Apollo controlled prophecy in Roman religion through the Sibylline Books, which the Quindecimviri sacris faciundis consulted on his behalf during state crises to determine ritual prescriptions.
The Cumaean Sibyl composed the Sibylline Books and offered all nine volumes to Tarquinius Superbus, burning six when he haggled before he purchased the final three at the original price.
The Cumaean Sibyl offered Tarquinius Superbus nine books of prophecy at an exorbitant price, and when he refused she burned three, then three more, until he bought the final three at the original price — these became the Sibylline Books, Rome's sacred oracle of last resort.
The Sibylline Books prescribed the importation of Aesculapius's cult from Epidaurus to Rome during the devastating plague of 293 BCE. This consultation of the prophetic books brought the healing god to his temple on Tiber Island.
The Sibylline Books were stored in a stone vault beneath the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, guarded by a priestly college until the temple's destruction by fire in 83 BCE.
The Sibylline Books prescribed the great lectisternium of 217 BCE that first honored all twelve Dii Consentes together, establishing the canonical grouping of Roman state gods after Rome's defeat at Lake Trasimene.
The Sibylline Books directed Rome to bring Magna Mater from Pessinus to Italy during the Second Punic War, prophesying that only the Great Mother could drive Hannibal from Italian soil.
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