THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES

BOOK VII.

{p. 148}

CONTENTS OF BOOK VII.

Woes of Rhodes, Delos, Cyprus, and Sicily, 1-9. The deluge, 10-15. Ruin of Phrygia, Ethiopia, and Egypt, 16-28. Woe of Laodicea, 29-31. Signs and powers of Messiah, 32-49. The new shoot, 50-52. Persian wars, 53-67. Fall of Ilias, 68-72. Doom of Colophon, Thessaly, Corinth, and Tyre, 73-86. Cœle-Syria accursed, 87-102. Rules for sacrifice and alms giving, 103-130. Doom of Sardinia, Mygdonia, the Celtic land, Rome, Syria, and Thebes, 131-161. The devouring fire, 162-190. Long night followed by a better time, 101-205. Confession and doom of the Sibyl, 206-221.

{p. 149}

BOOK VII.

    O RHODES, thou art unhappy; for first thee,
Thee will I mourn; and thou shalt be the first
Of cities, and first shalt thou be destroyed,
Bereft of men, but of the means of life
5 Not wholly destitute. And thou shalt sail,
Delos, and be unstable on the water;
Cyprus, a billow of thy gleaming sea
Shall sometime thee destroy; thee, Sicily,
The fire that burns within thee shall consume.
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
10 Nor heed God's terrible and foreign water.
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
Noah sole fugitive from all men came.
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
Earth shall float, hills float, and even sky shall float,
Everything shall be water and all things
Shall be destroyed by waters. And the winds
15 Shall stand still and a second age shall be.
    O Phrygia, first shalt thou flame from the crest
Of the water; and first in impiety
Thou shalt deny God himself, courting favor
With false gods, which shall utterly destroy
20 Thee, wretched one, while many years roll round.

[1. This book is brief and fragmentary, and mainly of Christian origin. Its composition may be properly assigned to the close of the second or the early part of the third century.

10-15. Here we have the fragment of a passage referring to Noah and the flood, in which the language is appropriated from book i, 226-240.]

(1-15.)

{p. 150}

The hapless Ethiopians under pain,
Suffering things lamentable, shall by swords
Be smitten whilst they crouch upon the ground.
    Rich Egypt ever caring for her corn,
25 Which Nilus by his seven swimming streams
Intoxicates, shall in intestine strife
Destroy; and thence men unexpectedly
Shall drive out Apis, not the god for men.
    Alas, alas, Laodicea! thou
30 Not ever seeing God shalt lie, bold one;
And over thee shall dash a wave of Lycus.
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
He himself who is born the mighty God,
Who shall work many signs, shall through heaven hang
An axle in the midst, and place for men
35 A mighty terror to be seen on high,
Measuring a column with a mighty fire
Whose drops shall slay the races of mankind
That have dared evils. But a common Lord
There shall at some time be, and then shall men
40 Propitiate God, but shall not make an end
Of fruitless sorrows. And through David's house
Shall all things come to pass. For God himself
Gave him the power and put it in his hand;
Under his feet shall sleep his messengers,
45 And some shall kindle fires, and some shall make
Rivers appear, and some shall rescue towns,

(16-36.)

{p. 151}

And some shall send forth winds. But furthermore
A grievous life shall come on many men,
Entering their souls and changing human hearts.
50 But when a new shoot shall out of a root
Put forth eyes, the creation, which to all
Once gave abundant food . . .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
And it shall with the times be full. But when
Others shall rule, a tribe of warlike Persians,
55 Bride-chambers straightway shall be terrible
Because of lawless deeds. For her own son
Will mother have as husband; son will be
The ruin of his mother; and with sire
Shall daughter lie down and shall put to sleep
60 This foreign law. But to them afterwards
Shall Roman Ares flash from many a spear;
And they shall mix much land with human blood.
But then a chief of Italy shall flee
From the force of the spear. But they shall leave
65 Upon the land a lance inscribed with gold,
Which as the signal ensign of their rule
The foremost fighters carry constantly.
    And it shall be, when evil and ill-starred
Ilias shall piteously complete for all
70 A tomb, not marriage, then shall brides weep sore,

(35-52.)

{p. 152}

Because they knew not God, but always gave
By kettle-drums and cymbals boisterous sound.
    Consult the oracle, O Colophon;
For a great fearful fire hangs over thee.
75    Ill-wedded Thessaly, the earth no more
Shall see thee, nor thy ashes, and alone
Escaping from the mainland thou shalt swim;
Thus, O thou wretched one, shalt thou of war
Be melancholy refuse, having fallen
80 By swiftly flowing rivers and by swords.
    And thou, O wretched Corinth, shalt receive
Around thyself stern Ares, hapless one,
And ye shall perish one upon another.
    Tyre, thou, unhappy, shalt be left alone;
85 For, made a widow by the feebleness
Of pious men, thou shalt be brought to naught.
    Ah, Cœle-Syria, of Phœnician men
The last hold, upon whom the briny sea
Of Berytus disgorging is poured forth,
90 O wretched one, thou didst not know thy God,
Who once in the mouth of Jordan washed himself,
--And the Spirit spread his wings in flight towards him--
Who before both the earth and starry heaven
Was, actual Word, begotten by his Father,
95 And by the Holy Spirit donning flesh

[73. Colophon.--Situated a little to the north of Ephesus, and the seat of an ancient oracle of Apollo (Strabo xiv, i, 27).

75. Ill-wedded.--Unfortunate in the marriages of the inhabitants. Comp. line 67.

87. Cœle-Syria.--That part of Syria which lies between the Libanus and Antilibanus mountain ranges.

89. Berytus.--On the Phœnician sea-coast north of Zidon, the modern Beyrout. The sea of Berytus is the Mediterranean along this coast.]

(63-69.)

{p. 153}

He quickly flew unto his Father's house.
And for him three towers did the mighty heaven
Establish, in which dwell God's noble guides,
Hope, piety, and reverence much-desired,
100 Not having in gold or in silver joy,
But in the reverential acts of men--
Both sacrifices and most righteous thoughts.
    And thou shalt sacrifice to the immortal
And mighty God august, not melting grains
105 Of frankincense in fire, nor with the sword
Slaying the shaggy-haired lamb, but with all
Who bear thy blood take wild fowls, offer prayer,
And fixing eyes on heaven send them away;
And thou shalt sprinkle water on pure fire
110 Having cried: "As the Father did beget
Thee, the Word, Father, I sent forth a bird,
Swift messenger of words, with holy waters
Besprinkling thy baptism, O Word, through which
Thou didst make thyself manifest in fire."
115    Thou shalt not shut thy door, when there shall come
A stranger unto thee in need to curb
His hunger which comes from his poverty,
But taking hold of that man sprinkle him
With water and pray thrice; and to thy God
120 Do thou thus cry: "I do not long for wealth;

(70-89.)

{p. 154}

A suppliant I once publicly received
A suppliant; Father, thou provider, hear."
When thou hast prayed thou shalt give unto him;
And the man went away thereafter. . . .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
125 Do not afflict me, holy fear of God
And righteous, as to birth pure, unenslaved,
Attested. . . .
Do thou, O Father, make my wretched heart
Stand still; to thee have I looked, unto thee,
130 The undefiled, whom hands did not produce.
    Sardinia, weighty now, thou shalt be changed
To ashes. Thou shalt be no more an isle,
When the tenth time shall come. Amid the waves
Shall sailors seek thee when thou art no more,
135 And o'er thee shall kingfishers wail sad dirge.
    Rugged Mygdonia, beacon of the sea
Hard to get out of, ages shalt thou boast
And unto ages shalt be all destroyed
With a hot wind, and rave with many woes.
140    O Celtic land, on mountain range so great,
Beyond impassable Alp, thee deep sand
Shall altogether bury; thou shalt give
Tribute no more, nor corn, nor pasturage;
And thou from peoples ever far away
145 Shalt be all-desolate, and becoming thick
With chill ice thou shalt for an outrage pay,
Which thou didst not perceive, unholy one.
    Stout-hearted Rome, thou to Olympus shalt
Flash lightning after Macedonian spears;

(89-108.)

