194. Cp. Sen.Ep. xcii. 30, 31 'magnus erat labor ire in caelum'.
195. Cp. Sen.Ep. xcii. 16 sqq.
196.Ep. cviii. 24.
197. Cp.Macbethii. 2. 36, Macbeth does murder sleep, &c. For other Shakespearian parallels, cp.Macbeth, Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased?H.F.1261 'nemo pollute queat | animo mederi.'Macbeth, I have lived long enough…. And that which should accompany old age, As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have.H.F.1258 'Cur animam in ista luce detincam amplius | morerque nihil est; cuncta iam amisi bona, | mentem, arma, famam, coniugem, natos, manus.' J. Phil. vi. 70. Cunliffe,Influence of Seneca on Elizabethan Tragedy.
198. An exception might be made in favour of the beautiful simile describing Polyxena about to die, notable as giving one of the very few allusions to the beauty of sunset to be found in ancient literature (Troad. 1137):
ipsa deiectos gerit vultus pudore, sed tamen fulgent genae magisque solito splendet extremus decor, ut esse Phoebi dulcius lumen solet iamiam cadentis, astra cum repetunt vices premiturque dubius nocte vicina dies.
Fine, too, are the lines describing the blind Oedipus (Oed. 971):
attollit caput cavisque lustrans orbibus caeli plagas noctem experitur.
199. pp. 52 sqq., 59.
200. Cp. Eur.H.F.438 sqq.
201. For further examples cp.H.F.5-18,Troades215-19.
202. This terse stabbing rhetoric is characteristic of Stoicism; the same short, jerky sentences reappear in Epictetus. Seneca is doubtless influenced by the declamatory rhetoric of schools as well, but his philosophical training probably did much to form his style.
203. Exceptions are so few as to be negligible. The effect of this rule is aggravated by the fact that in nine cases out of ten the accent of the word and the metrical ictus 'clash', this result being obtained 'by most violent elisions, such as rarely or never occur in the other feet of the verse'. Munro, J. Phil. 6, 75.
204. The older and more rugged iambic survives in the fables of Phaedrus, written at no distant date from these plays, if not actually contemporary.
205. Cp. Leo, op. cit. i. 166, 174.
206. See p. 29.
207. These horrors go beyond the crucifixion scene in the Laureolus (see p. 24), and the tradition of genuine tragedy was all against such presentation. As far as the grotesqueness and bombast of the plays go, the age of Nero might have tolerated them. We must remember that seventeenth-century England enjoyed the brilliant bombast of Dryden (e.g. inAurungzebe) and that the eighteenth delighted in the crude absurdities of such plays asGeorge Barnwell.
208. Cp. alsoPhaedra707, where Hippolytus' words, 'en impudicum crine contorto caput | laeva reflexi,' can only be justified as inserted to explain to the hearers what they could not see. See also p. 48, note.
209. They have been influenced by the pantomimus and the dramatic recitation so fashionable in their day, inasmuch as they lack connexion, and, though containing effective episodes, are of far too loose a texture to be effective drama.
210. See R. Fischer,Die Kunstentwicklung der englischen Tragödie; J. W. Cunliffe,Influence of Seneca on Elizabethan Tragedy; J. E. Manly,Introductory Essayto Miller'sTranslation of the Tragedies of Seneca. The Senecan drama finds its best modern development in the tragedies of Alfieri. Infinitely superior in every respect as are the plays of the modern dramatist, he yet reveals in a modified form not a few of Seneca's faults. There is often a tendency to bombast, an exaggeration of character, a hardness of outline, that irresistibly recall the Latin poet.
211. The debt is as good as acknowledged, ll. 58 sqq.
212. ll. 310 sqq.
213. l. 915.
214. There is no direct evidence of the sex of the chorus in theOctavia. In Greek drama they would almost certainly have been women.
215. The diction is wholly un-Senecan. There is no straining after epigram; the dialogue, though not lacking point (e.g. the four lines 185-8, or 451-60), does not bristle with it, and is far less rhetorical and more natural. The chorus confines itself to anapaests, is simpler and far more relevant. The all-pervading Stoicism is the one point they have in common.
216. The imitation of Lucan in 70, 71 'magni resto nominis umbra,' is also strong evidence against the Senecan authorship.
217.Probus, vita. 'A. Persius Flaccus natus est pridie non. Dec. Fabio Persico, L. Vitellio coss.' Hieronym. ad ann. 2050=34 A.D. 'Persius Flaccus Satiricus Volaterris nascitur.' Where not otherwise stated the facts of Persius' life are drawn from the biography of Probus.
218. Quint, vii. 4, 40; Tac.Ann. xv. 71.
219. Suet.de Gramm. 23.
220. Bassus was many years his senior—addressed assenexin Sat. vi. 6, written late in 61 or early in 62 A.D.—and perished in the eruption of Vesuvius, 79 A. D. Cp. Schol.ad Pers. vi. 1.
221. Lucan was five years his junior. Cp. p. 97.
222. Cp. Tac.Ann. xiv. 19;Dial. 23; Quint. x. 1. 102.
223. This friendship lasted ten years, presumably the last ten of Persius' life; cp.Prob. vit.
The second satire is addressed to Plotius Macrinus, who, according to the scholiast, was a learned man, who 'loved Persius as his son, having studied with him in the house of Servilius Nonianus.'
224. See O. Jahn's ed., p. 240.
225.Prob. vit.'decessit VIII Kal. Dec. P. Mario, Afinio Gallio coss.' Hieronym. ad ann. 2078—62 A.D. 'Persius moritur anno aetatis XXVIII.'
226.Prob. vit.
227. Such at least is a plausible inference. Probus tells us that he used to travel abroad with Thrasea. It is a natural conjecture that thesehodoeporicawere in the style of Horace's journey to Brundisium.
228. Cp. Mart. i. 13; Plin.Ep. iii. 16. She was the mother of the wife of Thrasea.
229. This may mean that the last satire was actually incomplete, but that the omission of a few lines at the end gave it an appearance of completion; or that a few lines intended for the opening of a seventh satire were omitted.
230. So Probus. Cp. also Quint. x. 1. 94 'multum et verae gloriae quamvis uno libro meruit.' Mart. iv. 29. 7.
231. Hieronym.in apol. contra Rufin.i. 16 'puto quod puer legeris … commentarios … aliorum in alios, Plautum videlicet, Lucretium, Flaccum, Persium atque Lucanum.' The high moral tone of the work, coupled perhaps with the smallness of its bulk, is in the main responsible for its survival. Scholia from different sources have come down to us under the title ofCornuti commentum. Whether such a person as the commentator Cornutus existed or not is uncertain. The name may have been attached to the scholia merely to give them a spurious importance as though possessing the imprimatur of the friend and teacher of the poet.
