1 min.
Bad omen chickens
In the past, humans weren’t the only ones that travelled at sea, as many animals did too. Most of these were simply being transported from one region to another, but some were kept as companions, others to ward off mice, and others, like chickens, were used to predict the outcome of battles. Essentially, if they ate, victory was to be expected.
There is a case when this omen was ignored in history, though, and that was by the consul and Roman general, Publius Claudius Pulcher. Given the command of the Roman fleet during the First Punic War, he ignored a bad omen when the sacred chickens refused to eat, instead, throwing them overboard and reportedly saying, “Let them drink then.”
As predicted, he lost the Battle of Drepana against the…
