1. Cicero, On Divination, 1.33, 1.36, 2.74 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 292, 294 1.33. Cotem autem illam et novaculam defossam in comitio supraque inpositum puteal accepimus. Negemus omnia, comburamus annales, ficta haec esse dicamus, quidvis denique potius quam deos res humanas curare fateamur; quid? quod scriptum apud te est de Ti. Graccho, nonne et augurum et haruspicum conprobat disciplinam? qui cum tabernaculum vitio cepisset inprudens, quod inauspicato pomerium transgressus esset, comitia consulibus rogandis habuit. Nota res est et a te ipso mandata monumentis. Sed et ipse augur Ti. Gracchus auspiciorum auctoritatem confessione errati sui conprobavit, et haruspicum disciplinae magna accessit auctoritas, qui recentibus comitiis in senatum introducti negaverunt iustum comitiorum rogatorem fuisse. 1.36. Quid? qui inridetur, partus hic mulae nonne, quia fetus extitit in sterilitate naturae, praedictus est ab haruspicibus incredibilis partus malorum? Quid? Ti. Gracchus P. F., qui bis consul et censor fuit, idemque et summus augur et vir sapiens civisque praestans, nonne, ut C. Gracchus, filius eius, scriptum reliquit, duobus anguibus domi conprehensis haruspices convocavit? qui cum respondissent, si marem emisisset, uxori brevi tempore esse moriendum, si feminam, ipsi, aequius esse censuit se maturam oppetere mortem quam P. Africani filiam adulescentem; feminam emisit, ipse paucis post diebus est mortuus. Inrideamus haruspices, vanos, futtiles esse dicamus, quorumque disciplinam et sapientissimus vir et eventus ac res conprobavit, contemnamus, condemnemus etiam Babylonem et eos, qui e Caucaso caeli signa servantes numeris et modis stellarum cursus persequuntur, condemnemus, inquam, hos aut stultitiae aut vanitatis aut inpudentiae, qui quadringenta septuaginta milia annorum, ut ipsi dicunt, monumentis conprehensa continent, et mentiri iudicemus nec, saeculorum reliquorum iudicium quod de ipsis futurum sit, pertimescere. 2.74. Iam de caelo servare non ipsos censes solitos, qui auspicabantur? Nunc imperant pullario; ille renuntiat. Fulmen sinistrum auspicium optumum habemus ad omnis res praeterquam ad comitia; quod quidem institutum rei publicae causa est, ut comitiorum vel in iudiciis populi vel in iure legum vel in creandis magistratibus principes civitatis essent interpretes. At Ti. Gracchi litteris Scipio et Figulus consules, cum augures iudicassent eos vitio creatos esse, magistratu se abdicaverunt. Quis negat augurum disciplinam esse? divinationem nego. At haruspices divini; quos cum Ti. Gracchus propter mortem repentinam eius, qui in praerogativa referenda subito concidisset, in senatum introduxisset, non iustum rogatorem fuisse dixerunt. | 1.33. Moreover, according to tradition, the whetstone and razor were buried in the comitium and a stone curbing placed over them.Let us declare this story wholly false; let us burn the chronicles that contain it; let us call it a myth and admit almost anything you please rather than the fact that the gods have any concern in human affairs. But look at this: does not the story about Tiberius Gracchus found in your own writings acknowledge that augury and soothsaying are arts? He, having placed his tabernaculum, unwittingly violated augural law by crossing the pomerium before completing the auspices; nevertheless he held the consular election. The fact is well known to you since you have recorded it. Besides, Tiberius Gracchus, who was himself an augur, confirmed the authority of auspices by confessing his error; and the soothsayers, too, greatly enhanced the reputation of their calling, when brought into the Senate immediately after the election, by declaring that the election supervisor had acted without authority. [18] 1.36. Why, then, when here recently a mule (which is an animal ordinarily sterile by nature) brought forth a foal, need anyone have scoffed because the soothsayers from that occurrence prophesied a progeny of countless evils to the state?What, pray, do you say of that well-known incident of Tiberius Gracchus, the son of Publius? He was censor and consul twice; beside that he was a most competent augur, a wise man and a pre-eminent citizen. Yet he, according to the account left us by his son Gaius, having caught two snakes in his home, called in the soothsayers to consult them. They advised him that if he let the male snake go his wife must die in a short time; and if he released the female snake his own death must soon occur. Thinking it more fitting that a speedy death should overtake him rather than his young wife, who was the daughter of Publius Africanus, he released the female snake and died within a few days.