The ''pullularius'' was the keeper of
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adu ...
s used in
alectryomancy
Alectryomancy (also called alectoromancy or alectromancy; derivation comes from the and ) is a form of divination in which the diviner observes a bird, several birds, or most preferably a white rooster or cockerel pecking at grain (such as wheat ...
, a form of public
augury in
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
. It was the job of the ''pullularius'' to throw food for the chickens, and shake the basket they were in, if need be, to get them to emerge. The cockerels were consulted by military leaders as a predictor of fortune.
The Chicken Book
By Page Smith, Charles Daniel
References
Divination
Ancient Roman religion
{{AncientRome-stub