Omens, Prodigies and Coping with Anxiety

Rituals to Help you Deal with Difficult Times

In April of this year, five military horses from the Royal Household Cavalry bolted through the streets of central London, to the consternation of onlookers. Four people were injured and the shock was all the greater for the fact that one of the horses had blood on his legs and chest. While some dismissed the incident as an accident during exercise, others saw it as a sign of foreboding for the royal family or even the United Kingdom as a whole. I do not wish to engage in this sort of speculation (I am getting fed up with the politics of the UK and USA). I am merely using this as a contemporary example of an event that the ancients would consider to be an omen from the gods that requires a religious response in the form of ritual. In what follows, I describe Roman prodigies and expiation rites and argue that some ritual actions can be beneficial as copying mechanisms that help deal with anxiety in times of crisis.

Last week I was teaching a class on omens and prodigies in my course on Roman religions. The Romans were always on the lookout for mysterious events that signaled the disposition of the gods or a future catastrophe. In Roman religion, a white horse was the symbol of sovereignty and directly related to the wellbeing of the king. As an aside, I wrote about the October Equus sacrifice of such a horse for the benefit of the king, tracing its origins to the Indo-European prehistory.

Various sorts of unusual or unnatural events were considered prodigies in ancient Rome, such as lightning striking important buildings or sites, ‘monstrous’ births of children having more limbs than usual, speaking animals, bleeding statues, wild animals entering the city of Rome, eclipses, meteors, comets, and rainfalls of blood, milk, meat, or stones.

Prodigies were announced to a magistrate, a state official who would take witness testimonies and decide on whether or not to report it to the Senate. If the Senate accepted the prodigy, they would ask one of the priestly collegia (pontifices, decemviri, haruspices) for advice and then decide on the mode of expiation, which always involved rituals.

Pontifices, the most senior religious college of ancient Rome, recorded prodigies every year on a white table (tabula dealbata) that was publicly displayed in the city centre. The list was archived and eventually published as the Annales Maximi, which do not survive but are cited by Livy, Cicero, Pliny and other historical sources. It’s interesting that we can trace these pontifical records to at least 400 BC because they note a solar eclipse on the Nones of June in 400 BC. Scientists have confirmed that this took place by astronimical calculation.

Natural events such as floods, earthquakes, droughts, swarms of locusts etc. were usually considered prodigies but in some cases they were simply ascribed to either human action or natural course of events and so dismissed from religious consideration. For example, emperor Tiberius dismissed the major flood of the Tiber that coincided with his ascension in 15 AD as a natural event and consulted engineers, nor priests.

illustration of omens from the Nuremberg Chronicle

However, many reported prodigies are clearly the result of misunderstanding or imagination running wild. This was especially the case in times of major crises when people were anxious for signs of divine displeasure. One such episode occurs after Hannibal’s invasion of Italy. The Carthaginian general was a brilliant strategist and defeated the Romans in every pitched battle on Italian soil. The historian Livy records a series of prodigies that took place before one of these battles at Lake Trasimene in 217 BC:

Men's fears were augmented by the prodigies reported simultaneously from many places: that in Sicily the javelins of several soldiers had taken fire, and that in Sardinia, as a horseman was making the round of the night-watch, the baton which he held in his hand caught fire; that many fires had blazed up on the shore; that two shields had sweated blood; that certain soldiers had been struck with lightning; that the sun's disk had seemed to be contracted; [9] that glowing stones had fallen from the sky at Praeneste; that at Arpi shields had appeared in the sky and the sun had seemed to be fighting with the moon; that at Capena two moons had risen in the daytime; [10] that the waters of Caere had flowed mixed with blood, and that bloodstains had appeared in the water that trickled from the spring of Hercules itself; that at Antium, when some men were reaping, bloody ears of corn had fallen into their basket; that at Falerii the sky had seemed to be rent as it were with a great fissure; and through the opening a bright light had shone; [11] and that lots had shrunk and that one had fallen out without being touched, on which was written, “Mavors brandishes his spear;” [12] that in Rome, about the same time, the statue of Mars on the Appian Way and the images of the wolves had sweated; that at Capua there had been the appearance of a sky on fire and of a moon that fell in the midst of a shower of rain. [13] Afterwards less memorable prodigies were also given credence: that certain folk had found their goats to have got woolly fleeces; that a hen had changed into a cock and a cock into a hen.