232. The choliambi are placed after the satires by two of the three best MSS., but before them by the scholia and inferior MSS. It is of little importance which we follow. But it seems probable that Probus (see below) regarded the choliambi as a prologue. Such at least is my interpretation ofsibi primo(i.e. in the prologue)mox omnibus detrectaturus.The lines have rather more force if read first and not last.
233.Prob. vit.'sed mox ut a schola magistrisque devertit, lecto Lucili libro decimo vehementer saturas componere studuit; cuius libri principium imitatus est, sibi primo, mox omnibus detrectaturus, cum tanta recentium poetarum et oratorum insectatione,' &c. This can only refer to the prologue and the first satire, and seems to point to its having been the first to be composed. According to the scholiast the opening line is taken from the first satire of Lucilius.
234. Porphyr.ad Hor. Sat.i. 10. 53 'facit autem Lucilius hoc cum alias tum vel maxime in tertio libro, … et nono et decimo.
235. Cp. Nettleship's note ad loc., and Petron. 4.
236. e.g. Dama, Davus, Natta, Nerius, Craterus, Pedius, Bestius.
237. Instances might be almost indefinitely multiplied. The whole of Pers. i, but more especially the conclusion, is strongly influenced by Hor.Sat.i. 10. Cp. also Pers. ii. 12, Hor.Sat.ii. 5. 45; Pers. iii. 66, Hor.Ep.i. 18. 96; Pers. v. 10, Hor.Sat.i. 4. 19, &c., &c.
238. i. 92-102. According to the scholiast the last four lines—
torva Mimalloneis implerunt cornua bombis, et raptum vitulo caput ablatura superbo Bassaris et lyncem Maenas flexura corymbis euhion ingeminat, reparabilis adsonat echo (i. 99)—
are by Nero. But it is incredible that Persius should have had such audacity as openly to deride the all-powerful emperor. The same remark applies to other passages where the scholiast and some modern critics have seen satirical allusions to Nero (e.g. prologue and the whole of Sat. iv). The only passage in which it is possible that there was a covert allusion to Nero is i. 121, which, according to the scholiast, originally ranauriculas asini Mida rex habet. Cornutus suppressed the wordsMida rexand substitutedquis non. For an ingenious defence of the view that Persius hits directly at Nero see Pretor,Class. Rev., vol. xxi, p. 72.
239. i. 76 'Est nunc Brisaei quem venosus liber Acci, | sunt quos Pacuviusque et verrucosa moretur | Antiopa, aerumnis cor luctificabile fulta.'
240. The description of the self-indulgent man who, feeling ill, consults his doctor and then fails to follow his advice (iii. 88), is a possible exception. It is noteworthy that in Sat. iv he addresses a young aspirant to a political career as though free political action was still possible at Rome.
241. e.g. iv. 41.
242. But see below, p. 91.
243. Prob. vita Persii.
244. Our chief authorities for Lucan's life are the 'lives' by Suetonius (fragmentary) and by Vacca (a grammarian of the sixth century).
245. Vacca.
246. Tac.Ann.xvi. 17.
247. Vacca.
248. Vacca.
249. The young Lucan is said to have formed a friendship with the satirist at the school of Cornutus; Persius was some five years his senior.Vita Persii(p. 58, Bücheler).
250. Suetonius and Vacca. The latter curiously treats this victory as one of the causes of Nero's jealousy. Considering that the poem was a panegyric of the emperor, and that it was Lucan's first step in the imperial favour, the suggestion deserves small credit.
251. Sueton. There is an unfortunate hiatus in the Life by Suetonius, occurring just before the mention of the visit to Athens. As the text stands it suggests that the visit to Athens occurred after the victory at the Neronia. Otherwise it would seem more probable that Lucan went to Athens somewhat earlier (e.g. 57 A.D.) to complete his education.
252. Sueton., Vacca.
253. Vacca; Tac.Ann.xv. 49; Dion. lxii. 29.
254. Vacca.
255. Suetonius.
256. Suetonius.
257. Sueton.; Tac.Ann.xv. 56.
258. Vacca; Sueton.; Tac.Ann.xv. 70. Various passages in thePharsaliahave been suggested as suitable for Lucan's recitation at his last gasp, iii. 638-41, vii. 608-15, ix. 811.
259. Statius, in hisGenethliacon Lucani(Silv.ii. 7. 54), seems to indicate the order of the poems:
ac primum teneris adhuc in annis ludes Hectora Thessalosque currus et supplex Priami potentis aurum, et sedes reserabis inferorum; ingratus Nero duleibus theatris et noster tibi proferetur Orpheus, dices culminibus Remi vagantis infandos domini nocentis ignes, hinc castae titulum decusque Pollae iucunda dabis adlocutione. mox coepta generosior iuventa albos ossibus Italis Philippos et Pharsalica bella detonabis.
Cp. also Vacca, 'extant eius complures et alii, ut Iliacon, Saturnalia, Catachthonion, Silvarum x, tragoedia Medea imperfecta, salticae fabulae xiv, et epigrammata (MSS.appamatasiveippamata), prosae orationes in Octavium Sagittam et pro eo, de incendio Urbis, epistularum ex Campania, non fastidiendi quidem omnes, tales tamen ut belli civili videantur accessio.'
260. Vacca.
261. See chapter on Statius.
262. See chapter on Drama.
263. Cp. Mart., bks. xiii and xiv.
264. There are two fragments from theIliacon, two from theOrpheus, one from theCatachthonion, two from theEpigrammata, together with a few scanty references in ancient commentators and grammarians: see Postgate,Corp. Poet. Lat.
265. Vacca, 'ediderat … tres libros, quales videmus.'
266. Sueton. 'civile bellum … recitavit ut praefatione quadem aetatem et initia sua comparans ausus sit dicere, "quantum mihi restat ad Culicem".' Cp. also Stat,Silv.ii. 7. 73:—
haec (Pharsalia) primo iuvenis canes sub aevoante annos Culicis Maroniani.
Vergil was twenty-six when he composed theCulex. Cp. Ribbeck,App.Verg.p. 19.
267. Vacca, 'reliqui septem belli civilis libri locum calumniantibus tanquam mendosi non darent; qui tametsi sub vero crimine non egent patrocinio: in iisdem dici, quod in Ovidii libris praescribitur, potest: emendaturus, si licuisset, erat.'
268. See p. 4.
269. Boissier, _L'Opposition sous les Césars (p. 279), sees some significance in the fact that the list of Nero's ancestors always stops at Augustus. But there was no reason why the list should go further than the founder of the principate. It is noteworthy that Lucan's uncle Seneca wrote a number of epigrams in praise of the Pompeii and Cato. The famous lines,
quis iustius induit arma scire nefas: magno se iudice quisque tuetur, victrix causa deis placuit, sed victa Catoni (i. 126),
are supremely diplomatic. Without sacrificing his principles, Lucan avoids giving a shadow of offence to his emperor.
270. See p. 116.
271. Petron., loc. cit.
272. v. 207, vii. 451, 596, 782, x. 339-42, 431.
