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From Sibylline Oracles, Translated from the Greek into English Blank Verse by Milton S. Terry; New York: Hunt & Eaton, Cincinatti: Cranston & Stowe’s, 1890; pp. 5125-156.
BOOK V.
[126]CONTENTS OF BOOK V.
___________
BUT bring to me the lamentable time
Of the illustrious Latins, who were first,
After the kings of Egypt were cut off,
And had all been borne down into the earth;
5
And also after Pella’s citizen,
Under whom all the Orient was subdued,
And the rich West, whom Babylon disgraced
And gave a corpse to Philip; not of Jove
Nor Ammon truly boasted to have sprung.
10
And they shall issue of the race and blood
Of great Assaracus, those born at Troy,
Even him who cleft the violence of fire.
But after many kings and warlike men,
And after the twin children of the beast
15
That feeds on sheep, shall there come forth a king
Pre-eminent, who will sum up twice ten
This book appears, like the third, to contain compositions of different date, some of Christian and some of Jewish origin. In its present form it cannot be earlier than the close of Hadrian’s reign, about A. D. 138.
Line 5. Pella’s citizen. — Alexander, who was born at Pella, in Macedonia, B. C. 356.
Line 7. Babylon disgraced. — Alexander died at Babylon, and, according to common report, of a drunken debauch.
Line 9. Ammon. — A title given to Jupiter in Libya, from whom Alexander boasted a fabulous origin.
Line 11. Assaracus. — A Trojan prince, ancestor of Æneas.
Line 12. Who cleft. — That is, Æneas, who forced his way through the fire of Troy. Comp. book ix, 181-191, and x, 10-12.
Lines 14, 15. Allusion to Romulus and Remus, and the tradition of their being nursed by a she-wolf.
With his initial letter. He shall be
In war exceeding powerful; and of ten
Shall also his first letter be the sign.
20
After him rules who of the alphabet
Has the first letter. Thrace and Sicily
And Memphis crouch and quail in dread of him —
Memphis, cast to the ground by wickedness
Of leaders, and a woman unsubdued,
25
Fallen on the wave. And he will institute
Laws for the peoples, and subdue all things.
But after a long time will he transmit
The kingdom to another, who will have
The number of three hundred his first sign,
30
And of a river the beloved name.
The Persians he will rule and Babylon,
And then will smite the Medians with his spear.
Then one will rule who takes the number three.
Then shall one whose first letter marks twice ten
35
Become king, and to the remotest bounds
Of ocean shall he go, and sweep along
The refluent tide by the Ausonian shores.
Line 17. Initial letter. — On the use of letters and their numerical value as designations of names see book i, 167, and comp. also lines 383-388 of the same book. The letter for twenty ("twice ten") is K. the first letter of the Greek name for Cæsar; and the letter ten is I, the Greek initial of Julius (Ἰούλιος)
Line 21. First letter. — The letter alpha, A, initial of Augustus, who not only became master of Thrace, Sicily, and Memphis, but attained the majesty and power of emperor.
Line 24. Woman. — Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt, who committed suicide to prevent falling into the hands of Octavius.
Line 29. Three hundred. — Represented by the letter T, the initial of Tiberius, as well as of the river Tiber.
Line 33. Three. — The letter Γ, Greek initial of Caius (Gaios) Cæsar, commonly known as Caligula.
Line 34. Twice ten. — As in line 16, but here designating Claudius (Greek, Klaudios).
And one whose mark is fifty shall be lord,
A dreadful serpent, breathing grievous war;
40
He will stretch out his hands against his kin,
And cut them off, and spread confusion wide,
Fight, kill the people, and dare countless things.
And he will cleave the isthmus, and with gore
Besprinkle it. But this destructive one
45
Shall pass from sight and then return again,
Presuming to be equal unto God;
But he will sift him as if he were naught.
And after him will three kings be destroyed
By one another. Then a great destroyer
50
Of pious men shall come, and he shall show
Conspicuously the letter seven times ten.
His son, however, whose initial sign
Denotes three hundred, shall usurp the power,
And after him shall be a destined one,
55
A soul destroyer, of the number four.
And then an old man numbering fifty comes,
And next to him, whose first initial marks
Three hundred, is a Celtic mountaineer;
Hastening away to battle in the East
60
He shall not miserable fate escape,
Line 38. Fifty. — The letter N, initial of Nero, the successor of Claudius. His murders, flight to the East, and expected return are repeatedly referred to in these oracles. Comp. book iv, 150-152; 175, 176.
Line 43. Isthmus. — Of Corinth, which Nero attempted to cut through.
Line 48. Three kings. — Galba, Otho, and Vitellius.
Line 51. Seven times ten. The letter O, initial of the Greek form of the name of Vespasian (Οὐεσπασεανός).
Line 53. Three hundred. — See on line 29. Here the name of Titus is intended.
Line 55. Four. — The letter Δ, initial of Domitian.
Line 56. Fifty. — See on line 38. Here Nerva is denoted.
Line 58. Three hundred. — See line 29. Here Trajan is intended, who, however, was not of Celtic origin, but a Spaniard.
But sink in painful toils. Him foreign dust
Shall cover a dead corpse, having the name
Of Nemea’s flower And after him shall reign
Another man, with silver helmet decked,
65
And to him, shall be given the name of a sea;
And he shall be a man of excellence,
And turn his mind to all things. And on thee
Thou excellent, most noble, dark-haired one,
And on thy branches all these days shall come.
70
Three shall reign, but the third one late shall rule.
Thrice wretched I, sister of Isis, grieve
To place in heart an evil prophecy.
Even a sacred song of oracles.
First Mænades shall rush around the base
75
Of thy sad temple, and in evil hands
Line 63. Nemea’s flower. — Nemea in Argolis was the spot where triennial games were celebrated by the Greeks, and the victors were crowned with parsley, the Greek name of which is selinon. The emperor Trajan died in Selinus, a city of Cilicia in Asia Minor; hence the allusion of the Sibyl.