{p. 155}

150 But God shall make thee utterly unknown,
When thou wouldst to the eye seem to remain
Much more firm. Then to thee such things I'll cry.
Perishing thou shalt then cry out and boil
In pain; a second time to thee, O Rome,
15 Again a second time I am to speak.
    And now for thee, O wretched Syria,
Do I wail bitterly in pitying grief.
    O Thebans ill-advised, an evil sound
Is over you while flutes speak out their tones;
160 For you shall trumpet sound an evil sound
And ye shall see the entire land destroyed
    Alas, alas for thee, thou wretched one;
Alas, alas thou evil-minded sea!
Thou shalt be wholly eaten up of fire
165 And people with thy brine shalt thou destroy.
For there shall be such raging fire on earth
As flows like water, and it shall destroy
The whole land. It shall set the hills on fire,
Shall burn the rivers, and exhaust the springs.
170 The world shall be disordered whilst mankind
Are perishing. And then the wretched ones,
Burned badly, shall look unto heaven inwrought
Not with stars, but with fire. Not speedily
Shall they be made to perish, but dissolved
175 From under flesh, and burning in the spirit
For age-long years, they shall know that God's law
Is always hard to put to test and not
To be deceived; and then earth, seized by force,
Daring whatever god she did admit
180 Unto her altars, cheated, turned to smoke
Through the changed air; and they shall undergo

(109-131.)

{p. 156}

Much suffering who for gain shall prophesy
Shameful things, nourishing the evil time.
And the Hebrews who put on the shaggy skins
185 Of sheep shall prove false, in which race
Obtained no portion by inheritance,
But talking mere words over sorrows they
Are misers, who shall change their course of life
And not mislead the just, who through the heart
190 All-faithfully propitiate their God.
    But in the third lot of revolving years,
Eighth the first, shall another world appear.
Night shall be all . . . long and without light.
And then shall pass around the dreadful stench
195 Of brimstone, messenger of homicides,
When they shall be by night and hunger slain.
Then a pure mind shall God beget in men,
And shall the race establish, as it was
Aforetime; longer shall not any one
200 Deep furrow cut with round plow, nor two oxen
Straight guiding dip the iron down; nor vines
Shall be nor ears of corn; but all shall eat
Together dewy manna with white teeth.
And then among them God shall also be,
205 And he shall teach them as he has taught me,
The sad one. For how many evil things
I did with knowledge once, and many things
Heedless I also wickedly performed.
Countless my couches, but no marriage-bond

[192. Eighth the first.--That is, the eighth being the first of "the third lot." The Sibyl reckons all the years as divided into ten periods or times (line 133 above); of these ten times the eighth is supposed to be the first of the third portion; namely, the eighth, ninth, and tenth, during which shall take place what is written in lines 193-205, immediately following.]

(132-153.)

{p. 157}

210 Was cared for; and I, all-unfaithful, brought
To all a savage oath. I turned away
Those in need and among the foremost went
Into like glen and minded not God's word.
Therefore did fire consume me and shall gnaw;
215 For I shall not live always, but a time
Of evil shall destroy me, when for me
Men shall beside the margin of the sea
Construct a tomb, and shall slay me with stones;
For lying with my father a dear son
220 Did I present him. Smite me, smite me all;
For thus shall I live and fix eyes on heaven.

(154-162.)

{p. 158}

{p. 159}

BOOK VIII.

{p. 160}

CONTENTS OF BOOK VIII.

Introduction, 1-4. The five monarchies, 5-21. Lust of gain, 21-46. Doom of Rome, 47-63. The gray-haired prince, 61-83. The three rulers, 84-94. Misery of Rome, 95-115. Final judgment of Rome, 116-140. Dirge over Rome, 141-173. The sixth race of Latin kings, 174-182. Appearance of the Phenix, 183-186. Fall of Rome, 187-210. Woes of Rhodes, Thebes, Egypt, Rome, Delos, Samos, and the Persians, 211-222. The Messianic king, 223-225. The day of evil and of doom, 226-251. The Sibyl's wish, 255-260. The end of all things, 261-283. Christian acrostic concerning the last day, 284-330. Moses a type of the Messiah, 331-337. The Messianic Saviour portrayed, 338-379. The crucifixion, 380-410. Entrance into Hades and resurrection, 411-429. Exhortation to honor the Messianic king, 430-447. Another picture of the day of doom, 448-475. Self-declaration of the Creator through the Sibyl, 476-568. The heavenly Ruler addressed, 569-607. The incarnation of the Word, 608-641. Additional Christian precepts, 642-669.

{p. 161}

BOOK VIII.

GOD'S declarations of great wrath to come
In the last age upon the faithless world
I make known, prophesying to all men
According to their cities. From the time
5 When the great tower fell and the tongues of men
Were parted into many languages
Of mortals, first was Egypt's royal power
Established, that of Persians and of Medes
And also of the Ethiopians
10 And of Assyria and Babylon,
Then the great pride of boasting Macedon,
Then, fifth, the famous lawless kingdom last
Of the Italians shall show many evils
Unto all mortals and shall spend the toils
15 Of men of every land. And it shall lead
The untamed kings of nations to the West,
Make laws for peoples and subject all things.
Late do the mills of God grind the fine flour.
Fire then shall destroy all things and give back
20 To fine dust the heads of the high-leafed hills

(1-16.)

{p. 162}

And of all flesh. First cause of ills to all
Are covetousness and a lack of sense.
For there shall be love of deceitful gold
And silver; for than these did mortals choose
15 Naught greater, neither light of sun nor heaven,
Nor sea, nor broad-backed earth whence all things grow,
Nor God who giveth all things, of all things
The Father, nor yet faith and piety
Chose they before them. Of impiety
30 A fount, and of disorder forward guide,
An instrument of wars and foe of peace
Is lack of sense, that sets at enmity
Parents and children. And along with gold
Shall marriage not be honorable at all.
35 And the land shall have its borders and each sea
Its watchers craftily distributed
To all those that have gold; for ages thus
Shall those who purpose to possess the land
That feedeth many plunder laboring men,
40 In order that, procuring larger space,
They may enslave them by a false pretense.
And if the huge earth from the starry heaven
Held not her throne far off there had not been
For men an equal light, but, bought with gold,
45 It had belonged to rich men and God must
For poor men have prepared another world.
    There shall come to thee sometime from above
A heavenly stroke deserved, O haughty Rome.
And thou shalt be the first to bend thy neck
50 And be rased to the ground, and thee shall fire
Destructive utterly consume, cast down
Upon thy pavements, and thy wealth shall perish,

(17-40.)

