Description
From the earliest of times, humans have tried to understand and control the world around them. As societies developed and grew, they borrowed ideas from older ones. Early cultures borrowed and adopted even earlier societies' deities, thinking, and rituals. This included divination, a way of trying to see signs from the gods. Divination has been around for a long time, as long as people have been trying to make sense of the world around them.
This Compleat Anachronist examines how divination was adapted and changed throughout the Roman Empire. By the time of the Roman Empire’s rise, Rome adopted and adapted many of the gods of Greece and the earlier Etruscans to suit Rome’s differing needs. As Rome expanded, so did their adapting and adopting of the local gods of their conquered areas. This also included diverse types of divination as a way of understanding relationship with the different gods. Later, early Christians in Rome needed to interpret and mix with local traditions. To the early Christians’ benefit, their Judaic background also included omens, dreams, and visitation from divine beings, similar aspects to those of the cultures they had encountered.
