ABSTRACT
The prophets and profits theme takes us right to the core of one of the major areas of tension surrounding any divinatory practice and shaping any debate on divination, not just in antiquity. Aemilianus' hostility to diviners who charge a fee for their services resonates with a concern over the link between divination and money that appears to pervade Roman culture more broadly. Haruspicy is often associated with the running of the Roman government, both on a day-to-day basis and on major public occasions. Much of the best work that has been done on Greek and Roman religion over the last half-century or so has been driven by the intention to bring back to the ancients their alterity, their otherness, and to explore the terms of what separates them from us, rather than pursuing the tempting, and often facile, route of analogy.
