Sibylline Books
Sibylline Books refer to a collection of prophetic writings attributed to the Sibyls, priestesses from Asia Minor who became known for their oracular insights throughout the Mediterranean world from the seventh century BCE. These texts were formally recognized in Rome after a legendary transaction involving King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, who purchased them from a Sibyl after she burned some of the original nine books to demonstrate their value. Initially housed in a stone chest beneath the temple of Jupiter, the Sibylline Books were considered sacred and were consulted only by state officials during times of crisis, reflecting the Roman approach to divination as a matter of public concern rather than personal inquiry.
The texts played a significant role in introducing various Greek and Eastern religious practices and deities to Roman culture, aiding in the integration of different customs and promoting diplomatic relations within the region. Over time, the influence of the Sibylline Books waned, especially following revisions under Emperor Augustus and subsequent destruction during the reign of Honorius. Despite their decline, the Sibylline Books are notable for their contributions to the religious landscape of ancient Rome, highlighting a complex interplay between state authority and religious practice.
Sibylline Books
Related civilizations: Republican and Imperial Rome.
Date: composed c. 525 b.c.e.
Locale: Possibly Rome
Authorship: Compiled by Marcus Terentius Varro (116-27 b.c.e.)
Sibylline Books
The prophetesses known as the Sibyls originated in Asia Minor during the seventh century b.c.e. and spread throughout the Mediterranean world. Marcus Terentius Varro in Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum (47 b.c.e., lost book; antiquities of human and divine things) names all sorts of Sibyls: Persian, Libyan, Delphic, Cimmerian, Erythraean, Samian, Cumaean, Hellespontic, Phrygian, and Tiburtine. They could be consulted on a private or public basis, and collections of their responses were compiled and circulated. One of these collections reached Rome toward the end of the sixth century b.c.e., where it received official approval and came to be known as the Libri Sibillini, or Sibylline (SIH-buh-leen) Books.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus (30-8 b.c.e.) relays the legend of the books’ advent: A foreign woman tried to sell the king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus nine books of Sibylline oracles. When he refused to buy them, she continually burned three books until only three remained. At his advisers’ urging, Tarquinius purchased the remaining books, and they were kept in a stone chest beneath the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline hill until the Social War of 91-87 b.c.e. They perished in the fire that destroyed the temple in 83 b.c.e. and were replaced with oracles gathered from other places. According to Dionysius, these oracles were the Romans’ most guarded possession, sacred or profane, and the senate decreed that they could be consulted only during times of strife.
Unlike the Greeks, who allowed private persons as well as public officials to consult their oracles, the Romans restricted their use to state officials. Not even the priests in charge of the books could consult them without senate approval. As part of his religious reform, Augustus ordered a revision of the oracles and had them transferred to the temple of Apollo on the Palatine hill, but by then their days of influence had largely passed. Although interest in them revived under the emperors Lucius Domitius Aurelianus and Julian the Apostate, the Sibylline Books were reportedly burned during the reign of Honorius by order of his general Flavius Stilicho.
Scholars have traditionally credited the Sibylline Books with the progressive introduction into Rome of Greek and Eastern rites and deities, including Demeter (Roman Ceres), Dionysius (Liber), Kore (Libera), and Cybele, and the lectisternium (public offering of food to the gods), the supplicatio (thanksgiving in honor of the gods), and the ver sacrum (“sacred spring,” a sacrifice of all fruits and animals produced in a particular spring). It is also possible that the Roman senate used the Sibylline Books to promote Greek cults and practices and thus to strengthen ties with Greek-speaking southern Italy and Sicily. Thus, the Sibylline Books were often a diplomatic tool rather than a vehicle to import foreign religious customs.
Bibliography
Orlin, Eric M. Temples, Religion, and Politics in the Roman Republic. New York: E. J. Brill, 1997.
Parke, H. W. Sibyls and Sibylline Prophecy in Classical Antiquity. London: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Potter, D. S. Prophets and Emperors: Human and Divine Authority from Augustus to Theodosius. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1994.