The ancient prophecies known as the Sibylline Oracles or Sibyllae are attributed to divinely inspired seeresses who lived in the Greek colonies in the 8th century BC. The earliest reference to a Sibyl was by the philosopher Heraclitus (ca. 500 BC):
"The Sibyl with frenzied lips, uttering words mirthless, unembellished, unperfumed, penetrates through the centuries by the powers of the gods."
The Sibyllae were presented to Tarquin I (The Proud), the fifth king of Rome, by the Sibyl of Cumae in 615 BC. She offered him nine books foretelling the destiny of the Romans with instructions to be followed so that the predicted events would follow their course. The Sibyl demanded a payment of 300 gold philippi, a large sum, but Tarquin refused the offer. The Sibyl then burned three volumes of the set, and again requested 300 philippi for the remaining books. Tarquin again declined the offer, whereupon the Sibyl burned three more of the books, and again demanded the same price. King Tarquin was thus convinced of the value of the books, and paid for the remaining three volumes. Only fragments of one book survive to this day.
The Sibyllae were very popular with the Romans, who installed them in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, guarded by a special priesthood. The Sibyllae were consulted during crises of the Republic and upon the appearance of unusual omens. The books were destroyed in 83 BC when Rome burned during a civil war. The Senate assigned three senators to reconstruct the remaining book as much as possible. Emperor Augustus later collected all available Sibylline verses from Greece and other Roman colonies and edited them into about 200 spurious oracles. The books were destroyed by the Vandal General Flavius Stilicho "in order to cause the ruin of the Empire by getting rid of its guarantee of eternal life." (3-6)
The Sibylline Oracles were well respected by the Jewish and early Christian Fathers, who quoted them frequently and even published their own revised editions containing Judaeo-Christian prophecies and teachings for dissemination amongst the pagans. The Sibylline Oracles (1:381-388) include this prediction of the birth of Christ:
"And then the child of the great God to men
Shall come incarnate, being fashioned like
The mortals on the earth. And he shall bear
Four vowels, and the consonants in Him
Are twice told; and the whole sum I name:
For eight ones, and as many tens to these,
And yet eight hundred will the name reveal
To men who are given up to unbelief."
In the Greek language in which this prophecy was written, Jesus is spelled Iota, Eta, Sigma, Omicron, Upsilon, Sigma. The gematrial values are:
Iota, 10 (vowel 1)
Eta, 8 (vowel 2)
Sigma, 200 (consonant)
Omicron, 70 (vowel 3)
Upsilon, 400 (vowel 4, line 384)
Sigma, 200 (consonant, "twice told", line 385)
total, 888 (lines 386 and 387)
The Tiburtine Sibyl, composed ca. 500 AD, includes a description of the legendary Final Emperor, who will be succeeded by the Antichrist:
"At that time the Prince of Iniquity who will be called Antichrist will arise from the tribe of Dan. He will be the Son of Perdition, the head of pride, the master of error, the fullness of malice who will overturn the world and do wonders and great signs through dissimulation. He will delude many by magic art so that fire will seem to come down from heaven. The years will be shortened like months, the months like weeks, the weeks like days, the days like hours, and an hour like a moment. The unclean nations that Alexander, the Indian king, shut up will arise from the North. These are the 22 realms whose number is like the sand of the sea. When the king of the Romans hears of this he will call his army together and vanquish and utterly destroy them.
After this he will come to Jerusalem, and having put off the diadem from his head and laid aside the whole imperial garb, he will hand over the empire of the Christians to God the Father and to Jesus Christ His Son. When the Roman Empire shall have ceased, then the Antichrist will be openly revealed and will sit in the House of the Lord in Jerusalem. While he is reigning, two very famous men, Elijah and Enoch, will go forth to announce the coming of the Lord. Antichrist will kill them and after three days they will be raised up by the Lord. Then there will be a great persecution, such as has not been before nor shall be thereafter. The Lord will shorten those days for the sake of the elect, and the Antichrist will be slain by the power of God through Michael the Archangel on the Mount of Olives"
The Vaticinium Erythrian Sibyl was composed in the 12th century. Part III contains this Catholic Sibyl's view of apocalypse:
" There will arise another king from Heliopolis and he will wage war against the king from the East and kill him. And he will grant a tax-exemption to entire countries for three years and six months, and the earth will bring forth its fruit, and there is none to eat them. And there will come the ruler of perdition, he who is changed, and will smite and kill him. And he will do signs and wonders on earth. He will turn the sun into darkness and the moon into blood. And after that the springs and rivers will dry up, and the Nile will be transformed into blood. And then there will appear two men who did not come to know the experience of death, Enoch and Elijah, and they will wage war upon the ruler of perdition. And he will say: "My time has come," and he will be angered and slay them. And then he who was crucified on the wood of the cross will come from the heavens, like a great and flashing star, and he will resurrect those two men. And he who was hung on the cross will wage war with the son of perdition and will slay him and all his host. Then the land of Egypt will burn twelve cubits deep, and the land will shout to God: "Lord, I am a virgin." And then the son of God will come with great power and glory to judge the nine generations. And then Christ will rule, the son of the living God, and his holy angels. Amen, so be it...
