Α καινὰ δ ̓ ἥκει νὺξ φέρεσα φάσματα, Λέξω πρὸς αἰθέρ', εἴτι δὴ τόδ' ἐς ̓ ἄκος. But what new dreams this present night affords, If that will profit, to the sky I'll tell. The doing this they called ἀποπέμπεσθαι, ἀφοδιοπομπεῖσθαι, and ἀποτρέπεσθαι ἔννυχον ὄψιν, οι ἀποτροπιάζεσθαι τῷ ἡλίῳ, &c. But before they were permitted to approach the divine altars, they were obliged to purify themselves from all the pollutions of the night; whence, in Eschylus, one saith Επὶ δ ̓ ἀνίσην, & χεροῦν καλλιῤῥοα As first I rose, I to the river went, And wash'd away those foul impurities Which had my body stain'd; this being done, The holy fanes I sought, and offer'd up A sacrifice to the deliv'ring gods. E. B. Æneas, in Virgil, is purified after the same manner, taking water out of the river in his hands f : rite cavis undam de flumine palmis Sustulit. Then water in his hollow palm he took From Tiber's flood. DRYDEN. g But Silius has introduced one washing his whole body 8: sub lucem ut visa secundent Oro calicola et vivo purgor in amne. I cleanse myself in running streams, and pray It appears from Persius", that it was usual amongst the Romans to dip their heads five times in water before morning prayer. Hæc sanctè ut poscas Tiberino in gurgite mergis, CHAP. XIV. Of Divination by Sacrifices. DIVINATION by sacrifices, called 'Ιερομαντεία, or ἱεροσκοπία, was divided into different kinds, according to the diversity of the mate e Persis. f Æneid. lib. viii, ver. 69. g Lib. viii. rials offered to the gods. They first made conjectures from the external parts and motions of the victim; then from its entrails, from the flame in which it was consumed, from the cakes and flour, from the wine and water, with several other things, of which in their order. The art, which made observations in killing, and cutting up the victim, was called T. Unlucky omens were, when the beast was drawn by force to the altar, when it escaped by the way, and avoided the fatal blow, did not fall down quietly, and without reluctance, but kicked, leaped up, or bellowed, bled not freely, was long a dying, shewed any tokens of great pain, beat upon the ground, expired with convulsions, or did any thing contrary to what usually happens in the slaughter of beasts; especially if the beast prevented the knife, and died suddenly. Whence Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, being about to make a league with two other kings, Theodotus forbade him to proceed, and withal foretold the speedy death of one of the kings, when one of the three victims, which were brought to the altar, suddenly fell down dead. But, on the contrary, the gods were judged to be propitious, and kindly to receive the devotions paid to them, when every thing was carried on with ease: when the victim went voluntarily, and without compulsion, to the slaughter, endured the blow patiently, fell down quietly, bled freely, and expired without groaning, then the victim seemed willingly to submit to death: any sign of this was a most fortunate omen. Such an one is that mentioned by Seneca: Stat ecce ad aras hostia, expectat manum Lo at the altar stands the willing victim, And with submissive neck, expects the blow. Hence it was customary to pour water into its ear, ὡς ἐπινεύῃ ταῖς TEXTATs, that it might by a nod consent to be sacrificed. Somewhat also was observed in the wagging of the tail; whence the poet saith, Κέρκος ποιες καλῶς. The victim kindly wags his tail. On this account it was usual to draw a knife from the victim's head to its tail. Other predictions were made from the tail, when cast into the fire: when it was curled by the flame, it portended misfortunes; when it was extended out in length and hung downk Myrt. lib. i, Lesbicor. i Plutarchus Pyrrho, j In Hercule Furente. ward, it was an omen of some overthrow to be suffered; but when erected, it signified victory'. After this, the victim being cut open, they made observations from its entrails; these were termed uzve, from the fire, wherein they were burned. The omens were called by Plato τὰ ἔμπορα σήμαTa, and the divination was distinguished by the name of di'ígav μavτría. By some it was feigned to have been first occasioned, or very much improved, by the death of the Delphian Sybil, whose body being reduced to earth, imparted first to the herbs, and by their means to the beasts which fed on them, a power of divining : as also those other parts of her, which mixed with the air, are said to have occasioned the divination by ominous words ". If the entrails were whole and sound, had their natural place, colour, and proportion, then all was well; but if any part was decayed, or wanting; if any thing was out of order, or not according to nature, evil was portended. Hereof Seneca hath furnished the ex The palpitation of the entrails was a very unfortunate omen, as appears from the same author °, who there enumerates several other direful passages: —— non levi motu, ut solent, Agitata trepidant exta, sed totas manus Quatiunt. Not with their usual gentle motion beat The intestines, but every member shook. The first and principal part to be observed, was the liver: if