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The Sibylline Books or Libri Sibyllini were a collection of oracular utterances, set out in Greek hexameters, purchased from a sibyl by the last king of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, and consulted at momentous crises through the history of the Republic and the Empire. 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 The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Hexameter is a literary and poetic form consisting of six metrical feet per line as in the Iliad. The word sibyl probably comes (via Latin) from the Greek word sibylla, meaning Prophetess (Other schools of thought suggest that the word Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (also called Tarquin the Proud or Tarquin II) was the last of the seven Legendary Kings of Rome, son of Tarquinius The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Only fragments have survived, the rest being lost or deliberately destroyed. Book burning (a category of biblioclasm or book destruction is the practice of destroying often ceremoniously, one or more copies of a book or other written material

The Sibylline Books should not be confused with the so-called Sibylline Oracles, twelve books of prophesies thought to be of Judaeo-Christian origin. The Sibylline Oracles (sometimes called the "pseudo-Sibylline Oracles" are a collection of oracular utterances written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the Sibyls

Contents

History

Michelangelo's rendering of the Erythraean Sibyl
Michelangelo's rendering of the Erythraean Sibyl

According to the Roman tradition, 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. Solon ( ancient Greek:, c 638 BC&ndash558 BC was an Athenian Statesman, Lawmaker and Lyric poet. Two sacred mountains are called Mount Ida in Greek mythology, equally named "Mount of the Goddess Troas or The Troad is the historical name of the Biga peninsula ( modern Turkish: Biga Yarımadası) in the northwestern part of Anatolia The Hellespontine Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian Oracle at Dardania. From Gergis the collection passed to Erythrae, where it became famous as the oracles of the Erythraean Sibyl. Erythrae or Erythrai (Ἐρυθραί later Litri, was one of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia Minor, situated 22 km north-east of The Erythraean Sibyl, by the name of Herophile was the prophetess of Classical antiquity presiding over the Apollonian Oracle at Erythrae It would appear to have been this very collection that found its way to Cumae (see the Cumaean Sibyl) and from Cumae to Rome. There is also a small modern Greek Euboean city called Κυμη, near the ruins of the ancient Cuma The ageless Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian Oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples,

Tarquinius has the Sibylline Books valued.
Tarquinius has the Sibylline Books valued.

The story of the acquisition of the Sibylline Books by Tarquinius, 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). Publius Vergilius Maro ( October 15, 70 BCE &ndash September 21, 19 BCE later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or This article is about the Roman hero For other uses see Aeneas (disambiguation. The ageless Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian Oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples, For the group of nine Ancient Egyptian deities see Ennead. The Aeneid (əˈniːɪd in The Cumaean Sibyl offered to Tarquinius 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 Tarquinius at the same stiff price, which he again refused, whereupon she burned three more and repeated her offer. Tarquinius 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. Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC &ndash 27 BC also known as Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus, was a Roman Lucius Caelius (or Caecilius? Firmianus Lactantius was an Early Christian author (ca Origen ( Greek: Ōrigénēs, or Origen Adamantius, ca 185–ca

The Sibylline Books were entrusted to the care of two patricians; after 367 BC ten custodians were appointed, five patricians and five plebeians, who were called the decemviri sacris faciundis; subsequently (probably in the time of Sulla) their number was increased to fifteen, the quindecimviri sacris faciundis. The term " patrician " originally referred to a group of elite families in Ancient Rome, including both their natural and Events By place Greece The Theban general Epaminondas, again invades the Peloponnesus, but this time achieves little Plebs were the general body of landowners of Roman Citizens in Ancient Rome. Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix ( Latin: L•CORNELIVS•L•F•P•N•SVLLA•FELIX (c They were usually ex-consuls or ex-praetors. Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities the commander of an Army, either before 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). Prophecy, generally describes the disclosing of Information that is not known to the Prophet by any ordinary means 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, which left ample opportunity for abuses.

