![]() ![]() … When the Ides came, after several animal victims had been sacrificed and ill omens found in their entrails, Caesar entered the Senate House in defiance of portents, laughing at Spurinna and calling him a false prophet because the Ides of March had come without harm. On the day before the Ides of that month, a little bird called the kingbird flew into the Hall of Pompey with a sprig of laurel, pursued by others of various kinds, which tore it to pieces in the hall. When Caesar was offering sacrifice, the soothsayer Spurinna warned him to beware of danger, which would come not later than the Ides of March. Shortly before Caesar’s death, the herds of horses, which he had dedicated to the river Rubicon when he crossed it and had let loose without a keeper, stubbornly refused to graze and wept copiously. In the tomb of Capys, the founder of Capua, they found a bronze tablet, inscribed in Greek: ‘Whenever the bones of Capys shall be moved, it will come to pass that a son of Troy shall be slain at the hands of his kindred, and presently avenged at heavy cost to Italy.’ … A few months before, men at Capua demolished some tombs of great antiquity to get building material. “Caesar’s approaching murder was foretold to him by unmistakable signs. Suetonius’ first set of good omens are about the impending murder of Julius Caesar: Rolfe (1913-1914), then edited for clarity. As a good and pious Roman, Suetonius believed uncritically that the gods encode cryptic truths about the future in birds’ behavior, unusual weather phenomena, and chance events.Īre any of the omens Suetonius recorded actually true? Who knows! But many are delightful, colorful, and might inspire foreshadowing in your narrative, depending on what kinds of stories you write and how thickly you like to lay on your hints.Īll quotes are from the English translation by J.C. ![]() Suetonius’ book The Twelve Caesars recounts the lives of the first eleven Roman emperors and the proto-emperor Julius Caesar. In a good campaign no one at the table knows where the story is going until it gets there, so it’s often impossible to develop expectations about upcoming events in the narrative.īut, by golly, since I’m writing for a totally different audience today, I’m going to tack in a totally different direction! Today we’re going to talk about omens-specifically, some of the best auguries and portents found in the Roman historian Suetonius’ biographies! God-Controlled Events Foreshadowing The Future ![]() A great example is the storytelling device, foreshadowing. It’s a lot of fun, but there are some peculiar limitations on it. I write material for people to use in tabletop role-playing games (RPGs), mostly taken from history and folklore. Today we’re going to talk about omens- Tristan Zimmerman (Coincidence? Serendipity? Synchronicity? You be the judge.) Foreshadowing in History and Fiction He tells me he knew nothing about the TV show or the podcast when writing this post. If you’ve enjoyed John Hodgman’s I, Podius podcasts this spring (2020), which revisits the classic BBC miniseries from the 1970s, I, Claudius , some of Tristan’s stories might sound eerily familiar. In this post, Tristan mines the fascinating history of Rome to inspire use of foreshadowing in fiction, be it subtle hints of what’s to come or outright prophecy, portents, and omens. Molten Sulfur books are available at DriveThruRPG. I’ve reviewed Archive: Historical People, Places, And Events For RPGs, here. He has also published several books to support game play in the ripped-from-the-history-book sandbox as well as game modules based on historical events and past cultures. Tristan brings the fun facts of history to interactive storytelling ( role-playing games) each week at Molten Sulfur Blog. Today, guest blogger Tristan Zimmerman shares an interesting take on foreshadowing: omens, signs, and portents from Roman history. Foreshadowing is a great tool for writers aiming to add depth and nuance to their work.
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