The Sibylline Oracles, translated from the Greek into English Blank Verse by Milton S. Terry, Professor in Garrett Biblical Institute. New edition revised after the text for Ruch. New York: Eaton & Mains; Cincinnati: Curts & Jennings. 1899. ====== The Sibylline Oracles: Book 13 ====== ===== BOOK XIII ===== CONTENTS OF BOOK XIII. Introduction, 1-8. A time of wars and woes, 9-16. Persian insurrection and the Roman soldier king 17-28. The warrior out of Syria and his son, 29-47. Persian war and the grain-producing land of Nile, 48-65. Another song for Alexandrians announced, 66-71. Wrath on Assyrians and Ægeans, 72-78. Wretched Antioch, 79-84. Cities of Arabia admonished, 85-97. Wars and treachery, 98-106. Roman ruler from Dacia, 107-116. The Syrian robber, 117-135. The Gallic king and dreadful woes, 136-156. Wretched Syria, 157-165. Wretched Antioch, 165-171. Woes on many cities of Asia, 172-189. Murders and wars, 190-208. Allegory of the bull, dragon, stag, lion, and goat, 209-230. Prayer of the Sibyl, 231-232. GREAT word divine he bids me sing again--\\ The immortal holy God imperishable,\\ Who gives to kings their power and takes away,\\ And who determined for them time both ways,\\ 5 Both that of life and that of baneful death.\\ And these the heavenly God enjoins on me\\ Unwilling to bring tidings unto kings\\ Concerning royal power. . . .\\ . . . . . . .\\ . . . . . . .\\ And spear impetuous Ares; and by him\\ 10 All perish, child and the old man who gives\\ To the assemblies laws; and many wars\\ And battles there shall be, and homicides,\\ Famines and pestilences, earthquake-shocks\\ And mighty thunderbolts, and many ways\\ 15 Of the Assyrians over all the world,\\ And pillaging and robbery of temples.\\ And then an insurrection there shall be\\ Of the industrious Persians, and with them\\ Indians, Armenians, and Arabians;\\ 20 And unto these again a Roman king\\ [1. The twelfth and thirteenth books are as closely connected as are the first and second, and like them are probably the work of one author. After the words "royal power," in the eighth line, there is a noticeable defect in the text. 9. Impetuous Ares.--Reference probably to Maximinus. 18. Persians.--The Sassanidæ, as in book xi, 356. 20. Roman king.--Gordian III, who defeated the Persian army under {footnote p. 226} Sapor on the banks of the Chaboras, a branch of the Euphrates, and was soon afterward killed by Philippus (M. Julius Philippus), who succeeded to the empire.] (1-14.) Insatiate in war and leading on\\ His spearmen against the Assyrians\\ Shall draw near, a young Ares, and as far\\ As the deep-flowing silvery Euphrates\\ 25 Shall warlike Ares stretch his deadly spear\\ Because of . . .\\ For by his friend betrayed he shall fall down\\ In the ranks smitten by the gleaming iron.\\ And straightway coming out of Syria\\ 30 There shall a purple-loving warrior rule,\\ Terror of Ares, and also his son,\\ A Cæsar, shall even all the earth oppress;\\ And the one name is unto both of them:\\ On first and twentieth there are to be placed\\ 35 Five hundred. But when these in wars shall rule,\\ And laws shall be enacted, there shall be\\ A little rest from war, not for long time;\\ But when a wolf shall to a flock of sheep\\ Pledge solemn oaths against the white-toothed dogs,\\ 40 Then, having misled, he will tear in pieces\\ The woolly sheep, and cast his oaths aside;\\ [26. Here the Greek text is somewhat corrupt and uncertain. 29. Out of Syria.--The reference is to M. Julius Philippus, who was called the Arabian because of his birth in Bostra, Syria, somewhere to the south of Damascus. 31. His son.--Philippus associated his son, of the same name, with him in the empire. 34, 35. The Greek letter for five hundred is {Greek F}, initial of Philippus. The "one and twenty" is to be understood as denoting the initials (A=1 and K=20) of Augustus, the title assumed by the father, and Cæsar (Kaisar), the name of his son. 38, 39. Comp. book xiv, 448, 449.] (16-30.) And then shall there be an unlawful strife\\ Of haughty kings in wars, and Syrians\\ Shall perish terribly, and Indians\\ 45 And the Armenians and Arabians,\\ The Persians and the Babylonians\\ Shall one another by hard fights destroy.