273. i. 143-57.
274. ii. 657 nil actum credens cum quid superesset agendum.
275. v. 317 meruitque timeri non metuens.
276. See Shelley,Prometheus Unbound, Preface.
277. vii. 45-150.
278. vii. 342.
279. vii. 647-727.
280. Cp. the epigrams attributed to Seneca,P. L. M.iv,Anth. Lat.7, 8, 9.
281. The one exception is Curio, sec iv. 799.
282. i. 185:
ut ventum est parvi Rubiconis ad undas, ingens visa duci patriae trepidantis imago, clara per obscuram voltu maestissima noctem turrigero canos effundens vertice crines caesarie lacera nudisque adstare lacertis et gemitu permixta loqui: 'quo tenditis ultra? quo fertis mea signa, viri? si iure venitis, si cives, huc usque licet.'
283. iii. 1:
propulit ut classem velis cedentibus Auster incumbens mediumque rates movere profundum, omnis in Ionios spectabat navita fluctus; solus ab Hesperia non flexit lumina terra Magnus, dum patrios portus, dum litora numquam ad visus reditura suos tectumque cacumen nubibus et dubios cernit vanescere montes.
284. v. 722-end.
285. vii. 6-44.
286. iii. 399-425.
287. iii. 399.
288. Cp. Seneca,Oed.530 sqq. The description of a grove was part of the poetic wardrobe. Cp. Pers. i. 70.
289. See p. 103.
290. iii. 509-762. For a still more grotesque fight, cp. vi. 169-262; also ii. 211-20; iv. 794, 5.
291. v. 610-53. Cp. also ix. 457-71.
292. Sir E. Ridley's trans.
293. Sir E. Ridley's trans.
294. ix. 619-838.
295. ix. 946, 7.
296. For examples of erudition, cp. ix. loc. cit., where the origin of serpents of Africa is given, involving the story of Perseus and Medea, iv. 622 sqq. The arrival of Curio in Africa is signalized by a long account of the slaying of Antaeus by Hercules.
297. i. 523-end.
298. ii. 67-220.
299. ii. 392-438. Cp. the geography of Thessaly, coupled with a description of its witches, vi. 333-506.
300. v. 71-236.
301. vi. 507-830. It is noteworthy, also, that incidents not necessarily irrelevant in themselves are treated with a monstrous lack of proportion, e.g. the siege of Massilia is not irrelevant; but it is given 390 lines (iii. 372-762), and Lucan forgets to mention that Caesar captured it.
302. e.g. iv. 799-end, vii. 385-459, 586-96, 617-46, 847-72, viii. 542-60, 793-end.
303. vii. 385-459.
304. There is nothing in these last seven books that can be regarded as in any way written to please Nero, save the description of the noble death of Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero's great-great-grandfather (vii. 597-616). On the contrary there are many passages which Lucan would hardly have written while he was enjoying court favour: e.g. iv. 821-3, v. 385-402, vi. 809, vii. 694-6, x. 25-8.
305. See p. 98.
306. e.g. the two speeches of Cato quoted above.
307. He is, moreover, very careless in his repetition of the same word, cp. i. 25, 27 urbibus, iii. 436, 441, 445 silva, &c.; cp. Haskins, ed. lxxxi. (Heitland's introd.)
308. He is far less dactylic than Ovid. For the relation between the various writers of epic in respect of metre, see Drobisch,Versuch üb. die Formen des lat. Hex.140. The proportion of spondees in the first four feet of hexameters of Roman writers is there given as follows: Catullus 65.8%, Silius 60.6%, Ennius 59.5%, Lucretius 57.4%, Vergil 56%, Horace 55%, Lucan 54.3%, Statius 49.7%, Valerius 46.2%, Ovid 45.2%.
309. Tac.Ann.xvi. 18, 19 (Church and Brodribb's trans.).
310. c. 118 sq.
311. cc. 1-5.
312. The first reference in literature to theSatyriconis in Macrobius, inSomn. Scip.i. 2, 8.
313. cc. 1-5.
314. MS. fortuna.
315. MS. dent.
316. c. 83
317. Cp. Juv.Sat.7; Tac.Dial.9.
318. c. 89. It has been suggested that this poem is a parody of Nero'sTroiae halosis! But the poem showsnosigns of being a parody. It is obviously written in all seriousness.
319. MS.minor, I suggestminansas a possible solution of the difficulty.
320. c. 93.
321. Cp. also 128 and the spirited epic fragment burlesquely used in 108.
322. See p. 36.
323. Baehrens,P. L. M.iv. 74-89.
324. Nos. 76 and 86. Cp. Fulg.Mythol.i. I, p. 31; Lactant.ad Stat. Theb.iii. 661; Fulg.Mythol.iii. 9, p. 126.
325. Baehrens,P.L.M.iv. 90-100.
326. Poitiers, 1579 A.D.
327. Fulg.Mythol.i. 12, p. 44.
328. That the attribution to Petronius rests on the authority of the lost MS. is a clear inference from Binet's words, cp. Baehrens,P.L.M.iv. 101-8, 'sequebantur ista, sed sine Petronii titulo, at priores illi duo Phalaecii vix alius fuerint quam Petronii.'
329. Baehrens,P.L.M.iv. 101-8.
330. See note 4.
331. Petr. cc. 14, 83; Baehrens,P.L.M.iv. 120, 121.
332. Cp.Satyr. 127, 131;P.L.M.iv. 75;S.128;P.L.M.iv. 121;S.108;P.L.M.iv. 85;S.79, iv. 101.
333.P.L.M.iv. 75.
334.P.L.M.iv. 81.
335. The MS. is hopelessly corrupt at this point. I suggestnaidas alterna manuas a possible correction of the MS.Iliadas armatas s. manus.
336.P.L.M.iv. 84.
337.P.L.M.iv. 85.
338. Ib. 76.
339. Ib. 82.
340. Ib. 78.
341.P. L. M.iv. 99. Cp. also 92 and 107.
342. 569 sqq.
343. 17-22, 43 sqq. He falls into the same error himself (203).
344. 76 sqq.
345. 88 sqq.
346. 220 sqq.
347. 96 sqq.
348. 178 sqq.
349. 400 sqq.
350. 333 sqq.
351. 294.
352. So Ellis (Corp. Poet. Lat., vol. ii. pref.); Baehrens,P. L. M.ii. pp. 29 sqq.
353. Serv.ad Verg. Aen.praef. Donatus,vita Verg., p. 58 R ('Scripsit etiam de qua ambigitur Aetnam').
354. Sen.Nat. Quaest.iii. 26. 5. He also wrote in verse on philosophical subjects; cp. Sen.Ep.24, 19-21.
355. So Wernsdorf, von Jacob, Munro (edd.), Waglerde Aetna quaest. crit., Berlin, 1884.
356. Sen.Nat. Quaest.iv. 2. 2.
357. Sen.Ep.79. 5.
358. So many Italian scholars of sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, among them Scaliger.
359. Cornelius Severus wrote a poem on the Sicilian War of Octavian and Sext. Pompeius; cp. Quint, x. l. 89.
360. Cp.Nat. Quaest.iii. 16. 4,Aetna, 302 and 303. But this may be due to the fact that both Seneca and the author ofAetnaget their information from the same source, perhaps Posidonius; cp. Sudhaus, introd. to his edition, p. 75.
