1. Sullivan, J.P., Poetry and Politics in the Age of Nero (Ithaca, N.Y. 1985)Google Scholar, passim.

2. For Augustus, see Suet. Aug. 85.2; possibly Tiberius is the author of the translation of the Phaenomena ascribed to Germanicus (cf. Suet. Tib. 70.2); otherwise it is likely to be the work of his nephew.

3. Plin. Ep. 7.3.1–9; for the dating, see Sherwin-White, A., The Utters of Pliny (Oxford 1966), 228Google Scholar (after A.D. 99).

4. Ep. 7.3.3: laeserat famam suam sub Nerone (credebatur sponte accusasse) (‘he had damaged his reputation under Nero — it was thought that he engaged in prosecutions on his own initiative’) — a piece of innuendo worthy of Tacitus. Pliny’s interest in martyrs under earlier emperors is well attested (cf. Ep. 8.12.4 on Titinius Capito) and one of his friends, C. Fannius, was in the process of writing three books on those executed and exiled by Nero (Ep. 5.5.3).

5. Silius had not even returned from Campania to greet the ‘new age’ of Trajan (Ep. 3.7.6).

6. Plin. Ep. 3.7.2; Mart. 8.66, 9.86; Vessey, D.W.T.C., ‘Pliny, Martial, and Silius Italicus’, Hermes 102 (1974), 104–116.Google Scholar

7. Service to Nero and Vitellius: Tac. Hist 3.65; Plin. Ep. 3.7.3, 9; support for Galba too may be adduced from Silius’ positive portrayal of his namesake in the Punica (8.468–71).

8. Governorship in Asia (77 A.D.?): Calder, W.M., ‘Silius Italicus in Asia’, CR 49 (1935), 216f.Google Scholar; relations with Domitian: McDermott, W.C., Orentzel, A.E., ‘Silius Italicus and Domitian’, AW 98 (1972), 24–34.Google Scholar

9. Martial 7.63, 8.66, 9.86, 11.48, 11.50. Cf. Sailer, R.P., ‘Martial on Patronage and Literature’, CQ 23 (1983), 246–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10. For the fame of the Thebaid, see Juvenal, Sat 7.82–87.

11. Hardie, A., Statius and the Silvae (Liverpool 1983)Google Scholar, passim.

12. Stat. Theb. 12. 429–36; Pun. 16.533–48. Venini, P., ‘Silio Italico e il mito tebano’, RIL 41 (1970), 778–783Google Scholar. There is a further connection: Statius also paid homage to Vergil at the tomb which was owned by Silius (Silv. 4.4.51–55).

13. D’Arms, J., Romans on the Bay of Naples (Cambridge, Mass. 1970)Google Scholar, esp. 123.

14. A piece of novelistic invention tends to confirm this: the Cumanum, Cicero’s villa near Naples, which Silius owned, is the imagined site for the meeting of Demetrius and Apollonius of Tyana under Domitian (Phil. Vit Apollon. 7.10).

15. But presumably not the sort of criticism the philosopher Cornutus is reported as giving to Nero — that his proposed epic would require far too many books and be of no use to anyone (Dio 52.29.2–3). Unlike Nero, Silius would not be able to punish by immediate exile, but invitations would soon dry up for an ungrateful guest.

16. Suet. Tib. 70.3, although Suetonius describes this as carried to silly and ridiculous lengths (ad ineptias ac derisum).

17. Just as Tiberius loved to quiz the grammatici on mythology, Aulus Gellius tests the scholars with whom he comes into contact (e.g. Nod Att 1.2; 4.1). For Fronto, see Champlin, E., Fronto and Antonine Rome (Cambridge, Mass. 1980), 49CrossRefGoogle Scholar, who sees in Pliny’s description of Silius a fair model for Fronto’s own lifestyle.

18. Aelian V.H 13.22; Brink, CO., ‘Ennius and the Hellenistic Worship of Homer’, AJP 93 (1972), 547–567Google Scholar; cf. Cairns, F., Tibullus: A Hellenistic Poet at Rome (Cambridge 1979), 218.Google Scholar

19. Celebration of the birthday of a deceased poet as a special holy day also occurs (in Campania) when Lucan’s widow honours his memory (Statius Silv. 2.7).

20. Quintilian 10.1.127 (cf. Gellius’ rejection of Seneca [12.2]); Leeman, A.D., Orationis Ratio (Amsterdam 1963), 287–296Google Scholar. for criticism of Cicero’s style in his own time, see Quint. 12.1.22; Leeman 145,161.

