Scholarly discussion of augury, a form of Roman state divination designed to consult the god Jupiter, has previously tended to focus either upon its legal-constitutional aspects or its role in maintaining and perpetuating Roman social and political structures. This volume challenges the prevailing view that official divination was organized to produce only the results its users wanted, arguing instead that its rules and precepts did not allow human beings simplyto create or ignore signs at will - that in theory as in practice it was the Romans, not their supreme god, who were 'bound' by the auguries and auspices.