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{{Short description|Collection of prophecies used in Rome}}
{{Ancient Roman religion}}
The '''''Sibylline Books''''' ({{langx|la|Libri Sibyllini}}) were a collection of [[oracle|oracular]] utterances, set out in [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] [[hexameter]] verses, that, according to tradition, were purchased from a [[sibyl]] by the last king of [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus]], and consulted at momentous crises through the history of the [[Roman Republic]] and the [[Roman Empire|Empire]].

Only fragments have survived, the rest being lost or [[book burning|deliberately destroyed]]. The ''Sibylline Books'' are not the same as the ''[[Sibylline Oracles]]'', which are fourteen books and eight fragments of prophecies thought to be of Judaeo-Christian origin.

==History==
[[image:Erythraeansibylbymichelangelo.jpg|thumb|left|[[Michelangelo]]'s rendering of the [[Erythraean Sibyl]]]]
[[File:Tarquin Superbus and the Sibylline books.jpg|thumb|left|[[Tarquin the Proud]] receives the Sibylline books (1912 illustration)]]

[[File:Bas relief from Arch of Marcus Aurelius showing sacrifice.jpg|thumb|right|[[Relief]] of [[Marcus Aurelius]] sacrificing at the fourth temple of Jupiter]]
According to the Roman tradition, the oldest collection of Sibylline books appears to have been made about the time of [[Solon]] and [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]] at [[Gergis, Troad|Gergis]] on [[Mount Ida (Turkey)|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 would appear to have been this very collection that found its way to [[Cumae]] (see the [[Cumaean Sibyl]]) and from Cumae to Rome.
[[File:Woodcut illustration of Amalthea (the Cumaean sibyl), Tarquinius Superbus and the Sibylline books - Penn Provenance Project.jpg|thumb|16th-century illustration of the [[Cumaean Sibyl]] (Amalthea) burning some of the Sibylline books while Tarquin (confused with [[Lucius Tarquinius Priscus]]) watches.]]
The story of the acquisition of the ''Sibylline Books'' by the seventh and last king of Rome, [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus]] ("Tarquinius", ruled 534 to 509 B.C., d. 495 B.C.), is one of the famous [[legend]]ary elements of Roman history. An old woman, possibly a [[Cumaean Sibyl]], offered to Tarquinius nine books of these prophecies at an exorbitant price; when the king declined to purchase them, she burned three and offered the remaining six to Tarquinius at the same price, which he again refused. Thereupon, she burned three more and repeated her offer, maintaining the same price. Tarquinius then consulted the [[Augur]]s whose importance in Roman history is averred by [[Livy]]. The Augurs deplored the loss of the six books and urged purchase of the remaining three. Tarquinius then purchased the last three at the full original price, and had them preserved in a sacred vault beneath the Capitoline temple of Jupiter. The story is alluded to in [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]]'s lost books quoted in [[Lactantius]] ''Institutiones Divinae'' (I: 6) and by [[Origen]], and told by [[Aulus Gellius]] (''Noctes Atticae'' 1, 19).<ref> Gell. I 19 [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Gellius/1*.html]</ref>

The [[Roman Senate]] kept tight control over the ''Sibylline Books'',<ref>Orlin 2002;97.</ref> and entrusted them to the care of two [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]]s. In 367 BC, the number of custodians was increased to ten, five patricians and five [[plebeians]], who were called the ''decemviri sacris faciundis''. Subsequently, probably in the time of [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]], their number was increased to fifteen, the ''[[quindecimviri sacris faciundis]]''. 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. The 15 individuals were custodians of the Sibylline Books that were kept on the Palatine. 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, showers of stones, 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, 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 (Roman mythology)|Ceres]], which had been introduced upon recommendations as interpreted from the ''Sibylline Books''. The ''Sibylline Books'' motivated the construction of eight temples in ancient Rome, aside from those cults that have been interpreted as mediated by the ''Sibylline Books'' simply by the Greek nature of the deity.<ref>See Orlin 2002:97f.</ref> 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 mythology|Etruscan]] religion. As the ''Sibylline Books'' had been collected in [[Anatolia]], in the neighborhood of [[Troy]], they recognized the gods and goddesses and the rites observed there and helped introduce them into Roman state worship, a [[syncretism|syncretic]] amalgamation of national deities with the corresponding deities of Greece, and a general modification of the Roman religion.