[19] Let us laugh at the soothsayers, brand them as frauds and impostors and scorn their calling, even though a very wise man, Tiberius Gracchus, and the results and circumstances of his death have given proof of its trustworthiness; let us scorn the Babylonians, too, and those astrologers who, from the top of Mount Caucasus, observe the celestial signs and with the aid of mathematics follow the courses of the stars; let us, I say, convict of folly, falsehood, and shamelessness the men whose records, as they themselves assert, cover a period of four hundred and seventy thousand years; and let us pronounce them liars, utterly indifferent to the opinion of succeeding generations. 2.74. Again, do you not think that formerly it was the habit of the celebrants themselves to make observation of the heavens? Now they order the poulterer, and he gives responses! We regard lightning on the left as a most favourable omen for everything except for an election, and this exception was made, no doubt, from reasons of political expediency so that the rulers of the State would be the judges of the regularity of an election, whether held to pass judgements in criminal cases, or to enact laws, or to elect magistrates.The consuls, Scipio and Figulus, you say, resigned their office when the augurs rendered a decision based on a letter written by Tiberius Gracchus, to the effect that those consuls had not been elected according to augural law. Who denies that augury is an art? What I deny is the existence of divination. But you say: Soothsayers have the power of divination; and you mention the fact that, on account of the unexpected death of the person who had suddenly fallen while bringing in the report of the vote of the prerogative century, Tiberius Gracchus introduced the soothsayers into the Senate and they declared that the president had violated augural law. |
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2. Cicero, On The Nature of The Gods, 2.10-2.11 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 292, 294 | 2.10. The force of religion was so great among our ancestors that some of their commanders have, with their faces veiled, and with the solemn, formal expressions of religion, sacrificed themselves to the immortal Gods to save their country. I could mention many of the Sibylline prophecies, and many answers of the haruspices, to confirm those things, which ought not to be doubted. For example: our augurs and the Etrurian haruspices saw the truth of their art established when P. Scipio and C. Figulus were consuls; for as Tiberius Gracchus, who was a second time consul, wished to proceed to a fresh election, the first Rogator, as he was collecting the suffrages, fell down dead on the spot. Gracchus nevertheless went on with the assembly, but perceiving that this accident had a religious influence on the people, he brought the affair before the senate. The senate thought fit to refer it to those who usually took cognizance of such things. The haruspices were called, and declared that the man who had acted as Rogator of the assembly had no right to do so; to which, as I have heard my father say, he replied heatedly, 2.10. But among our ancestors religion was so powerful that some commanders actually offered themselves as victims to the immortal gods on behalf of the state, veiling their heads and formally vowing themselves to death. I could quote numerous passages from the Sibylline prophecies and from the oracles of soothsayers in confirmation of facts that no one really ought to question. Why, in the consulship of Publius Scipio and Gaius Figulus both our Roman augural lore and that of the Etruscan soothsayers were confirmed by the evidence of actual fact. Tiberius Gracchus, then consul for the second time, was holding the election of his successors. The first returning officer in the very act of reporting the persons named as elected suddenly fell dead. Gracchus nevertheless proceeded with the election. Perceiving that the scruples of the public had been aroused by the occurrence, he referred the matter to the Senate. The Senate voted that it be referred 'to the customary officials.' Soothsayers were sent for, and pronounced that the returning officer for the elections had not been in order. 