Albunea, the Tiburtine Sibyl

Tiburtine Sibyl

The Tiburtine Sibyl was a Roman sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur .The mythic meeting of Cæsar Augustus with the Sibyl, of whom he inquired whether he should be worshiped as a god, was a favored motif of Christian artists. Whether the sibyl in question was the Etruscan Sibyl...

, was in Roman mythology

Roman mythology

Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...

 a prophetic nymph or Sibyl, a naiad

Naiad

In Greek mythology, the Naiads or Naiades were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks....

 who lived in the sulfur

Sulfur

Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...

ic spring near Tibur (Tivoli)

Tivoli, Italy

Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...

, with a well and a temple. Near it was the oracle of Faunus

Faunus

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Faunus was the horned god of the forest, plains and fields; when he made cattle fertile he was called Inuus. He came to be equated in literature with the Greek god Pan....

 Fatidicus. Lactantius

Lactantius

Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius was an early Christian author who became an advisor to the first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine I, guiding his religious policy as it developed, and tutor to his son.-Biography:...

 states that the tenth Sibyl, called Albunea, was worshiped at Tibur, and that her image, holding a book in one hand, was found in the bed of the river Anio. Her oracles, called sortes

Sortes (ancient Rome)

Sortes were a frequent method of divination among the ancient Romans. The method involved the drawing of lots to obtain knowledge of future events: in many of the ancient Italian temples the will of the gods was consulted in this way, as at Praeneste and Caere.These sortes or lots were usually...

, belonged to the libri fatales and were at the command of the senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...

, deposited and kept in the Capitol. The small square temple of this Sibyl is still extant at Tivoli

Tivoli, Italy

Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...

.

Her name is derived from the whiteness (from albinus, "white") of the sulfurous water at her spring. She was one of the Pegaeae

Pegaeae

In Greek mythology, the Pegaeae were a type of naiad that lived in springs. They were often considered daughters of the river gods , thus establishing a mythological relationship between a river itself and its springs....

.