distinctive definition that may hold for all the known cases. By such considerations Dumezil thinks that the two terms refer in fact to two aspects of the same religious act: auspicium would design the technical process of the operation, i.e. aves spicere, looking at the birds; augurium would be the resulting interpretation i.e. the determination, acknowledgement of the presence of the *auges, the action favoured by the god(s), the intention and the final product of the whole operation. In Varro's words "Agere augurium, aves specit", "to conduct the augurium, he observed the birds". Categories The auspicia were divided into two categories: requested by man (impetrativa) and offered spontaneously by the gods (oblativa). Both impetrativa and oblativa auspices could be further divided into five subclasses: ex caelo (thunder, lightning) ex avibus (birds) ex tripudiis (attitude to food, and feeding manner of Mars' sacred chickens) ex quadrupedibus (dog, horse, wolf, and fox) ex diris (ominous events). Only some species of birds (aves augurales) could yield valid signs whose meaning would vary according to the species. Among them were ravens, woodpeckers, owls, ossifragae, and eagles. Signs from birds were divided into alites, from the flight, and oscines, from the voice: The alites included region of the sky, height and type of flight, behaviour of the bird and place where it would come to rest. The oscines included the pitch and direction of the sound. Ritual Magistrates endowed by the law with the right of spectio (observation of auspices) would establish the requested auspicium (observation platform) before taking the auspicia impetrativa ("requested" or "sought" auspices; see above). The templum, or sacred space within which the operation would take place had to be established and delimited (it should be square and have only one entrance) and purified (effari, liberare). The enunciation of the requested auspicia that began the observation portion of the ceremony was called legum dictio. Observation conditions were rigorous and required absolute silence for validity of the operation. Technically the sky was divided into four sections or regions: dextera, sinistra, antica, and postica (right, left, anterior and posterior). The prototype of the ritual of inauguration of people is described in Livy's description of the inauguration of king Numa Pompilius:The augur asks Jupiter: "Si fas est" (i.e. if it is divine justice to do this) "... send me a certain signum (sign)" then the augur listed the auspicia he wanted to see. When they