Publius Claudius Pulcher (consul 249 BC)
Publius Claudius Pulcher (died 249 BC or 246 BC)[1] was a Roman politician.
Family
[edit]Pulcher was the son of Appius Claudius Caecus. He was the first of the Claudii to be given the cognomen "Pulcher" ("handsome"). He was also the father of Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 212 BC.
After losing the Battle of Drepana, his sister Claudia was prosecuted for insulting the Plebs. Whilst travelling through the streets of Rome, the path that her carriage was taking had been blocked by a crowd. She was then heard to have wished her brother would lose another battle and drown some more of the poorer citizens.[2]
Career
[edit]Curule aedile in 253 BC, as consul in 249 he was given command of the Roman fleet during the First Punic War.[3] He lost the Battle of Drepana against the Carthaginians after ignoring a bad omen, in which 93 of his 123 ships, as well as over 20,000 sailors, were lost.[4] According to Valerius Maximus, Suetonius[5] and Cicero,[6] when the sacred chickens refused to eat,[7] Claudius threw them into the sea, reportedly saying: "Since they do not wish to eat, let them drink!" (Latin "Quia edere nolunt, bibent!", lit. 'Because they don't want to eat, they drink!').[8] He was recalled to Rome and ordered to appoint a dictator; his nomination of his subordinate Marcus Claudius Glicia was overruled. He was tried for incompetence and impiety, avoiding capital or corporal punishment due to double jeopardy and was instead fined 120,000 assēs, 1,000 for each ship Rome had lost in the battle against Carthage.[9][10] He died soon afterwards, potentially by suicide.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Archive, History. "People | Publius Claudius Pulcher". History Archive. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Goldsworthy, The Fall of Carthage, p. 122.
- ^ "The Sacred Chickens | Irene Soldatos". Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "The First Punic War: Audacity and Hubris". Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ "Suetonius: Tiberius".
- ^ Cicero, M. Tullius. De natura deorum. Perseus Digital Library. p. 2.7. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ^ Williams, Tara Layman (2011). The Complete Guide to Raising Chickens: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply. Atlantic Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-60138-374-7.
- ^ thehistorianshut (14 September 2018). "The Disgraced Ancient Roman Admiral Who Did Not Heed The Sacred Chickens During The First Punic War". The Historian's Hut. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Law & Order in Ancient Rome - The Case of the Sacred Chicken Killer. YouTube.
- ^ Dillon, Matthew; Garland, Lynda (28 October 2013). Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-76143-0.
External links
[edit]- Sheridan, Paul (8 November 2015). "The Sacred Chickens of Rome". Anecdotes from Antiquity. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
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