{p. 163}

And wolves and foxes dwell in thy foundations.
And then shalt thou be wholly desolate,
55 As if not born. Where thy Palladium then?
What god shall save thee, whether wrought of gold
Or stone or brass? Or then where thy decrees
Of senate? Where shall be the race of Rhea,
Of Cronus, or of Zeus, and of all those
60 Whom thou didst worship, demons without life,
Images of the worn-out dead, whose tombs
Crete the ill-starred shall hold a cause of pride,
And honor the unconscious dead with thrones?
    But when thou shalt have had voluptuous kings
65 Thrice five, enslaving the world from the east
Unto the west, there shall be then a lord
Gray-headed, having name of the near sea,
The world inspecting with a nimble foot,
Bringing gifts, having large amount of gold
70 And plundering hateful silver even more,
And stripping it off he shall pick it up.
And he shall have part in all mysteries
Of Magian shrines, display his child as god,
Abolish all things sacred, and disclose
75 The ancient mysteries of deceit to all.
Sad then the time when he himself, sad one,
Shall perish. And yet shall the people say:
"Thy mighty strength, O city, shall fall down,"
At once perceiving that the evil day

{p. 164}

80 Is coming on. And, thy most piteous fate
Foreseeing, fathers and young children then
Shall mourn together; they alas, alas! Shall wail
Beside the Tiber's lamentable banks.
    After him at the latest day of all
85 Shall three rule, filling out a name of God
The heavenly, of whom is the power both now
And to all ages. One of them being old
The scepter long shall wield, most piteous king,
Who in his houses shall shut up and guard
90 All the goods of the world, in order that,
When from the utmost limits of the earth
That man, the matricidal fugitive,
Shall come again, he may bestow these things
On all and furnish Asia with great wealth.
95 And then shalt thou mourn and shalt put aside
The luster of the broad-striped purple robe
Of thy commanders and wear mourning dress,
O haughty queen, off spring of Latin Rome;
The glory of that arrogance of thine
100 Shall be for thee no longer, nor shalt thou,
Ill-fated, ever be raised up again,
But shalt lie prostrate. For the glory also
Of eagle-bearing legions shall fall low.
Where then thy power? What allied land shall be
105 Subjected by thy follies lawlessly?
For then in all earth shall confusion be
Of mortals, when the Almighty shall himself

(61-82.)

{p. 165}

To the tribunal come to judge the souls
Of the living and the dead and all the world.
110 And parents shall not be to children dear
Nor children to their parents, on account
Of their impiety and their distress
Unlooked-for. Thine thenceforth shall gnashing be
And scattering and conquest, and when the fall
115 Of cities comes and yawnings of the earth.
    When a dragon charged with fire in both his eyes
And with full belly shall come on the waves
And shall afflict thy children, and there be
Famine and war of kinsmen, near at hand
120 Is the end of the world and the last day
And judgment of the immortal God for them
That are approved and chosen. And there shall
Against the Romans first of all be wrath
Implacable, and there, come a time
125 Of drinking blood and wretched course of life.
Alas, alas for thee, thou reckless land,
Great barbarous nation; thou didst not perceive
Whence naked and unworthy thou didst come
To the sun's light, that to that place again
130 Naked thou mightest withdraw and afterwards
Come unto judgment, as unjustly judging. . . .
With hands gigantic coming from on high
Alone through all the world thou, shalt abide
Under the earth. By naphtha and asphalt
135 And brimstone and much fire thou utterly
Shalt disappear and shalt be burning dust
For ages; and each one who sees shall hear
From Hades a great mournful bellowing

[116. Perhaps an allusion to the imagery of Rev. xii, 17; xiii, 1, as associated in the thought of the writer with the end of the world.]

(82-105.)

{p. 166}

And gnashing of teeth, and thee noisily
140 Beating with thine own hands thy godless breast.
For all together there is equal night;
For rich and poor; and naked from the earth
Naked again to earth they haste away
And cease from life when they complete their time.
145 No slave is there, nor any lord, nor tyrant,
Nor king, nor leader having much conceit,
Nor speaker learned in law, nor magistrate
Judging for money; nor do they pour out
The blood of sacrifices in libations
150 Upon the altars; there sounds not a drum
Nor cymbal. . . .
Nor perforated flute that has a power
To madden mind itself, nor sound of pipe
That bean the likeness of a crooked snake,
155 Nor trumpet, harsh-toned messenger of wars;
Nor those made drunken in the lawless feasts
Of revelry, nor in the choral dance;
Nor sound of harp, nor harmful instrument;
Nor strife, nor anger manifold, nor sword
160 Is with the dead; but an eternity
Common to all is keeper of the key
Of the great prison before God's judgment-seat
With images of gold and silver and stone
Ye are ready, that unto the bitter day
165 Ye may come to see your first punishment,
O Rome, and gnashing of teeth. And no more
Shall Syrian or Greek lay down his neck
Beneath thy servile yoke, nor foreigner,

(105-127.)

{p. 167}

Nor other nation. Plundered thou shalt be
170 And made to suffer what thou didst exact,
And in fear wailing thou shalt give, until
Thou pay back all things; and thou for the world
Shalt be a triumph and reproach of all.
    Then shall the sixth race of the Latin kings
175 End life at last and scepters leave behind
From the same race another king shall reign,
Who shall rule every land and scepters wield;
And having full power, and by the decrees
Of God most mighty, shall his children rule,
180 And of unshaken children is his race;
For thus it is decreed while time moves round,
When there shall be of Egypt thrice five kings.
    Thereafter when the limit of the time
Of the Phenix shall come round, there shall a race
185 Of peoples come to plunder, tribes confused,
Enemy of the Hebrews. Then shall Ares
Go plundering Ares; and he shall himself
Destroy the haughty threatening of the Romans.
For Rome's power perished then while in its bloom;
190 An ancient queen with cities dwelling round,
No longer shall the land of fertile Rome
Prevail, when out of Asia one shall come

(127-146.)

{p. 168}

To rule with Ares. And when he has wrought
All these things, to the city afterwards
195 Shall he come. And three times three hundred
And eight and forty shalt thou make complete,
When, taking thee by force, an ill-starred fate
Shall come upon thee and complete thy name.
    Ah me, I the thrice wretched, shall I see
200 Sometime that day to thee destructive, Rome,
But to all Latins most? It honors him
With counsels who goes, up on Trojan car
With hidden children from the Asian land,
Having a fiery soul. But when he shall
205 Cut through the isthmus looking wistfully,
Moving against all, passing o'er the sea,
Then shall dark blood pursue the mighty beast.
And a dog chased the lion which destroys
The shepherds. And then shall they take away
210 His scepter and to Hades he shall pass.
    And unto Rhodes shall come an evil last,
But greatest, There shall also be for Thebes
An evil conquest afterwards, And Egypt

(146-161.)

{p. 169}

Shall perish by the wickedness of rulers,
215 And he who, being mortal, even so
Escaped headlong destruction afterwards,
Thrice blessed was, even four times happy man.
And Rome shall be a room, and Delos dull,
And Samos sand. . . .
220 Later again thereafter there shall come
An evil to the Persians for their pride,
And all their insolence shall come to naught.
    And then a holy Lord of all the earth
Having raised up the dead shall wield the scepter
225 Unto all ages. Thrice then unto Rome
Will the Most High bring pitiable fate
And unto all men, and by their own works
They'll perish; but they would not be persuaded,
Which would have been much more, to be desired.
230 But when forthwith there shall increase for ill
An evil day of famine and of plague
And of intolerable battle-din,
Even then again the former daring lord
Shall, having called the senate, counsel take
235 How he shall utterly destroy. . . .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
Dry land shall bloom together with the leaves
Appearing; and the, heavenly firmament
Shall bring to light upon the solid rock
Rainstorm and flame, and much wind on the land,
240 And over all the earth a multitude
Of poisonous sowings. But with shameless soul
Shall they again act, fearing not the wrath
Of God or men, forsaking modesty,

[223. A holy Lord.--The Messiah. Comp. book iii, 58.

243-247. Comp. book i, 217-221.]

(162-184.)