2.11. Have I no right, who am consul, and augur, and favored by the Auspicia? And shall you, who are Tuscans and Barbarians, pretend that you have authority over the Roman Auspicia, and a right to give judgment in matters respecting the formality of our assemblies? Therefore, he then commanded them to withdraw; but not long afterward he wrote from his province to the college of augurs, acknowledging that in reading the books he remembered that he had illegally chosen a place for his tent in the gardens of Scipio, and had afterward entered the Pomoerium, in order to hold a senate, but that in repassing the same Pomoerium he had forgotten to take the auspices; and that, therefore, the consuls had been created informally. The augurs laid the case before the senate. The senate decreed that they should resign their charge, and so they accordingly abdicated. What greater example need we seek for? The wisest, perhaps the most excellent of men, chose to confess his fault, which he might have concealed, rather than leave the public the least atom of religious guilt; and the consuls chose to quit the highest office in the State, rather than fill it for a moment in defiance of religion. 2.11. Thereupon Gracchus, so my father used to tell me, burst into a rage. 'How now?' he cried, 'was I not in order? I put the names to the vote as consul, as augur, and with auspices taken. Who are you, Tuscan barbarians, to know the Roman constitution, and to be able to lay down the law as to our elections?' And accordingly he then sent them about their business. Afterwards however he sent a dispatch from his province to the College of Augurs to say that while reading the sacred books it had come to his mind that there had been an irregularity when he took Scipio's park as the site for his augural tent, for he had subsequently entered the city bounds to hold a meeting of the Senate and when crossing the bounds again on his return had forgotten to take the auspices; and that therefore the consuls had not been duly elected. The College of Augurs referred the matter to the senate; the Senate decided that the consuls must resign; they did so. What more striking instances can we demand? A man of the greatest wisdom and I may say unrivalled distinction of character preferred to make public confession of an offence that he might have concealed rather than that the stain of impiety should cling to the commonwealth; the consuls preferred to retire on the spot from the highest office of the state rather than hold it for one moment of time in violation of religion. |
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3. Cicero, Republic, 2.61 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 291 |
4. Cicero, Letters To Quintus, 2.2.1 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 294 |
5. Livy, Per., 47 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 294 |
6. Livy, History, 2.47.7-2.47.12, 3.29.3, 3.33.4, 4.7.1-4.7.12, 4.37.3, 5.9.1-5.9.8, 5.11.11, 5.12.5, 5.14.5-5.14.7, 5.17.1-5.17.4, 5.31.5-5.31.8, 8.3.4-8.3.5, 8.4.3, 8.36.1, 9.7.12-9.7.14, 21.63.2, 22.8.5-22.8.6, 22.31.8-22.31.11, 29.11.3, 30.23.5, 34.1.7 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 178, 198, 199, 202, 291, 292, 293 4.7.3. non tamen pro firmato iam stetit magistratus eius ius, quia tertio mense, quam inierunt, augurum decreto perinde ac vitio creati honore abiere, quod C. Curtius, qui comitiis eorum praefuerat, parum recte tabernaculum cepisset. 4.7.11. credo quod tribuni militum initio asni anni fuerunt, eo, perinde ac si totum annum in imperio fuerint, suffectorum iis consulum praetermissa nomina [consulum consulum horum]. horum. 4.7.12. Licinius Macer auctor est etiam in foedere Ardeatino et in linteis libris ad Monetae ea inventa. et foris, cum tot terrores a finitimis ostentati essent, et domi otium fuit. 5.12.5. a M. Furio in Faliscis et a Cn. Cornelio in Capenate agro hostes nulli extra moenia inventi; praedae actae incendiisque villarum ac frugum vastati fines; oppida wne oppugnata nec obsessa sunt. 5.31.5. Valerio, quod perseverantior in iis caedendis in fuga fuit, triumphus, Manlio, ut ovans ingrederetur urbem, decretum est. eodem anno novum bellum cum Volsiniensibus exortum; quo propter famem pestilentiamque in agro Romano ex siccitate caloribusque nimiis ortam exercitus duci nequivit. ob quae Volsinienses