The Forbidden Ancient Roman Scrolls That Shaped History

The BrainFood Show

Cloud10

Education, History

4.9 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2026

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When we think of the most influential books in history, we often think of books that have a wide readership. Something that if not most literate people read, surely, many of the elite did. But it turns out, some of the most influential books in ancient history were only read by, quite literally, a handful of people. You see, Rome had a set of holy books, divinely revealed to a mysterious prophetess, that were kept under lock and key by a college of Roman priests never numbering more than 15 at a time. These books were only read by this select few, and were used by the Roman Senate to help decide all manner of things important to the management of Rome. This is the story of the mysterious Sibylline Books, the books not even the Roman senate were allowed to read. The Sibylline Books were three volumes of Greek hexameter poems, the same meter used in the Greek epics of Homer. We don’t actually know where the Sibylline Books came from other than the Romans' own mythology about them. The story goes that the last of Rome’s seven kings, Tarquinius Superbus who died in 495 BCE, was approached by an old woman with nine books written in Greek that told Rome’s future. She offered these books at an exorbitant price, so Tarquinius refused. The old woman then burned three of the books and offered the remaining books at the same price. Tarquinius, who is portrayed as arrogant in Roman literature, refused her a second time. The old woman burned three more books and offered the remaining three at again the same price. It was at this point that Tarquinius approached his priests to figure out if any of this was a sign from the gods. The priests advised him to buy the remaining books at whatever price the old woman named. Upon purchasing the books from the woman, she disappeared, never to be seen again. The name Sibylline refers to the woman in question, as she is thought of as a Sibyl, or a prophetess in the Greek tradition. Author: Yehia Amen Editor: Daven Hiskey Host: Simon Whistler Producer: Samuel Avila Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Today's sponsor is True Diagnostic, a leading health company specializing in epigenetic testing via DNA methylation
0:05.8	using a home-based fingerprint test, which analyzes over 1 million biomarkers to provide a simple, actionable 90-day plan for your body based on your specific biomarkers.
0:16.4	Whether you want to slow aging with true age or optimize current health with true health. Your body is unique,
0:21.1	and what work for someone else might not work for you. Getting good data to sort through all that
0:25.7	will help you optimize your health. For example, most of us guess when it comes to what supplements
0:29.8	we need, but with true health, you see what nutrients your body actually needs, as well as real
0:35.2	insights on it all. No guesswork, no generic advice, no more
0:38.7	wasting money on supplements you may not need. Follow the recommendations and then retest after
0:43.0	90 days to see your progress. And the process of it all is very simple. Order the kit,
0:47.6	collect your sample at home via a quick finger prick, just wash your hands, prep your finger
0:51.3	using the provided alcohol wipe, then use the provided lancet and capillary dropper to easily collect a small amount of blood. Next, send the sample back
0:59.0	using the prepaid shipping label and your results and your specific 90-day actionable plan
1:03.4	will be ready within only a few weeks, all without needing to go to the doctors. It's simple,
1:08.1	it's convenient, and right now our listeners can get 20% off at true diagnostic.com using brain food at checkout. It's simple, it's convenient, and right now, our listeners can get 20%
1:10.9	off at TrueDiagnostic.com using Brain Food at checkout. That's TRU Diagnostic.com
1:16.4	and the code Brain Food for 20% off today. Choose True Age, True Health, or the combo kit as a
1:21.5	one-time purchase or subscription. Attention all passengers.
1:33.5	The Uber ride for Mark and Jamal's romantic weekend will depart in four minutes from Platform 6.
1:40.1	Your ride comes with a rolling countryside sunset view and a table seat ideal for playing footsie beneath.
1:43.5	Thank you for booking your tickets on Uber.
1:46.4	Trains on Uber.
1:50.8	Changes in sexual performance are more common than most people realise, and support doesn't need to feel awkward.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 25 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Cloud10, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Cloud10 and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.