The Sibylline Oracles · 10 of 14
Book XI
Introduction, 1-6. From the flood to the tower of Babel, 7-22. Egyptian kings and judges, 23-40. The exodus and giving of the law, 41-47. A notable Egyptian king, 48-53. The Persian domination, 54-68. Woes of many nations, 69-89. Rule of the Indian prince, 90-105. The great Assyrian king Solomon, 106-123. Many and mighty kings, 124-136. Alexander's fierce wars, 137-143. Origin of Rome, 144-160. The fall of Ilium, 161-189. Escape of Æneas and founding of the Latin race, 190-216. The wise old minstrel, 217-227. Wars of the nations, 228-236. The terrible invader of Greece, 237-248. Philip of Macedon, 249-259. Alexander the Conqueror, 260-298. The kings of Egypt, 299-315. Egypt an asylum for the Jews, 316-320. The eight kings and treacherous queen of Egypt, 321-344. Reign of the Roman Cæsars, 345-365. Fall of Cleopatra, 366-394. Subjection of Egypt, 395-416. The Sibyl's testimony of herself, 417-429.
O WORLD of men wide-scattered, and long walls, The cities huge and nations numberless, Throughout the east and west and south and north, Divided off by various languages And kingdoms; other things, the very worst, Against you I am now about to speak. For from the time when on the earlier men The flood came and the Almighty One himself Destroyed that race by many waters, then Brought he in yet another race of men Untiring; and they, setting themselves up Against heaven, built to height unspeakable A tower; and tongues of all were loosed again; And on them hurled came wrath of God most high, By which the tower unutterably great Fell; and against each other they stirred up An evil strife. And then of mortal men Was the tenth race since these things came to pass;
[1. The four following books were first published by Angelo Mai, in 1828, and in the manuscripts and in the editions of Alexandre and Rzach are numbered xi-xiv. There would seem, therefore, to have existed two other books, ix and x, which may yet come to light, as did books xi-xiv after various printed editions of the first eight books had appeared. We deem it better, therefore, to adhere to the numbering of the manuscripts and the two principal editions of the Greek text than with Friedlieb to number these later books as ix-xii. This eleventh book deals largely with matters of Egyptian history, but contains also various oracles against other nations. Its date and authorship are uncertain.
7-20. Comp. book, iii, 117-132.]
And the whole earth was among foreign men And various languages distributed, Whose numbers I will tell and in acrostics Of the initial letter show the name. And first shall Egypt royal power receive Preeminent and just; and then in her Shall many-counseling men be governors; Moreover then a fearful man shall rule, Close-fighter very strong; and he shall have This letter of the acrostic of his name: Sword shall he stretch out against pious men. And while this one is ruler there shall be A fearful sign in the Egyptian land, Which, gladdening very greatly, shall with corn Souls perishing with famine then supply; The law-giver, himself a prisoner, The East and offspring of Assyrian men Shall nourish; and his name know thou . . . . . . of the measure of the number ten. But when there shall come from the radiant heaven Ten strokes of judgment upon Egypt, then Will I again proclaim these things to thee. Memphis, alas, alas for thee! alas, Great royal one! the Erythræan sea Shall thy much people utterly destroy.
[23. First . . . Egypt.--Comp. book iii, 191-195, and the names and order of kingdoms then given with lines 57, 80, 86, 106, 138, and 144.
28. This letter.--Referring to the letter Phi, which begins the next line in the Greek text (in the word fa'sgana, sword), the initial of the name Pharaoh.
35. Assyrian.--The Sibyl thinks of the Hebrews as emigrants from Assyria, or the far East. So again in line 106 below.
37. Pen.--The Greek letter for ten is I, the initial of the Greek form of the name Joseph.]
Then when the people of twelve tribes shall leave The fruitful land of ruin by command Of the Immortal, the Lord God himself Will also give a law unto mankind. And o'er the Hebrews then a mighty king Magnanimous shall rule, and have a name Derived from sandy Egypt, Theban man Of doubtful native land; and Memphis he, Dread serpent, will show outward signs of love, And he will watch o'er many things in wars. Now the tenth kingdom being twelve times complete Seven besides and even unto the tenth hundred, Others being altogether left behind, Then shall arise the Persian sovereignty. And then an evil shall befall the Jews, Famine and pestilence intolerable They do not make escape from in that day. But when a Persian shall rule, and a son Of his son's son shall lay the scepter down, While years roll round to five fours, and to these A hundred more, and thou a hundred nines Shalt finish and all things shalt thou repay; And then unto the Persians and the Medes Shalt thou be given over as a slave, Destroyed with blows by reason of hard fights. Straightway to Persians and Assyrians And to all Egypt shall an evil come, And to Libya and the Ethiopians, And to the Carians and Pamphylians And to all other mortals. And he then
[48-105. The historical references in these lines are so uncertain that we essay no comments.]
