Sortition and Divination in Ancient Rome. Were the gods involved in casting lots?
Résumé
Did the gods play a role in the casting of lots in Ancient Rome? This article shall seek to demonstrate that Romans did not take a black-and-white approach to divine involvement in either divinatory or civic sortition. On the contrary, divine involvement could range from the assumption that the gods paid attention to the rites performed by Roman citizens, to the occurrence of highly impressive prodigies that narrative sources frequently associated or conflated with the act of sortitio (the casting of lots).
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