{p. 170}

Longing for and greedy tyrants
245 And violent sinners, false, insatiate,
Workers of evil and in nothing true,
Destroyers of faith, on foul speech
In false words; they shall have no fill of wealth;
But shamelessly will they strip off still more;
250 Under the rule of tyrants they shall perish.
    The stars shall all fall forwards in the sea,
All one by one, yet shall men see in heaven
A brilliant cornet, sign of much distress
About to come, of war and battle-strife.
255    Let me not live when the gay woman reigns,
But then when heavenly grace shall reign within,
And when the holy child shall crush with bonds
The mischievous destroyer of all men,
Opening the depth to view, and suddenly
260 The wooden house shall cover mortals round.
    But when the generation tenth shall be
Within the house of Hades, afterwards
The mighty sway of one of female sex;
And God himself shall increase many evils
265 When she with royal honor has been crowned;
And altogether then an impious age.
The sun obscurely looking shines by night;
The stars shall leave the sky; and with much storm
A hurricane shall desolate the earth;

(184-205.)

{p. 171}

240 And there shall be a rising of the dead;
The running of the lame shall be most swift,
The deaf shall bear, the blind shall see, and those
That talk not shall talk, and to all
Shall life and wealth be common. And the land
275 Alike for all, divided not by walls
Or fences, shall bear more abundant fruits.
And fountains of sweet wine and of white milk
And honey it shall give. . . .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
And judgment of the immortal God (great king).
280 But when God shall change times . . .
Winter producing summer, then shall be
Oracles (all fulfilled) . . .
But when the world has perished . . .

JESUS CHRISTI SON OF GOD, SAVIOUR, CROSS.

And the earth shall perspire, when there shall be
285 The sign of judgment. And from heaven shall come
The King who for the ages is to be,
Present to judge all flesh and the whole world.

(205-219.)

{p. 172}

Faithful and faithless mortals shall see God
The Most High with the saints at the end of time.
290 And of men bearing flesh he judges souls
Upon his throne, when sometime the whole world
Shall be a desert and a place of thorns.
And mortals shall their idols cast away
And all wealth. And the searching fire shall burn
1295 Earth, heaven, and sea; and it shall burn the gates,
Of Hades' prison. Then shall come all flesh
Of the dead to the free light of the saints;
But the lawless shall that fire whirl round and round.
For ages. Howsoever much one did
300 In secret, then shall he all things declare;
For God shall open dark breasts to the light.
And lamentation shall there be from all
And gnashing of teeth. Brightness of the, sun
Shall be eclipsed and dances of the stars.
305 He shall roll up the heaven; and of the moon
The light shall perish. And he shall exalt
The valleys and destroy the heights of hills,
And height no longer shall appear remaining
Among men. And the hills shall with the plains
310 Be level and no more on any sea
Shall there be sailing. For the earth shall then
With heat be shriveled and the dashing streams

(220-238.)

{p. 173}

Shall with the fountains fall. The trump shall send
From heaven a very lamentable sound,
315 Howling the loathsomeness of wretched men
And the world's woes. And then the yawning earth
Shall show Tartarean chaos. And all kings
Shall come unto the judgement seat of God.
And there shall out of heaven a stream of fire
320 And brimstone flow. But for all mortals then
Shall there a sign be, a distinguished seal,
The Wood among believers, and the horn
Fondly desired, the life of pious men,
But it shall be stumbling block of the world,
325 Giving illumination to the elect
By water in twelve springs; and there shall rule
A shepherding iron rod. This one who now
Is in acrostics which give signs of God
Thus written openly, the Saviour is,
330 Immortal King, who suffered for our sake;
    Him Moses typified when he stretched out
Holy arms, conquering Amalek by faith,
That the people might know him to be elect
And honorable before his Father God,
335 The rod of David and the very stone
Which he indeed aid promise, and in which
He that believes shall have eternal life.
    For not in glory, but as mortal man
Shall he come to creation, pitiable,

(239-266.)

{p. 174}

340 Unhonored, without seemly form, to give
Hope to the pitiable; and he will give
Fair form to mortal flesh, and heavenly faith
To those without faith, and he'll give fair form
To the man who was fashioned from the first
345 By the holy hands of God, and whom by guile
The serpent led astray unto the fate
Of death to go and knowledge to receive
Of good and evil, so that leaving God
He serves the ways of mortals. For at first
350 Receiving him as fellow-counsellor
From the beginning the Almighty said:
"Let both of us, O Son, make mortal tribes--
Stamping them with the impress of our image;
I now by my hands, and thou by the Word
355 In after time shalt for our form provide
That we may jointly cause it to arise."
Keeping in mind this purpose he shall come
To the creation, to a holy virgin
Bringing the likeness antitypical,
360 Baptizing with water by the elders' hands,
And by the Word accomplishing all things,
And healing every sickness. By his word
He winds shall he make cease, and with his foot
Shall calm the raging sea, walking thereon
365 In peaceful faith. And from five loaves of bread
And a fish of the sea live thousand men
Shall he fill in the desert, and then taking
All the remaining fragments for the hope
Of peoples shall he fill twelve baskets full.
370 And the souls of the blessed he shall call,

(257-279.)

{p. 175}

And love the pitiable, who, being mocked,
Beaten, and whipped, shall evil do for good
Desiring poverty. He who perceives
All things and sees all things and hears all things
375 Shall search the heart and bare it to conviction;
For of all things is he himself the ear
And mind and sight, and Word that maketh forms
To whom all things submit, and he preserves
Them that are dead and every sickness heals.
380 Into the hands of lawless men, at last,
And faithless he shall come, and they will give
To God rude buffetings with impure hands
And poisonous spittle with polluted mouths.
And he to whips will openly give then
385 His holy back; [for he unto the world
A holy virgin shall himself commit.]
And silent he will be when buffeted
Lest anyone should know whose son he is
Or whence he came, that he may talk to the dead.
390 And he shall also wear a crown of thorns;
For of thorns is the crown an ornament
Elect, eternal. They shall pierce his side
With a reed that they may fulfill their law;
For of reeds shaken by another spirit
395 Were nourished inclinations of the soul,
Of anger and revenge. But when these things
Shall be accomplished, of the which I spoke,
Then unto him shall every law be loosed
Which from the first by the decrees of men

{p. 176}

400 Was given because of disobedient people.
He'll spread his hands and measure all the world.
But gall for food and vinegar to drink
They gave him; this inhospitable board
They'll show him. But the curtain of the temple
405 Shall be asunder rent and in midday
There shall be for three hours dark, monstrous night.
For it was no more pointed out again
How to serve secret temple and the law,
Which had been covered with the world's displays,
410 When the Eternal came himself on earth.
And into Hades shall he come announcing
Hope unto all the saints, the end of ages
And the last day, and having fallen asleep
The third day he shall end the lot of death;
415 Then from the dead departing he shall come
To light, the first to show forth to the elect
Beginning of resurrection, and wash off
By means of waters of immortal spring

(301-315.)

{p. 177}

Their former wickedness, that, being born
420 From above, they might be no more enslaved
To the unlawful customs of the world.
And first then openly unto his own
Shall he as Lord in flesh be visible,
As he before was, and in hands and feet
425 Exhibit four marks fixed in his own limbs,
Denoting east and west and south and north;
For of the world so many royal powers
Shall against our Exemplar consummate
The deed so lawless and condemnable.
430    Daughter of Zion, holy one, rejoice,
Who hast suffered many things; thy king himself
Mounted upon a foal is hastening on;
Behold, meek he shall come, that he may lift
Our slavish yoke, so grievous to be borne
435 Lying upon our neck, and may annul
Our godless laws and bonds compulsory.
Know thou thy God himself, who is God's Son;
Him glorify and hold within thy heart,
From thy soul love him and extol his name.
440 Put off thy former friends and wash thyself
From their blood; for he is not by thy songs
Nor by thy prayers appeased, nor does he give
To perishable sacrifices heed,
Being imperishable; but present
445 The holy hymn of understanding mouths
And know who this one is, and thou shalt then
Behold the Father. . . .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .

(316-386.)

{p. 178}

And then shall all the elements of the world
Abide in solitude, air, earth, sea, light
450 Of gleaming fire, and heavenly sky and night
And all days into one shall run together
And into outward form all-desolate.
For from heaven shall the stars of light all fall.
And there shall fly no longer in the air
455 The well-winged birds, nor stepping be on earth;
For wild beasts shall all perish. Nor shall be
Voices of men, nor of beasts, nor of birds.
The world shall hear no serviceable sound,
Being disordered; but a mighty sound
460 Of threatening shall the deep sea sound aloud,
And swimming trembling creatures of the sea
Shall all die; and no longer on the waves
Shall sail the freighted ship. And earth shall groan
Blood-stained by wars; and all the souls of men
465 Shall gnash with their teeth, [of the lawless souls
Both by loud crying and by fear,] dissolved
By thirst, by famine, and by plague and murders,
And they shall call death beautiful and death
Shall flee away from them; for death no more
470 Nor night shall give them rest. And many things
Will they in vain ask God who rules on high,
And then will he his face turn openly
Away from them. For he to erring men
Gave in seven ages for repentance signs
475 By the hands of a virgin undefiled.
    All these things in my mind God himself showed
And all that have been spoken by my mouth

(337-360.)

{p. 179}

Will he accomplish; and I know the number
Of the sands and the measures of the sea,
480 I know the inmost places of the earth
And gloomy Tartarus, I know the numbers
Of the stars, and the trees, and all the tribes
Of quadrupeds, and of the swimming things
And flying birds, and of men who are now
485 And of those yet to be, and of the dead;
For I myself the forms and mind of men
Did fashion, and right reason did I give
And knowledge taught; I who formed eyes and ears,
Who see and hear and every thought discern,
490 And who within am conscious of all things,
I am still; and hereafter will convict
[And punishing what any mortal did
In secret, and upon God's judgment seat
Coming and speaking unto mortal men].
495 I understand the dumb man and I hear
Him that speaks not, and how great the whole height
From earth to heaven is, and the beginning
And end I know, who made the heaven and earth.
[For all things have proceeded from him, things
500 From the beginning to the end he knows.]
For I alone am God and other God
There is not. They my image formed of wood
Treat as divine, and shaping it by hand
They sing their praises over idols dumb

(361-379.)

{p. 180}

505 With supplications and unholy rites.
Forsaking the Creator they were slaves
To lewdness. Men possessing everything
Bestow their gifts on things which cannot aid,
As if they for my honors deemed these things
510 All useful, with the smell of sacrifice
Filling the feast, as if for their own dead.
For they flesh and bones full of marrow burn
Offering on altars, and they pour out blood
To demons, and they kindle lights to me
515 The giver of light, and as to a god
That thirsts do mortals drunken pour out wine
For nought to idols that can give no aid.
I have no need of your burnt offerings,
Nor your libations, nor polluted smoke,
520 Nor blood most hateful. For in memory
Of kings and tyrants they will do these things
Unto dead demons, as to heavenly beings,
Performing service godless and destructive.
And godless they their images call gods,
525 Forsaking the Creator, having faith
That from them they derive all hope and life,
Deaf and dumb, in the evil putting trust,
But they are wholly ignorant of good.
Two ways did I myself before them set,
530 Of life and of death, and before them set
Judgment to choose good life; but they themselves
Hastened to death and to eternal fire.
Man is my image, having upright reason.
For him a table pure and without blood
535 Make ready and with good things fill it up,

(380-404.)

{p. 181}

And give the hungry bread, the thirsty drink,
And to the body that is naked clothes
From thine own labors with unsullied hands
Providing. Recreate the afflicted man,
540 And help the weary, and provide for me
The living One a living sacrifice
Sowing piety, that also I to thee
Sometime may give immortal fruits, and light
Eternal thou shalt have and fadeless life
545 When I shall prove all by fire. For all things
I shall fuse and shall pick out what is pure,
Heaven will I roll up and the depths of earth
Lay open, and then will I raise the dead
Making an end of fate and sting of death,
550 And afterward for judgment will I come
Judging the manner both of pious men
And impious; I will set ram close to ram,
Shepherd to shepherd, calf to calf, for test,
Close to each other; whosoever were
555 Exalted, proven by trial, and who stopped
The mouth of every one, that they themselves
Vieing with them that lead a holy life
May likewise bring them into slavery,
Enjoining silence, urged by love of gain,
560 Not proved before me, then shall all withdraw.
No longer henceforth shalt thou grieving say
"Morrow shall be," nor "yesterday has been;"
Not many days of care, nor spring, nor winter,
Nor summer then, nor autumn, nor sunset

(404-427.)

{p. 182}

565 Nor sunrise; for a long day I will make.
And unto ages there shall be the light
Longed for of the great . . .
(Christ Jesus, of ages) . . . .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
    Thou who art self-begotten, undefiled,
570 True and eternal, measuring by thy power
From heaven the fiery blast, and with rough torch
From clashing doth the scepter keep, and calm
The crashings of the heavy-sounding thunders,
And driving earth into confusion dost
575 Hold back the rushing noises. . . .
And the fire-blazing scourges thou dost blunt
Of lightnings, and the vast outpour of storms
And of autumnal hail, and chilling stroke
Of clouds and shock of winter. For of these
580 Each one indeed is marked out in thy mind,
Whatever seems good to thyself to do
Thy Son nods his assent to, having been
Begotten in thy bosom before all
Creation, fellow-counselor with thee,
585 Former of mortals and creator of life.
Him with the first sweet utterance of mouth
Thou didst address: "Behold, let us make man
In a form altogether like our own,
And let us give him life-sustaining breath;
590 Him being yet mortal all things of the world
Shall serve, and unto him formed out of clay
We will subject all things." And thou didst speak
These things by word, and all things came to pass
According to thy heart; and thy command
595 Together all the elements obeyed,

(421-448.)

{p. 183}

And an eternal creature was arranged
In mortal figure, also heaven, air, fire,
And earth and water of the sea, sun, moon,
Chorus of stars, hills . . .
600 Both night and day, sleeping and waking up,
Spirit and passion, soul and understanding,
Art, might and strength, and the wild tribes
Of living things both swimming things and fowls,
And of those walking, and amphibia,
605 And those that creep and those of double nature;
For acting in accord with his own will
Under thy leading he arranged all things.
But in the latest times the earth he passed,
And coming late from the virgin Mary's womb
610 A new light rose, and going forth from heaven
Put on a mortal form. First then did Gabriel show
His strong pure form; and bearing his own news
He next addressed the maiden with his voice:
"O virgin, in thy bosom undefiled
615 Receive thou God." Thus speaking he inbreathed
God's grace on the sweet maiden; and straightway
Alarm and wonder seized her as she heard,
And she stood trembling; and her mind was wild
With flutter of excitement while at heart
620 She quivered at the unlooked-for things she heard.
But she again was gladdened and her heart
Was cheered by the voice, and the maiden laughed
And her cheek reddened with a sense of joy,
And spell-bound was her heart with sense of shame.
625 And confidence came to her. And the Word
Flew into the womb, and in course of time
Having become flesh and endued with life
Was made a human form and came to be

(449-472.)

