalent among many nations of antiquity, and was common to
the Greeks, as well as the Romans; but it was only among the latter
people that it was reduced to a complete system, governed by fixed
rules, and handed down from generation to generation. In Greece,
the oracles supplanted the birds, and the future was learnt from
Apollo and other gods, rarely from Zeus, who possessed very few
oracles in Greece. The contrary was the case at Rome: it was from
Jupiter that the future was learnt, and the birds were regarded
as his messengers. It must be remarked in general, that the Roman
auspices were essentially of a practical nature; they gave no
information respecting the course of future events, they did not
inform men _what was to happen_, but simply taught them _what they
were to do, or not to do_; they assigned no reason for the decision
of Jupiter--they simply announced, yes or no. The words _augurium_
and _auspicium_ came to be used in course of time to signify the
observation of various kinds of signs. They were divided into five
sorts: _ex caelo_, _ex avibus_, _ex tripudiis_, _ex quadrupedibus_,
_ex diris_. Of these, the last three formed no part of the ancient
auspices.--1. _Ex caelo._ This included the observation of the
various kinds of thunder and lightning, and was regarded as the
most important, _maximum auspicium_. Whenever it was reported by a
person authorised to take the auspices, that Jupiter thundered or
lightened, the comitia could not be held.--2. _Ex avibus._ It was
only a few birds which could give auguries among the Romans. They
were divided into two classes: _Oscines_, those which gave auguries
by singing, or their voice, and _Alites_, those which gave auguries
by their flight. To the former class belonged the raven (_corvus_)
and the crow (_cornix_), the first of these giving a favourable omen
(_auspicium ratum_) when it appeared on the right, the latter, on the
contrary, when it was seen on the left: likewise the owl (_noctua_)
and the hen (_gallina_). To the _aves alites_ belonged first of all
the eagle (_aquila_), which is called pre-eminently the bird of
Jupiter (_Jovis ales_), and next the vulture (_vultur_). Some birds
were included both among the _oscines_ and the _alites_: such were
the _Picus Martius_, and _Feronius_, and the _Parra_. These were the
principal birds consulted in the auspices. When the birds favoured an
undertaking, they were said _addicere_, _admittere_ or _secundare_,
and were then called _addictivae_, _admissivae_, _secundae_, or
_praepetes_: when unfavourable they were said _abdicere_, _arcere_,
_refragari_, &c., and were then called _adversae_ or _alterae_.
The birds which gave unfavourable omens were termed _funebres_,
_inhibitae_, _lugubres_, _malae_, &c., and such auspices were called
_clivia_ and _clamatoria_.--3. _Ex tripudiis._ These auspices were
taken from the feeding of chickens, and were especially employed on
military expeditions. The chickens were kept in a cage, under care of
a person called _pullarius_; and when the auspices were to be taken,
the pullarius opened the cage and threw to the chickens pulse or a
kind of soft cake. If they refused to come out or to eat, or uttered
a cry (_occinerent_), or beat their wings, or flew away, the signs
were considered unfavourable. On the contrary, if they ate greedily,
so that something fell from their mouth and struck the earth, it
was called _tripudium solistimum_ (_tripudium_ quasi _terripavium_,
_solistimum_, from _solum_, according to the ancient writers), and
was held a favourable sign.--4. _Ex quadrupedibus._ Auguries could
also be taken from four-footed animals; but these formed no part of
the original science of the augurs, and were never employed by them
in taking auspices on behalf of the state, or in the exercise of
their art properly so called. They must be looked upon simply as a
mode of private divination. When a fox, a wolf, a horse, a dog, or
any other kind of quadruped ran across a person’s path or appeared in
an unusual place, it formed an augury.--5. _Ex diris_, sc. _signis_.
Under this head was included every kind of augury which does not fall
under any of the four classes mentioned above, such as sneezing,
stumbling, and other accidental things. There was an important
augury of this kind connected with the army, which was called _ex
acuminibus_, that is, the flames appearing at the points of spears or
other weapons. The ordinary manner of taking the auspices, properly
so called (i.e. _ex caelo_ and _ex avibus_), was as follows: The
person who was to take them first marked out with a wand (_lituus_)
a division in the heavens called _templum_ or _tescum_, within which
he intended to make his observations. The station where he was to
take the auspices was also separated by a solemn formula from the
rest of the land, and was likewise called _templum_ or _tescum_.