Shall to the grandsons give the royal power, Who again snatching the whole earth away Shall plunder races for their many spoils, Not having fellow-feeling. Mournful dirges Shall the sad Persians by the Tigris wail, And Egypt water many a land with tears. And then to thee, O Median land, a man Of wealth abundant and of Indian birth Shall many evils do, till thou repay All things which thou, possessed of shameless soul, Hast done before. Alas, alas for thee, Thou Median nation; thou shalt afterwards Be servant unto Ethiopian men Beyond the land of Meroe; wretched thou Shalt from the first seven and a hundred years Complete, and put thy neck beneath the yoke. And then an Indian of dark countenance And gray hair and great soul shall afterwards Become lord, who shall many evils bring Upon the East by reason of hard fights; And he shall treat thee more despitefully And shall destroy all thy men. But when he The twentieth and the tenth year shall be king, Among them, also seven and the tenth, Then every nation of a royal power Shall be mad and declare their liberty, And during three years leave their servile blood. But he shall come again and every nation Of valiant men shall put their neck again Under the yoke, serve the king as before, And of its own free will again obey. There shall be great peace throughout all the world.
And then o'er the Assyrians there shall rule A mighty king, a man preeminent, And shall persuade all to speak pleasing things, Which God ordained according to the law; Then all kings arrogant with pointed spears Timid and speechless shall before him quail, And him shall very powerful rulers serve Because of counsels of the mighty God; For he will carry all things in detail By reason, and all things will he subject, And he the temple of the mighty God And lovely altar will himself erect In his might, and will hurl the idols down; And gathering tribes together, both the race Of fathers and the helpless little ones, He shall encompass the inhabitants; His name shall have two hundred for its number, And of the eighteenth letter show the sign. But when for rolling decades two and five He shall rule, going forwards towards the end Of his time, there shall be as many kings As there are tribes of men, as there are clans, As there are cities, and as isles and coasts, And fields and lands that bring forth goodly fruit. But one of these shall be a mighty king, A leader among men; and many kings Of lofty spirit shall submit to him, And to his sons and grandsons opulent Give portions on account of royal power.
[107. Mighty king.--Reference to Solomon.
122. Two hundred.--Represented by Sigma, the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, and initial of Solomon.
130. Mighty king.--Probable reference to Cyrus.]
Decades of decades, eight ones upon these Of years shall they rule, and at last shall end. But when with cruel Ares there shall come A powerful wild beast, even then for thee, O queenly land, shall wrath spring forth again. Alas, alas for thee, then Persian land; What an outpouring of the blood of men Shalt thou receive when that stronger-minded man Comes to thee; then I'll shout these things again. But when Italian soil shall generate, Great wonder unto mortals, there shall be Moans of young children by a fountain pure, In shady cavern off spring of wild beast That feeds on sheep, who unto manhood grown Shall upon seven strong hills with reckless soul Hurl many headlong down, in numbers both Having a hundred, and their names shall show A great sign to them that are yet to be; And they shall build upon the seven hills Strong walls and wage around them grievous war. And then again shall there be growing up Revolt of men around thee, then great land Of fine ears, high-souled Egypt; but again
[135. Decades of decades.--If we take this to mean twice ten decades, and add eight more, we have two hundred and eight, a near approximation of the duration of the Persian monarchy.
138. Wild beast.--Reference to Alexander the Great.
146-148. Comp. book v, 14, 15.
151. A hundred.--Represented by the Greek letter R, initial of Romulus and Remus.
152. Great signs.--probably in the thought that the first letter of these names is also the initial of Rome, the eternal city, the symbol of power.]