21. For the influence of Lucan’s Bellum Civile on Silius, see Häussler, R., Das historische Epos von Lucan bis Silius und seine Theorie (Heidelberg 1978), 161–167.Google Scholar

22. Charisius p. 159 s.v. civitatium (ed. Barwick, C., editio corrector [Leipzig 1964]).Google Scholar

23. This is the meaning of the book title Annaeus Cornutus ad Italicum.

24. As indicated by Martial 7.63.11: emeritos Musis et Phoebo tradidit annos (‘he has entrusted his years of retirement to Apollo and the Muses’); this epigram is the strongest evidence against Silius being the author of the Ilias Latina under Nero — the epigrammatist would surely not miss the opportunity to mention all Silius’ literary productions in his eulogy of the ex-consul. Cornutus, then,presumably dedicated his work to Silius sometime under the Flavians — although the Suda (s.v. Kornoutos) states that Cornutus was executed by Nero (anairetheis), Dio (72.29) speaks of banishment. Since the Suda (s.v. Mousonios) is clearly wrong when it states that Musonius was executed by Nero, as he had returned to Italy in time to make an inopportune attempt to intervene in the civil war of A.D. 69 (Tac. Hist 3.81.1), it is no more likely to be right about Cornutus.

25. Imitation and echoes of earlier sources do not in themselves make a writer doctus — otherwise Seneca’s Calvisius Sabinus (Ep. 27.5–7) would have been a learned man. His uncritical, borrowed ‘education’ however, did not even qualify him as eruditus.

26. Juvenal 1.1f., 7.12, etc.

27. Albrecht, M. von, Silius Italicus: Freiheit und Gebundenheit römischer Epik (Amsterdam 1964), 55.Google Scholar

28. Fides appears as a theme on Flavian coinage (Robertson, A.S., Roman Imperial Coins in the Hunter Cabinet 1 [Oxford 1962], 210Google Scholar, 224, 304, 314, 320); pietas has an important place in Flavian propaganda because of its role in legitimizing the new dynasty — so Domitian’s templum gentis Flaviae (for which see Boëthius, A., Ward-Perkins, J.B., Etruscan and Roman Architecture [Harmondsworth 1970], 224–226Google Scholar) does not merely indicate his respect for his deceased father and brother, but, as a temple of mortals turned into divinities, aids his own prestige and supports his claim to power (cf. also Robertson, 274, 329).

29. Tac. Hist. 3.71.1–3, who describes it as ‘the most dire and dreadful blow suffered by the Roman state since the foundation of the city’ (3.72.1: id facinus post conditam urbem luctuosissimum foedissimumque rei publicae populi Romani) — Domitian’s completion of the rebuilt temple of Jupiter is foretold by the god himself in Pun. 3.622–24. In the Punica, threats to burn the Capitol are made by Hasdrubal (15.803–5) and Hannibal (17.266: cum ferrem in Capitolia flammas [‘when I was bearing fire against the Capitol’]).

30. Burck, E., Das römische Epos (Darmstadt 1979), 258.Google Scholar

31. Furius Bibaculus: Horace Serm. 2.5.40, Macrobius 6.1; the Carmen de Bello Aegyptiaco: Baehrens, Poetae Latini Minores; Statius De Bello Germanico is in Garrod’s O.C.T. of the Thebaid.

32. Pliny Ep. 4.11.5–13; Suet. Dom. 8.3–4. Silius portrays the monster Orthrus tearing at an unfaithful Vestal in Hades (13.844–50), ‘but the punishment cannot match the crime’ (nec par poena tamen sceleri).

33. On which see Ahl, F., Davis, M., Pomeroy, A., ‘Silius Italicus’, ANRW 2.32.4 (1986), 2492–2561.Google Scholar

34. Petron. Sat. 119–124; R. Häussler (n.21 above), 106–47.

35. Liebeschuetz, J.H.W.G., Change and Continuity in Roman Religion (Oxford 1979), 167–181Google Scholar, who offers a sympathetic view of Silius’ cosmogony without, however, adequately stressing Silius’ individualistic treatment of the divine. Interesting is Häussler’s study (n.21 above, 187–206): Silius’ treatment of Juno as goddess of Carthage (Astarte) is a return to the Ennian treatment of the goddess, in contrast to Vergil’s portrait of a hostile divinity who is finally reconciled with the existence of Rome and who will become one of the city’s most important deities.

36. See note 15 above.

37. von Albrecht (n.27 above), 16–24.

38. The emperor Gaius in particular made a scathing attack on the historian — Suet. Gaius 34.2 (he also attacked Vergil for his absence of inspiration and insufficient learning [ut nullius ingenii minimaeque doctrinae … carpebat] — Silius would not have approved of his tastes!).