He then proceeded to pitch a tent in it (_tabernaculum capere_),
and this tent again was also called _templum_, or, more accurately,
_templum minus_. [TEMPLUM.] Within the walls of Rome, or, more
properly speaking, within the pomoerium, there was no occasion to
select a spot and pitch a tent on it, as there was a place on the
Arx on the summit of the Capitoline hill, called _Auguraculum_,
which had been consecrated once for all for this purpose. In like
manner there was in every Roman camp a place called _augurale_, which
answered the same purpose; but on all other occasions a place had to
be consecrated, and a tent to be pitched, as, for instance, in the
Campus Martius, when the comitia centuriata were to be held. The
person who was then taking the auspices waited for the favourable
signs to appear; but it was necessary during this time that there
should be no interruption of any kind whatsoever (_silentium_), and
hence the word _silentium_ was used in a more extended sense to
signify the absence of every thing that was faulty. Every thing, on
the contrary, that rendered the auspices invalid was called _vitium_;
and hence we constantly read in Livy and other writers of _vitio
magistratus creati_, _vitio lex lata_, &c. The watching for the
auspices was called _spectio_ or _servare de coelo_, the declaration
of what was observed _nuntiatio_, or, if they were unfavourable,
_obnuntiatio_. In the latter case, the person who took the auspices
seems usually to have said _alio die_, by which the business in hand,
whether the holding of the _comitia_ or any thing else, was entirely
stopped.--In ancient times no one but a patrician could take the
auspices. Hence the possession of the auspices (_habere auspicia_)
is one of the most distinguished prerogatives of the patricians;
they are said to be _penes patrum_, and are called _auspicia
patrum_. It would further appear that every patrician might take
the auspices; but here a distinction is to be observed between the
_auspicia privata_ and _auspicia publica_. One of the most frequent
occasions on which the _auspicia privata_ were taken, was in case of
a marriage: and this was one great argument used by the patricians
against _connubium_ between themselves and the plebeians, as it
would occasion, they urged, _perturbationem auspiciorum publicorum
privatorumque_. In taking these private auspices, it would appear
that any patrician was employed who knew how to form _templa_ and
was acquainted with the art of augury. The case, however, was very
different with respect to the _auspicia publica_, generally called
_auspicia_ simply, or those which concerned the state. The latter
could only be taken by the persons who represented the state, and who
acted as mediators between the gods and the state; for though all the
patricians were eligible for taking the auspices, yet it was only the
magistrates who were in actual possession of them. In case, however,
there was no patrician magistrate, the auspices became vested in the
whole body of the patricians (_auspicia ad patres redeunt_), who had
recourse to an _interregnum_ for the renewal of them, and for handing
them over in a perfect state to the new magistrates: hence we find
the expressions _repetere de integro auspicia_, and _renovare per
interregnum auspicia_.--The distinction between the duties of the
magistrates and the augurs in taking the auspices is one of the
most difficult points connected with this subject, but perhaps a
satisfactory solution of these difficulties may be found by taking
an historical view of the question. We are told not only that the
kings were in possession of the auspices, but that they themselves
were acquainted with the art and practised it. Romulus is stated to
have appointed three augurs, but only as his assistants in taking
the auspices, a fact which it is important to bear in mind. Their
dignity gradually increased in consequence of their being employed
at the inauguration of the kings, and also in consequence of their
becoming the preservers and depositaries of the science of augury.
Formed into a collegium, they handed down to their successors the
various rules of the science, while the kings, and subsequently the
magistrates of the republic, were liable to change. Their duties thus
became two-fold, to assist the magistrates in taking up auspices,
and to preserve a scientific knowledge of the art. As the augurs
were therefore merely the assistants of the magistrates, they could
not take the auspices without the latter, though the magistrates on
the contrary could dispense with their assistance. At the same time
it must be borne in mind, that as the augurs were the interpreters
of the science, they possessed the right of declaring whether the
auspices were valid or invalid. They thus possessed in reality a
veto upon every important public transaction; and they frequently
exercised this power as a political engine to vitiate the election
of such parties as were unfavourable to the enclusive privileges of
the patricians. But although the augurs could declare that there was
some fault in the auspices, yet, on the other hand, they could not,
by virtue of their office, declare that any unfavourable sign had
appeared to them, since it was not to them that the auspices were
sent. Thus we are told that the augurs did not possess the _spectio_.
