Germ. 10.1Auspicia sortēsque ut quī maximē observant.To auspices and the casting of lots they pay as much attention as anyone. Germ. 10.1Sortium cōnsuētūdō simplex.The procedure of the lots is simple. Germ. 10.1Virgam frūgiferae arborī dēcīsam in surculōs amputant eōsque notīs quibusdam discrētōs super candidam vestem temerē ac fortuītō spargunt.They cut a branch from a fruit-bearing tree into slips, and these, marked out by certain signs, they scatter at random and by chance over a white cloth. Germ. 10.2Mox, sī pūblicē cōnsultētur, sacerdōs cīvitātis, sīn prīvātim, ipse pater familiae, precātus deōs caelumque suspiciēns ter singulōs tollit, sublātōs secundum impressam ante notam interpretātur.Then, if the consultation is public, the priest of the state, but if private, the father of the family himself, after praying to the gods and looking up to the sky, picks up three slips one at a time, and interprets those he has picked up according to the sign previously stamped on them. Germ. 10.3Sī prohibuērunt, nūlla dē eādem rē in eundem diem cōnsultātiō;If they have forbidden it, there is no consultation about the same matter on the same day; Germ. 10.3sīn permissum, auspiciōrum adhūc fidēs exigitur.but if it has been permitted, confirmation by auspices is still required.
Germ. 10.3Et illud quidem etiam hīc notum, avium vōcēs volātūsque interrogāre: proprium gentis equōrum quoque praesāgia ac monitūs experīrī.And it is known here too, indeed, to question the cries and flight of birds: but it is peculiar to this race to test also the presages and warnings of horses. Germ. 10.4Pūblicē aluntur īsdem nemoribus ac lūcīs, candidī et nūllō mortālī opere contāctī;These are kept at public expense in those same woods and groves, white and untouched by any mortal labour; Germ. 10.4quōs pressōs sacrō currū sacerdōs ac rēx vel prīnceps cīvitātis comitantur hinnītūsque ac fremitūs observant.they are yoked to a sacred chariot, and the priest and the king or chief of the state walk beside them and observe their neighing and snorting. Germ. 10.5Nec ūllī auspiciō maior fidēs, nōn sōlum apud plēbem, sed apud procerēs, apud sacerdōtēs;Nor is greater trust placed in any auspice, not only among the common people but among the nobles and among the priests; Germ. 10.5sē enim ministrōs deōrum, illōs cōnsciōs putant.for they consider themselves the servants of the gods, but the horses their confidants.
Germ. 10.5Est et alia observātiō auspiciōrum, quā gravium bellōrum ēventūs explōrant.There is also another way of taking auspices, by which they explore the outcome of serious wars. Germ. 10.6Eius gentis cum quā bellum est captīvum quōquō modō interceptum cum ēlēctō populārium suōrum, patriīs quemque armīs, committunt: victōria huius vel illīus prō praeiūdiciō accipitur.A captive from the people with whom there is war, caught by any means, they set to fight with a chosen man of their own countrymen, each in his native arms: the victory of the one or the other is taken as a foreshadowing.