The augurs were a board or college of diviners who, amongst the Romans, predicted future events and announced the will of the gods from the occurrence of certain signs. These consisted of signs in the sky, especially thunder and lightning; signs from the flight and cries of birds; from the feeding of the sacred chickens; from the course taken or sounds uttered by various quadrupeds or by serpents; from accidents or occurrences, such as spilling the salt, sneezing, etc. The answers of the augurs as well as the signs by which they were governed were called auguries, but bird-predictions were properly termed auspices. Nothing of consequence could be undertaken without consulting the augurs, and by the mere utterance of the words alio die ('meet on another day') they could dissolve the assembly of the people and annul all decrees passed at the meeting. Research Augurs
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Research Augurs
