2. Dionysius of Halycarnassus, Roman Antiquities, 4.62 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 4.62. 1. It is said that during the reign of Tarquinius another very wonderful piece of good luck also came to the Roman state, conferred upon it by the favour of some god or other divinity; and this good fortune was not of short duration, but throughout the whole existence of the country it has often saved it from great calamities.,2. A certain woman who was not a native of the country came to the tyrant wishing to sell him nine books filled with Sibylline oracles; but when Tarquinius refused to purchase the books at the price she asked, she went away and burned three of them. And not long afterwards, bringing the remaining six books, she offered to sell them for the same price. But when they thought her a fool and mocked at her for asking the same price for the smaller number of books that she had been unable to get for even the larger number, she again went away and burned half of those that were left; then, bringing the remaining books, she asked the same amount of money for these.,3. Tarquinius, wondering at the woman's purpose, sent for the augurs and acquainting them with the matter, asked them what he should do. These, knowing by certain signs that he had rejected a god-sent blessing, and declaring it to be a great misfortune that he had not purchased all the books, directed him to pay the woman all the money she asked and to get the oracles that were left.,4. The woman, after delivering the books and bidding him take great care of them, disappeared from among men. Tarquinius chose two men of distinction from among the citizens and appointing two public slaves to assist them, entrusted to them the guarding of the books; and when one of these men, named Marcus Atilius, seemed to have been faithless to his trust and was informed upon by one of the public slaves, he ordered him to be sewed up in a leather bag and thrown into the sea as a parricide.,5. Since the expulsion of the kings, the commonwealth, taking upon itself the guarding of these oracles, entrusts the care of them to persons of the greatest distinction, who hold this office for life, being exempt from military service and from all civil employments, and it assigns public slaves to assist them, in whose absence the others are not permitted to inspect the oracles. In short, there is no possession of the Romans, sacred or profane, which they guard so carefully as they do the Sibylline oracles. They consult them, by order of the senate, when the state is in the grip of party strife or some great misfortune has happened to them in war, or some important prodigies and apparitions have been seen which are difficult of interpretation, as has often happened. These oracles till the time of the Marsian War, as it was called, were kept underground in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in a stone chest under the guard of ten men.,6. But when the temple was burned after the close of the one hundred and seventy-third Olympiad, either purposely, as some think, or by accident, these oracles together with all the offerings consecrated to the god were destroyed by the fire. Those which are now extant have been scraped together from many places, some from the cities of Italy, others from Erythrae in Asia (whither three envoys were sent by vote of the senate to copy them), and others were brought from other cities, transcribed by private persons. Some of these are found to be interpolations among the genuine Sibylline oracles, being recognized as such by means of the soâcalled acrostics. In all this I am following the account given by Terentius Varro in his work on religion. |
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4. Ovid, Fasti, 4.247-4.348 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 4.247. ‘Guide of my work, I beg you, teach me also, where She 4.248. Was brought from. Was she always resident in our City? 4.249. ‘The Mother Goddess always loved Dindymus, Cybele 4.250. And Ida, with its pleasant streams, and the Trojan realm: 4.251. And when Aeneas brought Troy to Italian fields, the godde 4.252. Almost followed those ships that carried the sacred relics. 4.253. But she felt that fate didn’t require her powers in Latium 4.254. So she stayed behind in her long-accustomed place. 4.255. Later, when Rome was more than five centuries old 4.256. And had lifted its head above the conquered world 4.257. The priest consulted the fateful words of Euboean prophecy: 4.258. They say that what he found there was as follows: 4.259. ‘The Mother’s absent: Roman, I command you: seek the Mother. 4.260. When she arrives, she must be received in chaste hands.’ 4.261. The dark oracle’s ambiguity set the senators puzzling 4.262. As to who that parent might be, and where to seek her. 4.263. Apollo was consulted, and replied: ‘Fetch the Mother 4.264. of all the Gods, who you’ll find there on Mount Ida.’ 4.265. Noblemen were sent. Attalus at that time held 4.266. The Phrygian sceptre: he refused the Italian lords. 