I heard (iirc in the “In our time” podcast) that they associated rare/unusual cosmological events (say, a solar eclipse) with signs from the gods. Hence, to bet

I heard (iirc in the “In our time” podcast) that they associated rare/unusual cosmological events (say, a solar eclipse) with signs from the gods. Hence, to better read the signs, you want to know what's normal/predicted. Don't quote me on this, though :)