Sacred Founders or Filthy Scavengers? Interpreting Vultures in the Roman Founding Myth and beyond

Summary This article investigates the symbolic evolution of the vulture in Roman thought, exploring the paradox between its prestige in augural law and its denigration as a filthy, ill-omened bird in Imperial literature. Historically, the vulture was central to the ‘perfect augury’ ( augurium augustum ) that provided divine sanction for Romulus’ foundation of Rome, a motif later appropriated by Octavian to legitimise his own rule. This positive status was rooted in observations of the bird’s natural behaviour that cast it as a prescient attendant of Mars, whose presence on battlefields signalled Roman victory over foreign foes. Such prestige weakened over the centuries until the civil wars and Octavian’s claim on the founding omen in 43 BCE permanently recast them as vulgar symbols of internecine strife. The shift was further cemented by the influence of Greek literature, specifically the myth of Tityos, which depicted vultures as inauspicious agents of the underworld. Ultimately, the study illustrates how political trauma redefined the sacred founding vultures as loathsome dire birds. All translations are from the Loeb Classical Library (with modifications where necessary), unless otherwise indicated. Original Greek and Latin quotations are provided in footnotes.