BCE 0163: Fire Breathing Bull

The Legend:

“...in the Time of the Roman Consuls T. Gracchus and M. Juventius, ... a Flame came out of a Bull’s Mouth, without hurting the Beast, by not finding any Resistance to its Way...”

Too Little

        The above quote is taken from the 1745 study of 'Spontaneous Human Combustion' by Paul Rolli -- the first study of the subject ever written -- and Rolli does not mention his source for this account, which is annoying.

        T. Sempronius Gracchus and M. Juventius Thalna were consuls together only in the year 163 BCE, hence the time set for this event. However, the only strange event regarding these two that I can find predating Rolli’s article in 1745 is that Juventius is said to have died of ecstacy over a letter from the Senate of Rome he read while making sacrifices in Corsica [shortly after conquering said area]. Therefore, the account of the fire breathing bull is marked as 'Unreliable' until further sources can be found.