I'll cry these things. And yet then shalt receive A great stroke in thy houses; and again Shall there be a revolt of thine own men. Now over thee, O wretched Phrygia, I weep in pity; for to thee from Greece, Tamer of horses, there shall conquest come And war and plague by reason of hard fights. Ilium, I pity thee; for there shall come From Sparta an Erinys to thy halls Mixed with a deadly sting; and most of all Shall she bring thee toils, troubles, groans, and wails, When well-skilled men the battle shall begin, By far the noblest heroes of the Greeks Who are to Ares dear. And one of these Shall be a strong brave king; of foulest deeds He for his brother's sake will go in quest. And they shall overthrow the famous walls Of Phrygian Troy; when of the rolling years Twice five shall be filled with the bloody deeds Of savage war, a wooden artifice Shall sudden cover men, and on thy knees Thou shalt receive this, not perceiving it To be an ambush pregnant with the Greeks, O cause of grievous woe. Alas, alas, How much in one night Hades shall receive, And what spoils of the old man weeping much Shall he bear off! But with those yet to come Shall be undying fame. And the great king, A hero sprung from Zeus, shall have his name Of the first letter of the alphabet;
[165. Comp. book iii, 516. The lines following rehearse the story of Troy.
186. Great king.--Agamemnon, who on his return was slain by his wife, Clytemnestra.]
Homewards shall he in order go. And then Shall he fall by a treacherous woman's hand. And there shall rule a child sprung from the race And the blood of Assaracus, renowned Of heroes, both a strong and valiant man. And he shall come out of the mighty fire Of ravaged Troy, fleeing from fatherland By reason of the fearful toil of war; Bearing his aged father on his shoulders And also holding his son by the hand He shall perform a pious work of law, Who, looking cautiously about him, cleft The onset of the fire of burning Troy, And hurrying through the multitude in dread He shall pass over land and fearful sea. And he shall have a trisyllabic name, For the beginning of the alphabet Points out this highest man as not unknown. And then a city for the powerful Latins He will raise up. And in his fifteenth year, Destroyed by waters in the depths of sea, Shall he lay hold on the event of death. But him though dead the nations of mankind Shall not forget; for his race over all Shall rule hereafter even to Euphrates And river Tigris, throughout the mid land Of the Assyrians, where the Parthians Extended. For those who are yet to come It shall be, when all these things come to pass.
[190. Child.--Æneas. Comp. book v, 10-12.
208. Destroyed by waters.--According to one tradition, Æneas was drowned in the river Numicus.]
And there shall be an old man, minstrel wise, Whom all shall among mortals call most wise, By whose good understanding the whole world Shall be instructed; for his chapters he According to their power of thoughts will write. And wisely will he write most marvelous things, At times appropriating words of mine Measures and verses; for he shall the first My books unfold and after these things bide them And unto men bring them to light no more Until the end of baneful death and life. But when forthwith these things have been fulfilled Which I spoke, yet again the Greeks shall fight With one another; and Assyrians, Arabians and the quiver-bearing Medes, And Persians and Sicilians shall rise up, And Lydians, Thracians and Bithynians, And they who dwell in the land of fair corn Beside the streams of Nile; and among all Will God the imperishable put at once Confusion. But exceeding terribly Shall an Assyrian base-born fiery man Come suddenly, possessed of beastly soul, And looking cautiously about him cut Through every isthmus, going against all, And sailing o'er the sea. Then, faithless Greece, To thee shall happen very many things. Alas, alas for thee, O wretched Greece, How many things thou art obliged to wail!
[217. Old man.--Homer. Comp. book iii, 523-541.
238. Assyrian.--Probably referring to Xerxes. The epithet Assyrian seems to have a broad and loose significance with this writer, who in line 106 above calls Solomon an Assyrian. Comp. also line 35.]
And during seven and eighty rolling years Thou shalt the miserable refuse be Of fearful battle among all the tribes. Then shall a Macedonian man again Bring forth for Hellas woe and shall destroy All Thrace, and toil of Ares on the isles And coasts and the war-loving Triballi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . He shall among the foremost fighters be, And he shall share that name which shows the sign Of numbers ten times fifty. And short-lived Shall he be; but behind him he shall leave The greatest kingdom on the boundless earth. But by base spearman he himself shall fall While thought to live in quiet as none else. And afterwards shall a great-hearted child Of this one rule, beginning with his name The alphabet; but his race shall pass out. Not of Zeus, not of Amnion shall they call This one true son, yet still a bastard son Of Cronos as they all imagine him. And cities he of many mortal men Shall plunder; and for Europe shall shoot up The greatest sore. And also terribly Will he abuse the city Babylon,
[249. Macedonian.--Philip of Macedon, whose initial, Phi (F), stands in the Greek numerals for 500.
