Prophecy and History in the Crisis of the Roman Empire : A Historical Commentary on the Thirteenth Sibylline Oracle

This oracle is of particular interest as the only first-hand narrative of the critical years of the mid-3rd century AD. A full introduction is followed by the new edition of the text since 1902 and detailed commentary.

The Sibylline Oracles (sacred prophecies) which provide narratives of Roman history are our best sources for popular understanding of contemporar y events, since they were written by those with no obvious connection with the government. The thirteenth is of particular interest because it remains the only first-hand narrative of the critical years of the mid-third century AD when the empire teetered on the brink of political collapse. This book contains a full introduction describing the political history of the third century, the other historiography of the period, and the development of the tradition of Sibylline Oracles, their authorship and readership. There follows a new edition of the text (the first since 1902) and a detailed commentary which discusses disputed points of chronology, and the impact on the authors (living in Roman Syria) of the Persian invasions, which culminated in the sack of Antioch in 252, and the capture of the emperor Valerian by the Persian King Sapor in 260.