SIBYL, the name by which certain prophetic women were designated in. an cient times. Their number is variously stated. JElian mentions four—the Ery thrman, the Samian, the Egyptian, and the Sardian; but it was popularly believed that there were 10 in all. Of these the most famous is the Cumxan, known by the names of Herophile, Demo, Phemonoe, Deiphobe, and Amalthtea. She was con sulted by Aneas before his descent into the lower world, and accompanied him in his journey through the land of shadows. It was she who appeared before King Tarquin, offering him nine books for sale. The king refused to buy them, whereupon she went away, burnt three, and then re turned, asking the original price for the remaining six. On his still refusing to purchase them, she again left, destroyed another three, and on her return offered to let him have the remaining three at the price which she had asked for the nine. Tarquin, astonished at such singular con duct, bought the books; and the sibyl van ished. On inspection they were found to contain directions as to the worship of the gods and the policy of the Romans. They were kept with great care in a stone chest in an underground chamber of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, at first by two commissioners, afterward by a col lege of 10, finally increased by Sulla to 15. These oracle keepers alone consulted them, by special order of the senate, in case of prodigies, dangers, and calamities.
In 83 B. c. the temple of Jupiter was burned and the original Sibylline books were destroyed. Ambassadors were ac cordingly sent to the different towns of Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, to make a fresh collection. This was deposited in the temple when rebuilt. Spurious Sibyl line books now began to accumulate and circulate in Rome. Augustus, fearing danger to the state from the abuse of them, ordered that all such should be delivered up. Over 2,000 were thus destroyed. Those that were accounted genuine were deposited in the temple of Apollo on the Palatine. The writing of these having become faded, Augustus com manded them to be rewritten. In the con flagration of Rome in the reign of Nero they were all again destroyed. New col lections were made, which were publicly and finally burnt by the Christian Em peror Honorius.
The Sybilline oracles to which the Christian Fathers refer are in no sense whatever to be confounded with the older pagan collections. They are "pious frauds," belonging to early ecclesiastical literature. An exhaustive collection of the Sibylline oracles was published by Gal lmus (1689). Fragments have been edited by Angelo Mai (1817) and Struve (1818).