The Sibylline books weren’t primarily books of predictions: they were instructions for rituals, which also mentioned predictions in passing. The idea seems to have been that, when required, priests might choose a ritual from the books, then perform that ritual, to ensure purity, or ward off evil. Some extracts were made public, but a complete text wasn’t widely known. ...The most famous thing about the books is the story of how they were sold. ...
An informative introduction to the mostly-lost Roman "Sibylline Books." Not to be confused with the Jewish and Christian "Sibylline Oracles," which were inspired by the idea of the Roman books. The Oracles are the scheduled topic of the next post in the series
I noted the first post here, with links to other posts on the Sibylline Oracles.
Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.
