scholarly journals The Poetic Structure of Silius Italicus' Punica (Books I-V)

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 91-118
Author(s):  
Stanisław Śnieżewski
Keyword(s):  
Poetic Structure ◽  
Valerius Flaccus ◽  
Silius Italicus

The Poetic Structure of Silius Italicus' Punica (Books I-V) As concerns their poetic structure, the first five books of Silius’ Punica are very differentiated and complicated. However, all the events of the represented world concentrate around Hannibal and his improba virtus. Historical and mythological ekphrases are connected with Hannibal’s deeds. Aetiological stories seem to be invented by Silius himself. The panegyrical elements refer mainly to Domitian. Prolepses especially deserve to be noticed. Silius is influenced by learned Hellenistic poets, as well as Roman authors, mainly Ennius, Vergil, Lucan, Valerius Flaccus. In fact the author of the Punica can be described as poeta doctus.

Textual Strategies and Political Suicide in Flavian Epic

Ramus ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 21-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald T. McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Literary History ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Latin Literature ◽  
Valerius Flaccus ◽  
Silius Italicus ◽  
Textual Strategies ◽  
Rough Outline

When one tries to characterize the Flavian epics as a group, one encounters a series of chronological and historical problems not faced in many earlier eras of Latin literature. For example, though we know the rough outline of literary history from the death of Nero to the accession of Trajan, precise details regarding the lives of Valerius Flaccus, Statius, and Silius Italicus elude us — we know most about the career of Silius, thanks in large part to Pliny the Younger's letter noting his death, charting his career, and to a large degree dooming his reputation for posterity.Despite Pliny's letter, and despite several references in Martial to Silius, the exact chronology of the Punka's publication is impossible to reconstruct. Martial's poems suggest that Silius was at least reading from his work during the early 90's AD, and a publication date from the mid-90's to around 100 seems probable; that is as far as we can go. The same problems face us with the works and careers of Statius and Valerius. Regarding Statius, we know that the Thebaid was published in the early 90's AD, before Statius moved on to his Sitvae and unfinished Achilleid. For Valerius' Argonautka there is even less evidence; arguments for the date of his epic's composition span two decades, between AD 70 and 92.

Campania in the Flavian Poets’ Imagination

2018 ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Antony Augoustakis ◽  
R. Joy Littlewood
Keyword(s):  
Latin Literature ◽  
Greek Culture ◽  
Valerius Flaccus ◽  
Silius Italicus

This introductory chapter begins with an overview of the representation of Campania, a region noted for its fertility and volcanic landscape, in Latin literature before the period of the Flavian emperors, Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian. The chapter also provides an overview of the portrayal of the region by the Flavian authors examined in this volume. For these writers, in particular, who include Martial, Silius Italicus, Statius, and Valerius Flaccus, Campania becomes a locus for literary inspiration as well as geographical disaster. Whilst these poets remain mindful of the strong tradition of Greek culture in the region, they recreate an image of Campania which reflects their contemporary values and anxieties.

Silius Italicus et Valerius Flaccus

1999 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Ripoll
Keyword(s):  
Valerius Flaccus ◽  
Silius Italicus

scholarly journals Campania in the Flavian Poetic Imagination

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Imagination ◽  
Phlegraean Fields ◽  
Valerius Flaccus ◽  
Poetic Imagination ◽  
Silius Italicus ◽  
The City

The region of Campania with its fertility and volcanic landscape was greatly influential on the Roman cultural imagination. The Bay of Naples was a centre outside the city of Rome, a place of otium, leisure and quiet, repose and literary productivity. And yet this is also a place of danger: Vesuvius inspires the inhabitants with fear and awe and, in addition to the majestic presence of the mountain, the Phlegraean Fields evoke the story of the gigantomachy, whilst sulphurous lakes invite entry to the Underworld. For the Flavian writers, in particular, Campania becomes a locus for literary activity and geographical disaster. In 79 CE, the eruption of Vesuvius annihilates a great expanse of the region, burying under a mass of ash and lava the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae. In the aftermath of such tragedy the writers examined in this volume, Martial, Silius Italicus, Statius, and Valerius Flaccus, continue to live, work, and write about Campania, an alluring region of luxury and peril.

TheArgonautica of Valerius Flaccus.