Line 65. Name of a sea. — The Adriatic (or Hadriatic), from which it is apparent Hadrian is referred to.
Line 70. Three. — The three Antonines, namely, Antonius Pius, M. Aurelius, and L. Verus. This last named, being only seven years old at the time of his adoption, was thought by the Sibyl to be likely to come late to the throne. Comp. book viii, 81.
Line 71. Sister of Isis. — The Sibyl, who elsewhere (book iii, 984) represents herself as the spouse of Noah, here assumes to be sister of the famous Egyptian goddess Isis, sadly prophesying the doom of Egypt, and especially of Memphis.
Line 74. First. — Lactantius seems to have had this passage in mind when he says: “First of all, Egypt shall suffer punishment for her foolish superstitions, and will be covered with blood as if with a river.” Div. Inst., vii, 15 [L., 6, 786]. Mænades. — A name applied to the priestesses of Bacchus, who were wont to work themselves into mad frenzy, and are here named as avenging furies, fit to execute judgment. Comp. line 621.
Line 75. Thy sad temple. — Or, much lamented temple. The temple of Isis is referred to. Evil hands. — Allusion perhaps to the tearing in pieces of Pentheus by the hands of his mother and aunts, to whom Bacchus made him appear as a wild beast.
Shall it be in that day when the Nile whelms
All Egypt’s land to sixteen cubits deep;
It shall flood all the land, and cover men
With water, and the beauty of the earth
80
And glory of her face shall disappear.
Memphis, thou shalt for Egypt greatly mourn;
For though thou once didst rule the land in power,
Thou shalt become sad, and the Thunderer.
Shall call from heaven with a mighty voice:
85
O mighty Memphis, who of old didst boast
So greatly o’er weak mortals, thou shalt wail
In sore distress, and wretchedness extreme,
So that thou truly shalt thyself discern
The eternal God, immortal in the clouds.
90
Where is thy gain in having among men
Prepared great power? Because thou hast against
My God-anointed children been enraged,
And hast stirred evil up among good men,
Thou shalt for such things have for penalty
95
This foster child. No longer openly
Shall there be right for thee among the blessed;
Fallen from the stars, thou shalt not mount to heaven.
Line 77. Sixtten cubits. — The elevation of the Nile, in the vicinity of Memphis, is about twenty-three feet, according to Humboldt, which would be equivalent to the ordinary estimate of sixteen cubits. It is interesting to note that the famous piece of statuary in the Vatican, representing the Nile as a reclining human figure, has the child-like forms of sixteen genii climbing about it, as if to represent the sixteen cubits of the usual annual overflow.
Line 85. Memphis. — Ancient capital of lower Egypt. Comp. line 253.
Line 92. God-anointed children. — The Jewish people. Comp. Psa. cv, 15; Hab. iii, 13.
Line 95. Foster child — Rome, whose powerful help was sought by Egypt in the time of the wars with Syria.
Line 97. Comp. Isa. xiv, 12, 13; Matt. xi, 23.
These things to Egypt God commissioned me
To utter touching the last time when men
100
Shall be all evil. But the wicked toil
In sorrow, looking for calamity,
Wrath of the Immortal, Thunderer of heaven,
But worshiping false gods, and stones, and beasts,
And fearing many other things besides,
105
Which have no speech, nor mind, nor power to hear,
Which things for me to mention is not right,
Dumb idols all, the work of mortal hands.
Of their own labors and their impious thoughts
Have men received gods made of wood, and stone,
110
And brass, and gold, and silver, soulless, vain,
Deaf, and they made them molten in the fire,
In such things having vainly put their trust.
Thmois and Xois are in sore distress;
Destroyed the counsel is of Hercules,
115
And Jupiter, and Hermes, and for thee,
O Alexandria, famed nourisher
Of cities, war shall never leave thee more.
For thy pride thou shalt give as many things
As thou hast done before. Long time shalt thou
120
Be silent, even on the joyful day.
No more for thee shall flow the luxurious cup.
Line 113. Thmois and Xois. — Cities of Egypt, the former mentioned by Herodotus (ii, 166), the latter by Strabo (xvii, l, 19).
Line 114. Counsel. — Alexandre reads house. The one reading declares that the oracular counsel of these deities is ruined, the other that their halls or temples are destroyed.
Line 116. Nourisher. — Alexandria was, by her extensive commerce, a source of supply for many cities. The Greek text as far as line 120 is imperfect, and after that is a lacuna.
Line 122. Artful men. — Alexandre understands this of Nero antichrist, about to return from the East according to line 45 above. He also supplies here a line found by him in a Paris codex, which, coming before this line, reads: “And an ethereal (one) shall come upon thy soil like a hailstorm.”
And all thy land an artful man shall ruin
With blood, and corpses by the horrid altars;
Of barbarous mind, strong, very terrible,
125
Senselessly raging, hurrying on thy doom
With force innumerable as the sand.
Then wilt thou, happy city, suffer much.
All Asia falling on the earth shall wail
Because of gifts which she received from thee.
130
And with which, head encircled, she rejoiced.
But he who had the Persians for his lot
Shall war on Egypt, and slay every man,
And plunder and destroy all means of life,
So that a third remains for wretched man.
135
But he from the West shall speed with nimble
leap,
Invading all the land and wasting all.
But when he has obtained the height of power,
And odious dread, he will return, resolved
The city of the blessed to destroy.
140
And then a powerful king, sent forth from
God,
Shall slay all mighty kings and noble men.
Then thus shall be a lasting end to men.
Alas! alas for thee, unhappy heart!
Why dost thou move me Egypt’s troubled state,
145
Beset by many rulers, to rehearse?
Go to the East, to Persia’s thoughtless race,
And show them what is and what is to be.
Euphrates’ river shall a deluge form,
Line 132. The Greek Codices here add a line — “A Cissian king sent after him from God” — which is so obviously an error (probably a corruption of line 140 below), that we omit it from the text.
Line 135. He from the West. — This seems to refer to Vespasian.
Lines 140-142. A Messianic prophecy quoted by Lactantius, Div. Inst., vii, 18 [L,. 6, 796]. Lactantius’s text differs somewhat from the one we follow.
