Oracle of Fortuna Primigenia
About
A pit on the Terrace of the Hemicycles held the oak-wood lots that made Praeneste's oracle one of the most consulted in Italy, inscribed slips a boy would draw at random in the goddess's presence. Cicero wrote skeptically about the ritual's origin myth while admitting its enormous popularity. A century later Tiberius grew wary enough of the lots' predictions that he had the entire box brought to Rome, then thought better of it and sent it straight back.
What happened here
You come with a question, and the form of the question matters as much as the answer. There is a fee, a preliminary sacrifice, and a wait — sometimes days, sometimes only on certain days of the year. The consultation itself is controlled: the enquirer rarely meets the speaker directly, and the response arrives through an intermediary, in verse or in writing, and often ambiguously enough to survive being wrong. Cities consult about colonies, wars and plagues; individuals about marriage, illness, travel and lost property. The sanctuary grows rich on the gifts of those whose answers came out well. Sceptics are common and say so openly. By this century several famous oracles are quieter than they were, and people notice.
In ancient writing
- Cicero, De Divinatione 2.85-87
Describes the founding legend and the ritual of the oak-wood lots, skeptically.
- Suetonius, Tiberius 63
Records Tiberius's wariness of the Praenestine lots, brought to Rome then returned.
Sources
Nearby
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