Livy’s summary of the reports that he found in priestly records reads like a fantasy tale. Strange changes in the heavenly bodies are followed by spontaneous combustion of objects, bloodstains in the water, a rain of glowing stones and even a bright light in the sky that contemporary UFOlogists might associate with aliens. Finally, the boundaries of species and gender are transgressed so that goats grow woolly fleeces and hens change sex.

Cashmere goat, a type of goat that actually grows wool (but too far from ancient Rome)

Before delving into an interpretation of these omens, I relay Livy’s report on the religious response that they merited:

When the consul had laid these reports before the Senate exactly as they had come to him and had introduced into the House the men who vouched for their truth, he consulted the Fathers regarding their religious import. [15] It was voted that these prodigies should be expiated, in part with greater, in part with lesser victims, and that a supplication should be held for three days at all the couches of the gods; [16] as for the rest, when the decemvirs should have inspected the Books, such rites were to be observed as they should declare, in accordance with the sacred verses, to be pleasing to the gods. [17] Being so admonished by the decemvirs, they decreed that the first gift should be made to Jupiter, a golden thunderbolt weighing fifty pounds; and that Juno and Minerva should be given offerings of silver; [18] that Juno Regina on the Aventine and Juno Sospita at Lanuvium should receive a sacrifice of greater victims, and that the matrons, each contributing as much as she could afford, should make up a sum of money and carry it as a gift to Juno Regina on the Aventine and there celebrate a lectisternium ; and that even the very freed-women should contribute money, in proportion to their abilities, for an offering to Feronia. [19] These measures being taken, the decemvirs sacrificed at Ardea in the market-place with the greater victims. Finally-the month was now December —victims were slain at the temple of Saturn in Rome and a lectisternium was ordered-this time senators administered the rite —and [20] a public feast, and throughout the City for a day and a night “Saturnalia” was cried, and the people were bidden to keep that day as a holiday and observe it in perpetuity.

The ritual expiations involve the sacricice of animal victims of greater (oxen, cattle) and lesser kind (sheep, pigs, goat) followed by prayers at open temples (supplicatio), done by all the citizens in common over several days. Hymns were sung in processsions and matrons had to make votive depositions in temples. As one of my students noted, the burden fell disproportionatelly on the women of Rome, as almost all able-bodied men were out of town on campaign. Finally, a public feast concluded the rites and restored a sense of community.

On the right side, Lectisternium (literally ‘spreading a couch’) was a propitiatory ritual in which images of the gods were placed on couches and offered food

Roman prodigies could be interpreted in various ways. Scholars have noted that obvious analogies underly a number of these strange appearances. Thus for example: •The sacred spears of Mars suddenly moving on their own signifies war

•Mass miscarriages in humans and animals signal a disruption of procreation and threaten the future of the community

•Bleeding shields or statues and rivers flowing with blood indicate massacre, carnage and bloodshed

•Shields appearing in the sky signal the need for defence

•Wolves in the city indicate an invasion of uncivilized forces (but this is ambiguous because wolf is a symbol of Rome)

Many events that the ancients considered to be divine omens are natural occurrences that break established boundaries of Roman decorum. The best example of this are the births of children with more than the usual number of limbs. In particular, hermaphrodites (whom we now call intersex people) caused a great deal of anxiety for the Roman authorities. The strict mode of expiation was utterly cruel and outrageous. All hermaphrodites were drowned in a river or the sea so as to never be part of Roman society! This is because male and female gender was strictly defined and construed and intersex children were perceived to transgress gender boundaries by displaying characteristics of both sexes.

hermaphrodite statue from the ancient world

Similar anxieties about breaking boundaries underlies other liminal instances in prodigies such as wild animals entering the city. A wild animal such as a wolf does not belong in the civilized space and thus transgresses the boundaries of nature and culture. Speaking cows also appear in Roman records as a particularly unsettling sign. In one episode a cow escapes from her own sacrifice, climbs to the fourth floor of an apartment block (insula) and starts speaking—in Latin! Just like the woolly goats in Livy, this event crosses the boundaries of Roman categories: an animal is not supposed to speak while it is expected to give some form of assent to being sacrificed.