And Persians and Iberians destroy,
150
And Babylonians, and Massagetæ
That take delight in war, all armed with bows.
All Asia fire-consumed unto the isles
Shall drip. And Pergamos, of old revered,
Shall wholly perish, and an utter waste
155
Shall Pitane appear to human eyes.
All Lesbos shall sink deep into the deep,
So as to perish; Smyrna down the steep
Being rolled shall wail, she who was once revered
And famous shall be utterly destroyed.
160
And the Bithynians shall lament their land
Reduced to ashes, also Syria
The mighty, and Phenicia rich in plants.
Woe, woe to thee, O Lycia, for thee
What evils are devised! Of its own will
165
The sea has mounted on the troubled land,
So that the soil of Lycia, once replete
With fragrance sweet, shall wail for earthquake dire,
And bitter floods. Fierce wrath shall also come
On Phrygia, on account of grief for which
170
Rhea, Jove’s mother, came and tarried there.
The sea shall overthrow the Taurian race,
Line 149. Iberians. — Those north of Armenia, and between the Euxine and Caspian Seas, are probably intended; but they, as well as the Massagetæ mentioned in the next line, were in no contact with the Euphrates. The Massagetæ were east of the Caspian, in Scythia.
Line 155. Pitane. — A city on the east coast of Mysia, south-west of Pergamos.
Line 156. Lesbos. — Large island near the coast of Mysia.
Line 157. Smyrna. — Well-known city on the coast of Lydia, distinguished for its commerce in ancient and modern times.
Line 163. Lycia. — Province on the southern coast of Asia Minor, having Phrygia to the north.
Line 170. Rhea. — See book iii, 155-170.
Line 171. Taurian race. — A savage race in what is now the Crimean peninsula, who were wont to sacrifice strangers to the goddess Diana.
A barbarous nation, and the Lapithæ
Shall to the earth be cast down and despoiled.
The land of Thessaly shall be destroyed
175
By the deep eddying river Peneus,
Deep-flowing, sweeping mortals from the earth.
Eridanus [the river that professed
To have begotten once the forms of beasts].
Greece the thrice wretched shall the poets weep,
180
When out of Italy a mighty king
Of mighty Rome shall smite the isthmus’ neck,
A godlike man, whom they say Jove himself
And honored Juno bore, who, courting praise
For his sweet songs with a melodious voice,
185
Will with the wretched mother many slay.
From Babylon shall flee the fearful king
And shameless, whom all mortals justly hate;
For he slew many, and laid violent hands
Upon the womb; against his wife he sinned,
190
And of flagitious parents was he born.
But he will come unto the Medes and kings
Of Persia whom he first sought, and for whom
He wrought renown, and, with these wicked ones,
Will liurk against a nation not beloved.
195
He seized the God-made temple, and he burned
The citizens and people going in,
Who have been justly eulogized in song.
Line 172. Lapithæ. — A tribe in the mountains of Thessaly, famous in Greek mythology for their contest with the Centaurs.
Line 175. Peneus. — Chief river of Thessaly.
Line 177. Eridanus. — Another name for the Padus, or Po, in Italy. The words in brackets are omitted from the text of Alexandre.
Lines 180-201. This whole passage obviously refers to Nero. Comp. lines 40-45.
Lines 194-197. The Jewish War, which, in the ruin of Jerusalem and the temple, was begun under Nero.
On his appearing the creation shook,
Kings perished, but among them yet remained
200
Authority, until they had destroyed
The mighty city and the righteous people.
But when in the fourth year a star shall shine,
Which alone shall destroy the entire land,
Because of honor first to Neptune paid,
205
Then there shall come from heaven a mighty star
Into the dreadful sea, and burn the deep,
And Babylon itself, and Italy,
For which full many faithful Hebrew saints
And also the true temple were destroyed.
210
Thou shalt among base mortals suffer wrongs,
But shalt remain whole ages all a waste,
Hating thy soil, for thou didst long for drugs,
Adulteries were with thee, and with boys
Thou didst indulge in lawless acts of shame,
215
Effeminate, unjust, and wicked city,
Ill-fated above all. Woe, woe to thee,
Thou unclean city of the Latin land!
Mad woman, fond of serpents, by thy banks
A widow thou shalt sit, and over thee
220
The river Tiber shall weep as for a spouse.
O thou of murderous heart and impious soul,
Line 202. Fourth year. — Perhaps in allusion to the time, times, and dividing of time (three and a half years) in Dan. vii, 25, a symbolic number for a period of woe.
Line 205. Star into the . . . sea. — Comp. Rev. viii, 8; xvi, 3. This whole passage is an apocalyptic prophecy of judgment to come on Rome, and is so interpreted by Lactantius, Div. Inst., vii, 15 [L., 6, 790].
Line 207. Babylon. — Here used as a symbolic name for Rome.
Line 210. Thou. — Direct address to Rome.
Line 211. This line is in substance repeated in the codices and editions of the Greek text, but is so evidently a corruption that we omit the repetition from our text.
Lines 214, 215. Cited by Clement of Alex., Pæd. ii, 15 [G., 8, 516].
Line 219. Widow. — Comp. Lam. i, 1.
Dost thou not know what God has power to do,
And what his purpose is? But thou didst say,
“I am alone, and none shall plunder me.”
225
But now thee and all thine shall God destroy,
The ever-living One, and in that land
No longer shall a trace of thee remain,
As when of old thy honors God procured.
Remain thou then alone, O lawless one,
230
And, mixed with burning fire, dwell in the realm
Of Hades, the Tartarean lawless land.
And now again, O Egypt! I lament
Thy sorrow. Memphis, leader thou of toils,
Filled with the dead, in thee the pyramids
235
Shall utter forth a shameful sound of woe.
Python of old, twin city rightly called.
Be still forever, that thou mayest cease
From wickedness. Thou basely insolent,
Store-house of sorrows, Mænad, full of woe,
240
Terrible sufferer, and full of tears,
Thou shalt remain a widow through all time.
