Tiburtine Sibyl

The Tiburtine Sibyl was a Roman sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur (modern Tivoli).

The mythic meeting of Caesar Augustus with the Sibyl, of whom he inquired whether he should be worshiped as a god, was a favored of Christian artists. Whether the sibyl in question was the Etruscan Sibyl of Tibur or the Greek Sibyl of Cumae is not always clear. The Christian author Lactantius identified the sibyl in question as the Tiburtine sibyl. He gave a circumstantial account of the pagan sibyls that is useful mostly as a guide to their identifications, as seen by 4th century Christians: ::("Divine Institutes" I.vi)

The prophecy of the Emperor Constans

An apocalyptic pseudo-prophecy exists, attributed to the Tiburtine Sibyl, written c. 380 CE, but with revisions and interpolations added at later dates [http://www.carleton.ca/~jopp/3850/1-1.htm] . It purports to prophesy the advent of a final Emperor vanquishing the foes of Christianity:

This Emperor's is characterized by a period of great wealth, victory over the foes of Christianity, an end of paganism and the conversion of the Jews. After vanquishing Gog and Magog, the Emperor is said to

In doing so, he will give way to the Antichrist:

The prophecy relates that Antichrist would be opposed by the two witnesses from the book of Revelation, identified with Elijah and Enoch; after having killed the witnesses and started a final persecuttion the Christians,

Frescoes at the Villa d'Este

Ippolito II d'Este rebuilt the Villa d'Este at Tibur, the modern Tivoli, from 1550 onward, and commissioned elaborate fresco murals in the Villa that celebrate the Tiburtine Sibyl, as prophesying the birth of Christ to the classical world.

ee also

*Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius.

External links

* [http://www.tibursuperbum.it/eng/monumenti/templi/TempioSibilla.htm Tivoli - The Temple of the Sybil] ,
* [http://www.carleton.ca/~jopp/3850/1-1.htm The Pseudo-Tiburtine prophecy] , dated "ca" 380, with additions (e-text)