361. It is not improbable that in 293 sqq. the poet refers to the mechanical Triton shown at the Naumachia on the Fucine Lake at a festival given by Claudius in honour of Nero's adoption in 50 A. D.
362. 425-34.
363. Baehrens would put the lower limit at 63 A. D., the year in which severe earthquakes first indicated the reviving activity of Phlegraean fields. But earthquakes, though often caused by volcanic action, do not necessarily produce volcanoes.
364. viii. 16. 9; 10. 185.
365. iii. 3. 3 'his certe temporibus Nomentana regio celeberrima fama est illustris, et praecipue quam possidet Seneca, vir excellentis ingenii atque doctrinae'. He is quoted by Pliny, not infrequently. Columella was an old man when he wrote; cp. 12 ad fin. 'nec tamen canis natura dedit cunctarum rerum prudentiam'.
366. Cp.C.I.L.ix. 235 'L. Iunio L. F. Gal. Moderato Columellae Trib. mil. leg. VI. Ferratae'. That this refers to the poet is borne out by two facts. (1) Gades belonged to the Tribus Galeria. (2) At this date the legio VI. Ferrata was stationed in Syria; cp. Col. ii. 10. 18 'Ciliciae Syriaeque regionibus ipse vidi'.
367. Cp. i. 1. 7. He speaks as a practical farmer; cp. ii. 8. 5; 9. 1; 10. 11; iii. 9. 2; 10. 8, &c. He writes primarily for Italy, not for Spain; cp. iii. 8. 5.
368. Cp. x. praef.: also ix. 16. 2, which tells us that Gallio, Seneca's brother, had added his entreaties.
369. xi. praef.
370. He also wrote a treatise against astrologers (cp. xi. 1. 131) and a treatise on religious ceremonies connected with agriculture (cp. ii. 21. 5). This latter work was perhaps never completed (cp. ii. 21. 6). In any case both treatises were lost. There survives a book on arboriculture which is not an isolated monograph, but portion of a larger work, at least three books long, for it alludes to a 'primum volumen de cultu agrorum' (ad init.). It probably consisted of four books, since Cassiodorus (div. lect. 28) speaks of the sixteen books of Columella.
371. siderei Maronis, 434.
372. Cp. esp. 196 sqq.
373. Cp. 130 sqq., 320 sqq., 344 sqq.
374. 102 sqq.
375. 45-94.
376. 29-34.
377. 196 sqq.
378. Tac.Ann.xii. 58.
379. M. Haupt,Opusc.i. 391; Lachm.Comm. on Lucret.1855, p. 326 Schenkl (ed. Calp. Sic., p. ix).
380. Orde laude Pisonis. See Baehrens,Poet. Lat. Min.iii. 1. For the question of authorship see p. 159.
381. It was long believed that there were eleven, but the last four eclogues of the collection are shown by their style to be of later date, and there can be little doubt that the MSS. which attribute them to Nemesianus of Carthage are right. We know of a Nemesianus who lived about 290 A.D. and wrote aCynegetica, a portion of which survives. Comparison with these four eclogues shows a marked resemblance of style.
382. Verg.Ecl.vii. 1:
forte sub arguta consederat ilice Daphnis, compulerantque greges Corydon et Thyrsis in unum, Thyrsis oves, Corydon distentas lacte capellas, ambo florentes aetatibus, Arcades ambo, et cantare pares et respondere parati.
Calp. ii. 1:
intactam Crocalen puer Astacus et puer Idas, Idas lanigeri dominus gregis, Astacus horti, dilexere diu, formosus uterque nec impar voce sonans.
The conclusion is borrowed from Vergil,Ecl.iii. 108:
non nostrum inter vos tantas componere lites. et vitula tu dignus et hic et quisquis amores aut metuet dulces aut experietur amaros. claudite iam rivos, pueri; sat prata biberunt.
Calp. ii. 95-100:
'iam resonant frondes, iam cantibus obstrepit arbos: i procul, o Doryla, rivumque reclude canali et sine iam dudum sitientes irriget hortos' vix ea finierant, senior cum talia Thyrsis, 'este pares …'
383. Cp. also v. 50 sqq.
384. See Baehrens,Poet. Lat. Min.vol. iii. p. 60. The first poem is unfinished, the award of Midas being missing.
385. Bücheler,Rhein. Mus.xxvi. p. 235.
386. So Bücheler, loc. cit.respexitis a mere conjecture:corrumpit, the MS. reading, is meaningless, and no satisfactory alternative has been suggested. The lines may merely refer to Apollo, butet mesuggests strongly that Ladas retorts, 'I, too, have Caesar's favour.' Cp.L.37, wherehic vester Apollo est!clearly refers to Nero.
387. In a MS. at Lorsch, now lost; but used by Sechard for his edition of Ovid, Basle, 1527.
388. In Parisinus 7647 (Florileg.). Sec Baehrens,P. L. M.i. p. 222.
389. Tac.Ann.xv. 48 'facundiam tuendis civibus exercebat, largitionem adversum amicos et ignotis quoque comi sermone et congressu.'
390. Schol. Vall,ad Iuv.v. 109 'in latrunculorum lusu tam perfectus et callidus, ut ad cum ludentem concurreretur.'
391. Cp. ll. 190 sqq.
392. Cp. ll. 190 sqq.
393. Baehrens,Fragm. Poet. Rom.p. 281.
394. Priscian,Gr. Lat.i. 478.
395. Persius derides a certain Labeo (i. 4) and a writer named Attius (i. 50) for his translation ofIliad. On this last passage the scholiast says, 'Attius Labeo poeta indoctus fuit illorum temporum, qui Iliadem Homeri foedissime composuit.' The names are found combined in an inscription from Corinth, Joh. Schmidt,Mitt. des deutsch. archäol. Inst. in Athen, vi (1882), p. 354.
396. Schol.ad Pers.i. 4 (p. 248, Jahn).
397. Schol.ad Pers.i. 4, ex cod. Io. Tillii Brionensis episc., cited by El. Vinetus.
398. Sen.ad Polyb. de Cons.viii. 2, and xi. 5.
399. Vualtherus Spirensis Vs. 93. X cent. (ed. Harster, Munich, 1878, p. 22). Eberhard Bethunensis,Labyr. Tract.iii. 45.
400. This apparent confusion between Homer and Pindar is first found in Benzo, episc. Albensis (Monum. Germ.xi. 599) circa 1087. In Hugo Trimbergensis (thirteenth century) Pindar is the translator: 'Homero, quem Pindarus philosophus fertur transtulisse.' Cp. L. Müller,Philol.xv, p. 475. So, too, in Cod. Vat. Reg. 1708 (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries); in Vat. Pal. 1611 (end of fourteenth century), he is styled Pandarus. See Baehrens,P. L. M.iii. 4.