"The Last Judgment will follow the Abomination. Signs will precede. There will be four kinds of unusual color in the elements and a change in the course in the heavenly bodies. There will be a celestial sign in that the air will appear at times yellow, at times pitch-black, now green, now clear red. Apollo will be split, now in ten, now in four, now in two parts; the moon will run together with the sun. Those dwelling on the earth will be struck with fear when they see the stars all bloody. At the same time the earth will well up in different places, and there will be a fearful sign of commotion. There will be collision of kingdoms, seizure of thrones, earthquakes, and famines. Out of desire for food mothers will abase their sons and daughters in debauchery... All these things are indications of the Abomination for whom there is no rule.
"When three signs come the inhabitants of the earth should know that he is near. In the city of Aeneas a 100-year old woman will bear twins with the aid of the faithless. A burning river will issue from Mt. Aetna and devour the inhabitants. After this two peaks will crash together in the snowy mountains, the earth there will be opened in an abyss, and a snowy mist will ascend to heaven.
"After these things, there will be a gathering together of many nations bestial in their manner of life and a division of the world into ten scepters. The vilest forms of copulation will precede pregnancies, the worst of all being that of the Abomination. He will then kill many kings whom he has put under his yoke. The Spouse will be silent, the cock will grow hoarse, and there will be abuse of the Lamb. Heaven, the sun, and the elements will seem to be a testimony to the Abomination in that he will do wonders, make the stars dark, weaken the perfect, regain the Jews. All this will happen so that he may renew what was old and cast out what has been renewed...
"The Last Judgment will be imminent; the signs will precede it. The sun will be frequently eclipsing and stretching out in vast fashion will destroy. The Euphrates will be dried up to a mere trickle; Aetna will be laid open on two sides, Avernus will roar, and three parts of the inhabitants of Sicily will perish. Pharos will swell up most horribly and flood the nearby areas. After this the sea will sink to the depths and the fish gathered together will give forth a roar. Then the heavens will be opened in four parts, there will be thunder, and the inhabitants of the earth will hear the threats of Judgment. Ineffable things will blare forth on the trumpet. Blameless heralds will announce the destruction of all things, saying: "Let there be humility and repentance!"...
"Then all the kings and princes will appear and behold the Lamb who pays back all men upon his throne of terror. No discrimination of wealthy or poor will take place there, but only the weighing of merits. Then crimes will be made evident, fear and trembling and horror of the abyss set out for punishment will strike all so that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. They will stretch out their hands in prayer, but the lamb will be inflexible; he will be fearful in punishing. In his sight there will be lightning and thunder, merit along with sins. Blessing will be on his right; curses will come from his left. He will judge the good and evil to lift the former on high and allow hell to swallow the latter to the fate of the demons. This is the end of the book of the Erythraean Sibyl of Babylon."
Much of what little remains of the Sibylline Oracles exists in fragments. The following are most apocalyptic and well written:
"And then will God speak with a mighty voice
To all rude people of an empty mind;
And judgments from the mighty God shall come
Upon them, and they shall be destroyed
By an immortal hand. And fiery swords
Shall fall from heaven on earth, and mighty lights
Shall come down flaming in the midst of men.
And mother earth shall be tossed in those days
By an immortal hand...
Then shall all the elements of all the world
Be desolate, air, earth, sea, flaming fire,
And sky and night, and all days to one fire
And to one barren shapeless mass to come.
For all the luminous stars shall fall from heaven;
No more will winged birds fly through the air,
Nor footsteps be on ear; for all wild beasts
Shall perish, voices of men, beasts and birds
Shall be no more. The world, being disarranged,
Shall hear no useful sound, but the deep sea
Shall echo back a mighty threatening voice,
And swimming, trembling creatures of the sea
Shall all die; and no longer on the waves
Will sail a freighted ship. The earth shall groan
Bloodstained by wars; and all the souls of men
Shall gnash their teeth --- the souls of lawless men,
Wasted by lamentations and by fear,
By hunger, thirst and pestilence and murders ---
And they shall call it beautiful to die,
And death will flee from them, for death no more
Nor night shall give them rest. And many things
Will they in vain ask God who rules on high,
And then he will turn openly his face
Away from them... All these things to my mind did God reveal
And all that has been spoken by my mouth
Will be fulfilled...
No more will treacherous gold and silver be
Nor earthly wealth, nor toilsome servitude,
But one vast friendship and one mode of life
Will be with glad people, and all things
Will common be, and equal light of life.
And wickedness from earth in the vast sea
Shall sink away. And then the harvest-time
of Mortals is near. Strong necessity
Is laid upon these things to be fulfilled.
Nor then will any other traveler say,
Recalling, that men's perishable race
Shall ever cease. And then o'er all the earth
A holy nation will the scepter hold
Unto all ages with their mighty sires..."