Roman Legends Brought to Life by Robert Garland;

Author:Robert Garland;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Ancient / Rome
Publisher: Casemate Publishers & Book Distributors, LLC
Published: 2022-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

The Cumaean Sibyl.

‘It’s the same price for six as it was for nine.’

Tarquin’s eyes widened in disbelief. ‘You’re bonkers! Have you eaten of the insane root? Why in gods’ names would I pay the same price for fewer?’

‘I take it that’s a no’, the Sibyl replied, shrugging. Whereupon she extracted three more rolls and tossed them equally casually onto the fire.

‘You have one last chance’, she said, fixing him with a steely stare.

Tarquin was on the point of summoning a guard to eject her when Tullia suddenly grabbed him by the arm.

‘Buy them,’ she ordered.

‘What?’

‘I said buy them.’

‘How much do you want for the remaining ones?’ Tarquin asked, his voice barely audible.

‘You know the price’, the old woman replied quietly, dangling the remaining three rolls above the flames.

Tarquin shot a glance at Tullia. She nodded.

‘OK’, he said. ‘I’ll pay you.’

‘A sensible decision’, the Sibyl observed. ‘It was your last chance to preserve the wisdom that had been handed down through the ages.’

And that is how Rome acquired the three books of Sibylline prophecy, which Tarquin placed under lock and key in the Temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest on the Capitoline Hill.

Years passed. One evening, just as he was about to retire for the night, Tarquin was horrified to see a serpent crawling out of a wooden column that supported the roof of the regia. Convinced this was a very bad omen, he decided to seek professional help. He could have enlisted the services of the Cumaean Sibyl, but the matter was of such magnitude that he decided to consult the Delphic Oracle, the foremost fountainhead of prophecy in the ancient world, sacred to Apollo of the silver bow.

Because of the sensitivity surrounding the mission, Tarquin decided to entrust it to his two sons, Arruns and Titus. (He had a third son called Sextus, who will become important later.) He also co-opted the services of a certain Lucius Junius Brutus, the son of his sister Tarquinia. Tarquin had murdered Brutus’ brother, but since the young man showed not the slightest indication that he suspected the king of being the perpetrator, he naturally assumed he was a complete idiot. Brutus actually means ‘numbskull’ and that’s what Tarquin believed him to be. Tarquin’s motive in including him on the mission to Delphi was to provide Arruns and Titus with some light relief. Delphi, I might point out, is 759 miles from Rome as the crow flies. Given the state of ships and of roads back then, virtually non-existent, the journey was going to take them six to eight weeks.

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