401. Seyffert, in Munk,Geschichte der Röm. Litt.ii, p. 242. Bücheler,Rhein. Mus.35 (1880), p. 391.
402. Baehrens (P. L. M.iii) reads (7)ut primum tulerantforex quo pertulerant. The corruption is unlikely, especially since the corresponding line in theIliad(i. 6) begins [Greek: ex ou]. In line 1065, forquam cernis paucis … remis, he readsremis quam cernis … paucis, a distinct improvement. Some of those who retain MSS. in (7) attempt to explainItaliceas a vocative or adverb. Butex nihilo nihil fit. For a summary of these unprofitable and generally absurd speculations, cp. Schanz,Gesch. Röm. Lit.§ 394.
403. Vindobon. 3509 (fifteenth or sixteenth centuries).
404. Mart. vii. 63.
405. Vagellius, Sen.N.Q.vi. 2. 9. Antistius Sosianus, Tac.Ann.xiii. 28. C. Montanus, ib. xvi. 28. 29. Lucilius junior, see p. 144.
406. Tac.Ann.iv. 46;C.I.L.ii. 2093.
407. Dion. lix. 22; Tac.Ann.vi. 30.
408. Dion. loc. cit.; Suet.Claud.9.
409. PlinEp.v. 3. 5; Mart. i. praef.
410. Ap. Sid.Ep.ii. 10. 6.
411. v. 16; vi. 190, 331; vii. 71, 244, 245, 275, 354; xi. 409.
412. Baehrens,Poet. Rom. Fragm.p. 361.
413. Quint, x. 1.96 'at lyricorum Horatius fere solus legi dignus:… si quem adicere velis, is erit Caesius Bassus, quem nuper vidimus; sed eum longe praecedunt ingenia viventium'.
414. e.g. perhaps Martial, Sulpicia, and some of Pliny's poet friends, see pp. 170 sqq.
415. See p. 80.
416. See Teuffel and Schwabe,Hist. Röm. Lit.§ 304; Schanz,Gesch. Röm. Lit.384 a.
417. Schol.Pers.vi. 1.
418. Ithyphallicum, Archebulium, Philicium, Paeonicum, Proceleusmaticum, Molossicum. Baehrens,Poet. Röm. Fragm.p. 364.
419. Ioseph.vita65.
420. Suet.Vesp.17, 18.
421. Ib. 8.
422. Ib. 19 'vetera quoque acroamata revocaverat'.
423. Ib. 18.
424. Dion. lxvi. 13, in 71 A.D. That this act was ineffectual is shown by Domitian's action in 89-93 A.D.
425. Plin.N.H.praef. 5 and 11.
426. Suet.Dom.2; Tac.Hist.iv. 86; Quint, x. 1. 91.
427. Suet.Dom.18.
428. Quint. loc. cit.; Val. Fl. i. 12; Mart. v. 5. 7.
429. Suet.Dom.4.
430. 6 Stat.Silv.iv. 2. 65, v. 3. 227.
431. Suet.Dom.20. This may have been creditable to him as ruler of the empire, though Suetonius undoubtedly wishes us to regard Tiberius' memoirs as a manual of tyranny.
432. Suet.Dom.10.
433. Suet. loc. cit.; Hieronym. ad ann. 89 and 95 A.D. The latter date is wrong: cp. Mommsen,Hermes, iii (1869), p. 84.
434. Tac.Agr.2.
435. Quint. x. 1. 89. There is no clear indication of his date, but he is coupled with Saleius Bassus by Juvenal (vii. 80), a fact which suggests that he belonged to the Flavian period.
436. x. 1. 90.
437. Juv. vii. 79.
438. Stat.Silv.v. 3.
439. Stat.Silv.i. 2. 253; Mart. iv. 6. 4, i. 7, vii. 14.
440. Schol. Vall,ad Iuv.i. 20; Mart. xi. 10; Rut. Nam. i. 603; Schol.Iuv.i. 71. For his brother Scaevus Memor see p. 30.
441. Plin.Ep.v. 3. 5, vi. 10. 4.
442. Ib. iii. 1. 11, ii. 7. 1
443. Mart. viii. 70. 7.
444. Plin.Ep.v. 3. 5.
445. Priscian,Gr. Lat.ii, p. 205, 6.
446. Plin.Paneg.47;Ep.iii. 18. 5.
447. Dion. lxviii. 16; Gellius xi. 17. 1.
448. See p. 25. Other names are Octavius Rufus, Plin.Ep.i. 7; Titinius Capito,C. I. L.798, Plin.Ep.i. 17. 3; viii. 12. 4; Caninius Rufus, Plin.Ep.viii. 4. 1; Calpurnius Piso, Plin.Ep.v. 17. 1.
449.Ep.vi. 15.
450.Ep.ix. 22.
451. Gaius Passennus Paulus Propertius Blaesus was his full title. He derives his chief interest from the fact that the inscription at Assisi which preserves his name is our most conclusive evidence for the birthplace of Propertius. Haupt, opusc. i. p. 283, Leipz. (1875).
452.Ep.iv. 27.
453. viii. 21. 14.
454. vii. 9. 10.
455. iv. 14. 2.
456. iv. 14. 4.
457. He also translated the Greek epigrams of Arrius Antoninus. Cp.Ep.iv. 3. 3, and xviii. 1. One of these translations is preserved. Baehrens,P.L.M.iv. 112.
458. ii. 90. 9.
459. In the sixth Satire.
460. See Schanz,Gesch. Röm. Lit.§ 284.
461. Apoll. Sid. ix. 261 'quod Sulpiciae iocos Thalia scripsit blandiloquum suo Caleno'. Auson.Cento. Nupt., 4 'meminerint prurire opusculum Sulpiciae, frontem caperare'. Fulgentius,Mythol.1 (p. 4, Helm.) 'Sulpicillae procacitas'
462. Schol. Vall,ad Iuv.vi. 537,
unde ait Sulpicia: si me cadurcis dissolutis fasciis nudam Caleno concubantem proferat.
463. Mart. x. 38. 9:
vixisti tribus, o Calene, lustris: aetas haec tibi tota computatur et solos numeras dies mariti.
The first edition of Martial, Book x, was probably published in 95 A.D. If Sulpicia married Calenus at the age of 18-25, her birth will therefore fall between 55 and 62 A. D.
