Whenever trouble brewed in ancient Rome, messengers sped south to the Cumaean Rock, a many-chambered volcanic promontory twelve miles west of Naples. Therein, "hidden far from sight within her sanctuary dark and drear, dwelt the dread Sibyl, whom the Delian seer inspired with soul and wisdom to unfold the things to come"* Complaisant with the Romans' plea the Sibyl would shuffle inscribed leaves, deal them upon her grotto floor, to be construed there by her votaries.
Much of Rome's early history was shaped by the Sibyl's dictates, whose records eventually filled nine Sibylline Books....
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