Caput in iecore non fuit. La ‘cabeza’ de los cónsules por la salvación de la República

Abstract

The Gods of Rome were regarded by the Romans as their fellow citizens and their interests were fully and completely identified with those of the city. Their role was to serve as guides and counsellors on the actions of the men, particularly the statesmen. When war altered the natural course of civic life and threatened the social peace, the gods took over control of the situation, preventing the Romans from the major and serious calamities that were looming and warning of the extraordinary efforts that they would have to make in order to tackle them and minimize their effects. In the course of certain military campaigns against foreign peoples or during periods of struggle for political leadership, the gods considered that the key to preserving Rome was through sacrificing their consuls. Such announcement came ‘imprinted’ on the liver of an animal to be sacrificed and its fatal end affected the personal fate of the chief magistrates of the state. This signum was recognized in the absence of the ‘head’ of the liver (caput iecoris) of the animal sacrificed. Research on the eleven known cases in the Republic— including that of Julius Caesar himself—and the study of the nature of the signum mortis are the main objectives of this paper.