According to the early historian Herodotus, the Medes and the Lydians, who had been locked in conflict for five years already, were in the midst of battle on the banks of the River Halys when the sun unexpectedly went dark.

While ancient Greeks understood a great deal about astronomy, a run of the mill solar eclipse in 585 BCE frightened two warring Hellenic leaders all the way to the peace table. The people of Rome weren’t the only ones in the ancient world who saw innocuous natural events or phenomenon as messages from the heavens – Greek, Hittite, Mongol, Norman and even Anglo Saxon military leaders pondered all manner of omens, signs or portents when deciding how and when to make war. While the republic’s defeat had more to do with the superior maneuverability of the enemy warships and the professionalism of the other side’s sailors, to the average Roman, the loss could just as easily be attributed to the will of the gods. Claudius Pulcher seeks guidance from the sacred chickens before the Battle of Drepanum 249 BCE.īy the end of the battle, Carthage had sunk or captured 93 of 120 Roman ships. “Let them drink if they don’t want to eat,” he supposedly shouted at his horrified priests. If the animals refused to eat, it portended defeat for the republic.Īs it became clear that the birds weren’t interested in the offering that day, Pulcher flew into a rage and tossed the chickens into the sea. If the birds devoured the food, it would be seen as proof that the gods backed Rome in the coming contest.

To test the mood of Jupiter, Neptune, Mars and the other deities, the soothsayers aboard Pulcher’s flagship made an offering of grain to a flock of chickens kept in the vessel’s hold for just such an occasion.

IT WAS A BRAVE ROMAN who insulted the gods, especially before a battle.īut that’s just what one commander named Publius Claudius Pulcher did before sailing into action against a superior Carthaginian fleet in 249 BCE.įacing an equal number of more seaworthy enemy ships off the west coast of Sicily, Pulcher did what any Roman commander would before an engagement – he asked his holy men which navy the gods favoured in the coming fight. “Greek, Hittite, Mongol, Norman and even Anglo Saxon military leaders pondered all manner of omens, signs or portents when deciding how and when to make war.

Halley’s comet, which appears at the top of this segment shows how the celestial body inspired the Normans and petrified the Anglo Saxons. The famous Bayeux Tapestry chronicles the story of William’s conquest of England.

Ancient warfare 2 navy