\\ But when a Roman Ares shall destroy\\ A German Ares ruinous of life\\ 50 Triumphing on the ocean, then is war\\ Of many years for haughty Persian men,\\ But for them there shall not be victory;\\ For as a fish swims not upon the point\\ Of a high many-ridged and windy rock\\ 55 Precipitant, nor does a tortoise fly,\\ Nor does an eagle into water come,\\ So also are the Persians in that day\\ Far off from victory, while the fond nurse\\ Of the Italians, in the plain of Nile\\ 60 Reposing by the sacred water's side,\\ Sends forth the appointed lot to seven-hilled Rome.\\ Now these things are; and while the name of Rome\\ Shall hold in numbers of revolving time,\\ So many years shall the great noble city\\ 65 Of Macedon's lord, willing, deal out corn.\\ Another much-distressing pain I'll sing\\ For Alexandrians who are destroyed\\ By reason of the strife of shameful men.\\ Strong men who were aforetime terrible\\ [48. Roman Ares.--Comp. book xii, 355, 356. 58, 59. Nurse of the Italians.--Alexandria, as representing Egypt and source of the grain supply of Italy and the Roman world. 62. Name of Rome.--Comp. book viii, 195, and the note on the numerical value of the letters of the name.] (31-52.) {p. 228} 70 Being then impotent shall pray for peace\\ By reason of the wickedness of chiefs.\\ And there shall come wrath of the mighty God\\ On the Assyrians and a mountain stream\\ Shall utterly destroy them, which shall come\\ 75 To Cæsar's city and harm Canaanites.\\ The Pyramus shall irrigate the city\\ Of Mopsus; then shall the Ægæans fall\\ Because of strife of very mighty men.\\ Thee, wretched Antioch, shall Ares strong\\ 80 Leave not while round thee an Assyrian war\\ Is pressing, for a chief of men shall dwell\\ Within thy houses who shall fight with all\\ The arrow-hurling Persians, he himself\\ Having obtained of Romans royal power.\\ 85 Now, cities of Arabians, deck yourselves\\ With temples and with places for the race,\\ And with broad markets and with splendid wealth,\\ With images, gold, silver, ivory;\\ And thou who art of all most fond of learning,\\ 90 Bostra and Philippopolis, that thou may'st come\\ Into great sorrow; and the laughing spheres\\ Of the zodiacal vault, Aries,\\ Taurus, and Gemini, and as many stars\\ Ruling hours as with them in heaven appear\\ [15. Cæsar's city.--Perhaps referring to Cæsarea Philippi. 76. Pyramus.--River of Cilicia. 77. Mopsus.--More commonly called Mopsuestia, a town situated on the Pyramus. Ægæans.--Inhabitants of the city of Ægæ, near the mouth of this same river. 79. Wretched Antioch.--Comp. line 165, and book iv, 181. 90. Bostra.--Situated some fifty miles to the south of Damascus. 91-95. These allusions to the constellations may imply notable devotion to astrology on the part of the people of Arabia.] (53-71.) 95 Shall benefit thee not; thou, wretched one,\\ Hast trusted many, when that very man\\ Shall afterwards bring near that which is thine.\\ And now for Alexandrians loving war\\ Will I sing wars most dreadful; and much people\\ 100 Shall perish while their cities are destroyed\\ By citizens against each other matched\\ And fighting for the sake of hateful strife,\\ And round them horrid Ares, rushing on,\\ Shall cease from war. And then one of great soul\\ 105 Along with his own mighty son shall fall\\ By treachery on the older king's account.\\ And after him there shall rule powerfully\\ O'er fertile Rome another great-souled lord\\ Versed in war, coming from the Dacians\\ 110 And numbering three hundred; he shall have\\ Also the letter of the number four,\\ And many shall be slay, and then the king\\ Shall all his brothers and his friends destroy\\ Even while the kings are cut off, and straightway\\ 115 Shall there be fights and pillagings and murders\\ Suddenly on the older king's account.