Reminds me of a story relating to the oracle at delphi. A king of a newly established empire (can't remember which one) wanted to invade the Persian Empire. Before the invasion, he went to the oracle to ask for advice. The oracle said something along the line of "if you invade Persia, a great empire will fall." The king went back to his army with a big smile on his face.
It turned out that the invasion was a complete failure and the Persians took the opportunity to invade his country. While fighting for his country's survival, he sent a messenger to the oracle at delphi to ask why she said Persia was going to fall. The oracle's priest answered, "the oracle really meant your empire, not Persia."
It was Croesus, the King of Lydia in the 6th century BC. The story is told in Book 1 of the 'Histories' of Herodotus.
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