Publius Claudius Pulcher (d 249 BC/246 BC) (of the Claudii family

Claudius (gens)

The gens Claudia, sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic...

) was a Roman

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...

 general. His father was Gaius Claudius

Gaius Claudius

Gaius Claudius Centho was a 3rd century BC member of a prominent and wealthy patrician Roman Republic family. He was the third son of Appius Claudius Caecus, and a member of the Claudii. He was consul in the year 240 BC. He was Roman censor in 225, interrex in 217 and Roman dictator in 213....

. He was the brother of the famous Roman politician Appius Claudius Caudex

Appius Claudius Caudex

Appius Claudius Caudex was a patrician member of the Claudii. He was the grandson of Appius Claudius Caecus through his father Gaius Claudius, and served as consul in 264 BC....

 (consul in 264 BC). He was the first of the Claudii to be given the cognomen

Cognomen

The cognomen nōmen "name") was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary. Hereditary cognomina were used to augment the second name in order to identify a particular branch within...

 "Pulcher" ("handsome").

He was curule aedile

Aedile

Aedile was an office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order. There were two pairs of aediles. Two aediles were from the ranks of plebeians and the other...

 in 253 BC and consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

 in 249. As consul he was given command of the Roman fleet during the First Punic War

First Punic War

The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...

. He lost the Battle of Drepana

Battle of Drepana

The naval Battle of Drepana took place in 249 BC during the First Punic War near modern Trapani, western Sicily between the fleets of Carthage and the Roman Republic.-Prelude:...

 against the Carthaginians

Carthage

Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...

 after ignoring a bad omen when the sacred chickens refused to eat. According to Valerius Maximus

Valerius Maximus

Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...

, Suetonius

Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....

http://bcs.fltr.ucl.ac.be/suet/TIB/texte.html#2 and Cicero

Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...

, 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

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and ordered to appoint a dictator

Roman dictator

In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...

; 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

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

.

He was the father of Appius Claudius Pulcher

Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 212 BC)

Appius Claudius Pulcher was a Roman general of the 3rd century BC, active in the Second Punic War.-Life:...

, consul in 212 BC