Publius Claudius Pulcher (consul 249 BC)

Publius Claudius Pulcher (died 249 BC/246 BC) was a Roman politician.

Family

Son of Appius Claudius Caecus, Publius 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 progress of her carriage 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.

Career

Curule aedile in 253 BC, as consul in 249 he was given command of the Roman fleet during the First Punic War. He lost the Battle of Drepana against the Carthaginians after ignoring a bad omen. According to Valerius Maximus, Suetonius and Cicero, when the sacred chickens refused to eat, Claudius threw them into the sea, saying: "Since they do not wish to eat, let them drink!" (Latin "Bibant, quoniam edere nollent"). 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 a 120,000 assēs, 1,000 for each ship Rome had lost in the battle against Carthage. He died soon afterwards, possibly by suicide.

External links

• Sheridan, Paul (8 November 2015). "The Sacred Chickens of Rome". Anecdotes from Antiquity. Retrieved 17 November 2015.