4.267. Marvellous to tell, the earth shook with long murmurs 4.268. And the goddess, from her shrine, spoke as follows: 4.269. ‘I myself wished them to seek me: don’t delay: send me 4.270. Willingly. Rome is a worthy place for all divinities.’ 4.271. Quaking with fear at her words, Attalus, said: ‘Go 4.272. You’ll still be ours: Rome claims Phrygian ancestry.’ 4.273. Immediately countless axes felled the pine-tree 4.274. Those trees pious Aeneas employed for his flight: 4.275. A thousand hands work, and the heavenly Mother 4.276. Soon has a hollow ship, painted in fiery colours. 4.277. She’s carried in perfect safety over her son’s waves 4.278. And reaches the long strait named for Phrixus’ sister 4.279. Passes fierce Rhoetum and the Sigean shore 4.280. And Tenedos and Eetion’s ancient kingdom. 4.281. Leaving Lesbos behind she then steered for the Cyclades 4.282. And the waves that break on Euboea’s Carystian shoals. 4.283. She passed the Icarian Sea, as well, where Icarus shed 4.284. His melting wings, giving his name to a vast tract of water. 4.285. Then leaving Crete to larboard, and the Pelopian wave 4.286. To starboard, she headed for Cythera, sacred to Venus. 4.287. From there to the Sicilian Sea, where Brontes, Sterope 4.288. And Aemonides forge their red-hot iron 4.289. Then, skirting African waters, she saw the Sardinian 4.290. Realm behind to larboard, and reached our Italy. 4.291. She’d arrived at the mouth (ostia) where the Tiber divide 4.292. To meet the deep, and flows with a wider sweep: 4.293. All the Knights, grave Senators, and commoners 4.294. Came to meet her at the mouth of the Tuscan river. 4.295. With them walked mothers, daughters, and brides 4.296. And all those virgins who tend the sacred fires. 4.297. The men wearied their arms hauling hard on the ropes: 4.298. The foreign vessel barely made way against the stream. 4.299. For a long time there’d been a drought: the grass was dry 4.300. And scorched: the boat stuck fast in the muddy shallows. 4.301. Every man, hauling, laboured beyond his strength 4.302. And encouraged their toiling hands with his cries. 4.303. Yet the ship lodged there, like an island fixed in mid-ocean: 4.304. And astonished at the portent, men stood and quaked. 4.305. Claudia Quinta traced her descent from noble Clausus 4.306. And her beauty was in no way unequal to her nobility: 4.307. She was chaste, but not believed so: hostile rumour 4.308. Had wounded her, false charges were levelled at her: 4.309. Her elegance, promenading around in various hairstyles 4.310. And her ready tongue, with stiff old men, counted against her. 4.311. Conscious of virtue, she laughed at the rumoured lies 4.312. But we’re always ready to credit others with faults. 4.313. Now, when she’d stepped from the line of chaste women 4.314. Taking pure river water in her hands, she wetted her head 4.315. Three times, three times lifted her palms to the sky 4.316. (Everyone watching her thought she’d lost her mind) 4.317. Then, kneeling, fixed her eyes on the goddess’s statue 4.318. And, with loosened hair, uttered these words: 4.319. “ Kind and fruitful Mother of the Gods, accept 4.320. A suppliant’s prayers, on this one condition: 4.321. They deny I’m chaste: let me be guilty if you condemn me: 4.322. Convicted by a goddess I’ll pay for it with my life. 4.323. But if I’m free of guilt, grant a pledge of my innocence 4.324. By your action: and, chaste, give way to my chaste hands.” 4.325. She spoke: then gave a slight pull at the rope 4.326. (A wonder, but the sacred drama attests what I say): 4.327. The goddess stirred, followed, and, following, approved her: 4.328. Witness the sound of jubilation carried to the stars. 4.329. They came to a bend in the river (called of old 4.330. The Halls of Tiber): there the stream turns left, ascending. 4.331. Night fell: they tied the rope to an oak stump 4.332. And, having eaten, settled to a tranquil sleep. 4.333. Dawn rose: they loosed the rope from the oak stump 4.334. After first laying a fire and offering incense 4.335. And crowned the stern, and sacrificed a heifer 4.336. Free of blemish, that had never known yoke or bull. 4.337. There’s a place where smooth-flowing Almo joins the Tiber 4.338. And the lesser flow loses its name in the greater: 4.339. There, a white-headed priest in purple robe 4.340. Washed the Lady, and sacred relics, in Almo’s water. 4.341. The attendants howled, and the mad flutes blew 4.342. And soft hands beat at the bull’s-hide drums. 4.343. Claudia walked in front with a joyful face 4.344. Her chastity proven by the goddess’s testimony: 4.345. The goddess herself, sitting in a cart, entered the Capene Gate: 4.346. Fresh flowers were scattered over the yoked oxen. 4.347. Nasica received her. The name of her temple’s founder is lost: 4.348. Augustus has re-dedicated it, and, before him, Metellus.’ |
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