464. Cp. Mart. x. 38. 4-8.
465. Cp. Mart. x. 38. 9-11. It is, of course, possible thatmaritiis a euphemism.
466. Mart. x. 35. 1.
467. See Ap. Sid. loc. cit.
468. Sulp.Sat., lines 4, 5.
469.Raph. Volaterr. comment. urban.(fol. lvi. 1506 A.D.), 'hic (sc. at Bobbio) anno 1493 huiuscemodi libri reperti sunt. Rutilius Namatianus. Heroicum Sulpici carmen.' The first edition was published in 1498, with the titleSulpitiae carmina quae fuit Domitiani temporibus: nuper a Georgio Merula Allexandrino, cum aliis opusculis reperta. queritur de statu reipublicae et temporibus Domitiani. The MS. is now lost.
470. Cp. line 62. Domitian's edict seems to have threatened the security of Calenus. In the lines which follow, Domitian's death and overthrow are foretold. The poem, therefore, if genuine, must have been published soon after Domitian's assassination in 96, though it may have been composed in part during his lifetime.
471. The work is generally rejected as spurious. Bachrens (P. L. M.v. p. 93, andde Sulpiciae quae vocatur satira, Jena, 1873) holds that the work is contemporary with Ausonius. Boot (de Sulpiciae quae fertur satira, Amsterdam, 1868) goes further, and regards the work as a renaissance forgery. He is followed by Bücheler. But there is no reason to doubt the existence of the Bobbian MS. The metrical difficulties can be remedied by emendationpalareforpalari(43) is a solecism, but many verbs are found in both active and deponent forms, andpalaremay be a slip, or even an invention by analogy.captiva(52) does not = the Italiancattivaor the Frenchchétive. The most that we can say is that the work shows no resemblance to any extant contemporary literature. That does not necessarily prove it to be of later date. The problem cannot be answered with certainty. On the whole, to us the difficulty of supposing it to be a late forgery seems greater than the difficulty of supposing it to be by Sulpicia.
472. An exception must be made of theSilvaeof Statius.
473. Or Balbus Setinus.
474. Schenkl,Stud, zu V. F.272.
475. Mart. i. 61 and 76.
476. i. 5:
Phoebe mone, si Cymaeae mihi conscia vatisstat casta cortina domo.
InCymaeae vatisthere is an allusion to the custody of theSibylline books.
477. x, 1. 90.
478. i. 7-12.
479. i. 13, 14:
Solymo nigrantem pulvere fratrem spargentemque faces et in omni turre furentem.
Domitian pretended to be a poet and connoisseur of poetry. See p. 167.
480. iii. 207:
ut mugitor anhelat Vesvius, attonitas acer cum suscitat urbes
481. vii. 645; viii. 228. If these allusions be to events of 89 A. D. they point to the view that the last two books were composed shortly before the poet's death, and confirm the opinion that theArgonauticawas never finished.
482. A few instances will suffice. In iii. 302 Jason asserts that seers had prophesied his father's death; this is nowhere else mentioned; on the contrary, at the beginning of the second book, it is specially told us that Juno concealed from Jason the fact of his father's death, while in vii. 494 Jason speaks of him as still alive. In vii. 394 Venus is represented as leaving Medea in terror at the sound of her magic chant, while five lines later it is implied that she is still holding Medea's hand. In viii. 24 Jason goes to the grove of Mars to meet Medea and to steal the fleece of gold; but no arrangement to this effect has been made between Jason and Medea at their previous meeting (vii. 516). Instances might be multiplied. See Schenkl, op. cit. 12 sqq.; Summers'Study of Argonautica of Valerius Flaccus, p. 2 sqq. The inconsistency which makes theArgoto be at once the first ship and to meet many other ships by the way is perhaps the most glaring, but its rectification would have involved very radical alterations.
483. Cp. viii. 189:
inde sequemur ipsius amnis iter, donec nos flumine certo perferat inque aliud reddat mare.
484. Summers, op. cit. 6.
485. e.g. Argous Portus, Cales, the portico of the Argonauts at Rome.
486. i. 7-12.
487. Summers, p. 7.
488. i. 806; ii. 4.
489. Valerius was no slavish imitator of Apollonius. Some of his incidents are new, such, as the rescue of Hesione (ii. 450 sqq.). Many of the incidents in Apollonius are omitted (e.g. Stymphalian birds, A.R. ii. 1033, and the encounter with the sons of Phrixus, A.R. ii. 1093). Other incidents receive a fresh turn. In both poets the Argonauts see traces of the doom of Prometheus. But in A. he is still being devoured, in V. he is being freed by Hercules amid an earthquake. Again V. often expands or contracts an incident related by A. E.g. Contraction: The launching ofArgo, V.F. i. 184-91; A.R. i. 362-93. Expansion: The story of Lemnos V. ii. 72-427; A. i. 591-884: here there is not much difference in length, but V. tells us much more. The visit to Cyzicus, V. iii. 1-361; A. i. 947-1064: note also that in V. the purification of the Argonauts, 362-459, takes the place of the irrelevant founding of the temple of Rhea on Dindymus, A. i. 1103 sqq. The debate as to whether to abandon Hercules, who has gone in search of Hylas, V. iii. 598-714; in A. the Argonauts sail without noticing the absence of Hercules and Hylas, and the debate takes place at sea, A. i. 1273-1325. As a rule, however, V. is longer than A., partly owing to longer descriptions, partly owing to the greater complication of the plot at Colchis. On the other hand, there is much imitation of A. Cp. V.F. i. 255; A.R. i. 553; V.F. iii. 565-97; A. i. 1261-72; V.F. iv. 733; A. ii. 774; V.F. v. 73-100; A. ii. 911-929.
490. In Apollonius the aid of Aphrodite and Eros is requisitioned to make Medea fall in love with Jason, but there is no further conventional supernatural interference. In Valerius, Juno (v. 350, vi. 456-660, vii. 153-90) kindles Medea's passion with Venus's aid. In vii, 190 sqq., Venus goes in person.
491. As evidence for Apollonius' superiority cp. V.F. v. 329 sqq.; A.R. iii. 616 sq.; V.F. vii, 1-25; A.R. iii. 771 sq.; V.F v. 82-100; A.R. ii. 911-21.
492. v. 418. Cp. Apollon. iv. 272; Herod, ii. 103; Strab. xvi. 4. 4; Plin.N.H.xxxiii, 52.
493. vi. 118. Cp. also v. 423:
Arsinoen illi tepidaeque requirunt otia laeta Phari.
494. Cp. vii. 35 sqq.
495. As, for instance, in theAlcestisof Euripides and Callimachus' Hymn to Artemis.
496. A.R. i. 1167 [Greek: d_e tot anochliz_on tetr_echotos oidmatos olkous | messothen axen eretmon atar tryphos allo men autos | amph_o chersin ech_on pese dochmios, allo de pontos | klyze palirrothioisi pher_on. ana d' hezeto sig_e | paptain_on cheires gar a_etheon _eremeousai].
