|
Publius Claudius Pulcher (of the Claudii family) was a Roman general. He was the son of the famous Roman politician Appius Claudius Caecus. He was the first of the Claudii to be given the cognomen "Pulcher" ("handsome").
He was curulian aedile in 253 BC and consul in 249. As consul he was given command of the Roman fleet during the First Punic War. He lost the Battle of Drepana against the Carthaginians, supposedly because he ignored a bad omen when some chickens refused to eat. According to Suetonius and Cicero, Claudius threw them into the sea, ut biberent, quando esse nollent ("so that they might drink, since they refused to eat"). 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 and was fined, and died soon afterwards, possibly by suicide.
|
