Sacred Chickens Foreshadowed Roman Disaster

Before the Battle of Drepana in 249 BC, Roman consul and naval commander Publius Claudius Pulcher learned that the sacred chickens refused to eat, signaling a bad omen. He threw them into the sea and said, "Since they do not wish to eat, let them drink." Pulcher then lost 93 of his 123 ships and more than 20,000 sailors in a crushing defeat. Roman authorities recalled Pulcher, tried him for incompetence and impiety, and fined him 120,000 asses.

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