0:03 down the centuries a few fragments of
0:05 the sacred prophecies were preserved and
0:07 i'm told you can find some of them in here
0:12 this library holds 180 000 books and
0:15 scrolls covering 2 000 years of human history
0:17 history [Music]
0:20 [Music]
0:22 all sorts of treasures are hidden in
0:30 i want to consult the words of the sybil
0:32 just as the romans did when hannibal was
0:34 at their gates [Music]
0:41 [Music]
0:43 one of the premier officials in the city
0:46 came desperate to find an answer to
0:56 the oracles were written in greek
0:58 hexameter verse so he needed two
1:01 translators to help him but eventually
1:04 he found what he was looking for
1:06 should a foreign enemy ever invade italy
1:09 he could be defeated and driven out if
1:13 kibele idayan mother of the gods was
1:15 brought to rome
1:18 so it seemed that in her hour of need
1:21 the all-protecting mother of the gods
1:29 with the god's stamp of approval rome
1:31 immediately arranged for the sacred icon
1:33 of kibbele to be sent from her home in phrygia
1:41 on april the 12th 204 bc a delegation of
1:43 the highest ranking and most virtuous
1:46 men and women in rome came to the port
1:49 of austria to greet the goddess
1:52 amidst huge jubilations her vote was
1:55 towed up this river the tiber and then
1:57 her icon was triumphantly and tenderly
1:59 carried into the city
2:08 the romans believed kibele's arrival
2:10 changed the course of the war and history
2:12 history
2:14 a grateful city embraced the potent
2:17 goddess they called the magna martare
2:19 the great mother
2:21 and each april the romans led by the
2:24 goddesses priests the galli
2:28 honoured her in a great annual festival
2:30 but in the middle of the celebrations
2:31 came an aspect of the festival that was
2:33 shocking to the romans and it's still
2:36 pretty hard for us to stomach the young
2:38 priests would whip themselves into a
2:41 frenzy and then just as the sun was
2:43 setting they would make the ultimate
2:45 sacrifice to the great mother
2:48 taking a knife or a sharp stone or a
2:50 piece of pottery shirt they would