Thou didst become old ruling the world alone.
But when a white dress Barca round herself
Shall put on over that which is defiled,
245
O may I not be, might I not have been!
O Thebes, where is thy great power? A rude man
Line 232. Again, Egypt. — Comp. lines 71-97.
Line 236. Python. — This name seems to be here applied to Memphis as a symbolical name, equivalent to “oracle city,” in allusion to the famous Delphic oracle in Greece.
Line 239. Mænad. — A raving priestess of Bacchus. Comp. line 74.
Line 243. White dress. — According to Alexandre the nomad population of Barca, in the northern part of Africa, were wont to put on a white garment over their sun-burned and filthy bodies when about to go into battle.
Line 246. Thebes. — The ancient and famous capital of Upper Egypt, as Memphis was of Lower. The rude man of this line and the great man of line 253 are both understood by Alexandre to refer to antichrist, but it is better perhaps to understand this whole passage as apocalyptic in the broad, general way, and so no particular person known in history need to be supposed.
Shall slay the people; but thou, throwing on
Gray garments, wretched one, shall weep alone.
And thou shalt make atonement for all things
250
Which thou hast done, because of lawless deeds,
And they shall look upon thee in distress
As one that did possess a shameful soul.
Syene a great man shall overthrow,
And Tentyris of the Ethiopians
255
Shall swarthy Indians occupy by force.
Pentapolis, a man of mighty power
Shall make thee weep. O Libya, much bewildered,
Who shall explain thy woes? And who of men
Cyrene, shall bewail thy miseries?
260
Thou shalt not from thy hateful weeping cease
Until the time of thy destruction comes.
Among the Britons and the wealthy Gauls
Line 253. Syene. — City of Upper Egypt near the equator, and famous for the quarries whence the obelisks were dug.
Line 254. Tentyris. — Situated on the Nile some distance north of Thebes, and near the modern Denderah.
Line 256. Pentapolis. — A name applied to Cyrenaica, in northern Africa, because of the five cities, Cyrene, Barce, Ptolemais, Berenice, and Tauchira.
Line 257. Libya. — Extensive region of northern Africa, of which Cyrenaica was but a part.
Line 259. Cyrene. — One of the cities of the Pentapolis mentioned in line 256.
Lines 262-268. In these verses the Sibyl foretells punishment on the Britons and Gauls, who are supposed to have furnished soldiers for the legions led by Vespasian against the Jews. These last are to be understood by the “sons of God” in line 264. The “Phenician king” (verse 265) is Vespasian, who led his forces out of Ptolemais in Syria to carry the war into Galilee. See Josephus, Wars, iii, vi, 2, 3, and Tacitus, Hist., iv, 39; v, 1. Ravenna, the great naval station of the Romans on the Adriatic, comes in for its share of the curse, for it was a chief city of Cisalpine Gaul, and naturally associated with the military operations of Rome in the time of the Cæsars.
Shall ocean, filled with much blood, loudly roar,
For they did evil to the sons of God,
265
When a Phenician king from Syria led
With the Sidonians a vast Gallic force;
And thee thyself, Ravenna, he will slay,
And in the work of murder be a guide.
O Indians and great Ethiopians,
270
Be not presumptuous, for when Capricorn
Around the pole, and Taurus in mid heaven
Among the Twins shall have encircled these,
And Virgo rises, and about his front
The sun a girdle fastening leads all heaven —
275
A great ethereal fire shall be on earth,
And in the conflicts of the warring stars
Shall nature become new, and all the land
Of the Indians and the Ethiopians
Shall perish in the midst of fire and groans.
280
Weep also thou, O Corinth, the sad doom
Of thy destruction, when with twisted threads
The Fates, three sisters, spinning, lead on high
The one who fled by guile beside the voice
Line 270. Be not presumptuous. — The common text reads, fear not; but the sentiment is not in harmony with what follows, according to which the Indians and Ethiopians are doomed to perish amid a conflict of the constellations. Hence instead of ταρβεῖτε, fear, Alexandre reads θαρσεῖτε, be presumptuous, or impudently bold, and we adopt this conjectural emendation. Comp. lines 498, 499. On the war of the stars, comp. lines 660-681, at the close of this book.
Line 282. Fates. — These, according to popular mythology, were three sisters, named Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, who are continually spinning out the destiny of mortals. Clotho, it was said, held the distaff, Lachesis spun out the thread of existence, and Atropos cut it off.
Line 283. The one who fled. — The reference seems to be to Nero and his cleaving the isthmus (comp. line 43). His return from the East as antichrist was a superstitious apprehension prevalent for some time after his death. Comp. book iv, 150-162.
Of the isthmus, until all shall gaze on him
285
Who once cut off the rock with beaten brass;
And he thy land will ruin, and will smite
As it has been appointed; for to him
Has the only God given to accomplish what
Not one of all the former kings could do.
290
For standing there in power he will give others
To pluck off with a sickle from the root
Three heads, so that unholy kings shall eat
Their parents’ flesh. For unto all mankind
Murder and terrors are laid up in store
295
Because of the great city and just people
Saved through all time by special providence.
O thou unstable one, and ill-advised,
By evil fates surrounded, unto men
Both a beginning and great end of woe,
300
A creature harmed and saved again by fate,
Excess of evils, woe, and man’s great end,
Who among mortals ever longed for thee?
Who is not angry with thee in his heart?
In thee cast forth, what king his honored life
305
Lost? All things evilly hast thou disposed,
And deluged all with evil, and by thee
Have beautiful portions of the world been changed.
Into our strife these last, perchance put forth:
And how dost thou say, "I will thee persuade,
310
And if in any thing I blame thee, speak!"
There once was among men the sun’s bright light,
Line 292. Three heads. — Comp. Dan. vii, 8, 24; 2 Esdras xi, 23; xii, 22. Hippolytus, de Christo et Antichristo, lii [G., 10, 772].
Line 295. City . . . people. — Jerusalem and the Jews.
Lines 297-320. A prophetic curse against Rome as the greatest source of misery to men.