{p. 184}

A boy distinguished by his virgin birth;
630 For this was a great wonder to mankind,
But it was no great wonder unto God
The Father, nor was it to God the Son.
And the glad earth received the new born babe,
The heavenly throne laughed and the world rejoiced.
635 And the prophetic new-appearing star
'Was honored by the wise men, and the babe
Born was shown in a manger unto them
That obeyed God, and keepers of the herds,
And goatherds and to shepherds of the lambs;
640 And Bethlehem called by God the fatherland
Of the Word was chosen. . . .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
And in heart practice lowliness of mind
And cruel deeds hate, and thy neighbor love
Wholly, even as thyself; and from thy soul
645 Love God and do him service. Therefore we
Sprung from the holy race of the heavenly Christ
Are called of common blood, and we restrain
In worship recollection of good cheer,
And walk the paths of piety and truth.
650 Not ever are we suffered to approach
The inmost sanctuary of the temples,
Nor pour libations to carved images,
Nor honor them with prayers, nor with the smells
Much-pleasing of flowers, nor with light of lamps,

{p. 185}

655 Nor yet with shining votive offerings
Adorn them, nor with smoke of frankincense
That sends forth flame of altars; nor do thou,
Adding unto the sacrifice of bulls
And taking pleasure in defilement send
660 Blood of sheep-slaughtering outrage, thus to give
Ransom for penalty beneath the earth;
Nor by the smoke of flesh-consuming pyre
And odors foul pollute the light of heaven;
But joyful with pure minds and cheerful soul,
665 With love abounding and with generous hands,
With soothing psalms and songs that honor God,
We are commanded to sing praise to thee,
The imperishable and without deceit,
All-father God, of understanding mind,
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .

(491-501.)

{p. 186}

{p. 187}

BOOK XI.

{p. 188}

CONTENTS OF BOOK XI.

Introduction, 1-6. From the flood to the tower of Babel, 7-22. Egyptian kings and judges, 23-40. The exodus and giving of the law, 41-47. A notable Egyptian king, 48-53. The Persian domination, 54-68. Woes of many nations, 69-89. Rule of the Indian prince, 90-105. The great Assyrian king Solomon, 106-123. Many and mighty kings, 124-136. Alexander's fierce wars, 137-143. Origin of Rome, 144-160. The fall of Ilium, 161-189. Escape of Æneas and founding of the Latin race, 190-216. The wise old minstrel, 217-227. Wars of the nations, 228-236. The terrible invader of Greece, 237-248. Philip of Macedon, 249-259. Alexander the Conqueror, 260-298. The kings of Egypt, 299-315. Egypt an asylum for the Jews, 316-320. The eight kings and treacherous queen of Egypt, 321-344. Reign of the Roman Cæsars, 345-365. Fall of Cleopatra, 366-394. Subjection of Egypt, 395-416. The Sibyl's testimony of herself, 417-429.

{p. 189}

BOOK XI.

O WORLD of men wide-scattered, and long walls,
The cities huge and nations numberless,
Throughout the east and west and south and north,
Divided off by various languages
5 And kingdoms; other things, the very worst,
Against you I am now about to speak.
    For from the time when on the earlier men
The flood came and the Almighty One himself
Destroyed that race by many waters, then
10 Brought he in yet another race of men
Untiring; and they, setting themselves up
Against heaven, built to height unspeakable
A tower; and tongues of all were loosed again;
And on them hurled came wrath of God most high,
15 By which the tower unutterably great
Fell; and against each other they stirred up
An evil strife. And then of mortal men
Was the tenth race since these things came to pass;

[1. The four following books were first published by Angelo Mai, in 1828, and in the manuscripts and in the editions of Alexandre and Rzach are numbered xi-xiv. There would seem, therefore, to have existed two other books, ix and x, which may yet come to light, as did books xi-xiv after various printed editions of the first eight books had appeared. We deem it better, therefore, to adhere to the numbering of the manuscripts and the two principal editions of the Greek text than with Friedlieb to number these later books as ix-xii. This eleventh book deals largely with matters of Egyptian history, but contains also various oracles against other nations. Its date and authorship are uncertain.

7-20. Comp. book, iii, 117-132.]

(1-15.)

{p. 190}

And the whole earth was among foreign men
20 And various languages distributed,
Whose numbers I will tell and in acrostics
Of the initial letter show the name.
    And first shall Egypt royal power receive
Preeminent and just; and then in her
25 Shall many-counseling men be governors;
Moreover then a fearful man shall rule,
Close-fighter very strong; and he shall have
This letter of the acrostic of his name:
Sword shall he stretch out against pious men.
30 And while this one is ruler there shall be
A fearful sign in the Egyptian land,
Which, gladdening very greatly, shall with corn
Souls perishing with famine then supply;
The law-giver, himself a prisoner,
35 The East and offspring of Assyrian men
Shall nourish; and his name know thou . . .
. . . of the measure of the number ten.
But when there shall come from the radiant heaven
Ten strokes of judgment upon Egypt, then
40 Will I again proclaim these things to thee.
Memphis, alas, alas for thee! alas,
Great royal one! the Erythræan sea
Shall thy much people utterly destroy.

(15-84.)

{p. 191}

Then when the people of twelve tribes shall leave
45 The fruitful land of ruin by command
Of the Immortal, the Lord God himself
Will also give a law unto mankind.
And o'er the Hebrews then a mighty king
Magnanimous shall rule, and have a name
50 Derived from sandy Egypt, Theban man
Of doubtful native land; and Memphis he,
Dread serpent, will show outward signs of love,
And he will watch o'er many things in wars.
    Now the tenth kingdom being twelve times complete
55 Seven besides and even unto the tenth hundred,
Others being altogether left behind,
Then shall arise the Persian sovereignty.
And then an evil shall befall the Jews,
Famine and pestilence intolerable
60 They do not make escape from in that day.
    But when a Persian shall rule, and a son
Of his son's son shall lay the scepter down,
While years roll round to five fours, and to these
A hundred more, and thou a hundred nines
65 Shalt finish and all things shalt thou repay;
And then unto the Persians and the Medes
Shalt thou be given over as a slave,
Destroyed with blows by reason of hard fights.
    Straightway to Persians and Assyrians
70 And to all Egypt shall an evil come,
And to Libya and the Ethiopians,
And to the Carians and Pamphylians
And to all other mortals. And he then

(35-56.)

{p. 192}

Shall to the grandsons give the royal power,
75 Who again snatching the whole earth away
Shall plunder races for their many spoils,
Not having fellow-feeling. Mournful dirges
Shall the sad Persians by the Tigris wail,
And Egypt water many a land with tears.
80    And then to thee, O Median land, a man
Of wealth abundant and of Indian birth
Shall many evils do, till thou repay
All things which thou, possessed of shameless soul,
Hast done before. Alas, alas for thee,
85 Thou Median nation; thou shalt afterwards
Be servant unto Ethiopian men
Beyond the land of Meroe; wretched thou
Shalt from the first seven and a hundred years
Complete, and put thy neck beneath the yoke.
90    And then an Indian of dark countenance
And gray hair and great soul shall afterwards
Become lord, who shall many evils bring
Upon the East by reason of hard fights;
And he shall treat thee more despitefully
95 And shall destroy all thy men. But when he
The twentieth and the tenth year shall be king,
Among them, also seven and the tenth,
Then every nation of a royal power
Shall be mad and declare their liberty,
100 And during three years leave their servile blood.
But he shall come again and every nation
Of valiant men shall put their neck again
Under the yoke, serve the king as before,
And of its own free will again obey.
105 There shall be great peace throughout all the world.

