Definition: Derived from the word for entrails (exta) and the verb to look at (specto), extispicium is the art of interpreting the entrails of sacrifical animals. The interpretation involved determining the will of the gods. Etruscan soothsayers in Rome, called Haruspices, interpreted the color, markings, and shape of liver and gallbladder at most public sacrifices held within or outside Rome.
The Etruscans were said to have been taught the art of haruspicy from a grandson of Jupiter named Tages.
A bronze model of a liver presumably used for the training of haruspices was found in Piacenza, Italy in 1877.
Source: Adkins, Lesley, and Ray A. Adkins (1996). Dictionary of Roman Religion. New York: Facts on File.
