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Auspicia sortesque, ut qui maxime, (ut qui maxime: according to G.M. Lane, qui is not rel. pronoun but an old abl. of uncertain force after ut and other particles; the meaning of the phrase is probably ‘by any means’, ‘surely’, ‘no dobt’. Cf. L. 1828. It can also be explained as an ellipted rel. clause of characteristic, for which see G. 631.) observant. Sortium consuetudo simplex: virgam, frugiferae arbori decisam, (frugiferae arbori decisam: the verb decido is usually with abl., here with dat.: ‘cut from a fruit-bearing tree’; preferably nut trees or shrubs, e.g. hazel, oak, beech were used.) in surculos amputant, eosque, notis quibusdam discretos, (notis quibusdam discretos: ‘differentiated by certain marks’; it is not certain whether a written language existed at this time (end of first century A.D.) in Germany. Perhaps the marks were symbols that only the priests could decipher.) super candidam vestem temere ac fortuito (temere ac fortuito: both adverbs: ‘in a careless and haphazard manner’ ) spargunt: mox, si publice consuletur, sacerdos civitatis, sin privatim, ipse paterfamiliae, precatus deos coelumque suspiciens, ter singulos tollit, (ter singulos tollit: ter is numeral adverb wich answers the question ‘how many times?’; singuli is distributive numeral, which answers the question ‘how many each time?’; thus lit.: ‘he picks up three times one piece at a time’, in other words, ‘he picks up three pieces in succession, one at a time’. Sometime erroneously interpreted as ‘he picks up three times each piece’, on the notion that singulos means ‘each piece’. Incidentally, the number three was considered sacred and a favorite of the gods in many cultures, including the countries of northern Europe.) sublatos (sublatos: i.e ‘the pieces (surculos) picked up from the cloth’; sublatus is perf. participle of tollo.) secundum impressam ante notam interpretatur. (si publice consuletur, sacerdos …, sin privatim, paterfamiliae … interpretatur: conditional sentence with sin (‘but if’) introducing a second protasis: ‘if the divination is public, the priest, but if private, the head of the family interprets the omens’; the subjunctive consuletur is potential, as often in English, ‘should the divination be public, then …’ ) Si prohibuerunt, nulla de eadem re in eundem diem consultatio; sin permissum, auspiciorum adhuc fides exigitur. (si prohibuerunt, nulla de eadem re in eundem diem consultatio; sin permissum, auspiciorum adhuc fides exigitur: another conditional sentence on the pattern of the one above, only here the perfect indicative is used in both protases for action anterior to that of the apodosis, which has present indicative: ‘if the answer is negative, no further divination [is done] for the rest of that day, but if the answer is permissive, the proof of the auspices is still required’. nulla de eadem re in eundem diem consultatio: contrary to Roman praxis, which allowed the divination to be repeated; in eundem diem: acc. of time duration, normally without prep. or with per in place of in) Et illud quidem etiam hic notum, avium voces volatusque interrogare: (illud quidem etiam hic notum, avium voces volatusque interrogare: ‘seeking answers from the notes and flight of birds, that also (illud etiam) is well known even here [in Germany]’. interrogare: an example of the use of the infinitive as subject.) proprium gentis, equorum quoque praesagia ac monitus experiri; (proprium gentis, equorum quoque praesagia ac monitus experiri: the neuter proprium is noun: ‘a usage characteristic of the German people, to rely also on presages and warnings of horses’.) publice aluntur (publice aluntur: the subject is an understood equi.) iisdem nemoribus ac lucis candidi et nullo mortali opere contacti: quos pressos (pressos: refers to the horses, ‘yoked’.) sacro curru sacerdos ac rex vel princeps civitatis comitantur, hinnitusque ac fremitus observant. Nec ulli auspicio major fides (nec ulli auspicio major fides [est]: ulli auspicio id dat. of possessor with implied est: ‘no auspice has greater credence’, i.e. ‘this auspice is trusted more than any other’.) non solum apud plebem, sed apud proceres, apud sacerdotes; se (se: refers to the nearest of the three nouns, plebem, proceres, sacerdotes.) enim ministros deorum, illos conscios putant. Est et alia observatio auspiciorum, qua gravium bellorum eventus explorant; ejus gentis, cum qua bellum est, captivum, quoquo modo interceptum, cum electo popularium suorum, patriis quemque armis, committunt: (patriis quemque armis, committunt: the acc. quemque is to be viewed as direct object of committunt: ‘they commit them to battle, each with the arms of his own country’.) victoria hujus vel illius pro praejudicio accipitur.