Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 3, Athens-BOI

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A U G — A U G
the scene of numerous events of historical importance.
It was besieged and taken by Gustavus Adolphus in 1G32,
and in 1635 it surrendered to the imperial forces; in 1703
it was bombarded by the electoral prince of Bavaria, and
forced to pay a contribution of 400,000 dollars; and in
A, St Stephan’s Platz.
B, Carolinen Platz.
C, Fruit Market.
1), Metzger Platz.
E, Perlachthurm.
F, Ludwig’s Platz.
G, Fish Market.
H, Horse Market.
J, St Anna Platz.
Sketch Plan of Augsburg.
K, Maximilian’s Platz.
1. Cathedral.
2. Frohnhof.
3. Palace.
4. Court Garden.
5. Barefoot Church.
6. Shambles.
7. Town-Hall.
8. Exchange (Bdrse).
9. Police.
10. Firehouse.
11. St Moritz Church.
13. St Katherine's Nun¬
nery.
14. St Ulrich’s Church.
15. Military Stahles.
16. Holy Ghost Hospital.
the war of 1803 it suffered severely. Of its conventions the
most memorable are those which gave birth to the Augs¬
burg confession (1530) and to the Augsburg alliance (1686).
The city is pleasantly situated in an extensive and
fertile plain, between the rivers Wertach and Lech, 36
miles W.N.W. of Munich, lat. 48° 21' 44/'' N., long. 10° 54'
42" E. Its fortifications were dismantled in 1703, and
have since been converted into public promenades. Maxi¬
milian Street is remarkable for its breadth and architectural
magnificence. One of its most interesting edifices is the
Fugger House, of which the entire front is painted in
fresco. Among the public buildings of Augsburg most
worthy of notice is the town-hall, said to be one of
the finest in Germany, built by Elias Holl in 1616-20.
One of its rooms, called the “ Golden Hall,” from the
profusion of its gilding, is 113 feet long, 59 broad, and 53
high. The palace of the bishops, where the memorable
Confession of Faith was presented to Charles V., is now
used for Government offices. The cathedral dates in its
oldest portions from the 10th century. There are also vari¬
ous churches and chapels, a school of arts, a polytechnic
institution, a picture gallery in the former monastery of St
Catherine, a museum, observatory, botanical gardens, an
exchange, gymnasium, deaf-mute institution, orphan
asylum, public library, several remarkable fountains dating
from the 16th century, &c. The “ Fuggerei,” built in
1519 by the brothers Fugger, consists of 106 small houses,
let to indigent Roman Catholic citizens at a merely nominal
rent. The manufactures of Augsburg are various and
important, consisting of woollen, linen, cotton, and silk
goods, watches, jewellery, and goldsmith-work, mathema¬
tical instruments, machinery, leather, paper, chemical
stuffs, types, &c. Copper-engraving, for which it was
formerly noted, is no longer carried on ; but printing, litho¬
graphy, and publishing have acquired a considerable de¬
velopment, one of the best-known Continental newspapers
being the Allgemeine Zeitung or Augsburg Gazette. Augs¬
burg is an important railway junction. On the opposite
side of the river, which is here crossed by a bridge, lies
the little village of Lechhausen. Population in 1871,
51,270.
AUGSBURG CONFESSION. See Creeds.
AUGURS, in Roman Antiquities, a college or board
appointed to interpret, according to the books {libri
augurales) in which the science of divination was laid
down, the ausqncia or signs of approval or disapproval
sent by Jupiter on the occasion of any public transaction.
At first, it is said, there were only two augurs, one from
each of the tribes Ramnes and Titles. Two more were
added by Numa, and again other two for the third tribe
of Luceres, that is six altogether. But in the year 300
B.c. it is certain that there were only four, to which
number five plebeian places were added by the lex Ogulnia.
Sulla increased the number to fifteen, at which it con¬
tinued, with the exception that Caesar appointed a
sixteenth, and the emperors frequently added as supra
numerum persons of distinction, or of their own family.
An augur retained his office and sacred character for life.
The college had the right of election of new members.
The insignia of their office were the lituus, or crook, and
the dress called trabea. The natural region to look to for
signs of the will of Jupiter was the sky, where lightning
and the flight of birds seemed directed by him as counsel
to men. The latter, however, was the more difficult of
interpretation, and upon it, therefore, mainly hinged the
system of divination with which the augurs were occupied,
and which is expressed in the terms augurium and auspi-
cium (aves gerere, aves spicere). The presence of augurs
was required only in observing signs in the sky, where their
first duty was to mark out with the lituus a space or
templum in the sky within which the omen must occur.
Such observations being properly made only in the city of
Rome, augurs are not found elsewhere. Signs of the will
of the gods were of two kinds, either in answer to a request
(auspicia impetrativa), or incidental (auspicia oblativa).
Of such signs there were five classes:—(1.) Signs in the
sky (coelestia auspicia), consisting chiefly of thunder and
lightning, but not excluding falling stars and other pheno¬
mena. Lightning from left to right was favourable, from
right to left unfavourable ; and this being a very direct and
impressive token of the will of Jupiter, the observation of
it was held to apply to all public transactions fixed for the
day on which it occurred. Whether favourable or the
reverse in its direction, the appearance of lightning was
held as a voice of the god against business being done in
the public assemblies. But since the person charged to
take the auspices (de coelo servasse) for a certain day was
constitutionally subject to no other authority who could
test the truth or falsehood of his statement that he had
observed lightning, it happened that this became a favourite
means of putting off meetings of the public assembly.
Restrictions were, however, imposed on it in the later times
of the republic. When a new consul, prsetor, or quaestor
entered on his first day of office and prayed the gods for
good omens, it was a matter of custom to report to him
that lightning from the left had been seen. (2.) Signs
from birds (signa ex avibus), with reference to the direction
of their flight, and also to their singing, or uttering other