he Tuscans. Unlike the Grecian mythology, with which, in later
ages, it was united, the Roman system of religion had all the gloom
and mystery of the eastern superstitions; their gods were objects of
fear rather than love, and were worshipped more to avert the
consequences of their anger than to conciliate their favour. A
consequence of this system was, the institution of human sacrifices,
which were not quite disused in Rome until a late period of the
republic.

2. The religious institutions of the Romans form an essential part of
their civil government; every public act, whether of legislation or
election, was connected with certain determined forms, and thus
received the sanction of a higher power. Every public assembly was
opened by the magistrate and augurs taking the auspices, or signs
by which they believed that the will of the gods could be determined;
and if any unfavourable omen was discovered, either then or at any
subsequent time, the assembly was at once dismissed. 3. The right of
taking auspices was long the peculiar privilege of the patricians, and
frequently afforded them pretexts for evading the demands of the
plebeians; when a popular law was to be proposed, it was easy to
discover some unfavourable omen which prohibited discussion; when it
was evident that the centuries were about to annul some patrician
privilege, the augurs readily saw or heard some signal of divine
wrath, which prevented the vote from being completed. It was on this
account that the plebeians would not consent to place the comitia
tributa under the sanction of the auspices.

4. The augurs were at first only three in number, but they were in
later ages increased to fifteen, and formed into a college. Nothing of
importance was transacted without their concurrence in the earlier
ages of the republic, but after the second punic war, their influence
was considerably diminished.[2] 5. They derived omens from five
sources: 1, from celestial phenomena, such as thunder, lightning,
comets, &c.; 2, from the flight of birds; 3, from the feeding of the
sacred chickens; 4, from the appearance of a beast in any unusual
place; 5, from any accident that occurred unexpectedly.

6. The usual form of taking an augury was very solemn; the augur
ascended a tower, bearing in his hand a curved stick called a lituus.
He turned his face to the east, and marked out some distant objects as
the limits within which he would make his observations, and
divide