Sappinatibus adiunctis superbia inflati ultro agros Romanos incursavere; 5.31.6. bellum inde duobus populis indictum. C. Iulius censor decessit; in eius locum M. Cornelius suffectus, quae res postea religioni fruit, quia eo lustro Roma est capta; 22.8.5. itaque ad remediula remedium iam diu neque desideratum nec adhibitum, dictatoremj dictatorem dicendum, civitas confugit. et quia et consul aberat a quo uno dici posse videbatur, nec per occupatan occupatam armis Punicis Italiam facile erat aut nuntium autA aut litteras mitti nec dictatorem populo creare poterat, 22.31.8. Onlrium prope annales Fabium dictatorem adversus Hannibalem rem gessisse tradunt; Coelius etiam eum primum a populo creatum dictatorem scribit. | 4.7.3. The jurisdiction of that office was not yet, however, firmly established, for in consequence of the decision of the augurs they resigned office after three months, owing to some irregularity in their election. [4] C. Curtius, who had presided over their election, had not rightly selected his position for taking the auspices. Ambassadors came from Ardea to complain of the injustice done them; they promised that if it were removed by the restoration of their territory they would abide by the treaty and remain good friends with Rome. [5] The senate replied that they had no power to rescind a judgment of the people, there was no precedent or law to allow it, the necessity of preserving harmony between the two orders made it impossible. 4.7.12. According to Licinius Macer, their names were found in the copy of the treaty with Ardea, as well as in the ‘Linen Rolls.’6 In spite of so many alarming symptoms of unrest amongst the neighbouring nations, things were quiet both abroad and at home. 5.31.6. This proceeding was afterwards regarded as an offence against religion because it was during that lustrum that Rome was taken, and no one has ever since been appointed as censor in the room of one deceased. [7] The consuls were attacked by the epidemic, so it was decided that the auspices should be taken afresh by an interrex. [8] The consuls accordingly resigned office in compliance with a resolution of the senate, and M. Furius Camillus was appointed interrex. He appointed P. Cornelius Scipio as his successor, and Scipio appointed L. Valerius Potitus. |
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7. Dionysius of Halycarnassus, Roman Antiquities, 11.62.1-11.62.3, 11.63.1, 12.10 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 291 |
8. Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds And Sayings, 1.1.3 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 292, 294 | 1.1.3. Praiseworthy was the reverence of the twelve fasces, but more to be extolled, the obedience of the twenty-four fasces: for Tiberius Gracchus sent letters to the college of augurs out of his province, by which he gave them to understand, that having perused certain books concerning the sacred rites of the people, he found that the augural tent was erroneously sited at the consular elections, which he had caused to be made; which thing being reported to the senate, by their command C. Figulus returning out of Gaul, and Scipio Nasica from Corsica, both laid down their consulships. |
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9. Plutarch, Marcellus, 4.3-4.6, 5.1-5.4, 6.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 293, 294 |
10. Plutarch, Camillus, 2.9-2.10 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 292, 293 |
11. Cassiodorus, Chronicon, ad a.u.c. 601 (5th cent. CE - 6th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 294 |
12. Zonaras, Epitome, 7.19, 7.26, 8.20 Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 292, 293 |
13. Anon., Fasti Praenestini, inscrital 13.2.110 Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 294 |
14. Anon., De Viris Illustribus, 44.2 Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 294 |
15. Anon., Fasti Capitolini, inscrital 13.1.26-27, inscrital 13.1.46-47, inscrital 13.1.30-31, inscrital 13.1.50-51 Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 291 |
16. Iulius Obsequens, Prodigiorum Liber, 18 Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 294 |
17. Granius Licinianus., Annales, 28.25-28.26 Tagged with subjects: •abdication, of consular tribunes Found in books: Konrad, The Challenge to the Auspices: Studies on Magisterial Power in the Middle Roman Republic (2022) 294 |