Green house

Buckaawk

Publius Claudius hostes mutis navibus oppugnare paraverat. sed sacerdotes eum vetuerunt; nam, quod pulli sacri frumentum non consumebant, dixerunt omina esse pessima. sed consul tam iratus erat ut pullos in mare iaci iuberet: 'si', inquit, 'cibum consumere nolunt, aquam bibunt!' itaque, cum naves suae mox superatae at submersae essent, Romani credebant se non hostibus sed a deis victos esse, propter consulis impietatem.

FLORUS, 1, 18, 29 (adapted)

Publius Claudius had prepared to fight an enemy with many ships but an oracle had warned him; for the sacred chickens were not eating their grain. They told the omen that he was pessimistic. But the consul was so angry that he ordered the chickens to be thrown into the sea. "If", he said, "they do not want to eat the food, then they will drink water!" Therefore when his ships had soon been overcome and had sunk, the Romans believed that it was not by the enemy they had been beaten but by the gods for the sacrilage of the consul.

For more information on chickens, visit the pulli litterae sacrae.