Collections of supposed prophecies of seeresses. Originally the Sibyls were pagan prophetesses, whose utterances written in hexameter verse were preserved in Rome and other places. In the 2century BC the Hellenistic Jews, for propaganda purposes, issued verses similar in form to the Sibylline prophecies; and later, certain Christians in the early centuries did the same, for the like purpose of disseminating the doctrines of their religion.