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. Originally a Hittite and Phrygian Goddess, Cybele (Κυβέλη was a deification of the Earth Mother and was worshipped in Originally a Hittite and Phrygian Goddess, Cybele (Κυβέλη was a deification of the Earth Mother and was worshipped in 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. The Etruscans were a people of unknown origin living in Northern Italy, who were eventually integrated into Roman culture and politically became part of the Roman Republic 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. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Troy ( Greek: grc Τροία Troia, also, Ilion; Latin: Trōia, Īlium, Hittite: Wilusa or

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. See Temple of Jupiter for temples to him in other places The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus ("Jupiter greatest and best" also known The Capitoline Hill, between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. Year 83 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar. Events By place Rome Sulla returns to Italy from his campaigns The Roman Senate 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. Year 76 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar. Events By place Rome Salome Alexandra becomes queen of Judea Troy ( Greek: grc Τροία Troia, also, Ilion; Latin: Trōia, Īlium, Hittite: Wilusa or Samos (Σάμος is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off 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. Tivoli, the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km from Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it The Tiburtine Sibyl was a Roman Sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur (modern Tivoli) The priests then sorted them, retaining only those that appeared true to them (Tacitus, Annales, VI, 12). 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. Events By Place Western Roman Empire Stilicho orders the Sibylline Books burned According to the poet Rutilius Claudius Namatianus, the general Flavius Stilicho (died AD 408) burned them, as they were used to attack his government. Rutilius Claudius Namatianus (fl 5th century) was a Roman Poet, notable as the author of a Latin poem De Reditu Suo, in Elegiac Flavius Stilicho (occasionally written as Stilico) (ca 359 &ndash August 22, 408) was a high-ranking general ( Magister militum For the area code see Area code 408. Events By Place Western Roman Empire In the summer of this year

Some genuine Sibylline verses are preserved in the Book of Marvels or Memorabilia of Phlegon of Tralles (2nd century AD). Phlegon, of Tralles in Asia Minor, Greek writer and freedman of the emperor Hadrian, lived in the 2nd century. 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. Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ ( anér, meaning man and γυνή ( gyné, meaning woman that can refer to either of two

Relationship with the "Sibylline Oracles"

The Sibylline Oracles were quoted by the Roman-Jewish historian Josephus (late 1st century) as well as by numerous Christian writers of the second century, including Athenagoras of Athens who, in a letter addressed to Marcus Aurelius in ca. Josephus (AD 37 – c 100 also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph son of Matthias and after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus The 2nd century is the period from 101 to 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian / Common Era. Athenagoras (ca 133-190 was a Christian Apologist who lived during the second half of the 2nd century of whom little is known for certain besides that he was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (often referred to as "the wise" ( April 26, 121 – March 17, 180) was Roman Emperor AD 176, quoted verbatim a section of the extant Oracles, in the midst of a lengthy series of other classical and pagan references such as Homer and Hesiod, stating several times that all these works should already be familiar to the Roman Emperor. Events By Place Roman Empire November 27 — Commodus becomes co-emperor to his father Marcus Aurelius. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Hesiod ( Greek: Hesiodos) was an early Greek Poet and Rhapsode, who presumably lived around 700 BCE Copies of the actual Sibylline Books (as reconstituted in 76 BC) were still in the Roman Temple at this time. The Oracles are nevertheless thought by modern scholars to be anonymous compilations that assumed their final form in the fifth century, after the Sibylline Books perished. The 5th century is the period from 401 to 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in Anno Domini / Common Era. They are a miscellaneous collection of Jewish and Christian portents of future disasters, that may illustrate the confusions about sibyls that were accumulating among Christians of Late Antiquity [1]. Late Antiquity (c 300-600 is a Periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in

Consultations of the Books cited in history

An incomplete list of consultations of the Sibylline Books recorded by historians:

External links

References

  1. ^ Terry 1899
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