39. For instance, Klotz, R., ‘Die Stellung des Silius Italicus unter den Quellen des zweiten punischen Krieges’, RhM (1933), 1–34Google Scholar; Nicol, J., The Historical and Geographical Sources used by Silius Italicus (Oxford 1936).Google Scholar

40. Nesselrath, H.-G., ‘Zu den Quellen des Silius Italicus’, Hermes 114 (1986), 203–230Google Scholar. This article should now be the basis for an understanding of Silius’ sources and his method of work. Unfortunately Nicol’s work (n.39 above), which posits a methodology of straight copying of material in all instances by the poet and, consequently, a bizarre list of sources, is still the only work available in English and continues to be relied on. Yet Klotz (n.39 above) had already shown before the publication of Nicol’s work that Silius’ use of sources does not follow a simple mechanical pattern.

41. Explicit mention of Hannibal is deliberately delayed by Silius until line 39, where he is introduced as the tool for Juno’s hostility to the Roman state.

42. Carthaginian grievances over Rome’s high-handed actions, particularly in Sardinia, after the First Punic War, are not mentioned by Silius. Rome’s anger at renewed resistance by the defeated enemy in Livy is altered to an ethical objection against the treaty-breaking party in Silius (in reality, it could be argued that it was Rome which provoked the outbreak of the war by its intervention at Saguntum).

43. The structure of the Punica is discussed more fully by Ahl, Davis, and Pomeroy (n.33 above), 2505–2511.

44. In particular, Silius’ comment on Paulus’ death echoes the major theme of the epic seen in the introduction and in Jupiter’s speech: mors additur urbi / pulchra decus misitque viri inter sidera nomen (10.307f.: ‘his glorious death added to the city’s honour and raised the hero’s reputation to the heavens’).

45. For alternative versions of Gracchus’ end, see Livy 25.17.1–3; Livy also refers to the fear and grief (luctus et pavor civitatem cepit, 25.22.1) which seized the city after this series of disasters — a feature deleted by Silius. For Silius’ extensive and deliberate rewriting of affairs around the siege of Capua, see Venini, P., ‘Tecnica allusiva in Silio Italico’, RIL 106 (1972), 532–542.Google Scholar

46. So Jupiter, in Hannibal’s dream (10.366–68), indicates that Cannae is to be the limit of the Carthaginian’s successes. Niemann, K.-H., Die Darstellungen der römischen Niederlagen in den Punica des Silius Italicus (Diss. Bonn 1975)Google Scholar, rightly stresses this point in rejecting von Albrecht’s view that Hannibal’s attack on Rome in Book 12, culminating in Jupiter’s defence of the city, is the climax of the epic.

47. Suicide at Saguntum: 2.456–707; at Capua: 13.256–98; Roman punishment of guilty Capuans: 13.367–80.

48. So, for instance, Burck, E., Historische und epische Tradition bei Silius Italicus (Munich 1984), 4Google Scholar, who is also influenced by a desire to posit an originally planned 18 book epic in hexads.

49. Wistrand, E., Die Chronologie der Punica des Silius ltalicus (Göteborg 1956), 59f.Google Scholar, notes that from a study of the datable books of the epic, it would appear that Silius was composing at the rate of approximately one book a year from A.D. 80 on. Such a rate of composition corresponds to that attributed to Vergil composing his Aeneid, and may be seen as a further tribute to Silius’ principal poetic model.

50. Cf. Favorinus’ comments on Vergil: Aul. Gell. 17.10.

51. Vipsanius in Donatus, Life of Vergil 44 — see Jocelyn, H.D., ‘Vergilius Cacozelus (Donatus, Vita Vergili 44)’ in Papers of the Liverpool Latin Seminar 2 (Liverpool 1979), 67–142.Google Scholar

52. E.g. 4.251: affuso squalent a pulvere crines (‘his hair was matted with dust’), cf. 6.405; 3.654f. (the African desert): ad finem caeli medio tenduntur ab orbe / squalentes campi (‘from the centre of the earth to the boundary of the sky there stretch out the harsh and barren plains‘); etc.

53. Aul. Gell. 9.10.5–6, referring to Aen. 8.404–6 (Vulcan and Venus): ea verba locutus / optatos dedit amplexus placidumque petivit / coniugis infusus gremio per membra soporem (‘saying this, he embraced her as she wished and sought gentle sleep for his limbs stretched out in the lap of his wife’).

54. Horsfall, N., ‘Illusion and Reality in Latin Topographical Writing’, G&R 32 (1985), 196.Google Scholar

55. Venini, P., ‘La visione dell’ Italia nel catalogo di Silio Italico (Pun. 8.316–616)’, R1L 36(1978), 135.Google Scholar

56. Venini (n.55 above), 130–132.

57. Frederiksen, M., Campania (ed. Purcell, N., Rome 1984), 33,207Google Scholar.

58. Nesselrath (n.40 above), 213.

59. CIL 12.25; Gordon, A.E., Illustrated Introduction to Latin Epigraphy (Berkeley/Los Angeles 1983), 124.Google Scholar

60. Cf. Plin. N.H. 34.11.20; Quint. 1.7.12.

61. On the myth, see Vessey, D.W.T.C., ‘The Myth of Falernus in Silius, Punica 7’, CJ 69 (1972-73), 240–266Google Scholar. Statius’ patron Pollius Felix, like Silius a poet and local philanthropist, had gained wealth from viticulture in the area (Silv. 2.2.4f., 99, 110f.). Perhaps even more relevant is the mixture of culture and practicality seen in the career of Q. Remmius Palaemon (Suet. Gramm. 23), who was not only the leading grammaticus of his day, but was also renowned for the productivity of his vines.

