The Sibylline Books or Sibyllae were a collection of oracular utterances, set out in Greek hexameters, purchased from a sibyl by the semi-legendary last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, and consulted at momentous crises through the history of the Republic and the Empire. The Sibylline Books should not be confused with the so-called Sibylline Oracles, twelve books of pretended prophesies, written after the fact, or Vaticinia ex eventu (compare additions to the Book of Daniel); they are, nevertheless, a mine of cultural information. An Oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ... Hexameter is a literary and poetic form, consisting of six metrical feet per line as in the Iliad. ... Pronunciation: sib-ul The word sibyl comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word sibylla, meaning prophetess. ... Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (also called Tarquin the Great or Tarquin II) was the last of the seven legendary kings of Rome, son of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, and son-in-law of Servius Tullius. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century) The Roman Republic (Latin: Res Publica Romanorum) was the republican government of the city of Rome and its territories from 510 BC until the establishment of the Roman Empire, which sometimes placed at 44 BC the year of Caesar... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... The surviving Sibylline Oracles are not the famous Sibylline Books of Roman history, which were lost not once, but twice, and thus there is very little knowledge of the actual contents. ... Vaticinium ex eventu (Prophecy from the event) is a technical theological or historiographical term referring to a prophecy written after the author already had information about the events he was foretelling. The text is written so as to appear that the prophecy had taken place before the event. ... Daniel (דָּנִיֵּאל, Standard Hebrew Daniyyel, Tiberian Hebrew Dāniyyêl) is the name of two people from the Bible. ...

Michelangelo's rendering of the Erythraean Sibyl

The oldest collection of Sibylline oracles appears to have been made about the time of Solon and Cyrus at Gergis on Mount Ida in the Troad; it was attributed to the Hellespontine Sibyl and was preserved in the temple of Apollo at Gergis. From Gergis the collection passed to Erythrae, where it became famous as the oracles of the Erythraean Sibyl. It seems to have been this very collection, or so it would appear, which found its way to Cumae (see the Cumaean Sibyl) and from Cumae to Rome. Image File history File links Erythraean Sibyl by Michelangelo Image comments: The Erythraean Sibyl by Michelangelo. ... Image File history File links Erythraean Sibyl by Michelangelo Image comments: The Erythraean Sibyl by Michelangelo. ... Solon Solon (Greek: Σόλων, ca. ... -1... Two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida in Greek mythology, equally named Mount of the Goddess. ... Map of the Troas The Troas (Troad) is an ancient region in the northwestern part of Anatolia, bounded by the Hellespont to the northwest, the Aegean Sea to the west, and separated from the rest of Anatolia by the massif that forms Mount Ida. ... Montfoorts rendering of the Hellespontine Sibyl The Hellespontine Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Dardania. ... Erythrae (mod. ... The Erythraean Sibyl was the prophetess at Erythrae, a town in Ionia opposite Chios. ... Cumae (Cuma, in Italian) is an ancient Greek settlement lying to the northwest of Naples in the Italian region of Campania. ... Michelangelos rendering of the Cumaean Sibyl The Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples,Italy. ...

The anonymous editor (probably 6th century) of the so-called Sibylline Oracles, a miscellaneous collection of Jewish and Christian portents of future disasters, illustrates the confusions about sibyls that were accumulating among Christians of Late Antiquity: The surviving Sibylline Oracles are not the famous Sibylline Books of Roman history, which were lost not once, but twice, and thus there is very little knowledge of the actual contents. ... Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ...

"Those of the Cumaean Sibyl, however, were hidden and not made known to many, because she proclaimed more especially and distinctly things that were to happen in Italy, while the others became known to all. But those that were written by the Erythraean Sibyl who both inserted her own true name in her song and foretold that she would go by the name of the Erythraean, although she was born in Babylon; while the other books are without inscription to mark who is the author of each, but are without distinction (of authorship)" (Terry 1899).