(57-80.)

{p. 193}

    And then o'er the Assyrians there shall rule
A mighty king, a man preeminent,
And shall persuade all to speak pleasing things,
Which God ordained according to the law;
110 Then all kings arrogant with pointed spears
Timid and speechless shall before him quail,
And him shall very powerful rulers serve
Because of counsels of the mighty God;
For he will carry all things in detail
115 By reason, and all things will he subject,
And he the temple of the mighty God
And lovely altar will himself erect
In his might, and will hurl the idols down;
And gathering tribes together, both the race
120 Of fathers and the helpless little ones,
He shall encompass the inhabitants;
His name shall have two hundred for its number,
And of the eighteenth letter show the sign.
But when for rolling decades two and five
125 He shall rule, going forwards towards the end
Of his time, there shall be as many kings
As there are tribes of men, as there are clans,
As there are cities, and as isles and coasts,
And fields and lands that bring forth goodly fruit.
130 But one of these shall be a mighty king,
A leader among men; and many kings
Of lofty spirit shall submit to him,
And to his sons and grandsons opulent
Give portions on account of royal power.

(80-101.)

{p. 194}

135 Decades of decades, eight ones upon these
Of years shall they rule, and at last shall end.
    But when with cruel Ares there shall come
A powerful wild beast, even then for thee,
O queenly land, shall wrath spring forth again.
140    Alas, alas for thee, then Persian land;
What an outpouring of the blood of men
Shalt thou receive when that stronger-minded man
Comes to thee; then I'll shout these things again.
    But when Italian soil shall generate,
145 Great wonder unto mortals, there shall be
Moans of young children by a fountain pure,
In shady cavern off spring of wild beast
That feeds on sheep, who unto manhood grown
Shall upon seven strong hills with reckless soul
150 Hurl many headlong down, in numbers both
Having a hundred, and their names shall show
A great sign to them that are yet to be;
And they shall build upon the seven hills
Strong walls and wage around them grievous war.
155 And then again shall there be growing up
Revolt of men around thee, then great land
Of fine ears, high-souled Egypt; but again

[135. Decades of decades.--If we take this to mean twice ten decades, and add eight more, we have two hundred and eight, a near approximation of the duration of the Persian monarchy.

138. Wild beast.--Reference to Alexander the Great.

146-148. Comp. book v, 14, 15.

151. A hundred.--Represented by the Greek letter {Greek R}, initial of Romulus and Remus.

152. Great signs.--probably in the thought that the first letter of these names is also the initial of Rome, the eternal city, the symbol of power.]

(102-120.)

{p. 195}

I'll cry these things. And yet then shalt receive
A great stroke in thy houses; and again
160 Shall there be a revolt of thine own men.
Now over thee, O wretched Phrygia,
I weep in pity; for to thee from Greece,
Tamer of horses, there shall conquest come
And war and plague by reason of hard fights.
165 Ilium, I pity thee; for there shall come
From Sparta an Erinys to thy halls
Mixed with a deadly sting; and most of all
Shall she bring thee toils, troubles, groans, and wails,
When well-skilled men the battle shall begin,
170 By far the noblest heroes of the Greeks
Who are to Ares dear. And one of these
Shall be a strong brave king; of foulest deeds
He for his brother's sake will go in quest.
And they shall overthrow the famous walls
175 Of Phrygian Troy; when of the rolling years
Twice five shall be filled with the bloody deeds
Of savage war, a wooden artifice
Shall sudden cover men, and on thy knees
Thou shalt receive this, not perceiving it
180 To be an ambush pregnant with the Greeks,
O cause of grievous woe. Alas, alas,
How much in one night Hades shall receive,
And what spoils of the old man weeping much
Shall he bear off! But with those yet to come
185 Shall be undying fame. And the great king,
A hero sprung from Zeus, shall have his name
Of the first letter of the alphabet;

(121-142.)

{p. 196}

Homewards shall he in order go. And then
Shall he fall by a treacherous woman's hand.
190    And there shall rule a child sprung from the race
And the blood of Assaracus, renowned
Of heroes, both a strong and valiant man.
And he shall come out of the mighty fire
Of ravaged Troy, fleeing from fatherland
195 By reason of the fearful toil of war;
Bearing his aged father on his shoulders
And also holding his son by the hand
He shall perform a pious work of law,
Who, looking cautiously about him, cleft
200 The onset of the fire of burning Troy,
And hurrying through the multitude in dread
He shall pass over land and fearful sea.
And he shall have a trisyllabic name,
For the beginning of the alphabet
205 Points out this highest man as not unknown.
And then a city for the powerful Latins
He will raise up. And in his fifteenth year,
Destroyed by waters in the depths of sea,
Shall he lay hold on the event of death.
210 But him though dead the nations of mankind
Shall not forget; for his race over all
Shall rule hereafter even to Euphrates
And river Tigris, throughout the mid land
Of the Assyrians, where the Parthians
215 Extended. For those who are yet to come
It shall be, when all these things come to pass.

(143-163.)

{p. 197}

    And there shall be an old man, minstrel wise,
Whom all shall among mortals call most wise,
By whose good understanding the whole world
920 Shall be instructed; for his chapters he
According to their power of thoughts will write.
And wisely will he write most marvelous things,
At times appropriating words of mine
Measures and verses; for he shall the first
225 My books unfold and after these things bide them
And unto men bring them to light no more
Until the end of baneful death and life.
    But when forthwith these things have been fulfilled
Which I spoke, yet again the Greeks shall fight
230 With one another; and Assyrians,
Arabians and the quiver-bearing Medes,
And Persians and Sicilians shall rise up,
And Lydians, Thracians and Bithynians,
And they who dwell in the land of fair corn
235 Beside the streams of Nile; and among all
Will God the imperishable put at once
Confusion. But exceeding terribly
Shall an Assyrian base-born fiery man
Come suddenly, possessed of beastly soul,
240 And looking cautiously about him cut
Through every isthmus, going against all,
And sailing o'er the sea. Then, faithless Greece,
To thee shall happen very many things.
    Alas, alas for thee, O wretched Greece,
245 How many things thou art obliged to wail!

(164-184.)

{p. 198}

And during seven and eighty rolling years
Thou shalt the miserable refuse be
Of fearful battle among all the tribes.
    Then shall a Macedonian man again
250 Bring forth for Hellas woe and shall destroy
All Thrace, and toil of Ares on the isles
And coasts and the war-loving Triballi.
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
He shall among the foremost fighters be,
And he shall share that name which shows the sign
255 Of numbers ten times fifty. And short-lived
Shall he be; but behind him he shall leave
The greatest kingdom on the boundless earth.
But by base spearman he himself shall fall
While thought to live in quiet as none else.
260    And afterwards shall a great-hearted child
Of this one rule, beginning with his name
The alphabet; but his race shall pass out.
Not of Zeus, not of Amnion shall they call
This one true son, yet still a bastard son
265 Of Cronos as they all imagine him.
And cities he of many mortal men
Shall plunder; and for Europe shall shoot up
The greatest sore. And also terribly
Will he abuse the city Babylon,

[249. Macedonian.--Philip of Macedon, whose initial, Phi ({Greek F}), stands in the Greek numerals for 500.

258. Base spearman.--Pausanias, one of the royal guards, who assassinated Philip on his way to the theater.

259. To live in quiet.--Conjectural reading.

263. Comp. book v, 8, 9. This entire picture of Alexander (lines 260-298) is peculiar to the writer of this book.]

(185-201.)