\\ Then, when a wily man shall summoned come,\\ [104-106. The father and son here referred to are the same as those described in lines 29-33. 107-112. This seems to describe Trajan of Pannonia, who is better known as Decius. Sent by the emperor Philip against Mœsia, the troops proclaimed him emperor, and he exercised the imperial power for about two years. The names Trajan and Decius are represented by their initial letters, which are the Greek numerals respectively for three hundred and four. 116. Comp. line 106 above. The older king is here apparently intended for Philip. 117. Wily man.--Referring perhaps to Cyriades, one of the so-called "thirty tyrants" who arose in various parts of the empire about this time.] (72-89.) {p. 230} A robber and a Roman not well known\\ From Syria appearing, he by guile\\ 120 Into a race of Cappadocian men\\ Shall drive through and, besieging, shall press hard,\\ Insatiate of war. And then for thee,\\ Tyana and Mazaka, there shall be\\ A capture; thou shalt be enslaved and put\\ 125 Upon thy neck again a fearful yoke.\\ Arid Syria shall mourn for men destroyed\\ And then Selenian goddess shall not guard\\ Her holy city. But when he by flight\\ From Syria shall before the Romans come,\\ 130 And shall pass over the Euphrates' streams,\\ No longer like the Romans, but like fierce\\ Dart-shooting Persians, then, fulfilling fate,\\ Down shall the ruler of the Italians fall\\ In the ranks smitten by the gleaming iron;\\ 135 And close upon him shall his children perish.\\ But when another king of Rome shall reign,\\ Then also to the Romans there shall come\\ Unstable nations, on the walls of Rome\\ Destructive Ares with his bastard son;\\ 140 Then also shall be famines, pestilence,\\ And mighty thunderbolts, and dreadful wars,\\ [123. Tyana and Mazaka.--Chief cities of Cappadocia. 127. Selenian goddess.--Goddess of the moon. Her holy city maybe understood as Seleucia on the Tigris, once noted for the worship of the moon. 133. Ruler of the Italians.--Decius Trajan, described in lines 107-112 above, who was smitten down under a shower of darts while fighting the Goths. 136. Another king.--Gallus Trebonianus, who was proclaimed emperor by the legions on the death of Decius. 139. Bastard son.--Reference to Volusianus, son of Gallus. 140. Comp. lines 11-14 above, and book xii, 149, 150, 202-204.] (90-106.) And anarchy in cities suddenly;\\ And the Syrians shall perish fearfully;\\ For there shall come upon them the great wrath\\ 145 Of the Most High and straightway an uprising\\ of the industrious Persians, and mixed up\\ With Persians shall the Syrians destroy\\ The Romans, but by the divine decree\\ They shall not make a conquest of their laws.\\ 150 Alas, how many with their goods shall flee\\ Front the East unto men of other tongues\\ Alas, the dark blood of how many men\\ The land shall drink! For that shall be a time\\ In which the living uttering o'er the dead\\ 155 A blessing shall by word of mouth pronounce\\ Death beautiful and death shall flee from them.\\ And now for thee, O wretched Syria,\\ I weep in sorrow; for to thee shall come\\ A dreadful blow from arrow-shooting men,\\ 160 Which thou didst never think would come to thee.\\ Also the fugitive of Rome shall come\\ Bearing a great spear, Crossing on his way\\ Euphrates with his many myriads,\\ And he shall burn thee, and dispose all things\\ 165 In a bad way. O wretched Antioch,\\ And thee a city they shall never call,\\ When by thy lack of prudence thou shalt fall\\ Under the spears; and stripping off all things\\ And making naked he shall leave thee thus\\ 170 Coverless, houseless; and when anyone\\ [156. Comp. books ii, 376, and viii, 468. 158-160. Comp. book iii, 387-389. 161. The fugitive.--Nero. Comp. book v, 118-180. 165-168. Comp. book iv, 181-183.] (107-128.) Sees he shall of a sudden weep for thee.\\ And thou shalt be, O Hierapolis,\\ A triumph, also thou, Berœa; weep\\ At Chalcis over lately wounded sons.