258. Base spearman.--Pausanias, one of the royal guards, who assassinated Philip on his way to the theater.
259. To live in quiet.--Conjectural reading.
263. Comp. book v, 8, 9. This entire picture of Alexander (lines 260-298) is peculiar to the writer of this book.]
And every land the sun looks down upon, And he alone shall sail both east and west. Alas, alas for thee, O Babylon, Thou shalt serve triumphs, who wast called a queen; Down upon Asia Ares comes, he comes Surely and shall thy many children slay. And then shalt thou send forth thy royal man Named by the number four, expert with spear Among the mighty warriors, terrible, Shooting with bow and arrow. And then famine And war shall hold possession of the midst Of the Cilicians and Assyrians; But kings of lofty spirit shall embrace The dreadful state of heart-consuming strife. But do thou, fleeing, leave the former king, Be neither willing to remain nor fear To be unhappy; for on thee shall come A dreadful lion, a flesh-eating beast, Wild, strange to justice, wearing on his shoulders A mantle. Flee the thunder-smiting man. And Asia all shall bear an evil yoke, And many a murder shall the wet earth drink. But when a mighty city prosperous Ares of Pella shall in Egypt found, And it shall be named from him, fate and death, By his companions treacherously betrayed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . For barbarous murder shall destroy this man Around the tables when he shall have left The Indians and shall come to Babylon.
[277. Four.--Represented by Delta (D), the initial of Darius (Codomannus), who was defeated by Alexander.]
Thereafter other kings, in a few years, Devourers of the people, arrogant And faithless, shall rule each by his own tribe; But a great-hearted hero, who shall glean All fenced Europe, from the time each land Shall drink the blood of all tribes, shall forthwith Abandon life, unloosing his own fate. And other kings there shall be, twice four men Of his race, and the same name to them all. And there shall be a bride of Egypt then Commanding and a noble city great Of Macedonian lord, queen Alexandria, Famed nourisher of cities, shining fair She alone shall be the metropolis. Let Memphis then upbraid them that command. And peace shall be deep throughout all the world; Then shall the land of black soil have more fruits. And then there shall come evil to the Jews, Nor shall they in that day make their escape From famine and intolerable plague; But the new world of black soil and fair corn, Divine land, shall receive much-wandering men.
[302. Hero.--Referring most probably to Antigonus, the most famous of Alexander's immediate successors, who certainly gleaned all western Asia, if not Europe.
306. Twice four men.--The eight famous Ptolemies of Egypt, who were of Macedonian origin.
312. Let Memphis then upbraid.--Because overshadowed and superseded by the Ptolemies, who made Alexandria the sole metropolis. There is in the Greek text here a play on the word Memphis--memphestho Memphis.
316. Evil to the Jews.--Reference to the capture of Jerusalem by Ptolemy I, and the transportation of a great number of Jews to Egypt. See Josephus, Ant., xii, 1.
320. Wandering men.--Scattered by famine and seeking a now and better country. Alexandre reads ruined men.]
But marshy Egypt's eight kings shall fill up The numbers of two hundred years and three And thirty. Yet shall offspring perish not Of all of them, but there shall issue forth A female root, a bane of mortal men, Betrayer of her kingdom. But they shall According to their evil deeds perform Their wickedness thereafter, and one here Another there shall perish; son that wears The purple shall cut off his warlike sire, And he himself in turn by his own son, And ere he shall put forth another shoot He shall cease; but a root shall sprout again Thereafter of itself; and there shall be A race beside him growing. For a queen There shall be of the land by Nilus' streams Which comes down through seven mouths into the sea, And her name very lovely shall be that Of the number twenty; and she will demand Numberless things and gather up all goods Of gold and silver; but from her own men
[322. The period of the eight Ptolemies is commonly reckoned from Ptolemy I (Soter), B. C. 323, to Ptolemy VIII (Soter II), B. C. 81, or about 242 years.
325. Female root.--The famous Cleopatra would seem most obviously intended, but the associated events (lines 346-354) appear to be those of the disorders and crimes of the times following the reign of the eighth Ptolemy. Hence, perhaps, this "betrayer of her kingdom" may best refer to the mother of the eighth Ptolemy (Soter II), who expelled him from Egypt and placed the crown on the head of her favorite son, Alexander.
