Gaius Paulinus Maximus Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 All the nations of antiquity were impressed with the firm belief, that the will of the gods and future events were revealed to men by certain signs, which were sent by the gods as marks of their favour to their sincere worshippers. Hence, the arguments of the Stoics that if there are gods,they care for men, and that if they care for men they must send them signs of their will. A crow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost_Warrior Posted November 2, 2008 Report Share Posted November 2, 2008 You have to remember that Roman beliefs were very deeply rooted in religious tradition. Not only that, but the Roman State definitely played the "religion card" in order to hold more sway over their citizens. So Roman politics were deeply steeped in religion as well. Basically, these sorts of beliefs found their way into every aspect of Roman life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Neil Posted November 5, 2008 Report Share Posted November 5, 2008 Personally I can't believe that a race so intelligent and advanced as the Romans could be so devoted and swayed by what is clearly ridiculous. Hmm.. todays world is far from free of people who are devoted to and swayed by things others would say are clearly ridiculous. Freud said that dreams were the 'Royal road to the subconscious'. If these objects and gods were associated in the conscious mind with the things the Romans believed they represented in dreams, then maybe it was not as ridiculous as it first seems that the dream could influence future events. Dreaming of a donkey, for example, might have encouraged individuals to take a safe rather than a risky travel route, thus arriving at a distant destination safely, and 'fulfilling' the prophesy. I wonder if Romans ever dreamt about walking through the forum dressed only in their underwear... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASCLEPIADES Posted November 6, 2008 Report Share Posted November 6, 2008 (edited) Salve, Amici. Personally I can't believe that a race so intelligent and advanced as the Romans could be so devoted and swayed by what is clearly ridiculous. Hmm.. todays world is far from free of people who are devoted to and swayed by things others would say are clearly ridiculous. I have to agree with NN on this one; it's clear it was not so clearly ridiculous for them. At Classical Antiquity, people mostly lacked scientific evidence (and methodology) to explain many natural phenomena. Even so, you can easily confirm that many (MANY) people still believes in augury and dream symbols (BTW, being intelligent and/or sapient doesn't prevent it 100%) Freud said that dreams were the 'Royal road to the subconscious'. If these objects and gods were associated in the conscious mind with the things the Romans believed they represented in dreams, then maybe it was not as ridiculous as it first seems that the dream could influence future events. Regrettably, virtually all the extensive writings (many volumes) of Dr. Freud on the dreams issue were unscientific (ie, not based on actual research). Modern studies have fundamentally confirmed that dreams are ... just dreams. Dreaming of a donkey, for example, might have encouraged individuals to take a safe rather than a risky travel route, thus arriving at a distant destination safely, and 'fulfilling' the prophesy. Quite possible indeed; a nice example. I wonder if Romans ever dreamt about walking through the forum dressed only in their underwear... With the rare exception of some sporadic subligaculum or strophium, the ancient Romans used no underware. Edited November 6, 2008 by ASCLEPIADES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Augusta Posted November 11, 2008 Report Share Posted November 11, 2008 I wonder if Romans ever dreamt about walking through the forum dressed only in their underwear... Of course they did, Neil. And I'll bet they all had the one about teeth falling out too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nephele Posted November 12, 2008 Report Share Posted November 12, 2008 I wonder if Romans ever dreamt about walking through the forum dressed only in their underwear... Of course they did, Neil. And I'll bet they all had the one about teeth falling out too! Hahahaha! But I think you've hit on an excellent point. Anxieties that we suppress during our waking hours can emerge in our dreams. I'm sure the ancient Romans weren't much different from us in that respect. Perhaps looking for meaningful significance in such dreams might have been as much a means for coping with anxiety for the ancient Romans, as it is for some modern-day folks. -- Nephele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maty Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 Following up GPM's very useful original post led me to 'Basically, I say, I do not give a damn For Marsian augurs, village mountebanks, astrologers who haunt the circus grounds, or Isis-seers, or dream interpreters' Appius Claudius the Augur quoted in Cicero's On Divination 58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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