their prayers in the
open air, had recourse to augury with the view of ascertaining whether
the gods favoured their cause.

Great attention was paid by the Romans to dreams, and persons of
disordered minds were supposed to possess the faculty of presaging
future events. Omens of futurity were also drawn from the appearance
of the entrails of animals offered in sacrifice to the gods. The flame
and smoke from the altar were noticed, and so were the circumstances
attending the driving, felling, and bleeding of the victim. Sibylline
books were inspected by appointment of the senate at perilous times,
as they were supposed to contain the fate of the Roman Empire. There
was something mysterious about the origin of the sibylline books. It
is reported that a woman called Amalthaea, from a foreign country, came
to Tarquin the Proud to sell nine sibylline books. Upon Tarquin
refusing to give her the price asked, she went away and burned three
of them. Returning soon after, she sought the same price for the
remaining six. Still the price was refused, and she went away and
burned other three books. She again came to the king, and demanded the
same price for the three unconsumed volumes as she had asked for the
nine. Tarquin, who first regarded the woman as a senseless old
creature, became surprised at her strange behaviour, and inquired at
the augurs what he should do. They advised him to give the woman the
price she demanded. The woman delivered the books, and, after desiring
that they should be carefully kept, disappeared, and was never seen
again.

The use of charms and incantations originated in the worship of the
heathen gods. As people in this country believe that spirits, good and
bad, go about at night, so did the Romans suppose that their gods went
up and down the earth during the night to observe the actions of men.
The priests and others, when engaged in acts of piety or important
business, took care, when turning, to move to the right. Every Roman
avoided repeating words of bad omen. Certain days were reckoned
unfortunate for the celebration of marriages. The month of May was
thought an unlucky time for marriages being solemnized. The most
fortunate time for weddings taking place was in the middle of June.
The dress of a bride on her marriage day was a long white robe and her
face was covered with a veil, in token of her modesty; her hair was
divided with the point of a spear into six locks, and she was crowned
with