1929 ◽  
Vol 23 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 129-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Syme
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Clear Indication ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
Valerius Flaccus ◽  
Silius Italicus ◽  
The One ◽  
Source Of Information

The Flavian writers of epic verse took their business seriously enough and seldom permitted themselves anything that might pass for an allusion to contemporary events: so much so that only an ingenuity that runs a risk of being perverse can wrest from them much more than what they have themselves chosen to say in their dedications or invocations. Where the man survived to complete and edit his work, such a dedication, the last thing to be written, more or less bears on its face the date of publication. The proem of the Thebaïs of Statius and the ‘Flavian Panegyric,’ which Silius Italicus inserted in the third book of his Punica thus reveal, to within a year, when the whole of the one and a portion of the other were given to the world, viz. in 91–2 and in 92–3 respectively. With an unfinished work the case is different; indeed, the very presence of that panegyric might sufficeto prove that though Silius had reached the end, in a fashion, when he finished his seventeenth book, he did not truly complete his poem or himself publish it as a whole. In order to determine at what date he got as far with his poem as he ever did, some other source of information is therefore desirable. Similarly with the Argonautica. Valerius Flaccus does not appear to have composed any more than the eight books that have come down to us, nor is he known to have published any part of them save, if at all, by recitation. It is for this reason that the proem, with its invocation of Vespasian, to all appearance as still living, has always been taken to be, not a later insertion, but an integral part of the first book, and thus a clear indication of the date at which Valerius began his task.

Ending epic: Statius, Theseus and a merciful release

1997 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanna Morton Braund
Keyword(s):  
Classical Period ◽  
Bellum Civile ◽  
Valerius Flaccus ◽  
Silius Italicus ◽  
Good And Evil ◽  
Ideological Context

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.Nietzsche,Beyond Good and EvilStatius'Thebaidis a rarity. More of the surviving Latin epics of the classical period are incomplete or unfinished than not: Lucan'sBellum civile, Valerius Flaccus'Argonautica, Statius'Achilleid, perhaps Silius Italicus'Punicaand of course Virgil'sAeneid(although his dissatisfaction may relate to polish rather than scope: we do not know). Only Ovid'sMetamorphosesand Statius'Thebaidseem complete. Yet the question of epic endings casts a fascination upon critics, especially perhaps where the ending does not exist or where there is evidence that it is not the ending planned by the author. Critics use their interpretations of the endings to inscribe meaning in the preceding text and to clinch one reading against another. The readings advanced enact different kinds of closure or refuse to see any closure at all.It seems paradoxical that one of the few epics to survive complete has not yet received a full stint of attention devoted to its ending. In this paper, my purpose is to situate the end of theThebaidin its literary and ideological context. This involves examining how the close of the poem interacts with earlier epic, particularly with theAeneid. My argument is that Statius offers a supplement to, or even a critique of, the open-endedness of theAeneidin the form of a triptych of resounding endings. I shall then suggest that there are other elements in Statius' closural strategy which are highlighted by a consideration of his Romanisation of his Greek material.

Silius Italicus as ‘Doctvs Poeta’

Ramus ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 119-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur J. Pomeroy
Keyword(s):  
Creative Writing ◽  
First Century ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Valerius Flaccus ◽  
Silius Italicus ◽  
Roman Poetry ◽  
State Of Affairs

The second half of the first century A.D. is the age of the senatorial poet at Rome. While previously Rome's poets frequently were outsiders adopted into the system (Vergil and Horace in particular come to mind in this connection), now members of the inner circles of government could actively display their literary talents and preferences. There can be little doubt that the reign of Nero is mainly responsible for this state of affairs — there is a revival of Roman poetry such as has not been seen since the age of Augustus, evidenced by the diverse works of Lucan, Persius, and even the emperor himself. Previous emperors had dabbled in poetry, but as hardly anything more than a hobby. Now the most important personages in the Roman state could openly engage in creative writing. This trend, beginning under Nero, continues in the Flavian Age, many of whose most prominent members, including the founder of the dynasty himself, originally came to the forefront under the last of the Julio-Claudians. The poetic capabilities of the emperor Domitian are praised by Quintilian (10.1.91) and by Valerius Flaccus (1.12-14); the latter seems at least to have begun his epic with its Greek mythological theme under Vespasian. An author who is often less well regarded had first come to public attention under Nero and remained prominent under the Flavians — Silius Italicus.

Valérius Flaccus poète de la nuit

Vita Latina ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 170 (0) ◽  
pp. 98-129
Author(s):  
B. BUREAU
Keyword(s):  
Valerius Flaccus
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