The oracle was written at or near Heliopolis not long after 502. It certainly predates the death of Anastasius, but it also prophesies that Constantinople would undergo a massive disaster in 510, so it must date from before then—for the actual year passed by with the city untouched. By failing to mention some contemporary events on the Persian frontier, it probably dates itself even more precisely, most likely to 503-504.
The oracle claimed to be that of the sibyl of Tibur, not far from Rome. She told this tale, we are told, four generations before the birth of Christ, sitting in a temple on the Capitoline hill in Rome. The book’s afterlife was diverse: a Latin version of it was known in Lombard Italy in the eleventh century, but the Greek text was first discovered in a manuscript on Mount Athos, in the sprawling monastic community there, with copies found later in the Vatican Library and in the National Library in Athens.
Bekaa valley of Lebanon
Heliopolis is modern Baalbek, a place still marked by fear and mystery. The northern end of the Bekaa valley of Lebanon is home to a largely Shiite Muslim community, and so it was the temporary residence of a variety of foreign hostages in the 1980s during the worst times in Lebanon; more recently it has been a target of Israeli attacks. It is also the site of astonishing ruins of the ancient temple of the sun, and it has always been a magnet to pilgrims and worshippers from far and wide. Ancient travelers going from Antioch or Aleppo to Damascus or Jerusalem probably went that way, through a valley that saw many such travelers even in dry years, and doubtless paused to marvel at the then undamaged edifices. It remained frankly pagan in many ways long after other places ceased to be, always marginal yet prosperous. The temple prostitution that flourished there offended Constantine’s nascent Christian spirit, so he insisted on building a church in the courtyard of the temple of Jupiter. It hardly changed things.
In short, Heliopolis was a good place for a supposed ancient prophetess to be read and taken seriously. The pamphlet, made up to look like an ancient oracle, is the work of a traditionalist in Christian religion, for the religious phenomena of this period often surprise us with such juxtapositions of old and new. In form, it is poetic-prophetic; in substance, political-historical. Here is how it tells of the years during and after Emperor Leo I. Read it as a contemporary counterhistory of the years we have been sketching.
The birth pains
In the eighth generation there will arise an emperor named after a wild beast [Leo]. The birth pains of the world begin in his times, earthquakes, drownings of cities and countries, and there will be wars and burnings of cities. Thrace will be laid waste, and there will be no one to administer or to manage the Roman Empire. Taurocilicia will lift high her neck. There will arise Scylla, wife of the ruling wild beast customised private istanbul tour, and she will bring forth two wombs, one of which will give birth to a male child; and they will call it by the name of the father. And he too will share the throne with his father of the beastly name and they will have one and the same likeness of earthly kingship. While he is king, an Isaurian will appear, and he will be worshipped by his father. And then those men will speak blasphemous words against the nature of the Son [Christ].
And because of his saying his father will be brought down powerfully from his throne, but the power and domination of the womb will hold sway for fifty-two years. And after that an Isaurian will become king, and he will hate the inhabitants of his city and will flee to his country. And there will arise another king whose name is that of the trailing beast; the name of the beast begins with the letter beta: it is Basiliscus. And he will speak blasphemy against the highest god, and because of his blasphemy he will be treated scornfully by a woman and will perish, both he and his entire kin The Mythical east. And after that an Isaurian will return to the kingship, except that his kingship is not given to him by heaven. His name stands in Roman letters at the end of the alphabet, but is written in Greek letters beginning with the seventh letter [zeta] and his name is Greco-Latin [Zeno]. And his rule will be powerful and will be pleasing to the entire people; he will love the poor and will humble the powerful and rich.
