Explanation: The Romans were quite fond of omens - augury. Good omens, bad omens, all determining whether to go ahead with a plan or pull back. Even the mythical founding of the city was based on an omen - how many birds were seen by Romulus.
One method of omen-taking was by seeing if sacred chickens would eat at the moment - if they would eat eagerly, it was a good omen; it they would not, it was a bad omen. One irate Roman admiral is said to have tossed the chickens into the ocean after finding they would not eat that day, saying "If they will not eat, let them drink!"
He lost the ensuing battle and was shamed and removed from command by the Senate when he returned.
NTA, the chicken sank proving it was a witch.
I thought the way that worked was that the righteous or innocent would sink, and the witches would use magic to save themselves
I think these sacred chickens ate a lot
Big chonk. Every day the priest is trying to get him to give a good omen.
Man, they had it good if their chickens were like mine. Try getting my hen to not eat!
The romans may have been an odd bunch but it didn't make them stupid. They tried to pick stuff that would give good omens fairly consistently.
At least that's what it looks like.
The fun bit is that there were many methods of omen-taking without set criteria for what was good or bad. So really you could use whatever as justification for your 'gut feeling' on whether to go forward or not.
The custom lives on, after a fashion, in New Zealand. At the airport there, you’ll hear announcements guiding you to the Mystic Chicken.
All hail the sacred chickens!
Alectryomancy?
