Sibylline Story
Matthew Ryan Fischer
As the story goes, the Sibylline Books were destroyed in 83 BC
when the Temple of Jupiter accidentally burned. This, of course, was just a
story, made up to cover what really happened. After a series of wars and
internal strife, several important families took it upon themselves to protect
and preserve the books and the powers that they held. There were originally nine
books of prophecy created by a Greek prophetess. Six were allegedly
destroyed while she and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus haggled over the purchasing
price. This of course was not true at all. The Cumaean Sibyl promised Lucius
nine books, and he received nine books. And for her efforts she was rewarded
with a swift death, for Lucius could not risk her sharing any foresights with
his enemies. The legend of the other six was created to keep these books a
secret, for those were regarded as the most powerful of the prophecies.
For more than 300 years the three publicly acknowledged
books were consulted in times of crisis and during questions of faith. For 300
hundred years the Republic was strong and its powers spread across all of
Europe.
Wars came and went and then internal strife took over
and the Republic grew weak. The Sibylline Books, all nine of them, were
separated, and because there was a sect of religious leaders that feared their
powers and wanted to destroy them, the families thought it best to spread the
books throughout the Republic. Three of the books were held by three rich and
powerful families in the heartland of Roma. Three were taken east, to Byzantium
and beyond, but those were lost in transit, either at sea to a shipwreck during
a storm or to raiders while a caravan crossed Greece, depending on which
reports were to be trusted. The remaining three were to be hidden far away from
the capital cities and out of the hands of the corrupt and dangerous.
Eventually one ended up in Hispana, another made it all the way to Britannia
and a final one went as far as the border near Germania, but reports of what
happened to this one were sketchy at best.
Whether the Sibylline Books truly had any power of prophecy is
subject to debate, but a large number of people died in the attempt to protect
or gain access to them. Decades later Julius Caesar, who was not yet the Caesar
the world would one day come to know, spent time as governor in Hispana, where
he conquered several local tribes. Later, fighting as a general he extended
Rome’s territories north, to the English Channel and the Rhine. He became the
first Roman general to cross both and launched Rome’s first invasion of
Britain. His invasions signaled Roman strength. But he made no attempt to
conquer or incorporate Britannia or Germania into the empire. He took his
armies in a tremendous show of force and then left. Perhaps he wasn’t
interested in conquering these new lands. Perhaps he was looking for something
more powerful.
Soon Caesar’s power continued to grow as though he was guided by
destiny itself. As dictator, he made plans to invade Persia. Perhaps he was
tempted by the idea that three of the books had indeed made it east. Perhaps it
was just wishful thinking. Still, if three books could make a man dictator,
imagine what six could do.
After the assassination, Caesar’s personal library was destroyed.
There was no official record of what books he did or did not possess. There
were reports of theft and looting before the rest of the library was burnt. One
witness claimed that three men escaped and rode away in three different
directions, never to be seen or heard from again.
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