Since they were written in [[wiktionary:hexameter|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 (Capitoline Hill)|Temple of Jupiter]] on the [[Capitoline Hill|Capitol]], and, when the temple burned in 83 BC, they were lost. The Roman Senate sent envoys in 76 BC to replace them with a collection of similar oracular sayings, in particular collected from [[Troy|Ilium]], Erythrae, [[Samos]], Sicily, and Africa.<ref>"after the burning of the Capitol during the Social War... the verses of the Sibyl, or Sibyls, as the case may be, were collected from Samos, Ilium, and Erythrae, and even in Africa, Sicily, and the Graeco-Italian colonies; the priests being entrusted with the task of sifting out the genuine specimens, so far as should have been possible by human means. " ([[Tacitus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Annals/6A*.html ''Annals'', VI.12].</ref> 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, which had been circulating in private hands but which were called in, to be delivered to the Urban Praetor, private ownership of such works being declared illicit,  and to be evaluated by the Quindecimviri, who then sorted them, retaining only those that appeared true to them.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'', ''eo. loc''.</ref> 

From the Capitol they were transferred by Augustus as ''pontifex maximus'' in 12 BC, to the [[Temple of Apollo Palatinus]], after they had been examined and copied; there they remained until about AD 405. According to the poet [[Rutilius Claudius Namatianus]], the general [[Flavius Stilicho]] (died AD 408) burned them, as they were being used to attack his government. The last known consultation was in 363 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Warrior |first1=Valerie |title=Roman Religion |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

Some supposedly 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 [[androgyny|androgyne]], and prescribe a long list of rituals and offerings to the gods.{{Citation needed|reason=No source claiming authenticity|date=September 2017}} Their authenticity has been questioned.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/10226672|title = Re-visiting the libri Sibyllini: Some remarks on their nature in Roman legend and experience|journal = Mika Kajava Ed., Studies in Ancient Oracles and Divination, Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae 40|last1 = Keskiaho|first1 = Jesse| date=January 2013 }}</ref>

===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. 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.  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. 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]].<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/sib/sib15.htm Terry, 1899].</ref>

==Consultations of the Books cited in history==
An incomplete list of consultations of the ''Sibylline Books'' recorded by historians: <!--these were mostly taken from fr: version of article-->
* 461 BC: Strange signs, including a rain of meat, caused two officials to consult the books, which warned of a "concourse of alien men", but the tribunes believed it to be a deliberate invention to halt progress on legal reforms. ([[Livy]] 3)
* 399 BC: The books were consulted following a pestilence, resulting in the institution of the ''[[lectisternium]]'' ceremony. ([[Livy]] 5, 13)
* 348 BC: A plague struck Rome after a brief skirmish with the Gauls and Greeks. Another lectisternium was ordered.  (Livy 7, 27)
* 345 BC: The books were consulted when a "shower of stones rained down and darkness filled the sky during daylight". Publius Valerius Publicola was appointed dictator to arrange a public holiday for religious observances.  (Livy 7, 28)
* 295 BC: They were consulted again following a pestilence, and reports that large numbers of [[Appius Claudius Caecus|Appius Claudius]]' army had been struck by lightning. A Temple was built to Venus near the ''Circus Maximus''. (Livy 10, 31)
* 293 BC: After yet another plague, the books were consulted, with the prescription being 'that [[Aesculapius]] must be brought to Rome from [[Epidaurus]]'; however, the Senate, being preoccupied with the [[Samnite wars]], took no steps beyond performing one day of public prayers to Aesculapius. (Livy 10, 47)
* 240/238 BC: The ''[[Floralia|Ludi Florales]]'', or "Flower Games", were instituted after consulting the books.