Genearally speaking, prodigies, be they natural or imaginary, betray the anxiety of those reporting them and this is why they tend to increase in times of crisis. Cognitive psychologists have observed that religious tendencies of this sort display some behaviours that are typical of anxiety disorders such as Obssessive-Compulsive Disorder or General Anxiety Disorder. According to psychologists Fiske and Haslam, who compared rituals from 52 cultures and found many similarities with these conditions:

OCD is characterized by a need for absolutes, by a definiteness regarding some particular issue. People with OCD seek certainty and have difficulty tolerating ambiguity.

Prodigies reflect a range of anxieties about the system of Roman cultural roles and norms, which were stricly differentiated according to gender, status, age, etc. Roman authorities had huge problems tolerating ambiguities that would endanger the system. This is why they deemed the breaking of boundaries and taboos (gender, species, social roles) as a sign of divine displeasure that needs to be dealt with.

Psychologists also note that people with anxiety issues have an irrational fear that something terrible will happen that would embarass them and end their career or life as a whole. One can observe a similar mechanism in Roman prodigies that indicate the collapse of the natural order (involving the sun, moon, crops, rivers) indicating the fear of a catastrophic event that would end all.

However, this does not mean that we can diagnose the ancients with OCD or any other psychological condition. The comparison holds true insofar as anxiety underlies a number of religious phenomena such as prodigies (and their expiation) and some individual psychological conditions such as OCD. Prodigies reflect feelings of anxiety and fear among various parts of Roman society. Expiation rituals acknowledge these emotions and restore a sense of order and control. Prodigies and expiation rituals were a means of communication (as Veit Rosenberger argues) creating a sense of community among participants and reinforcing trust in the authorities and the system.

sitting around a fire and singing/eating together is a common communal ritual

It is easy to regard prodigies as fantasies of people who did not know better but that is to ignore the benefits of creating a system that registers the anxieties coming from different parts of the population. Instead of simply dismissing the fear and anxiety that accompany bad times, the Romans had a system that acknowledged and dealt with various instances of anxious behaviour. The priests recorded and wrote down prodigies on a large white board that anyone could see (though few could read), giving the people the sense that their feelings mattered. The complex rituals of expiation that followed induced a sense of belonging through communal ceremonies such as hymns, games, sacrifices and processions. The fact that the gods were addressed and appeased through these rites gave people a sense of relief and a certain level of feeling in control. As psychologists have shown, rituals are very useful ways of dealing with anxiety and making one feel in control. Thus the ancients found a creative way of processing their emotions and going through hard times. We have much to learn from them.

If you feel anxious about the times we live in, you are not alone. There is much to be concerned about at the moment. Take time to reflect and engage in rituals that can help you cope with the sources of anxiety. Avoid reading the news and doomscrolling through social media. Focus on meditation and prayer and the habits that make you feel better such as sports and spending time with friends. Here is a list of useful rituals that help dealing with anxiety:

• make a list of things that you need to do and cross them out as they get done

• sing a song or recite a prayer/mantra before beginning a difficult task

• write, draw or talk through your feelings

• try physical exercise with a ritual aspect such as yoga or Tai Chi

• light (scented) candles and/or make offerings at a shrine of your deities

• take a relaxing bath, swim (one of my personal favorites) or massage

• make tea or other drinks that help to put you at ease

• volunteer at a charity or simply help someone in need

• go for a walk/hike outdoors to reconnect with nature

• practice divination rituals such as creative reading of tarot or excerpts from your favourite book