the mountains of
Bruttium, repeated torrents of stones frightened the Roman people. When the
books were officially consulted in regard to this prodigy they promised
that the enemy would be driven from Italy if the Great Mother of Ida could
be brought to Rome. Nobody but the Sibyls themselves had the power of
averting the evils prophesied by them. They had come to Italy from Asia
Minor, and in this critical situation their sacred poem recommended the
practice of their native religion as a remedy. In token of his {47}
friendship, King Attalus presented the ambassadors of the senate with the
black aerolite, supposed to be the abode of the goddess, that this ruler
had shortly before transferred from Pessinus to Pergamum. According to the
mandate of the oracle the stone was received at Ostia by the best citizen
of the land, an honor accorded to Scipio Nasica--and carried by the most
esteemed matrons to the Palatine, where, hailed by the cheers of the
multitude and surrounded by fumes of incense, it was solemnly installed
(Nones of April, 204). This triumphal entry was later glorified by
marvelous legends, and the poets told of edifying miracles that had
occurred during Cybele's voyage. In the same year Scipio transferred the
seat of war to Africa, and Hannibal, compelled to meet him there, was
beaten at Zama. The prediction of the Sybils had come true and Rome was rid
of the long Punic terror. The foreign goddess was honored in recognition of
the service she had rendered. A temple was erected to her on the summit of
the Palatine, and every year a celebration enhanced by scenic plays, the
_ludi Megalenses_, commemorated the date of dedication of the sanctuary and
the arrival of the goddess (April 4th-10th).

What was this Asiatic religion that had suddenly been transferred into the
heart of Rome by an extraordinary circumstance? Even then it could look
back upon a long period of development. It combined beliefs of various
origin. It contained primitive usages of the religion of Anatolia, some of
which have survived to this day in spite of Christianity and Islam. Like
the Kizil-Bash peasants of to-day, the ancient inhabitants of the peninsula
met on the summits of mountains covered with woods no ax had desecrated,
and {48} celebrated their festal days.[1] They believed that Cybele resided
on the high summits of Ida and Berecyntus, and the perennial pines, in
conjunction with the prolific and early maturing almond tree, were the