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28-535: [REDACTED] Look up littorio in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Littorio (Italian for lictor ) may refer to: Military [ edit ] 2nd Division "Littorio" , infantry division of the Italian Social Republic's Republican National Army 4th Division "Littorio" , fully motorized Italian infantry division which participated in

56-399: A wild bird. They were subject to protective taboos and also called sacred birds. According to unanimous testimony from ancient sources the use of auspices as a means to decipher the will of the gods was more ancient than Rome itself. The use of the word is usually associated with Latins as well as the earliest Roman citizens. Though some modern historians link the act of observing Auspices to

84-537: Is connected with the founding of Rome. Once the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus , arrived at the Palatine Hill , the two argued over where the exact position of the city should be. Romulus was set on building the city upon the Palatine, but Remus wanted to build the city on the strategic and easily fortified Aventine Hill . The two agreed to settle their argument by testing their abilities as augurs and by

112-654: The Etruscans , Cicero accounts in his text De Divinatione several differences between the auspicial of the Romans and the Etruscan system of interpreting the will of the gods. Cicero also mentions several other nations which, like the Romans, paid attention to the patterns of flying birds as signs of the gods' will but never mentions this practice while discussing the Etruscans. Though auspices were prevalent before

140-502: The legions were also automatically eligible to become lictors on retirement from the army. They were, however, definitely Roman citizens , since they wore togas inside Rome. A lictor had to be a strongly built man, capable of physical work. Lictors were exempted from military service, received a fixed salary (of 600 sestertii , in the beginning of the Empire), and were organized in a corporation. Usually, they were personally chosen by

168-679: The Elder attributes the invention of auspicy to Tiresias the seer of Thebes . This type of omen reading was already a millennium old in the time of Classical Greece : in the fourteenth-century BC diplomatic correspondence preserved in Egypt called the Amarna correspondence , the practice was familiar to the king of Alasia in Cyprus who needed an "eagle diviner" to be sent from Egypt. This earlier, indigenous practice of divining by bird signs, familiar in

196-534: The Empire, women of the imperial family were usually followed by two of this kind of lictor. The lictores curiati were also responsible to summon the Comitia Curiata ( lit.   ' Public Assembly ' ) and to maintain order during its procedures. Citations Sources Augury Augury was a Greco - Roman religion practice of observing the behavior of birds , to receive omens . When

224-939: The Littorio airfield, used in the 1930s Arena Garibaldi – Stadio Romeo Anconetani , stadium in Pisa, Italy, known as Campo Littorio between 1931 and 1949 Stadio Franco Ossola , stadium in Varese, Italy, known as Stadio del Littorio between 1925 and 1950 Stadio Giuseppe Grezar , stadium in Trieste, Italy, known as Stadio Littorio between 1932 and 1943 Stadio Renzo Barbera , stadium in Palermo, Italy, known as Stadio Littorio between 1932 and 1936 Stadio Gino Pistoni , stadium in Ivrea, Italy, known as Stadio Littorio between 1934 and 1945 Other [ edit ] Littorio Airport ,

252-728: The Old Testament. Yet augury was first systematized by the Chaldeans according to the Jewish Encyclopedia . In ancient Rome, the appointment and inauguration of any magistrate, decisions made within the people's assembly and the advancement of any campaign, always required a positive auspicium . During Octavian 's first consulship in 43 B.C.E., the positive auspicium corresponded to the spotting of twelve vultures, similar to Romulus. Unlike in Greece where oracles played

280-531: The Romans, Romans are often linked with auspices because of their connection to Rome's foundation and because Romans established rules for the reading of auspices that helped keep it an essential part of Roman culture. Stoics, for instance, maintained that if there are gods, they care for men, and that if they care for men they must send them signs of their will. Even the Philistines practiced augury as far back as 740 BC and c. 686 BC as declared by Isaiah 2:6 in

308-668: The Spanish Civil War 133 Armored Division Littorio , Italian armoured division during World War II Littorio -class battleship , class of battleship of the Regia Marina, the Italian navy, also known as the Vittorio Veneto class Italian battleship Littorio , ship of this class which served during World War II Sporting venues [ edit ] Littorio Circuit , motor racing circuit around

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336-414: The basic interpretations as they were often expected to take the auspices whenever they undertook any public business. Until 300 BCE only patricians could become augurs. Plebeian assemblies were forbidden to take augury and hence had no input as to whether a certain law, war or festival should occur. Cicero, an augur himself, accounts how the monopoly of the patricians created a useful barrier to

364-476: The encroachment of the populares . However, in 300 BCE a new law Lex Ogulnia , increased the number of augurs from four to nine and required that five of the nine be plebeians, for the first time granting the ability to interpret the will of the gods to lower classes. With this new power it was not only possible for plebeians to determine the gods' will in their favor but it was also now possible for plebeians to critique unfair interpretations by patricians.

