Ancient Roman augury

thumb|180px|An augur with sacred chicken; he holds a lituus, the curved wand often used as a symbol of augury on Roman coins Augury was the Roman religious practice of observing the behavior of birds to receive omens. When the individual, known as the augur, read these signs, it was referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" () means "looking at birds". Auspex, another word for augur, can be translated to "one who looks at birds". Depending upon the birds, the auspices from the gods could be favorable or unfavorable (auspicious or inauspicious). Sometimes politically motivated augurs wou

thumb|Etruscan wall painting from Tomba degli Auguri (c. 530 BC) showing two augurs

tribune of the people in 55 BCE