497. Cp. also V.F. iv. 682-5; viii. 453-7.
498. For obscurity cp. also iii. 133-7, 336-7; vii. 55.
499. Valerius is fond of such inversions, especially in the case of particles, pronouns, &c.; cp. v. 187iuxta; ii. 150sed; vi. 452quippe; vi. 543sed.
500. Cp. i. 436-8; ii. 90; iii. 434; vi. 183, 260-4.
501. See p. 183.
502. The passage may conceivably be only a rough draft, cp p. 197 note.
503. Cp. also i. 130-48, 251-4.
504. There is little evidence that he had any influence on posterity, though there may be traces of such influence in Hyginus and the Orphic Argonautica. Of contemporaries Statius and Silius seem to have read him and at times to imitate him. See Summers, pp. 8, 9. Blass, however (J. f. Phil. und Päd.109, 471 sqq.), holds that Valerius imitates Statius.
505. Cp. V. F. i. 833 sqq.;Aen.vi. 893, 660 sqq., 638 sqq.; V. F. i. 323; A. viii. 560 sqq.; V. F. vi. 331; A. ix. 595 sqq.; V. F. iii. 136; A. xii. 300 sqq.; V. F. viii. 358; A. x. 305; V. F. vi. 374; A. xi. 803. See Summers, pp. 30-3. His echoes from Vergil are perhaps more obvious in some respects than similar echoes in Statius, owing to the fact that he had a more Vergilian imagination than Statius, and lacked the extreme dexterity of style to disguise his pilferings. But in his general treatment of his theme he shows far greater originality; this is perhaps due to the fact that the Argonaut saga is not capable of being 'Aeneidized' to the same extent as the Theban legend. But let Valerius have his due. He is in the main unoriginal in diction, Statius in composition.
506. Cp. Summers, p. 49. See also note, p. 123.
507. Cp. beside the passages quoted below iii. 558 sqq., 724, 5; iv. 16-50, 230, 1; v. 10-12; vii. 371-510, 610, 648-53.
508. One is tempted at times to account for the profusion and lack of spontaneity of similes in poets of this age by the supposition that they kept commonplace books of similes and inserted them as they thought fit.
509. vi. 260:
qualem populeae fidentem nexibus umbrae siquis avem summi deducat ab aere rami, ante manu tacita cui plurima crevit harundo; illa dolis viscoque super correpta sequaci inplorat ramos atque inrita concitat alas.
510. vii. 124:
sic adsueta toris et mensae dulcis erili, aegra nova iam peste canis rabieque futura, ante fugam totos lustrat queribunda penates.
511. iv. 699:
discussa quales formidine Averni Alcides Theseusque comes pallentia iungunt oscula vix primas amplexi luminis oras.
512. This simile is a free translation from Apollonius, iii. 966 [Greek: t_o d' aneo kai anaudoi ephestasan all_eloisin, | h_e drusin h_e makr_esin eeidomenoi elat_esin, | ai te parasson ek_eloi en ourresin erriz_ontai,| n_enemiae meta d' autis upo mip_es anemoio | kitumenai omad_esan apeiriton _os ara t_oge | mellon alis phthenchasthai upo pnoi_esin Er_otos.] Valerius has compressed the last three lines intorapidus nondum quas miscuit Auster. The effectivemiscuitconveys nearly as much as the longer and not less beautiful version in the Greek.
513. This accumulation is probably due to the lack of revision.obvius … pavorfits the context ill and is curiously reminiscent of I. 392 ('iam stabulis gregibusque pavor strepitusque sepulcris inciderat'), while II. 400-2 would probably have been considerably altered had the poem undergone its final correction. There are other indications of the unfinished character of the work to be found in this passage (p. 181, note).
514. Cp. also viii. 10, where Medea bids farewell to her home. 'O my father, would thou mightest give me now thy last embrace, as I fly to exile, and mightest behold these my tears. Believe me, father, I love not him I follow more than thee: would that the stormy deep might whelm us both. And mayest thou long hold thy realm, grown old in peace and safety, and mayest thou find thy children that remain more dutiful than me.'
515. Ap. Rh. iii. 1105 sqq.; cp. also Murray on Apollonius in hisHistory of Greek Literature, p. 382.
516.Silv.v. 3. 116 sqq.
517. Ib. 146 sqq.
518. Ib. 163.
519. Ib. 141.
520. Ib. 195-208. This passage suggests that the elder Statius died soon after 79 A.D. On the other hand, he probably lived some years longer as theThebais, inspired and directed by him, was not begun till 80 A.D. He must, however, have died before 89 A.D., the earliest date assignable to Statius' victory at the Alban contest.
521.Silv.v. 3. 225.
522. Juv. vii. 86. Paris had fallen from imperial favour by 83 A.D. Dio. lxvii. 3. 1.
523.Silv.v. 3. 215.
524. Juv. vii. 82.
525.Silv.v. 3. 227. The subject of his prize recitation was the triumph of Domitian over the Germans and Dacians; i.e. after 89 A.D.
526. Praef.Silv.i. 'pro Thebaide quamvis me reliquerit timeo.' The first book of theSilvaewas published in 92 A.D. For the time taken for its composition and the poet's anticipations of immortality seeTh.xii. 811 sqq.
527. See previous note.
528.Silv.iii. 5. 28, v. 3. 232. The Agon Capitolinus was instituted in 86 A.D. The contests falling in Statius' lifetime are those of 86, 90, 94 A.D. As his failure is always mentioned after the Alban victory, 94 A.D. would seem the most probable date.
529. Rutilius Gallicus had just died when the first book was published; cp. Praef., bk. i. This took place in 92 A.D.; cp.C.I.L.v. 6988, vi. 1984. 8.Silv.iv. 1 celebrates Domitian's seventeenth consulate (95 A.D.).
530. See previous note.
531. Such at least is a legitimate inference from the fact that it is not mentioned before the fourth and fifth books of theSilvae; cp. iv. 4. 94, iv. 7. 23, v. 2. 163.
532. Written probably in 95 A.D. Statius promises such a work inSilv.iv. 4. 95. Four lines are quoted from it in G. Valla's scholia on Juv. iv. 94:
lumina: Nestorei mitis prudentia Crispi et Fabius Veiento (potentem signat utrumque purpura, ter memores implerunt nomine fastos), et prope Caesareae confinis Acilius aulae.
533. Praef.Silv.iv 'Maximum Vibium et dignitatis et eloquentiae nomine a nobis diligi satis eram testatus epistula quam ad illum de editione Thebaidos meae publicavi.'
534. Witness poems such as the Villa Surrentina Pollii.Silv.ii. 2. 3, 1.
535.Silv.iii. 5. 13.
536. Praef.Silv.iii. and iii. 5. He was married soon after beginning theThebais, i.e. about 82 A.D. (cp.S.iii. 5. 35). Claudia had a daughter by her first husband, iii. 5. 52-4.
