I suggest that an interest in forms of divination which were not practised by the Roman state was as much a concern for members of the Roman upper classes as it was for the lower classes. In contrast there was a plethora of authors and works that considered less acceptable types of divination, such as astrology. Even where Varro and Cicero seemed to promote a sense of a 'traditional' Roman approach to divination, both engaged with the subject from very different viewpoints. I argue that there was a plurality of views and approaches to divination. The analysis indicates a thriving competitive and mercenary atmosphere of diviners and divination that offered the Roman people an outlet outside of the more rigid practices of the Roman state. The chapter surveys Roman attitudes and approaches to divination from the late third century BC to the early second century AD. The importance of divination at Rome is explored in Chapter Two. The final section of the chapter discusses Feeney (1998) on Literature and Religion at Rome and stresses the importance of regarding divination in Roman historiography as a text which could support the overall historiographical objectives of Livy and Tacitus. I consider four main areas: divination, historiography, Livy and Tacitus. The remainder of the chapter considers modern bibliography and the current scholarly position on divination and Roman historiography. This examination is supported by a full lexicography of divinatory terms in the appendix. I draw attention to the contradictions between types of divination observed by the Roman state and those observed by individuals in a personal or private capacity. Chapter One considers the meaning of divinatio and the types of diviners and supernatural sign encompassed by the term. The focus of the thesis is why and how they used divination and the extent to which divination supported their historiographical aims. This thesis examines divination at Rome and its role in Roman historiography, with particular reference to Livy and Tacitus.
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