=Sibyls.= Plato speaks of only _one_ sibyl; Martian Capella says there
were _two_ (the _Erythraean_ or _Cumaean_ sibyl, and the _Phrygian_);
Pliny speaks of the _three_ sibyls; Jackson maintains, on the authority
of AElian, that there were _four_; Shakespeare speaks of the _nine_
sibyls of old Rome (1 _Henry VI._ act i. sc. 2); Varro says they were
_ten_ (the sibyls of Libya, Samos, Cumae (in Italy), Cumae (in Asia
Minor), Erythrae, Persia, Tiburtis, Delphi, Ancy'ra (in Phrygia), and
Marpessa), in reference to which Rabelais says, "she may be the
_eleventh_ sibyl" (_Pantagruel_, iii. 16); the mediaeval monks made the
number to be _twelve_, and gave to each a distinct prophecy respecting
Christ. But whatever the number, there was but _one_ "sibyl of old Rome"
(the Cumaean), who offered to Tarquin the nine Sibylline books.

=Sibyl's Books= (_The_). We are told that the sibyl of Cumae (in
AE[)o]lis) offered Tarquin nine volumes of predictions for a certain sum
of money, but the king, deeming the price exorbitant, refused to
purchase them; whereupon she burnt three of the volumes, and next year
offered Tarquin the remaining six at the same price. Again he refused,
and the sibyl burnt three more. The following year she again returned,
and asked the original price for the three which remained. At the advice
of the augurs the king purchased the books, and they were preserved with
great care under guardians specially appointed for the purpose.

=Sicilian Bull= (_The_), the brazen bull invented by Perillos for the
tyrant Phal[)a]ris, as an engine of torture. Perillos himself was the
first victim enclosed in the bull.

As the Sicilian bull that rightfully
His cries echoed who had shaped the mould,
Did so rebellow with the voice of him
Tormented, that the brazen monster seemed
Pierced through with pain.

Dant[^e], _Hell_, xxvii. (1300).

=Sicilian Vespers= (_The_), the massacre of the French in Sicily, which
began at Palermo, March 30, 1282, at the hour of vespers, on Easter
Monday. This wholesale slaughter was provoked by the brutal conduct of
Charles d'Anjou (the governor) and his soldiers towards the islanders.

A similar massacre of the Danes was made in England, on St. Bryce's Day
(November 13), 1002.

Another similar slaughter took place at Bruges, March 24, 1302.

[Asterism] The Bartholomew Massacre (Aug. 24, 1572) was a religious not
a political movement.

=Sicilien= (_Le_) or L'