this was corrupted, they thought that both the blood, and by consequence all the body, must be so too; and therefore, if it was found very bad, they desisted immediately, not caring what the other parts might promise: these signs were called axiλeva, as hindering them from going any farther P. This observing the liver was called 'HTTσia, which also became a general name for divination by entrails, being the chief part of it. If the liver had a pleasing and natural redness; if it was sound, without spot or ble 1 Eurip. Scholiast. Phænissis. m Clemens Alex. Strom. i. p. 504. n Oedip. ver. 367. P Hesychius. mish; if its head was large, if it had two heads, or there were two livers; if its lappets were turned inwards, then prosperity and success were expected. On the other hand, nothing but dangers, disappointments, and misfortunes were to be looked for, if there was dias, too much dryness, or diròs a tie between the parts, especially if it was nobos, without a lappet, or the liver itself was altogether wanting. der's death, or bóv oi rò ññag ñv isgaís, because his victim's liver had no lobos. And his friend Hephaestion's death was prognosticated by the same omen. Bad signs also were accounted such as these; if there appeared upon it any blisters, wheals, or ulcers; if it was parched, thin, hard, or of an ugly blackish colour; had any corrupt and vitiated humours; was any way displaced; or, lastly, if in boiling it did not conspicuously appear amongst the rest of the entrails, was polluted with any nasty corrupt matter, became very soft, and, as it were, melted into a jelly. The concavous part of the liver was called iss, i. e. belonging to the family, because the signs observed there concerned themselves and their friends; the gibbous side ἐπίβολις, or ἀντιτάτις, because the tokens in it concerned their enemies if either of these parts was shrivelled, corrupted, or any way changed for the worse, it boded ruin to the person concerned in it; but if large and sound, or bigger than usual, it was a prosperous omen. To this Seneca alludes, when he introduces Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, thus describing the liver's heads: Pythagoras the soothsayer foretold Alexan Et capita paribus bina consurgunt toris, Sed utrumque cæsum tenuis abscondit caput And that the Romans also used this method, appears from Lucan, who tells us that Caesar's victory over Pompey was foretold this His words are these: way. Quodque nefas nullis impune apparuit extis, All sunk and poor the friendly part appears, ROWE. The place or seat where all the parts of the liver lay, was called digis, and dox. The place between the parts in the middle was termed 4 Arrianus Exped. Alex, lib. vii, VOL. I. A a ↑ Oedip. v. 560. πυλαία, and εὐρυχωρία *; by Hesychius ὁδοὶ, or ἐκτροπωὶ ; by Euripides πύλαι. πύλαι κ δοχὴ πίλας Κακὰς ἔφαινον τῷ σκοπῶντι προσβολάς. t This was an unfortunate omen, when found compressed or closed; whence Dio relates, that the soothsayers warned Caracalla to take care of himself, ὅτι αἱ τῶ ὅπατος πύλαι κέκλεινται, because the gates of the liver were closed. The next thing to be taken notice of, was the heart, which, if it was very little, palpitated much, leaped, was shrivelled or wrinkled, or had no fat at all, portended bad fortune; if there was no heart to be found, it was a most deadly omen. Next to the heart, they observed the gall, the spleen, the lungs, and the membranes in which the bowels were inclosed. If there were two galls; if the gall was large, and ready to burst out of its skin; then sharp and bloody, but yet prosperous, fights were expected. If the spleen lay in its own place, was clear and sound, of its natural colour, without wheals, hardness, or wrinkles, it boded nothing but success; as the contrary signs presaged misfortunes. So did also the entrails, if they chanced to slip out of the hands of him that offered the sacrifice; if they were besmeared with blood, of a livid colour, or spotted; were full of blisters or pimples, filled with corrupt or salt matter, broken or torn in pieces, or stuuk like putrified bodies. Lastly, if serpents crawling, or any thing else terrible and unusual was found in them. If the lungs were cloven, the business in hand was to be deferred; if whole and entire, it was to be proceeded in with all possible speed and vigour. u Other parts of the victim did sometimes presage things to come, especially if any thing happened extraordinary, and contrary to the common course of nature. For instance, on the day that king Pyrrhus was slain at Argos, his death was foretold by the heads of the sacrifices, which being cut off, lay licking their own blood, as Pliny reports. Another unlucky omen happened to Cimon, the Athenian general, a little before his death; for when the priest had slain the sacrifice according to custom, the blood that ran down, and congealed upon the ground, was by a great many pismires carried to Cimon, and placed all together at his great toe. They were a long time in doing this before any man perceived them; s Demosth. Interpret. in Orat, de Co rona. t Caracalla. u Lib. xi. cap. 37. |