Aquilifer Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Hi! Just wondering about superstitions they had in the army. I vaguely recall reading somewhere that they thought seeing an eagle was lucky because it was their standard, but I'm not sure if that's right or not. Do you know of any others? After a long search, I have finally found a map of Roman Britain! Unfortunately, I don't think half the towns marked on it were around by 60AD. Any websites I could get the dates of town developments? And finally, I've also been looking for books on the Roman army and Roman Britain. Are there any you can recommend? Thanks for all your help, it's invaluable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Favonius Cornelius Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Many superstitions come from the Roman (and by relation Etruscan/haurespecies) tradition of Augurs in the state cult and their duty to look for signs from the gods in the world around them. Indeed, seeing one or many eagles flying the sky before a battle was a good sign. I think they also looked for vultures as a bad sign? I think seeing a wolf was a good sign too? Not sure. During the republic at least, the armies had ceremonial chickens. They would feed them before the battle, and depending on how well they ate determined how well the battle would go for them. Lightening striking buildings was a sign of displeasure, as was the birth of deformed animals. Augurs would inspect the entrails of sacrificial animals for any imperfections (very Etruscan) as a sign that the gods were not pleased. The Augur tradition and the Roman's fixation of constantly looking around them for signs from the gods makes the Romans one of the most superstitious of peoples, and you can still see vestiges of this in Italian culture today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacertus Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 Would like to add that superstition were encouraged in Poman army. Sometimes the lucky signs were specially contrived to raise the competitive spirit of warriors. This was great psychological factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted July 20, 2005 Report Share Posted July 20, 2005 History of Roman Britain by Peter Salwey The first colonia established in Britain was at Camulodunum (Colchester), around AD 49. Later came Lindum (Lincoln), and Glevum (Gloucester) at the end of the first century. However there were several 'towns' which the Romans classified as municipia and civitas. Londinium is unique in that it was at first a small native settlement followed by a series of Roman forts which simply grew into a town... much more akin to a medieval/feudal environment. There was one known municipium at Verulamium and several small civitates which can be gathered through Roman Britain.org Roman Settlements in Britain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquilifer Posted July 21, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2005 Thanks, that's all really helpful! The book also looks good, I'll see if it's available in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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