62. Purcell, N., ‘Wine and Wealth in Ancient Italy’, JRS 75 (1985), 11Google Scholar; for his writings on viticulture, see Script Rei Rust. 2.1 p. 19. Purcell’s view that Marcellus is the ‘Campanian consul’ in whom Rome will rejoice after the Hannibalic War (Pun. 11.123–29) is, however, improbable —he had come to a bad end in A.D. 79 (Dio 56.16.3f.). This also rules out a supposed Campanian origin for Silius himself (Vessey, D.W.T.C., ‘The Origin of Ti. Catius Asconius Silius Italicus’, CB 60 [1984], 9fGoogle Scholar), unless one supposes an imitation of Cicero’s dire ‘fortunate Roman state, born in my great consulate’.

63. Suet. Don 7.2; Levick, B., ‘Domitian and the Provinces’, Latomus 41 (1982), 66–73.Google Scholar

64. Mendell, C.W., ‘Silius the Reactionary’, Philological Quarterly 3 (1924), 92–106.Google Scholar

65. Ann. 3.55.3:domesticam parsimoniam intulerunt, et quamquam fortuna vel industria plerique pecuniosam ad senectam pervenirent, mansit tamen prior animus (could this include Silius himself?).

66. Pliny, in fact, had six villas himself — D’Arms (n.13 above), 117.

67. Cic. An. 1.8.2: nam in eo genere sic studio efferimur ut abs te adiuvandi, ab aliis prope reprehendi simus (‘I am so carried away by my enthusiasm for that sort of thing that I need your help — and others to scold me for it’).

68. For a brief summary of Domitian’s reforms in the area of procuratorships, see Pflaum, H.-G., Abrégé des Procurateurs Équestres (Paris 1974), 7f., 14–16.Google Scholar

69. Because of the loss of most of Cicero–s poetry, it is easy to forget that he, like Silius, was both orator and poet — which may account in part for Silius’ homage to him, despite the epic form of his poem.

70. On characters invented by Silius, see in particular McGuire, D., History as Epic: Silius Italicus and the Second Punic War (Diss. Cornell 1985), 77–147Google Scholar.

71. So D.J.|Campbell, ‘The Birthplace of Silius Italicus’, CR 50 (1936), 56–58Google Scholar; Silius’ full nomenclature is Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus — but note that the poet does not use the name Asconius in his text, only Pedianus.

72. Whether Cicero himself would have approved is less certain, given his rejection of fictitious genealogies (such as an attempt to derive his ancestry from the early patrician consul M’. Tullius) in Brut 62. From Plut. Cic. 1.2, it is clear that the connection with Attius Tullus is not Silius’ own invention. More bizarre in modern eyes is the Galba of 8.470f, descended from Pasiphae and Minos, after the style of the emperor Galba (Suet. Galb. 2), who, however, traced the connection through his maternal ancestry in the Lutatii Catuli.

73. Venini (n.55 above), 149, who also notes the pairing of Tulla and Larina as Camilla’s followers in Aen. 11.655f.

74. So, rightly, Nesselrath (n.40 above), 228; pace Burck (n.48 above), 9.

75. The myth, originally Prodicus’, is presumably also adapted from Cicero (Off. 1.132): Bassett, E.L., ‘Hercules and the Hero of the Punica’, The Classical Tradition: Studies in Honor of Harry Caplan (Ithaca, N.Y. 1966), 259,262Google Scholar.

76. Livy 26.46.10: quoad dedita arx est, caedes tota urbe passim factae nec ulli puberum qui obvius fuit parcebatur turn signo dato caedibus finis factus, ad praedam victores versi, quae ingens omnis generis fuit (‘until the citadel surrendered, there was indiscriminate slaughter in the city and no adult who came their way was spared; then, when the signal was given, the victors ceased to massacre and turned to collecting booty, which produced an enormous quantity of every type.’).

77. Ciceronian influence may also be at work when Silius describes how Regulus was captured by cunning and deceit (6.299–345), following Cicero’s version (Off. 3.99), whereas Livy seems to attribute the Carthaginian success to their skill (Per. 18).

78. Also an evaluation which puts Silius on a par with Callimachus, whom Ovid described as ‘strong in skill, if not in talent’ (Am. 1.15.14: quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet).