Outline of de divinatione
BOOK I
Resources for Cicero
i-iv. Popular belief in divination seems to be universal. All other
peoples have used many methods of divinations throughout the
ages and in Rome divination has been institutionalized as a
requirement of public life since the foundation of the city by
Romulus. All the philosophical schools except the Epicureans have
presented arguments in defense of divination. Some doubts have
been raised by the Academicians, as one would expect, and even
in the Stoic school which generally argues most strongly for its
validity. This is an important question, so Cicero will present the
arguments for and against divination so that his readers can make
an informed decision.
v-vi.11. The arguments for and against will be presented in the form
of the record of a discussion of the subject between Cicero and his
brother Quintus. Cicero is an avowed skeptic on the matter
whereas Quintus is a staunch believer who believes that a
successful defence of divination will counteract the widespread
skepticism about the existence of the gods. Cicero agrees to listen
to his views.
vi.11-x.15. Earlier (vi.9) Quintus has defined divination as `the foretelling and the fore-seeing of those things which are thought to
chance
happen by
' and here he begins by distinguishing two
kinds of divination: the predictions made by trained or professional
interpreters of signs, and on the other hand, predictions from
natural states of mind such as dreams and .prophetic trances. The
case for divination will have to be made empirically and
circumstantially rather than theoretically. Medical men cannot
explain why their herbal prescriptions cure diseases but their claims
are accepted because the evidence shows that these prescriptions
work. Similarly it is possible to forecast the weather with confidence
from natural phenomena and from the behaviour of birds and other
creatures such as frogs. No one knows why but such things can be
relied on.
x.16-xiv.25. Similarly with divination. Roman history contains many
instances of the accuracy of divination: Quintus quotes extensively
from Cicero's translation from Aratus and from his poem On My
Consulship in support of his position. He rejects the skeptics' claim
chance
that this can be explained by mere
. Divination is like
other human arts such as medicine and navigation: each has its
recorded failures and mistakes but in general their success far
outnumber these and, as a result, men justifiably trust in them.
xv.25-xvii.30. Quintus draws on instances of disaster in Roman
history when the signs were ignored to demonstrate the validity of
the augur's art.
xvii.30-33. Quintus relates story of the origin of augury and cites
instances of its prestige.
xviii.34-xix.37. Quintus repeats the distinction between "skillful"
divination based on observation, reason and learning and "natural"
divination derived spontaneously from states of high emotion or
derangement. Among the latter he includes dreams, fits of
prophetic madness and inspired oracles and, perhaps, some longestablished lot-casting rituals. In defence of "skillful" divination he
asserts that it can be rejected only by stigmatising as madness the
learning of the Etruscans, the Babylonians and the experience of
authoritative figures of history.
xix.37-xxx.65. Quintus deals at length with natural divination in
dreams and draws on Greek and Roman literature and history and
on his own and on his brother's experiences to demonstrate its
validity. The prophetic vision of some at the time of their death is a
form of "natural" divination comparable to dreams.
xxxi.65-xxxii.71. Language itself and personal experience make
clear that the human soul has a "natural" power of prediction and
our [Peripatetic] friend Cratippus provides a scholarly explanation in
which this power is evidence of the origin of the human soul in the
divine soul.
xxxiii.72-xxxvi.79. Quintus defines "skillful" divination as based on
conjecture and learning and as including inspection of the entrails,
augury and interpretation of dreams. Historical instances of
conjectural divination are given.
xxxvi.79-xl.87. All philosophies except Epicureanism and the
universal belief and practice of mankind support "skillful' divination
and radical scepticism can be refuted by the historical record.
xl.87-xlii.94. Quintus draws on literature and on travelers' accounts
of other peoples to maintain that all peoples practice "skillful"
divination and adopt the method of divination most appropriate for
their life-styles and traditions.