This _spectio_ was of two kinds, one more extensive and the other
more limited. In the one case the person who exercised it could put a
stop to the proceedings of any other magistrate by his obnuntiatio:
this was called _spectio et nuntiatio_ (perhaps also _spectio cum
nuntiatione_), and belonged only to the highest magistrates, the
consuls, dictators, interreges, and, with some modifications, to
the praetors. In the other case, the person who took the auspices
only exercised the _spectio_ in reference to the duties of his own
office, and could not interfere with any other magistrate: this
was called _spectio sine nuntiatione_, and belonged to the other
magistrates, the censors, aediles, and quaestors. Now as the augurs
did not possess the auspices, they consequently could not possess
the spectio (_habere spectionem_); but as the augurs were constantly
employed by the magistrates to take the auspices, they _exercised_
the spectio, though they did not _possess_ it in virtue of their
office. When they were employed by the magistrates in taking the
auspices, they possessed the right of the _nuntiatio_, and thus had
the power, by the declaration of unfavourable signs (_obnuntiatio_),
to put a stop to all important public transactions.--The auspices
were not conferred upon the magistrates in any special manner. It
was the act of their election which made them the recipients of the
auspices, since the comitia, in which they were appointed to their
office, were held _auspicato_, and consequently their appointment
was regarded as ratified by the gods. The auspices, therefore,
passed immediately into their hands upon the abdication of their
predecessors in office.--The auspices belonging to the different
magistrates were divided into two classes, called _auspicia maxima_
or _majora_ and _minora_. The former, which belonged originally to
the kings, passed over to the consuls, censors, and praetors, and
likewise to the extraordinary magistrates, the dictators, interreges,
and consular tribunes. The quaestors and the curule aediles, on the
contrary, had only the _auspicia minora_.--It was a common opinion in
antiquity that a college of three augurs was appointed by Romulus,
answering to the number of the early tribes, the Ramnes, Tities,
and Lucerenses, but the accounts vary respecting their origin and
number. At the passing of the Ogulnian law (B.C. 300) the augurs were
four in number. This law increased the number of pontiffs to eight,
by the addition of four plebeians, and that of the augurs to nine
by the addition of five plebeians. The number of nine augurs lasted
down to the dictatorship of Sulla, who increased them to fifteen,
a multiple of the original three, probably with a reference to the
early tribes. A sixteenth was added by Julius Caesar after his
return from Egypt. The members of the college of augurs possessed
the right of self-election (_cooptatio_) until B.C. 103, the year
of the Domitian law. By this law it was enacted that vacancies in
the priestly colleges should be filled up by the votes of a minority
of the tribes, _i.e._ seventeen out of thirty-five chosen by lot.
The Domitian law was repealed by Sulla B.C. 81, but again restored
B.C. 63, during the consulship of Cicero, by the tribune T. Annius
Labienus, with the support of Caesar. It was a second time abrogated
by Antony B.C. 44; whether again restored by Hirtius and Pansa in
their general annulment of the acts of Antony, seems uncertain.
The emperors possessed the right of electing augurs at pleasure.
The augurs were elected for life, and even if capitally convicted,
never lost their sacred character. When a vacancy occurred, the
candidate was nominated by two of the elder members of the college,
the electors were sworn, and the new member was then solemnly
inaugurated. On such occasion there was always a splendid banquet
given, at which all the augurs were expected to be present. The only
distinction in the college was one of age; an elder augur always
voted before a younger, even if the latter filled one of the higher
offices in the state. The head of the college was called _magister
collegii_. As insignia of their office the augurs wore the _trabea_,
or public dress, and carried in their hand the _lituus_ or curved
wand. [LITUUS.] On the coins of the Romans, who filled the office
of augur, we constantly find the _lituus_, and along with it, not
unfrequently, the _capis_, an earthen vessel which was used by them
in sacrifices. The science of the augurs was called _jus augurum_
and _jus augurium_, and was preserved in books (_libri augurales_),
which are frequently mentioned in the ancient writers. The expression
for consulting the augurs was _referre ad augures_, and their
answers were called _decreta_ or _responsa augurum_. The science of
augury had greatly declined in the time of Cicero; and although he
frequently deplores its neglect in his _De Divinatione_, yet neither
he nor any of the educated classes appears to have had any faith in
it.
[Illustration: Coin representing the lituus and capis on the reverse.]