The Sibyl · a new plain-English translation from the original language
The Sibyl's Fourteenth Oracle
Mortals, why in vain, as though you were immortal,
and ruling briefly, do you think such lofty thoughts,
all wishing to reign above your fellow mortals,
not understanding that God himself
hates the love of power, and most of all insatiable kings,
terrible and impious ones, and rouses darkness against them?
Because instead of good deeds and just reasoning
all of them preferred purple robes and cloaks,
longing for wars, and miseries, and murders—
immortal God, who dwells in the sky, will make them swift to die,
destroying these men, and slaying one after another elsewhere.
But when the destroyer of bulls, trusting in his strength,
long-haired and grim, shall come and destroy them all
and crush the shepherds, and there shall be no force left to them,
unless, swift of foot, hound-pups through the glens
shall come to meet him in strife, eager in pursuit—
and the dog chased the lion that was destroying the shepherds.
And then there shall be a lord of four syllables, trusting in his strength,
appearing out of one; but bronze Ares shall swiftly
destroy him, through the strife of insatiable men.
Afterward two other lordly men shall rule,
both counting forty; and under them great
peace shall come for the world and for every people,
and justice and right; but these, again, helmet-flashing men,
greedy for gold and silver, for this reason
impiously kill, seizing them in their hands.
And then again a terrible young close-fighter shall rule,
a lord of seventy in number, soul-destroying, fiery,
who shall impiously hand over the people of Rome to the army,
to be killed through wickedness, because of the wrath of kings,
casting down the whole famous city of the Latins.
And Rome shall no longer be seen, nor shall it be heard of
such as the passer-by once saw it.
For all these things shall lie in ashes, and no work
shall be spared; for he himself shall come, entire,
from heaven, and shall send storm-blasts from the sky and thunderbolts
upon mankind, immortal God; some he will destroy
with blazing bolts, and others with chilling lightning.
And then indeed they shall kill the shameless, dread lord—
the children of mighty Rome, and the Latins of Rome.
No light dust shall cover him when he is dead,
but he shall be sport for dogs and birds and wolves,
because he slew and despoiled the war-loving people in death.
Next after him another famous one, forty in number, shall rule,
Parthian-slayer, German-slayer, putting down the beasts,
terrible man-killers, who by the streams of Ocean
and of the Euphrates continually range.
And then indeed Rome shall be again as it was before.
But when the great wolf shall come upon its own ground,