xliii.95-xlviii.109. All the great states of history have made use of
"skillful" divination and Quintus draws examples from Athenian,
Spartan and Roman history. In particular he discusses the use of
the Sybilline books, the learned interpretation of omens and augury
in Roman history and life. "Skillful" divination relies on tradition and
experience in line with all the other arts and intellectual pursuits.
xliii.110-li.115. "Natural" divination occurs in trances and dreams and
is a manifestation of the omnipresence of the divine in the cosmos,
whereas the predictions of philosophers and scientists which are
based on their expertise are not to taken as instances of divination.
li. 116-lv.125. Quintus uses Stoic cosmological ideas to argue that
the "signs" are the manifestation of the providential presence of the
divine. He cites examples from Roman history: even one
incontestable instances of accurate prediction through divination is
enough to prove its reliability.
lv.125-lvi.128. Posidonius identifies three sources of divination: the
divine, which Quintus says has been the subject of his case up to
this point, Fate and Nature. He makes the case for a rational belief
that all things are controlled by Fate. Only a god can know Fate but
human beings can get a glimpse of the future through both kinds of
divination.
lvii.129-131. Sleep which Nature provides reveals the prophetic
power of the soul when it is released from the influence of the body.
The signs on which "skillful" divination depends can be shown to
have their origin in Nature. After rejecting fortune tellers and
professional mediums as either criminals or obsessed with
superstition, Quintus rests his case.
BOOK II
i.-ii. 7. Cicero explains the origin and purpose of his Philosophica.
iii.8-v.12. Cicero begins his reply to Quintus by stating bluntly that
he does not believe in divination. He argues that, in the most
important areas and activities of life such as philosophy, medicine,
politics, navigation, to call on divination would be not merely foolish
but, in some circumstances, would be dangerous.
v.13-vii. 19. Qintus, definition of divination as the prediction of events
which occur by "
chance" is a self-contradiction.
viii.20-21. If everything is predetermined by Fate, divination is
meaningless and useless.
ix.22-x.26. Knowledge of the future is a disadvantage to the
individual, since it deprives him of peace of mind in the present.
xi.26-27. Cicero summarizes Quintus' argument.
xii.28-xvii.41. In public Cicero supports divination in the interests of
the state religion but in private he can be more frank. Cicero
discusses divination by inspection of the entails of sacrificed
animals. While He concedes that there is an interconnectedness
between elements and events in the natural world, he denies that
their can be any credible connection between the internal organs
and the kind of predictions which are often made, e.g., the finding
of a treasure. He scoffs at Stoic assertions that this is brought
about by divine good-will and providence.
xviii.42-xxi.49. Divination through lightnings. There is a valid
scientific explanation for lightning which renders divination by that
means absurd.
xxii.49-50. Portents-occurrences of the "impossible"-cannot be
prophetic because they are not in fact "impossible", they are merely
unusual.
xxiii.50-xxxv.76. Cicero examines the record of divination in Roman
history and concludes that, while at the beginning divination was
believed in, it was maintained later only because of its political
usefulness.
xxxvi.76-xxxviii.83. The practice of divination by the different nations
and peoples is so diverse and so contradictory that it confirms the
idea that it is a combination of superstition, expediency and deceit.
xl.83-84. If everything can be interpreted as a sign, then nothing
means anything.
xli.84-87. Absurdity of casting of lots.
xlii.87-xlvii.99. Absurdity of astrology. Cicero relies on rational
arguments, e.g., the differences in character and careers of twins,
and on the record of failed predictions.
xlviii.100. Cicero proposes to discuss divination by possession and
through dreams [Quintus's "natural" divination].
xlix.101-liii-109. Cicero rejects the Stoic idea that the omnipresence
and the providence of the divine guarantee the validity of divination.
liv.110-lxxii.150. Absurdity of divination by possession and through
dreams. Cicero's underlying assumption is that, in a rational,
orderly cosmos, belief in divination by non-rational, if not irrational,
means is an absurdity.