\\ 175 Alas, how many by the steep high mount\\ Of Casius shall dwell and by Amanus\\ How many, and how many Lycus laves,\\ And Marsyas as many and Pyramus\\ The silver-eddying; for even to the bounds\\ 180 Of Asia they shall treasure up their spoils,\\ Make cities naked, and bear idols off\\ And cast down temples on much-nourishing earth.\\ And sometime to Gauls and Pannonians,\\ To Mysians and Bithynians there shall be\\ 185 Great sorrow when a warrior shall have come.\\ O Lycians, Lycians, there shall come a wolf\\ To lick thy blood, when Sannians shall come\\ With city-wasting Ares and the Carpians\\ Shall draw near with Ausonians to fight.\\ 190 And then by his own shameless recklessness\\ The bastard son shall put the king to death,\\ And he himself for his impiety\\ Shall straightway perish. And again shall rule\\ After him yet another whose name shows\\ [172-174. Hierapolis . . . Berœa . . . Chalcis.--Cities of Syria, eastward from Antioch. 176. Casius.--Rising to the south of Antioch. Amanus.--A mountain range north of Antioch and overlooking the valley of Pyramus. 177. Lycus.--River of Pontus. 178. Marsyas.--A river of Syria, a branch of the Orontes. 183-189. The mention of these widely separated provinces depicts the broad range of the desolating wars of this period. 191. Bastard son.--The same as in line 139.] (128-144.) 195 First letter; but he too shall quickly fall\\ By mighty Ares, struck by gleaming iron.\\ And yet again the world shall be confused,\\ Men perishing by pestilence and war.\\ And the Persians maddened by the Ausonians\\ 200 Shall in the toil of Ares yet again\\ Force their way. And then there shall be a flight\\ Of Romans; and thereafter there shall come\\ The priest heard of all round, sent by the sun,\\ From Syria appearing and by guile\\ 205 Shall he accomplish all things. And then too\\ The city of the sun shall offer prayer;\\ And round about her shall the Persians dare\\ The fearful threatenings of the Phœnicians.\\ But when two chiefs, men swift in war, shall rule\\ 210 The very mighty Romans, one of whom\\ Shall have the number seventy, and the other\\ The number three, even then the stately bull,\\ That digs the earth with his hoofs and stirs up\\ The dust with his two horns, shall many ills\\ 215 Upon a dark-skinned reptile perpetrate--\\ Which draws a trail with his scales; and besides,\\ [195. First letter.--Evidently denoting Æmilianus, who was himself in turn cut off before he had reigned four months. 199. Persians . . . again.--Under Sapor, who captured Valerian, put the Romans to flight, and spread destruction over Syria and Cappadocia. 203. Priest.--Odenatus. 206. City of the sun.--Here referring to Palmyra. 211. Seventy . . . three.--The first is represented by {Greek O}, initial of the Greek form of the name Valerian [{Greek Ou?alh~rianos}], and the second by {Greek G}, initial of Gallienus. 212. Bull.--Here representing Valerian, who dealt out many ills to the Persians, but was himself destroyed. 215. Dark-skinned reptile.--Sapor, King of the Persians.] (145-161.) Himself shall perish. And yet after him\\ Again shall come another fair-horned stag,\\ Hungry upon the mountains, striving hard\\ 220 To feed upon the venom-shedding beasts\\ Then shall a dread and fearful lion come,\\ Sent from the sun, and breathing forth much flame.\\ And then too by his shameless recklessness\\ Shall he destroy the well-horned rapid stag,\\ 225 And the most mighty venom-shedding beast\\ So dread, that sends forth many piping sounds,\\ And the he-goat that sideways moves along,\\ And after him fame follows; he himself\\ Sound, unhurt, unapproachable, shall rule\\ 230 The Romans, and the Persians shall be weak.\\ But, Lord, King of the world, O God, restrain\\ The song of our words, and give charming song.\\ [218. Stag.--Macrianus, the Roman general. 221. Lion.--Odenatus. 225. Most mighty . . . beast.--The Persians. 227. He-goat.--Reference doubtful. Alexandre suggests Balista, one of the so-called "thirty tyrants," who made pretension to the throne in the reign of Gallienus. Comp. Dan. viii, 5, for the same figure. 228. He himself.--Odenatus. 231, 232. Comp. conclusion of books xi and xii.] (161-173.)