AUGURS. – Roman priests skilled in divination, who interpreted the will of the gods from the appearance, flight, number, and cries of birds, both in private affairs—with the *augurs privati*, which soon disappeared and are little known—and in public affairs with the *augurs publici*. Their college, one of the four major priestly colleges, is traditionally traced back to Romulus or Numa.
The task of the augurs, whose etymology modern scholars derive more from *avis* ("bird") than from *augere* ("to increase"), was to delimit the *templum* for taking the auspices in the Auguraculum on the Capitoline, to inaugurate sacred buildings and persons, and to establish and oversee the *pomerium*. Until 300 BC, the college always consisted of five patrician members. The *Lex Ogulnia* of that year opened the college to plebeians, increasing its number to nine, which was later raised to fifteen and sixteen. The office was held for life and could not be lost for any reason. Members were co-opted until the *Lex Domitia* of 103 BC prescribed election by the people in assemblies. The college, having neither a fixed seat nor a presiding officer, met in the home of an augur and was chaired by the senior member (Cicero, *De Senect.*, 18, 64). Among the augurs’ insignia, the *lituus*, used to delimit the *templum*, and the purple-and-crimson *trabea* were the most notable. Their most important functions included the *augurium salutis*, the *amburbium*, and the *augurium canarium*. However, the political importance of the college stemmed from its role as the official interpreter of public auspices, excluding military matters, with the civil magistrate initiating the auspices (*spectio*). Whenever the validity of a legal act was challenged due to any defect in the auspices, the college of augurs was consulted. Indeed, to avoid such inconveniences, at least by the late Republic, the magistrate was assisted by one or more augurs, who thus assumed functions originally foreign to their office, which became purely honorary under the Empire.
Colleges of augurs with lifetime tenure, lost only upon conviction, existed in Italian cities and provinces. They wore the *toga praetexta*, sat in public spectacles among the decurions, were exempt—along with their sons—from military service, and had the sole duty of resolving doubts regarding auspices.