The story of the acquisition of the Sibylline Books by the semi-legendary last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, is one of the famous mythic elements of Roman history. At Cumae, Virgil has Aeneas consult the Cumaean Sibyl before his descent to the lower world (Aeneid VI, 10). The Cumaean Sibyl offered to Tarquin nine books of these prophecies; and as the king declined to purchase them, owing to the exorbitant price she demanded, she burned three and offered the remaining six to Tarquin at the same stiff price, which he again refused, whereupon she burned three more and repeated her offer. Tarquin then relented and purchased the last three at the full original price and had them preserved in a vault beneath the Capitoline temple of Jupiter. The story is alluded to in Varro's lost books quoted in Lactantius Institutiones Divinae (I: 6) and by Origen. Michelangelos rendering of the Cumaean Sibyl The Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples,Italy. ... The Erythraean Sibyl was the prophetess at Erythrae, a town in Ionia opposite Chios. ... Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu, an ancient city in Mesopotamia (Location: 32° 32′ 11″ N 44° 25′ 15″ E, modern Al Hillah, Iraq). ... Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (also called Tarquin the Great or Tarquin II) was the last of the seven legendary kings of Rome, son of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, and son-in-law of Servius Tullius. ... For other uses see Virgil (disambiguation). ... Aeneas (or Aineias) was a Trojan hero, the son of prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite (Venus in Roman sources). ... Michelangelos rendering of the Cumaean Sibyl The Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples,Italy. ... The Aeneid is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy where he became the ancestor of the Romans. ... Marcus Terentius Varro ([[116 BC]–27 BC), also known as Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his contemporary Varro Atacinus, was a Roman scholar and writer, who the Romans came to call the most learned of all the Romans. ... Lucius Caelius (or Caecilius?) Firmianus Lactantius was an early Christian author who wrote in Latin (around A.D. 240 - around 320). ... Origen was a Christian scholar and theologian and one of the most distinguished of the Fathers of the early Christian Church. ...

The Sibylline Books were entrusted to the care of two patricians; after 367 BC ten custodians were appointed, five patricians and five plebeians; subsequently (probably in the time of Sulla) their number was increased to fifteen. They were usually ex-consuls or ex-praetors. They held office for life, and were exempt from all other public duties. They had the responsibility of keeping the books in safety and secrecy. These officials, at the command of the Senate, consulted the Sibylline Books in order to discover, not exact predictions of definite future events in the form of prophecy, but the religious observances necessary to avert extraordinary calamities and to expiate ominous prodigies (comets and earthquakes, plague and the like). It was only the rites of expiation prescribed by the Sibylline Books, according to the interpretation of the oracle that were communicated to the public, and not the oracles themselves. A skeptic will see the opportunities for abuse in this conventional arrangement. Patricians were originally the elite caste in ancient Rome. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC 380s BC 370s BC - 360s BC - 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 372 BC 371 BC 370 BC 369 BC 368 BC - 367 BC - 366 BC 365 BC 364... In Ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians. ... Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (Latin: L·CORNELIVS·L·F·P·N·SVLLA·FELIX) ¹ (ca. ... Definition According to Cicero, Praetor was a title which designated the consuls as the leaders of the armies of the state. ... Prophecy, in a broad sense, is the prediction of future events. ...

In particular the keepers of the Sibylline Books had the superintendence of the worship of Apollo, of the "Great Mother" Cybele or Magna Mater, and of Ceres, which had been introduced by the Sibylline Books. Thus one important effect of the Sibylline Books was their influence on applying Greek cult practice and Greek conceptions of deities to indigenous Roman religion, which was already indirectly influenced through Etruscan religion. As the Sibylline Books had been collected in Anatolia, in the neighborhood of Troy, they recognized the goddesses and gods and the rites observed there and helped introduce them into Roman State worship, a syncretic amalgamation of national deities with the corresponding deities of Greece, and a general modification of the Roman religion. Apollo (Greek: Απόλλων, Apóllōn) is a god in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Artemis (goddess of the hunt). ... Statue of Cybele in a chariot drawn by lions, in the Plaza de Cibeles, Madrid Originally a Phrygian goddess, Cybele (Greek Κυβέλη, sometimes given the etymology she of the hair if her name is Greek, not Phrygian, but more widely considered of Luwian origin, from Kubaba) (Roman equivalent: Magna Mater or... In Roman mythology, Magna Mater deorum Idaea (great Idaean mother of the gods) was the name for the originally Phrygian goddess Cybele, as well as Rhea. ... For other uses, see Ceres (disambiguation). ... See: Etruscan civilization Etruscan language Etruscan alphabet Etruscan mythology See also: Tyrrhenian, Lemnian, Pelasgian. ... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολή anatolē or anatolí, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish associated with Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion... Walls of the excavated city of Troy (Turkey) This article is about the city of Troy / Ilion as described in the works of Homer, and the location of an ancient city associated with it. ...

Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on Capitoline Hill, 6th thru 1st century B.C.

Since they were written in hexameter verse and in Greek, the college of curators was always assisted by two Greek interpreters. The books were kept in the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, and when the temple burned in 83 BC, they were lost. With the down-to-earth Roman approach to religion, the Senate simply sent envoys in 76 BC to replace them with a collection of similar oracular sayings, in particular collected from Ilium, Erythrae, and Samos, Sicily and Africa. This new Sibylline collection was deposited in the restored temple, together with similar sayings of native origin, e.g. those of the Sibyl at Tibur, (the 'Tiburtine Sibyl') of the brothers Marcius, and others. From the Capitol they were transferred by Augustus as pontifex maximus, in 12 BC, to the temple of Apollo Patrous on the Palatine, after they had been examined and copied; there they remained until about AD 405. They are said to have been burned by Flavius Stilicho (died AD 408), who though an Arian, shared the Christian enthusiasm for destroying troublesome pagan literature. Image File history File links Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on Capitoline Hill, 6th through 1st century B.C Source of Image of Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus: http://www. ... Image File history File links Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on Capitoline Hill, 6th through 1st century B.C Source of Image of Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus: http://www. ... Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on Capitoline Hill, 6th thru 1st century B.C. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (Jupiter, greatest and best. ... Piazza del Campidoglio, on the top of Capitoline Hill The Capitoline Hill (Capitolinus Mons), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the famous and highest of the seven hills of Rome, the site of a temple for the Capitoline Triad: the gods Jupiter, his wife Juno and... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC - 80s BC - 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC Years: 88 BC 87 BC 86 BC 85 BC 84 BC - 83 BC - 82 BC 81 BC 80... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC - 70s BC - 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC Years: 81 BC 80 BC 79 BC 78 BC 77 BC - 76 BC - 75 BC 74 BC 73... Walls of the excavated city of Troy (Turkey) This article is about the city of Troy / Ilion as described in the works of Homer, and the location of an ancient city associated with it. ... There is also a Samos in Middlesex County in the eastern part of Virginia, see Samos, Virginia. ... Tivoli (population 55,000), the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town some 20 km from Rome (Latium), at the falls of the Aniene, where it issues from the Sabine hills. ... Engraving of the Tiburtine Sibyl by Philip Galle, after a design by Antonius Bloclandt, Antwerp, 1575 To the classical sibyls of the Greeks, the Romans added a tenth, the Tiburtine Sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur (modern Tivoli). ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC - 10s BC - 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s Years: 17 BC 16 BC 15 BC 14 BC 13 BC 12 BC 11 BC 10 BC 9 BC 8 BC 7 BC... // Events Japanese court officially adopts the Chinese writing system (approximate date). ... Flavius Stilicho (c. ... Events Theodosius II succeeds his father Arcadius as Emperor of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire In the summer of this year, the usurper Constantine III captures Spain, destroying the loyalist forces defending it. ... Arianism was a Christological view held by followers of Arius in the early Christian Church, claiming that Jesus Christ and God the Father were not always contemporary, seeing the Son as a divine being, created by the Father (and consequently inferior to Him) at some point in time, before which...

Some genuine Sibylline verses are preserved in the Book of Marvels or Memorabilia of Phlegon of Tralles (2nd century AD). These represent an oracle, or a combination of two oracles, of seventy hexameters in all. They report the birth of an androgyne, and prescribe a long list of rituals and offerings to the gods. Phlegon, of Tralles in Asia Minor, Greek writer and freedman of the emperor Hadrian, flourished in the 2nd century AD. His chief work was the Olympiads, an historical compendium in sixteen books, from the 1st down to the 229th Olympiad (776 BC to AD 137), of which several chapters are... Androgyny refers to two concepts. ...

External links

• Sacred text archive: Fragments of the Sibylline Oracles
• article in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities

References

• Milton S. Terry, 1899. The Sibylline Oracles, Translated from the Greek into English Blank Verse. (e-text)
• Encyclopedia Britannica 1911
• Catholic Encyclopedia 1914
• Jewish Encyclopedia