Lines 308-314. In these lines we may understand a strife of words between Roman and Jew.
And prophets’ common rays were wide diffused,
And language, dripping fair drink for all men,
Appeared, developed, and day dawned on all.
315
Because of this, O thou of narrow mind,
Author of greatest evils, both a sword
And sorrow will be coming in that day.
Beginning and great end of woe to men,
A creature harmed and saved again by fate,
320
Hear the harsh sound of sharp words, bane of men,
But when the Persian land is free from war
And pestilence and woe, then in that day
There shall be of the blessed heavenly Jews
A race divine, who in the midst of the land
325
Shall round God’s city dwell; and with great walls
Even as far as Joppa circled round,
They lift themselves up to the dusky clouds.
No longer will the trumpet sound abroad
War’s murderous tones, nor shall men be destroyed
330
By the mad hands of foes; but there shall stand
Forever monuments of wicked men.
But there shall come from heaven a wondrous man,
Whose hands were stretched out on the fruitful wood,
The noblest of the Hebrews, who once caused
335
The sun to stand still, when he gave command
With admirable speech and hallowed lips.
Line 321. Persian land. — All western Asia, which the Roman and other wars destructive to the Jews had long ravaged, and which was also often visited with pestilence. In the midst of this land, namely, at Jerusalem, the restored Jewish race, according to the Sibyl, are to dwell in peace and glory.
Line 323. Heavenly Jews. — This line is cited by Lactantius, Div. Inst., iv, 20 [L., 6, 516].
Line 332-336. Wondrous man. — In this passage the Messiah is conceived as both Moses and Joshua coming down out of the heavens. The allusions are to Moses stretching out his hands with the wonder-working rod (comp. Exod. vii, 17-20, and xvii, 9-12), the rod that put forth buds and fruit (Num. xvii, 8), and Joshua commanding the sun to stand still (Josh. x, 12).
No longer vex thy soul, or put a sword
Unto thy bosom, O thou child of God.
Rich, only longed-for flower, thou goodly light,
340
Thou consummation noble, longed-for, pure,
Lovely Judea, city beautiful,
Inspired by hymns. No longer on thy soil
Will the Greeks revel with unhallowed foot,
But have within their hearts a similar law.
345
But thee shall noble children reverence,
And at the table stand with holy songs,
With offerings of all sorts and worthy prayers.
As many as endure the weariness
Of light affliction, and are just, shall come
350
To greater good and excellent delights;
But those who sent to heaven foul, lawless speech
Shall against one another cease to speak,
And hide themselves until the world shall change.
But from the clouds a rain of gloomy fire
355
Shall come, and mortals shall no longer reap
From earth the splendid corn; wild and untilled
Shall all things be, till mortal men shall know
The God who rules all, the immortal One,
Existing ever; mortal things no more
360
Shall grow old, neither dogs nor carrion birds,
Such as the Egyptians taught should be revered.
By tender youthful mouths, and foolish lips.
But all these things the Hebrews’ holy land
Alone shall bear; from honey-dripping rock
Line 340. By two slight changes in the Greek, Alexandre makes this line read:
“O venerable branch, O longed-for plant.”
Line 343. Greeks revel. — Comp. Joel iii, 17; Isa. lii, 1.
Line 363-366. These lines are cited by Lactantius, Div. Inst., vii, 42 [L., 6., 811]; comp. Joel iii, 18.
And from a spring there shall a rivulet
And milk ambrosial flow to all the just;
For in our glorious Maker, God alone,
Having great faith and piety, they hoped.
But why does the wise mind grant me these things?
370
Yet thee, O wretched Asia, I deplore
In pitying sorrow, and the Ionian race
And Carians, and the Lydians rich in gold.
Woe, Sardis; woe, woe, Trallis, greatly loved;
Woe, woe, Laodicea, city fair.
375
How shalt thou perish by the earthquake shock,
Fall into ruin, and to dust be changed!
In gloomy Asia of the rich Lydians
Shall Dian’s temple, fixed at Ephesus,
Some day by yawning chasms and earthquake shocks
380
Come headlong down into the dreadful sea,
Even as ships are overwhelmed by storms.
And Ephesus, quite overthrown, shall wail,
Lamenting by her banks, and searching out
Her temple, no more to be occupied.
385
And then, incensed, shall God, the imperishable,
Who dwells on high, send lightning from the heaven,
Down on the power of him that is impure.
And in that day, instead of winter’s storms
There shall be summer; and to mortal men
390
This shall then be, for the great Thunderer
Will utterly destroy all shameless ones
With thunders, lightnings, and terrific flames
Against malicious men, and ruin them
Lines 370-384. The Sibyl here pronounces woe on several well-known provinces and cities of Asia Minor, all which have been repeatedly shaken by earthquakes. Especially interesting is the mention of the famous temple of Diana at Ephesus. Comp. Acts xix, 24-28.
Lines 382-384. These lines are cited by Clem. Alex., Cohort., iv [G., 8., 141].
As godless, so that bodies of the dead
395
Shall lie on earth more numerous than the sand.
And Smyrna also, weeping for Lycurgus,
Unto the gates of Ephesus shall come,
And yet herself the rather come to naught.
And foolish Cumæ, with her inspired streams,
400
By hands of gods and lawless men hurled down,
Shall offer up her joy into the air
No more, but lie a corpse by Cumæ’s streams.
And then those left shall suffer ills together.
Cumæ’s rude populace, a hateful tribe,
405
Having a sign, shall know for what they suffered.
And then when they shall have their wicked land
Reduced to ashes, Lesbos, situate
By Eridanus, shall perish evermore.
Woe, woe to thee, Corcyra, city fair,
410
Cease from thy revel. Hierapolis,
Thou also, only soil with riches mixed,
Shalt have what thou hast longed to have, a land
Of many tears, having been enraged against
A country by the streams of Thermodon.
