Katie

Roman Life Presentation

3/16/02

Astrology and Augury In Rome

• Allowed in the Roman religion because the stars were controlled by the gods, so they must be causing things to happen in the heavens for a reason
• Basically accepted by all the people of Rome
• In times of crisis, astrologers were often blamed for the trouble and banished
• The symbols of astrology were often incorporated into jewelry and amulets
• A person’s hour of birth would be taken to give a very complete horoscope of their life to come
• Was very popular till the time of the Christian emperors when it was made illegal but still practiced

• Augury is reading the signs from the gods through birds
• Many of the signs were sent from Jupiter
• People would go to a professional augur to ask what the gods thought of an act or decision and the augur would interpret the signs of the gods to give a yes or no answer
• This happened mostly in the early part of the empire. It died out around the middle of the empire
• The main point was to find out if people were pleasing the gods

1. Adkins, Leslie & Roy A. Adkins. Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome. New York:

Oxford University Press, 1994.

2. Augury of Ancinet Rome. Arcadia University, 2001. 3/16/02. http://axe.acadiau.ca/~043877d/augurs/augurs.html.