392-465: The figure of Calchas , the bird-diviner to Agamemnon , who led the army ( Iliad I.69), was largely replaced by sacrifice-divination through inspection of the sacrificial victim's liver— haruspices —during the Orientalizing period of archaic Greek culture. Plato notes that hepatoscopy held greater prestige than augury by means of birds. One of the most famous auspices is the one which

420-455: The flight of birds For the Romans, the high flight of birds ( praepes ) was an auspicious omen, the low flight was less happy ( infera ). There were two classifications of auspices; impetrative ( impetrativa , sought or requested) and oblative ( oblativa , unsought or offered). Impetrativa were signs given in response to the augur's interpretation of the auspice. Oblativa were unexpected and unsought events which occurred either while

448-515: The individual, known as the augur , read these signs, it was referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" ( Latin : auspicium ) means "looking at birds". Auspex , another word for augur, can be translated to "one who looks at birds". Depending upon the birds, the auspices from the gods could be favorable or unfavorable ( auspicious or inauspicious ). Sometimes politically motivated augurs would fabricate unfavorable auspices in order to delay certain state functions, such as elections. Pliny

476-473: The lictors opened the way and kept their master safe, pushing all aside except for Roman matrons, who were accorded special honor. They also had to stand beside the magistrate whenever he addressed the crowd. Magistrates could only dispense with their lictors if they were visiting a free city or addressing a higher status magistrate. Lictors also had legal and penal duties; they could, at their master's command, arrest Roman citizens and punish them. A Vestal Virgin

504-421: The magistrate they were supposed to serve, but it is also possible that they were drawn by lots. Lictors were associated with comitia curiata , as in its later form, the thirty curiae were represented by a single lictor each. The lictor's main task was to attend as bodyguards to magistrates who held imperium . They carried rods decorated with fasces and, outside the pomerium , with axes that symbolized

532-409: The necessary rituals, prayers, and other resources to help other augurs, especially members of the ruling aristocracy, to understand the fundamentals of augury. Although augurs had the power to interpret the signs, it was ultimately the responsibility of the magistrate to execute consequent decisions, or withhold or debate judgment as to future actions. The magistrates were also expected to understand

560-554: The original name for the Rome-Urbe Airport Stile Littorio , Italian architectural style, developed during the late Fascist period, inspired by ancient Roman architecture Villa Littorio , an Italian village and hamlet of Laurino (SA), Campania See also [ edit ] Littoria , name of the Italian city of Latina from 1932 to 1946 Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

588-452: The power to carry out capital punishment . Dictatorial lictors had axes even within the pomerium . They followed the magistrate wherever he went, including the Forum , his house, temples, and the baths. Lictors were organized in an ordered line before him, with the primus lictor ( lit.   ' principal lictor ' ) directly in front of him, waiting for orders. If there was a crowd,

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616-501: The reason that Romulus chose that number of lictors. The first version is that twelve was the number of birds that appeared in the augury , which had portended the kingdom to Romulus. The second version, favoured by Livy, is that the number of lictors was borrowed from the Etruscan kings, who had one lictor appointed from each of their twelve states. Originally, lictors were chosen from the plebeians , but through most of Roman history, they seemed to have been freedmen . Centurions from

644-455: The role of messenger of the gods, in Rome it was through birds that Jupiter's will was interpreted. Auspices showed Romans what they were to do, or not to do; no explanation for the decision was given except that it was the will of the gods. It would be difficult to execute any public act without consulting the auspices. It was believed that if an augur committed an error in the interpretation of

672-453: The signs, or vitia , it was considered offensive to the gods and often was said to have disastrous effects unless corrected. Elections, the passing of laws, and initiation of wars were all put on hold until the people were assured the gods agreed with their actions. The men who interpreted these signs, revealing the will of the gods were called augurs . Similar to records of court precedents, augurs kept books containing records of past signs,

700-591: The title Littorio . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Littorio&oldid=689550498 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Lictor The lictors were instituted by Rome's first king, Romulus , who appointed twelve lictors to attend him. Livy refers to two competing traditions for

728-491: The will of the gods. Each took a seat on the ground apart from one another, and, according to Plutarch , Remus saw six vultures , after which Romulus saw twelve. The two clashed over whether the preference of the gods was indicated by Remus seeing vultures before Romulus did, or by Romulus seeing twelve vultures while Remus saw six. Vultures were pre-eminent in Roman augury, furnishing the strongest signs an augur could receive from

756-481: Was a special kind of lictor who did not carry rods or fasces and whose main tasks were religious. There were approximately thirty of them, serving at the command of the pontifex maximus , the high priest of Rome. They were present at sacrifices where they carried or guided sacrificial animals to the altars. Vestal Virgins , flamines ( lit.   ' priests ' ), and other high-ranking priests were entitled to be escorted and protected by lictores curiati . In

784-558: Was accorded a lictor when her presence was required at a public ceremony. The degree of magistrate 's imperium was symbolised by the number of lictors escorting him: Lictors assigned to magistrates were organized into a corporation composed of several decuries ; during the late Republic , the decuries sometimes lent lictors to private citizens holding ludi publici ( lit.   ' public games ' ) and traveling senators . However, these lictors probably did not carry fasces. The lictor curiatus ( pl. : lictores curiati )

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