Line 396. Smyrna. — Already mentioned in this book, line 157. The mention of Lycurgus is difficult to expalin, except as a false reading. Alexandre substitutes the conjectural emendation Samornos and cites Strabo (book xiv, i, 4) to show that this was another name for Ephesus, and that these two cities were once in the most intimate relationship with each other.
Line 399. Cumæ — Or Cyme, some fifteen miles north of Smyrna. Its “rude populace” (line 404) is said by Strabo (book xiii, iii, 6) to have been ridiculed for stupidity.
Line 407. Lesbos. — Large island off the coast of Mysia (see line 156), but not by the Eridanus of line 177. The name Eridanus is perhaps a corruption of Adramyttium, written also Adrymon and Adramytan; for the isle of Lesbos was by the bay of Adramyttium.
Line 409. Corcyra. — City on island of the same name off the coast of Epirus, identical with the modern Corfu.
Line 410. Hierapolis. — In Phrygia, not far from Laodicea and Colossæ
Line 414. Thermodon. — River of Pontus, emptying in the Euxine.
415
And rocky Tripolis, beside the waves
Of the Mæander, filled up by the shore
With mighty waters, thou shalt be destroyed
Utterly, by God’s will and providence.
I do not wish to take the neighboring land
420
Of Phœbus, yet a thunderbolt from heaven
Wanton Miletus some day shall destroy,
Because she took up Phœbus’ crafty song
And the wise care and prudent plans of men.
Be merciful, All-Father, to the land
425
Of Judah, wanton, fruit-abounding, great,
That we may live to see thy purposes.
For this thou knewest at first, O God, in love,
That to all men it might appear thy gift,
And that they might see what God will bestow.
430
I long thrice wretched Thracia’s works to see,
And the wall trailed in dust between two seas,
Even like a river for the swimming fish.
O wretched Hellespont, some day a child
Of the Assyrians shall throw a bridge
435
Across thee. Against thee will Thracians fight
And of thy power exhaust thee utterly;
And on the Macedonian land shall seize
Line 415. Tripolis. — North-west of Hierapolis, on the Mæander.
Line 421. Miletus. — Said to have been founded by, and named after, a son of Phœbus (that is, Apollo; see note on book iv, line 4), and hence called land of Phœbus, as in this passage. According to Strabo (book xiv, i, 6) the Milesians invoke Phœbus as the dispenser of health and healer of diseases.
Line 430. Thracia’s works. — Reference probably to the wall, mentioned in next line, built by Miltiades across the isthmus of the Thracian Chersonese. See Herodotus, book vi, 36.
Line 434. Assyrians. — Here put for Persians, who occupied the Assyrian territory. The reference is manifestly to Xerxes, who bridged the Hellespont, as described by Herodotus, book vii, 34-36.
A king of Egypt, and a barbarous clime
Will cast the prowess of the leaders down.
440
Lydians, Galatians and Pamphylians,
With the Pisidians, being armed for war,
With all the people conquer in fell strife.
Thrice wretched Italy, thou shalt remain
Unwept, deserted, in a blooming land,
445
The deadly serpent fully to destroy.
But far above along the ethereal sky
God’s voice like rolling thunder shall be heard,
And the sun’s own imperishable flames
Be no more, and the moon’s brilliant light
450
Shall not again be in that latest time,
When God shall rule. All things shall be in gloom,
Darkness shall be on earth, and blinded men,
And evil beasts, and a long time of woe;
So that it will be seen that God is king,
455
And looks down from the heavens on all below.
Himself will not then pity hostile men,
Who sacrifice the herds of lambs and sheep,
And bellowing calves, great calves with gilded horns,
To lifeless Hermes and to gods of stone.
460
But let the law of wisdom take the lead,
The glory of the righteous, lest, anon,
The imperishable God be filled with wrath,
Line 438. King of Egypt. — Lysimachus seems to be referred to, and is thought of as being Egyptian because of his marriage with Ptolemy’s daughter. The provinces of Asia Minor named in lines 440-442 were all involved in the wars of Lysimachus.
Line 445. Serpent. — The meaning is unintelligible. For serpent Alexandre reads plain.
Line 459. Hermes. — Called also Mercury, the god of arts and eloquence; messenger of the gods and conductor of souls to Hades. The reference in the text is to statues of Hermes.
Line 461-465. Cited by Lactantius, de Ira Dei, xxiii [L., 7, 144].
And every race and tribe of men destroy;
For it is binding on us to love God,
465
The wise Creator, who forever lives.
There shall be at the last time, when the moon
Comes near its end, a world-disputing war,
And it will be in cunning and in guile;
And from the earth’s extremity shall come
470
A matricidal man, a fugitive,
Revolving sharp devices in his mind;
He every land will seize, and conquer all;
Wiser than all men, he will know all things.
That on account of which he himself perished
475
Forthwith he will seize. And he will destroy
Many men and great tyrants, and consume
All of them as none other ever did.
And such as fell he will restore through zeal.
But from the West shall come much war to men,
480
And hills of blood shall to the rivers flow.
But in the plains of Macedonia
The rage drops, and alliance from the West
Is offered, but destruction for the king.
And then a wintry blast shall blow on earth,
485
And evil war shall fill the land again.
For fire on mortals from the heavenly plains
Line 470. Fugitive. — Reference to Nero, here conceived as returning from his flight beyond the Euphrates (see book iv, 150) and embodying the traits of the vile king described in Dan. vii, 23-25. This passage (lines 469-470) is quoted by Lactantius, de Morte Persec., [L., 7, 197], and he says that some persons of his own time understood it of Nero, who was supposed to be still living in some distant region whither he had been secretly conveyed.
Line 474. That for which he perished, and which the returning Nero would again seize, was the sovereignty.
Lines 480-483. The exact import of these lines is quite unintelligible, except that by various concurring forces the Nero antichrist is to be destroyed.
Shall be rained down in showers, fire, and blood,
Water and lightning, darkness, awful night,
Wasting in war, and on the slaughter gloom;
490
And it will bring destruction to all kings,
Even those then best; and thus shall terminate
The lamentable ruin of dire war.
No longer will one fight with swords, or iron,
Or darts, which things shall not again be right.
395
And prudent people, such as have survived,
Will have peace, having tested wickedness
In order that at last they might have joy.
Ye matricides, leave off the impudence
Of bold effrontery and wicked works,
500
Ye who have basely furnished couch for boys,
And in the brothel harlots made of those
Who once were pure, by means of insolence,
And punishment, and forced indecency.
For in thee lawless mother with her child
505
Held carnal intercourse, and with her sire
The daughter was united as a bride.
Also in thee have kings their ill-starred mouth
Polluted, and in thee have wicked men
Found couch with beasts. O city full of grief
510
And evil, given to reveling, be still.
For virgins will no longer find with thee
The sacred fire of the love-kindling grove.
By thee the loved house was of old put out,
Line 498. Matricides. — The Romans are thus addressed, as if they were conceived in the Sibyl’s mind as so many Neros. Comp. line 470.
Line 512. Sacred fire. — This was kept burning in the temple of Vesta at Rome, and attended by six virgin priestesses known as Vestal virgins. The safety of the city was believed to depend on keeping this fire ever burning.
Line 513. Loved house. — The temple in Jerusalem, laid waste first by the Chaldeans (2 Kings xxv, 8-11) and a second time by the Romans under Titus.
When I saw it a second time laid waste,
515
And wrapped in fire by an unholy hand,
House always blooming, temple watched of God,
Brought forth by saints, imperishable ever,
A ground of hope for soul and body too.
For without burial rites none will praise God
520
Out of the hidden earth, nor will the wise
Artificer prepare a stone for such,
Nor did he reverence gold, the cheat of souls
And of the world; but they with sacrifice
And holy hecatombs adored the God
525
And mighty Maker of all breathing things.
But now an unseen and unholy king
Rose, cast this down, and let it go unbuilt,
With a great multitude and famous men.
But having gone up to the immortal land
530
He himself perished. Such a sign no more
Was ever wrought on men; so it seemed good
That others the great city should destroy.
For from the heavenly plains there came a man,
A blessed one, who held within his hand
535
A scepter with which God intrusted him,
And all things he ruled nobly, and restored
To all the good the wealth which former men
Had taken; and all cities with vast fire
Line 519. The ancient Greeks believed that no soul could enter the abode of the blessed, or be at peace, until the body had received due burial rites.
Line 530. Himself perished. — This was not true of either Vespasian or Titus, who were personally engaged in the Jewish war which destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Perhaps the author referred to Nero, under whom this war was begun, and who died before its termination. The epithets "unseen and unholy," in line 526, are better descriptive of Nero.
Lines 533-537. A Messianic passage, depicting with prophetic ardor the restoration and glorification of the Jews.
Line 536. Restored. — Comp. book iii, 414-419; iv, 184-188.
From the foundations he destroyed and burned,
540
The towns of men who had wrought wicked deeds.
And that same city which God loved he made
More radiant than the stars, and sun and moon,
And put on ornament, and made in flesh
A sanctuary very beautiful,
545>
And formed for miles a great and boundless tower
Touching the very clouds, and seen by all,
So that the faithful and the just might all
Behold the glory of the eternal God,
A longed-for sight. Morning and evening hymned
550
The praise of God. For there shall no more come
Dire evils upon miserable men,
Adulteries and lawless lust of boys,
Nor murder, nor confusion, but with all
A righteous rivalry. Last is the time
555
Of the saints, when the lofty Thunderer,
God, who is founder of the mighty temple,
Brings to their consummation all these things.
Alas! alas for thee, O Babylon,
For golden throne and golden sandal famed,
560
Thou ancient kingdom, sole lord of the world;
Once mighty and all-potent, thou shalt lie
No more in golden mountains, and the streams
Of the Euphrates; thou shalt be laid low
In time of earthquake. But the dreadful Parthians
565
Made thee rule all things. Hold thy insolent mouth,
O vile race of Chaldeans! Do not speak
Nor be concerned how thou shalt rule the Persians,
Lines 541, 542. Cited by Lactantius, Div. Inst., vii, 24 [L., 6, 809].
Line 558. Babylon. — Here put for Ctesiphon on the Tigris, the metropolis of the Parthian Empire. This empire was one of the great powers of the East, and, after long conflict with the Syrian king, spread its dominion over western Asia, and very successfully resisted the Romans until the third century of our era.
Or how thou shalt be conqueror of the Medes.
For on account of thy power which thou hadst,
570
Having sent hostages to Rome, and served
In Asia, thou shalt as a prudent queen
Into the judgment of the unrighteous come,
For whom thou hast sent ransoms. Thou shalt give
Instead of puzzling words keen wrath to foes.
575
And in the last time shall the sea be dry,
And ships no longer sail to Italy;
But great and fruitful Asia and the plain
Of Crete shall be all water. And great woe
Shall Cyprus have, and on a dreadful fate
580
Shall Paphos rush, so that one shall behold
Salamis, great city, suffering mighty woe.
Now waste and fruitless shall she be again
Upon the coast; and locusts not a few
The Cyprian land shall ruin. Look at Tyre
585
And weep, O hapless mortals! Fearful wrath
Waits thee, Phenicia, until thou fall
A vile corpse, so that sirens truly weep.
In the fifth generation, when the ruin
Of Egypt shall have ceased, and shameless kings
Line 570. Hostages to Rome. — A little while before the beginning of the Christian era, the Parthian king Phraates sent four of his sons to Rome, and the Roman writers speak of them as hostages to Augustus. See Rawlinson, Sixth Oriental Monarchy, chap. xiii.
Line 572. Comp. book ii, 70, 71.
Lines 575-587. Malediction on western Asia and the Mediterranean islands.
Line 578. Crete. — Comp. book iii, 599.
Line 579. Cyprus. — Comp. book iv, 181.
Lines 580, 581. Paphos . . . Salamis. — Comp. book iv, 163.
Line 586. Phenicia. — Comp. book iii, 585.
Lines 588-595. Fifth. — Alexandre understands this passage to refer to the fifth generation after Ptolemy Philometer, and the time of Cleopatra.
