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There is an ancient belief, handed down to us even from mythical times and firmly established by the general agreement of the Roman people and of all nations, that divination of some kind exists among men; this the Greeks call μαντική—that is, the foresight and knowledge of future events. A really splendid and helpful thing it is—if only such a faculty exists—since by its means men may approach very near to the power of gods. And, just as we Romans have done many other things better than the Greeks, so have we excelled them in giving to this most extraordinary gift a name, which we have derived from divi, a word meaning “gods,” whereas, according to Plato's interpretation, they have derived it from furor, a word meaning “frenzy.”1

1 Phaedrus 244 c μαντική=μανική from μανία (furor).

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load focus Latin (William Armistead Falconer, 1923)
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