Sibylline Books

The Sibylline Books were a collection of prophecies, from the Oracle of Apollo at Dardania, written in Greek Hexameter, They were not the same as the Sybilline Oracles.
They were consulted by the Roman Senate between 509 BCE-405 CE, whenever there was a major Crisis under the Republic or Empire.

They were removed to Gergis on Mount Ida in the Troad, then to Erythrae, and then to Cumaean Sybil at Cumae, and from there to Rome. Almost no verses have survived from Antiquity.
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last King of Rome, acquired the Books from the Cumaen Sybil before he was exiled in 509 BCE. The Sybil had acquired them from an Oracle near Troy, in Anatolia (Turkey).
The description by Varro, of how the Cumaean Sybil sold the Books to Tarquinius, King of Rome, forms part of the Legends of Ancient Rome:
The Sybil offered all nine books at a very high price. When Tarquinius declined to pay, she burnt three and offered the other six at the same price. Tarquinius still declined to pay, so she burnt another three. At this point Tarquinius accepted to pay the full price for the last remaining three books.

Temple of Jupiter (509-12 BCE)
- Tarquinius preserved them in a vault below the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill where they remained between 509-12 BCE.
Temple of Apollo Patrous (12 BCE-405 CE)
- Augustus then moved them, and between 12 BCE – 405 CE, they were kept in the Temple of Apollo Patrous on the Palatine Hill.
Destruction (405 CE)
- Finally Stilicho burned them in 405 CE.

The Sibylline Books were controlled by the Roman Senate and put under the care of the Deceviri Sacris Faciundis.
Initially this was a group of ten men, consisting of five Patricians and five Plebeians. Later there may have been fifteen.

The books were only consulted when Bad Omens or Natural Disasters required Religious Rites to be observed.
The Roman Senate would order a consultation of the Books, so as to perform the appropriate religious Rites. The Rites were then made public, however, the Prophesies in the Oracles were never revealed.
- In 64 CE Nero
  - He consulted the Books after the Great Fire of Rome. Tacitus Annales XV.44
- In 312 CE Maxentius
  - He consulted the Books before the Battle of Milvian Bridge with Constantine I. It didn’t help him, he lost.
- In 363 CE Julian
  - He ordered a consultation while invading Parthia. The response forwarded to him was ‘don’t leave the Frontier’. Despite winning the Battle, he died in a subsequent skirmish, and lost the war.

In 405 CE The Sibylline Books were destroyed by the Roman General Stilicho because their consultation posed a threat to his Rule.

Temple of Jupiter