590
Mingle together, nations of all tribes
Shall camp in Egypt, and in Macedonia,
And Asia, and among the Lydians
Shall rage a cruel world-oppressing war
Of much blood and dust, which the king of Rome
595
And rulers of the West shall cause to cease.
When wintry storm comes dropping like the snow,
And the great river and vast lakes are frozen,
Straightway into the Asian land shall go
A barbarous multitude, and the dire race
600
Of Thracians like a feeble thing destroy.
And then will wretched mortals, hunger-worn,
Devour their parents, and gulp down all food,
And wild beasts in all dwellings eat their food,
They and the birds devour all mortal men.
605
And with the wicked ocean shall be filled,
Being blood-red from the river — flesh and blood
Of foolish men. Then thus a littleness
Shall be upon the earth, that of mankind
And womankind the number one may see.
610
But myriad things shall a dire race bewail
At the end, when the sun sets not to rise,
But to remain submerged in ocean’s wave,
Because it saw the baneful wickedness
Of many mortals. And a moonless night
Line 592. Lydians. — Instead of this Alexandre conjectures the emendation Libyans, and so fits it to the times of Cleopatra and the Roman conquest of Egypt and the contiguous lands.
Line 596. Wintry storm. — Comp. line 484 and what follows there.
Line 597. Great river. — Not the Nile, as Alexandre, but a general reference to the great rivers and lakes of northern Europe and Asia.
Line 599. Barbarous multitude. — Probably a reference to the invasion of some barbarous tribe from northern Europe, but the whole passage bears an apocalyptic cast, and no definite historical allusions need be sought.
Line 611. Sun sets. — Comp. line 466.
615
Shall gather round the mighty heaven itself.
And no small mist shall hide the world’s ravines.
But then a second time shall God’s light rule
The good men, even as many as praise God.
Isis, thrice wretched goddess, thou alone
620
Shalt by the waters of the Nile remain,
A lawless Bacchanal upon the sands
Of Acheron, and over all the earth
No more shall memory of thee remain.
And thou, Serapis, sitting on the stones,
625
Shalt be in trouble about many things.
Thou shalt in thrice unhappy Egypt lie
An immense corpse; all that in Egypt bore
A love toward thee shall wail thee bitterly.
But such as praise God, having in their minds
630
Unimpaired reason, know that thou art naught.
And then a linen-vested priest shall say:
“Come, let us raise a beautiful temple of God
In truth; come, let us change the fearful laws
Of our forefathers, by which they required
635
Processions, and performed their mystic rites
To gods of stone and clay that had no sense.
Let us our souls turn and give praise to God
The imperishable, who himself is sire,
640
Who always has been, who is Lord of all
Line 619. Isis. — Comp. lines 71-80, and notes there.
Line 624. Serapis. — Another Egyptian deity like Isis, to whom a great number of temples were erected throughout Egypt.
Line 631. Priest. — Commonly supposed to refer to Onias, who, according to Josephus (Ant., xiii, 3) obtained of Ptolemy Philometer permission to build a temple like that in Jerusalem. But see below on verse 644.
Line 635. Processions. . . . mystic rites. — The Jewish priest, if Onias be understood, speaks as a representative of the Egyptians, whom he would fain hope to turn from their idolatries to the worship of the true God. This accords with the spirit of Onias’s epistle to Ptolemy, as given in Josephus.
The true one, king, and soul-sustaining sire,
The mighty God, existing evermore.[”]
And then in Egypt there shall be a great
And holy temple, and their sacrifices
645
Into it shall the God-made people bring,
And God shall give to them eternal life.
But when the Ethiopians forsake
The shameless tribes of the Triballians,
And cultivate their Egypt, wickedness
650
They will begin, that afterward all things
May come to pass. For they shall overthrow
The mighty temple of the Egyptian land,
And on earth will God rain a fearful wrath
Upon them, and all base and lawless men
655
Shall be destroyed. And in that land no more
Will any one receive forbearing grace,
Because they did not guard what God had given.
The threatening of the shining sun I saw
Among the stars, and in the lightning flash
670
The dire wrath of the moon. The stars travailed
With battle; God permitted them to fight.
Line 644. Temple. — Commonly supposed to refer to the Jewish temple at Leontopolis in Egypt. See Josephus, Wars, vii, 10, 2, 3; Ant., xiii, 3. Alexandre, however, controverts this explanation, and maintains that this writer, being subsequent to the closing of the temple at Leontopolis, and the abolishing of its worship by order of the Roman emperor (Josephus, Wars, vii, x, 4), could not have thus spoken of this temple, nor prophesied its overthrow by Ethiopians (lines 651 and 652). Hence the plausible supposition that the entire passage about a temple in Egypt is a poetical amplification of the prophecy of Isa. xix, 18-22.
Line 648. Triballians. — These were a powerful and savage tribe near the Danube in Europe (comp. book x, 91), and are here strangely associated with the Ethiopians. But probably both names are here used symbolically, like Gog and Magog, in book iii, 376.
Lines 658-681. Comp. lines 270-279 and book viii, 237. Also Lactantius, Div. Inst., vii, 16 [L., 6, 792].
For in the sun’s stead long fire-flames arose;
The morning star made fight and trod upon
The Lion’s back, and the moon’s double horn
665
Changed its face; Capricorn smote Taurus’ neck,
But Taurus took away from Capricorn
Returning day; Orion would no more
Abide the yoke, and the lot of the Twins
Did Virgo change to Aries; no more shone
670
The Pleiads, and the Dragon left his zone.
Pisces went down into the Lion’s belt;
The Crab remained not, for he feared Orion;
Scorpio approached the dreadful Lion’s tail,
And from the sun’s flame slipped the Dog away;
675
Aquarius kindled to a flame the might
Of the strong shining one. The flame itself
Was roused up till it shook the warring ones,
And in a rage hurled them headlong to earth.
Then quickly smitten down upon the waves
680
Of ocean, it set all the earth on fire,
And the high heaven remained without a star.
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