339. Twenty.--The letter K, initial of the Greek form of the name Cleopatra. Here, without doubt, the last queen of Egypt, the famous daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, is intended.]
Shall treachery befall her. Then again For thee, O dusky land, shall there be wars And battles and great slaughter of mankind. When many over fertile Rome shall rule, Examples not at all of happy men, But tyrants, and there be of thousands chiefs And of ten thousands, and the overseers Of popular assemblies under law, Then shall the mightiest Cæsars bear the rule Ill-fated all their days; and of these last Shall for initial have the number ten, Last Cæsar stretching on the earth his limbs, Struck by dire Ares by a hostile man, Whom carrying in their hands the youth of Rome Shall. bury piously, and over him Pour out their token for his friendship's sake Rendering a tribute to his memory. But when thou shalt come to an end of time And hast completed twice three hundred years And twice ten, from the time when he shall rule Who is thy founder, child of the wild beast, There shall no longer a dictator be Ruling a measured period; but a lord Shall become king, man equal to the gods. Then, Egypt, know the king that comes to thee; And dreadful Ares of the glittering helm Shall surely come. For there shall be for thee,
[351. Last.--In the sense of loftiest, noblest. The Greek initial of Julius is the letter which stands for ten. Comp. book v, 16-19.
360. The date of the foundation of Rome is usually set B. C. 753. Both here and in book xii, 16, the time intervening between this and the first Cæsar is said to be 620 years.
366. Egypt and the queen, Cleopatra, are poetically addressed as one.]
O widowed one, a capture afterwards; For round the walls of thy land there shall be Terrible raging mischief-working wars. But having suffered misery in wars Thou, wretched, shalt thyself flee from above Those lately wounded; and then to the couch Shalt thou come to the dreadful man himself; The wedlock, sharing one bed, is the end. Alas, alas for thee, ill-wedded bride, Thy royal power unto the Roman king Shalt thou give, and thou shalt repay all things, Which thou aforetime didst with masculine hands; Thou shalt give the whole land by way of dower As far as Libya and the dark-skinned men To the resistless man. And thou shalt be No more a widow, but thou shalt cohabit With a man-eating lion terrible, A furious warrior. And then shalt thou be Unhappy and among all men unknown; For thou shalt leave possessed of shameless soul; And thee, the stately, shall the encircling tomb Receive . . . is gone . . . living within . . . Adapted at the summits, beautiful, Wrought curiously, and a great multitude Shall mourn thee and the dreadful king shall make A piteous lamentation over thee. And then shall Egypt be the toiling slave
[373. Here Cleopatra's flight to Julius Caesar seems to have been in the mind of the writer; and throughout this passage the Sibylline poet appears to confound events of different periods, part of which occurred with Antony, part with Julius Cæsar, to whom Cleopatra bore a son.
390, 391. The text is so mutilated at this point as to leave the exact sentiment of the writer quite unintelligible.]
Who many years against the Indians bears Her trophies; and she shall serve shamefully, And with the river, the fruit-bearing Nile, her tears, for haying gathered wealth And store of all good things, a nourisher Of cities, she shall feed sheep-eating race Of fearful men. All, to how many beasts, O very wealthy Egypt, thou shalt be Booty and spoil, but giving peoples laws; And formerly delighting in great kings Thou shalt to peoples be a wretched slave On account of that people, whom of old Piously living thou led'st to much woe Of toils and wailings, and didst put a plow Upon their neck and irrigate the fields With mortal tears. Therefore the Lord himself, The imperishable God who dwells in heaven, Shall utterly destroy and send thee on To wailing; and thou shalt make recompense For what thou didst unlawfully of old, And know at last that God's wrath came to thee. But I to Python and to Panopeus Of goodly towers shall go; and then shall all Declare that 1 am a true prophetess Oracle-singing, yet a messenger With maddened soul. . . . And when thou shalt come forward to the books Thou shalt not tremble, and all things to come
[407. That people.--Referring to the Hebrews and their ancient Egyptian bondage.
417. Python . . . Panopeus.--Shrines of Apollo in Phocis, Greece; Python is put for Delphi, and Panopeus was not far distant.
419-429. Comp. book iii, 1008-1016, and the close of books xii and xiii.]
And things that were ye shall know from our words; Then none shall call the God-seized prophetess An oracle-singer of necessity. But now, Lord, end my very lovely strain, Driving off frenzy and real voice inspired And fearful madness, and give charming song.