File:Ridpath's Universal history - an account of the origin, primitive condition and ethnic development of the great races of mankind, and of the principal events in the evolution and progress of the (14596268020).jpg

Identifier: ridpathsuniversa11ridp (find matches)
Title: Ridpath's Universal history : an account of the origin, primitive condition and ethnic development of the great races of mankind, and of the principal events in the evolution and progress of the civilized life among men and nations, from recent and authentic sources with a preliminary inquiry on the time, place and manner of the beginning
Year: 1897 (1890s)
Authors: Ridpath, John Clark, 1840-1900
Subjects: World history
Publisher: Cincinnati : Jones
Contributing Library: University of Pittsburgh Library System
Digitizing Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

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thehighest rank. The general supervision of the priestessesbelonged to the Pontifex Maximis. who stoodat the head of the religious attairs ot the state.To him was referred the (leei>ioii of all ques-tions relating to the orthodoxy of the nationalfaith. This high officer was oriLiinally the en-gineer of the city, liavini: ehaiiie of the publicworks, especially thi laidL^es over the Tiber,and hence his title of pontifex. The Romancalendar was in his charge, as was also theregulation of the annual festivals. The publicdocuments of the state were in the keeping ofthe pontifices, and they thus became the firstannalists or recorders in Rome. It was theirduty to decide in what manner the eods ^llouldbe consulted and prayed to ; but of this branchof the ceremonial—namely, the consultation ofthe deities—another body of the )iriests, calledArciUES, had exclusive jurisrliction ; that is,the actual conduct of the service of angurv ordivination. The belief in the possibility of knowing the
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ROME. —RELKnOX. ■will of the gods by consulting signs has litcncommon to all races. Among the old Lai inssucli a faith was especially strong; and thecommon people of Rome accepted the beliefwithout doubting. It was accepted as a fun-damental doctrine that any one might observeand interpret omens; but the very universal-ity of the thing implied that certain i)ers(iusshould be set aside as diviners. Of these therewere two classes in Rome: the augurs projier,and the haruspices. The duty of the formerwas to interpret the signs of the upper air, suchas the phenomenon of lightning and the flightof birds; while the business of the hai-usp.xwas to know the will of the gods from an exam-ination of the entrails of animals. The ixarticular manner of divination em-ployed by the ArorR was as follr,ws: lie firstdrew a square figure on the ground. This hethen divided into four small squares by trans-Terse lines. At the intersection of the cross-lines the observer took his station, facing tothe s

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