* 216 BC: When [[Hannibal]] annihilated the Roman Legions at [[Battle of Cannae|Cannae]], the books were consulted, and on their recommendation, two Gauls and two Greeks were buried alive in the city's marketplace.<ref>Beard, p. 158.</ref>
* 205–204 BC: During the [[Second Punic War]], upon consultation of the ''Sibylline Books'', an image of [[Cybele]] was transferred from [[Pessinos]] (Pessinous or [[Pergamon]]) to Rome. An embassy was sent to [[Attalus I]] of Pergamon to negotiate the transfer. [[Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica (consul 191 BC)|Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica]] and [[Claudia Quinta]] were said to have received the image of [[Cybele]] at [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]] on her arrival in 204 BC. [[Cybele]]'s image was placed within the [[Temple of Victory]] on the [[Palatine]]. In honour of Cybele a lectisternium was performed and her games, the [[Megalesia]], were held.<ref>For attestations see: Cicero ''De Haruspicum Responsis'' 24–28; Varro ''Lingua Latina'' 6.15; Diodorus Siculus 34.33.1–6; Livy 29.10.4–11.8, 29.14.1–14; [Verrius Flaccus] ''Fasti Praenestini'' April 4; Strabo ''Geography'' 12.5.3; Ovid ''Fasti'' 4.180–372; Valerius Maximus 8.15.3; Pliny ''Natural History'' 7.120; Silius Italicus ''Punica'' 17.1–45; Appian ''The Hannibalic War'' 56; Festus ''De verborum significatu'' S. 51–52 M, P. 237 M; Dio Cassius 17.61; Herodian 1.11.1–5; Arnobius ''Adversus Nationes'' 7.49–50; Lactantius ''Divinae institutiones'' 2.7.12; Julian ''Hymn to the Mother of the Gods (Oration V)'' 159c–161b; Ammianus Marcellinus 22.9.5; Augustine ''De civitate Dei'' 2.5, 10.16. Other minor sources exist but these are the major attestations.</ref> The image of Cybele was moved to the Temple of the [[Magna Mater]] in 191 BC when the temple was dedicated by Marcus Junius Brutus in the consulship of Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica.<ref>For attestations see: Livy 36.36.3; Tacitus ''Annales'' 4.65; Valerius Maximus 1.8.11.</ref> A fragment of [[Valerius Antias]] from [[Livy]]'s ''Ab Urbe Condita'' 36.36.4 records that Megalesia were again held in 191 BC and that "[they] were the first to be held with dramatic performances".<ref>Livy 36.36.3, trans. Sage, E. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1935)</ref>
* 143 BC:  Frontinus relates a story in which the Decemvirs consulted the books on another matter and found that a proposed project for the [[Aqua Marcia]] was improper, along with the [[Aniene|Anio]]. After a debate in the Senate the project was resumed, presumably the necessity for water outweighed the oracle. Sextus Julius Frontinus, Aqueducts of Rome, Book I, Ch 7.
* 63 BC: Believing in a prediction of the books that 'three Cornelii' would dominate Rome, [[Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura]] took part in the conspiracy of [[Catiline]] (Plutarch, ''Life of Cicero'', XVII)
* 56 BC: As Romans deliberated sending a force to restore [[Ptolemy XII]] to the throne of Egypt, lightning struck the statue of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] on the [[Alban Hills|Alban Mount]]; the oracles were consulted, and one was found to read "If the King of Egypt comes to you asking for assistance, refuse him not your friendship, yet do not grant him any army, or else you will have toil and danger". This considerably delayed Ptolemy's return. ([[Dio Cassius]] ''History of Rome'' 39:15)
* 44 BC: According to [[Suetonius]], a sibylline prediction that only a king could triumph over [[Parthia]] fueled rumors that [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]], leader of the then republic, was aspiring to kingship. (''Caesar'', 79)
* 15 AD: When the [[Tiber river]] flooded the lower parts of Rome, one of the priests suggested consulting the books, but Emperor [[Tiberius]] refused, preferring to keep the divine things secret. (Tacitus, ''Annales'' I, 76)
* 64 AD: The Emperor [[Nero]] consulted them following the [[Great Fire of Rome]]. (Tacitus, ''Annales'' XV, 44)
* 271 AD: The books were consulted following the Roman defeat at [[Battle of Placentia (271)|Placentia]] by the [[Alamanni]].
* 312 AD: [[Maxentius]] consulted the ''Sibylline Books'' in preparation for combat with [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine]], who had just taken all of Maxentius' northern Italian cities and was marching on Rome.
* 363 AD: [[Julian the Apostate]] consulted the books in preparation for marching against the [[Sassanids]].  The response mailed from Rome "in plain terms warned him not to quit his own territories that year". ([[Ammianus Marcellinus]], ''History of Rome'', XXIII 1, 7)
* 405 AD: [[Stilicho]] ordered the destruction of the ''Sibylline Books'', possibly because Sibylline prophecies were being used to attack his government in the face of the attack of [[Alaric I]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Mary Beard (1980). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=xQd82l39KX4C&pg=PA158&lpg=PA158 Religions of Rome: Volume 2, A Sourcebook]''
* {{cite book |last= Diels |first= Hermann Alexander |date=1890 |title= Sibyllinische Blatter |url= https://archive.org/details/sibyllinischebl01dielgoog/mode/2up|language= de}}
* Jens Fischer (2020). Q. Fabius Pictor, das Orakel von Delphi und die sibyllinischen Bücher Roms – Zur Rolle von Orakeln in Rom und Griechenland, Gymnasium 127 (2020) 535–567
* Jens Fischer (2022). Folia ventis turbata – Sibyllinische Orakel und der Gott Apollon zwischen später Republik und augusteischem Principat (Studien zur Alten Geschichte 33), Göttingen 2022
* Eric M. Orlin (2002). ''Temples, Religion, and Politics in the Roman Republic'' ch. 3 "The Sibylline Books". {{ISBN?}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Sibylline Oracles |volume=25 |page=19 |short=1}}
* {{cite Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle= Sibylline Oracles}}
* {{cite Jewish Encyclopedia|title= Sibyl|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13629-sibyl}}
* George, Alexandra L. "Oracles/Sibyls: 700 BC – AD 300", King's College: History Department, Nov. 2005. [https://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/ancoracles.html Oracles].

==External links==
*[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Sibyllini_Libri.html Article in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities]

{{Roman religion}}
{{italic title}}
[[Category:Ancient Roman religion]]
[[Category:Classical oracles]]
[[Category:Lost books]]
[[Category:Roman mythology]]