{p. 199}

270 And every land the sun looks down upon,
And he alone shall sail both east and west.
    Alas, alas for thee, O Babylon,
Thou shalt serve triumphs, who wast called a queen;
Down upon Asia Ares comes, he comes
275 Surely and shall thy many children slay.
And then shalt thou send forth thy royal man
Named by the number four, expert with spear
Among the mighty warriors, terrible,
Shooting with bow and arrow. And then famine
280 And war shall hold possession of the midst
Of the Cilicians and Assyrians;
But kings of lofty spirit shall embrace
The dreadful state of heart-consuming strife.
But do thou, fleeing, leave the former king,
285 Be neither willing to remain nor fear
To be unhappy; for on thee shall come
A dreadful lion, a flesh-eating beast,
Wild, strange to justice, wearing on his shoulders
A mantle. Flee the thunder-smiting man.
290 And Asia all shall bear an evil yoke,
And many a murder shall the wet earth drink.
    But when a mighty city prosperous
Ares of Pella shall in Egypt found,
And it shall be named from him, fate and death,
295 By his companions treacherously betrayed
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
    .    .    .    .    .    .    .
For barbarous murder shall destroy this man
Around the tables when he shall have left
The Indians and shall come to Babylon.

(202-223.)

{p. 200}

Thereafter other kings, in a few years,
300 Devourers of the people, arrogant
And faithless, shall rule each by his own tribe;
But a great-hearted hero, who shall glean
All fenced Europe, from the time each land
Shall drink the blood of all tribes, shall forthwith
305 Abandon life, unloosing his own fate.
And other kings there shall be, twice four men
Of his race, and the same name to them all.
    And there shall be a bride of Egypt then
Commanding and a noble city great
310 Of Macedonian lord, queen Alexandria,
Famed nourisher of cities, shining fair
She alone shall be the metropolis.
Let Memphis then upbraid them that command.
And peace shall be deep throughout all the world;
315 Then shall the land of black soil have more fruits.
    And then there shall come evil to the Jews,
Nor shall they in that day make their escape
From famine and intolerable plague;
But the new world of black soil and fair corn,
320 Divine land, shall receive much-wandering men.

(224-242.)

{p. 201}

    But marshy Egypt's eight kings shall fill up
The numbers of two hundred years and three
And thirty. Yet shall offspring perish not
Of all of them, but there shall issue forth
325 A female root, a bane of mortal men,
Betrayer of her kingdom. But they shall
According to their evil deeds perform
Their wickedness thereafter, and one here
Another there shall perish; son that wears
330 The purple shall cut off his warlike sire,
And he himself in turn by his own son,
And ere he shall put forth another shoot
He shall cease; but a root shall sprout again
Thereafter of itself; and there shall be
335 A race beside him growing. For a queen
There shall be of the land by Nilus' streams
Which comes down through seven mouths into the sea,
And her name very lovely shall be that
Of the number twenty; and she will demand
340 Numberless things and gather up all goods
Of gold and silver; but from her own men

[322. The period of the eight Ptolemies is commonly reckoned from Ptolemy I (Soter), B. C. 323, to Ptolemy VIII (Soter II), B. C. 81, or about 242 years.

325. Female root.--The famous Cleopatra would seem most obviously intended, but the associated events (lines 346-354) appear to be those of the disorders and crimes of the times following the reign of the eighth Ptolemy. Hence, perhaps, this "betrayer of her kingdom" may best refer to the mother of the eighth Ptolemy (Soter II), who expelled him from Egypt and placed the crown on the head of her favorite son, Alexander.

339. Twenty.--The letter K, initial of the Greek form of the name Cleopatra. Here, without doubt, the last queen of Egypt, the famous daughter of Ptolemy Auletes, is intended.]

(243-258.)

{p. 202}

Shall treachery befall her. Then again
For thee, O dusky land, shall there be wars
And battles and great slaughter of mankind.
345    When many over fertile Rome shall rule,
Examples not at all of happy men,
But tyrants, and there be of thousands chiefs
And of ten thousands, and the overseers
Of popular assemblies under law,
350 Then shall the mightiest Cæsars bear the rule
Ill-fated all their days; and of these last
Shall for initial have the number ten,
Last Cæsar stretching on the earth his limbs,
Struck by dire Ares by a hostile man,
355 Whom carrying in their hands the youth of Rome
Shall. bury piously, and over him
Pour out their token for his friendship's sake
Rendering a tribute to his memory.
    But when thou shalt come to an end of time
360 And hast completed twice three hundred years
And twice ten, from the time when he shall rule
Who is thy founder, child of the wild beast,
There shall no longer a dictator be
Ruling a measured period; but a lord
365 Shall become king, man equal to the gods.
    Then, Egypt, know the king that comes to thee;
And dreadful Ares of the glittering helm
Shall surely come. For there shall be for thee,

[351. Last.--In the sense of loftiest, noblest. The Greek initial of Julius is the letter which stands for ten. Comp. book v, 16-19.

360. The date of the foundation of Rome is usually set B. C. 753. Both here and in book xii, 16, the time intervening between this and the first Cæsar is said to be 620 years.

366. Egypt and the queen, Cleopatra, are poetically addressed as one.]

(258-278)

{p. 203}

O widowed one, a capture afterwards;
370 For round the walls of thy land there shall be
Terrible raging mischief-working wars.
But having suffered misery in wars
Thou, wretched, shalt thyself flee from above
Those lately wounded; and then to the couch
375 Shalt thou come to the dreadful man himself;
The wedlock, sharing one bed, is the end.
Alas, alas for thee, ill-wedded bride,
Thy royal power unto the Roman king
Shalt thou give, and thou shalt repay all things,
380 Which thou aforetime didst with masculine hands;
Thou shalt give the whole land by way of dower
As far as Libya and the dark-skinned men
To the resistless man. And thou shalt be
No more a widow, but thou shalt cohabit
385 With a man-eating lion terrible,
A furious warrior. And then shalt thou be
Unhappy and among all men unknown;
For thou shalt leave possessed of shameless soul;
And thee, the stately, shall the encircling tomb
390 Receive . . . is gone . . . living within . . .
Adapted at the summits, beautiful,
Wrought curiously, and a great multitude
Shall mourn thee and the dreadful king shall make
A piteous lamentation over thee.
395    And then shall Egypt be the toiling slave

(279-297.)

{p. 204}

Who many years against the Indians bears
Her trophies; and she shall serve shamefully,
And with the river, the fruit-bearing Nile,
her tears, for haying gathered wealth
400 And store of all good things, a nourisher
Of cities, she shall feed sheep-eating race
Of fearful men. All, to how many beasts,
O very wealthy Egypt, thou shalt be
Booty and spoil, but giving peoples laws;
405 And formerly delighting in great kings
Thou shalt to peoples be a wretched slave
On account of that people, whom of old
Piously living thou led'st to much woe
Of toils and wailings, and didst put a plow
410 Upon their neck and irrigate the fields
With mortal tears. Therefore the Lord himself,
The imperishable God who dwells in heaven,
Shall utterly destroy and send thee on
To wailing; and thou shalt make recompense
415 For what thou didst unlawfully of old,
    And know at last that God's wrath came to thee.
But I to Python and to Panopeus
Of goodly towers shall go; and then shall all
Declare that 1 am a true prophetess
420 Oracle-singing, yet a messenger
With maddened soul. . . .
And when thou shalt come forward to the books
Thou shalt not tremble, and all things to come

(298-318.)

{p. 205}

And things that were ye shall know from our words;
425 Then none shall call the God-seized prophetess
An oracle-singer of necessity.
But now, Lord, end my very lovely strain,
Driving off frenzy and real voice inspired
And fearful madness, and give charming song.

(319-324.)

{p. 206}

{p. 207}