The pullularius was the keeper of chickens used in alectryomancy, a form of public augury in ancient Rome. 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.[1] The cockerels were consulted by military leaders as a predictor of fortune.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Plutarch. [Lives of] Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, c. 17. In: Waterfield, Robin. Plutarch, Roman Lives, pp. 96, 453 (note to p. 96) ISBN 978-0-19-282502-5
  2. ^ The Chicken Book By Page Smith, Charles Daniel