THE DIVINE INSTITUTES. [BOOK I.]

There were ten in number, and he enumerated them all while identifying the writers who provided an account of each: the first was from Persia, whom Nicanor mentioned while writing about the exploits of Alexander of Macedon; the second was from Libya, whom Euripides mentions in the prologue of the Lamia; the third was from Delphi, whom Chrysippus discusses in his book on divination; the fourth was a Cimmerian in Italy, whom Naevius mentions in his books on the Punic War, and Piso in his annals; the fifth was from Erythrae, whom Apollodorus of Erythrae claims as his countrywoman, noting that she foretold to the Greeks—as they were setting out for Troy—that Troy was doomed to destruction and that Homer would write falsehoods; the sixth was from Samos, regarding whom Eratosthenes writes that he found a written record in the ancient annals of the Samians.

The seventh was from Cumae, named Amalthaea (some call her Herophile or Demophile). They say she brought nine books to King Tarquinius Priscus and asked three hundred philippics A gold coin, named after Philip II of Macedon. for them. The king refused such a high price and mocked the woman’s madness. She, in the king's presence, burned three of the books and demanded the same price for those remaining. Tarquinius, considering her even more mad, refused again. She then burned three more and persisted in asking the same price. Moved by this, the king bought the remaining books for the three hundred pieces of gold. The number of these books was later increased after the rebuilding of the Capitol, because they were collected from all the cities of Italy and Greece—especially those of Erythrae—and brought to Rome under the name of whatever Sibyl they were attributed to.

Further, the eighth was from the Hellespont, born in the Trojan territory in the village of Marpessus near the town of Gergithus; Heraclides of Pontus writes that she lived in the times of Solon and Cyrus. The ninth was from Phrygia, who gave oracles at Ancyra. The tenth was from Tibur, named Albunea, who is worshipped at Tibur as a goddess near the banks of the river Anio; her statue is said to have been found in the depths of the river, holding a book in her hand. The Senate transferred her oracles into the Capitol.

The predictions of all these Sibyls are brought forward and esteemed, except for those of the Cumaean Sibyl, whose books are concealed by the Romans; they do not consider it lawful for them to be inspected by anyone but the Quindecemviri A board of fifteen priests responsible for the care of the Sibylline Books.. Although there are separate books attributed to each, because they are all inscribed with the name of "Sibyl," they are often believed to be the work of one woman. They are confused, and the productions of each cannot be distinguished or assigned to their own authors, except in the case of the Erythraean Sibyl; she both inserted her own true name into her verse and predicted that she would be called Erythraean, even though she was born in Babylon. We shall speak of the Sibyls without distinction whenever we have occasion to use their testimony.

All these Sibyls proclaim one God—especially the Erythraean, who is regarded as the most celebrated and noble among them. Fenestella, a most diligent writer, says that after the rebuilding of the Capitol, the consul Caius Curio proposed to the Senate that ambassadors be sent to Erythrae to search out and bring the writings of the Sibyl to Rome. Accordingly, Publius Gabinius, Marcus Otacilius, and Lucius Valerius were sent, who brought back to Rome about a thousand verses written by private persons. We have shown before that Varro made the same statement. Now, in these verses brought to Rome, are these testimonies regarding the one God:

1. "One God, who is alone, most mighty, uncreated."
This is the only supreme God, who made the heaven and decked it with lights.

2. "But there is one only God of pre-eminent power, who made the heaven, and sun, and stars, and moon, and fruitful earth, and waves of the water of the sea."

Since He alone is the framer of the universe and the artificer of all things that exist or are contained within it, this testifies that He alone ought to be worshipped:

3. "Worship Him who is alone the ruler of the world, who alone was and is from age to age."

Another Sibyl, whoever she may be, when she said that she carried the voice of God to men, spoke thus:

4. "I am the one only God, and there is no other God."

I would continue with the testimonies of the others, were these not sufficient, and were I not reserving the rest for more fitting opportunities. Since we are defending the cause of truth before those who err and serve false religions, what better proof could we bring forward than to refute them by the testimonies of their own gods?

1 [Regarding the Sibyls, see Lardner, Credib., ii. 258, 334, etc. On the use made of them by our author, Ibid., p. 343, and iii. 544; also pp. 14 and 15, supra.]

2 [Vol. ii. cap. 28, p. 143.]