537. v. 5. 72-5.
538. iii. 5. 13, iv. 4. 69, v. 2. 158. It is worth noting how late in life all his best work was done, i.e. 80-95 A.D.
539. The well-known passage of Juvenal, vii. 86 ('cum fregit subsellia versu, esurit, intactam Paridi nisi vendit Agaven'), as has been pointed out, is only Juvenal's exaggerated way of saying that theThebaisbrought Statius no material gain. The family was not, however, rolling in wealth; cp. v. 3. 116 sqq.
540. His friendships do not throw much light on his life, though they show that he moved in high circles. Rutilius Gallicus (i. 4) had had a distinguished career and rose to bepraefectus urbis; Claudius Etruscus (i. 5), originally a slave from Smyrna, had risen to the imperial posta rationibus; Abascantus (v. 1) held the office known asab epistulis; Plotius Grypus (iv. 9) came of senatorial family; Crispinus (v. 2) was the son of Vettius Bolanus, Governor of Britain and afterwards of Asia; Vibius Maximus (iv. 7) became praefect of Egypt under Trajan; Polla Argentaria (ii. 7) was the widow of Lucan; Arruntius Stella (i. 2) was a poet, and rose to the consulship. Most of these persons must have been possessed of strong literary tastes. Some are mentioned by Martial, e.g. Stella, Claudius Etruscus, Polla Argentaria. Atedius Melior and Novius Vindex were also friends of the two poets. Both must have moved in the same circles, yet neither ever mentions the other. They were probably jealous of one another and on bad terms.
541. e.g. ii. 2. Cp. also i. 3. 64-89.
542. Dante regards him also as a Christian. This compliment was paid by the Middle Ages to not a few of the great classical authors. It was not even a fatal obstacle to have lived before the birth of Christ. Cicero, for instance, was believed to have been a Christian. The description of the Altar of Mercy at Athens (Th.xii. 493) has been regarded as a special reason for the Christianizing of Statius: cp. Verrall,Oxford and Cambridge Review, No. 1; Arturo Graf,Roma nella memoria del medio evo, vol. ii, ch. 17.
543. This statement does not, however, apply to theSilvae.
544. Ov.Am. i. 15. 14.
545. Merivale,Rom. Emp. viii. 80, 1.
546. Merivale,Rom. Emp. viii. 80, 1.
547. The sources for his story were the old Cyclic poem, the later epic of Antimachus, the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, that draw their plots from the Theban cycle of legend. The material thus given him he worked over in the Vergilian manner, remoulding incidents or introducing fresh episodes in such a fashion as to provide precise parallels to many episodes in theAeneid. He also drew certain hints from thePhoenissaeandOedipusof Seneca: for details see Legras,Étude sur la Thébaide de Stace, part i, ch. 2, part ii, chh. 1 and 2. The subject had been treated also by one Ponticus, the friend of Propertius (Prop. i. 7. 1, Ov.Tr. iv. 10. 47) and possibly by Lynceus (Prop. ii. 34).
548. Legras,Les Légendes Théb., ch. iii. 4. The [Greek: Amphiaraou exelasis] mentioned by Suidas s.v. [Greek: Hom_eros] is sometimes identified with theThebais; but it is more probably merely the title of a book of that epic. Still the fact that the [Greek: Amph. exel.] is given such prominence by Suidas does lend some support to the view that he was the chief character of the epic. He is certainly the most tragic figure.
549. Porphyr. ad Hor.A.P.146.
550. Vergil had given six books to the wanderings of Aeneas; Statius must give six to the preparation and march of the Thebans!
551. See Legras, op. cit., pp. 183 ff.
552. x. 632.
553. xi. 457. Cp. also the strange and stilted description of the cave of sleep, x. 84, where Quies, Oblivio, Ignavia, Otium, Silentium, Voluptas, and even Labor and Amor are to be found. But with the exception of Amor these abstract personages are inventions of Statius. Virtus and Pietas had temples at Rome.
554. iv. 32-308; vii. 250-358.
555. x. 262-448.
556. vi. 1-921. Two other funerals are to be found, in. 114-217, xii. 22-104.
557.Th.i. 557 sqq.; Verg.Aen.viii. 190 sqq.
558. v. 17-498: with this compare the version of the story given by Valerius Maccus, ii. 78-305; except in point of brevity there is little to choose between the two versions. But it is not a digression in Valerius, and it is told at less inordinate length. The versions differ much in detail, and Statius owes little or nothing to Valerius.
559. Op. Legras,Les légendes Thébaines, ch. ii. 4, Welcker,Ep. Cycl.ii. 350. The story was well known. Aeschylus probably treated it in his [Greek: Nemea,] Euripides certainly in his [Greek: ypsipel_e]. The legend gives the origin of the Nemean games.
560. The speeches in theThebais, though they lack variety, are almost always exceedingly clever and quite repay reading; see esp. i. 642; iii. 59, 151, 348; iv. 318; vi. 138; vii. 497, 539; ix. 375; xi. 155, 677, 708.
561. iii. 348.
562. v. 660.
563. vii. 538.
564. viii. 751. Tydeus bites the severed head of Melanippus to the brain, thereby losing the gift of immortality that Pallas was hastening to bring him. The incident is revolting, but Statius has merely followed the old legend recorded by Aesch.Sept.587; Soph.Fr.731; Eurip.Fr.357.
565. Cp. in this context Atalanta's beautiful lament on his departure for the war, iv. 318.
566. Every book, however, abounds in echoes of Vergil, both in matter and diction; e.g.Aen.vii. 475, Allecto precipitates the war by making Ascanius kill a tame stag.Theb.vii. 562, an Erinnys brings about the war by causing the death of two pet tigers sacred to Bacchus.Aen.xi. 591, Diana orders one of her nymphs to kill the slayer of Camilla.Theb.ix. 665, she tells Apollo that the slayer of Parthenopaeus shall perish by her arrows, for which seeTh.ix. 875. Cp. alsoTh.ii. 205;Aen.iv. 173, 189;Th.ii. 162;Aen.xi. 581. The passage previously referred to concerning the exploits of Dymas and Hopleus is especially noteworthy as openly challenging comparison with Vergil; cp. x. 445. For verbal imitations cp.Aen.v. 726, 7;Th.ii. 115;Aen.i. 106;Th.v. 366;Aen.vii. 397;Th.iv. 379, &c. It is no defence to urge that the ancients held different views on plagiarism, that Vergil and Ovid pilfered from their predecessors. Fortheymade their appropriations their own, and set the stamp of their genius upon what they borrowed. And, further, the process of borrowing cannot continue indefinitely. The cumulative effect of progressive plagiarism is distressing. For Statius' imitation of other Latin poets, notably Lucan, Seneca, and Ovid, see Legras, op. cit., i. 2. Such imitations, though not very rare, are of comparatively small importance.
567. ix. 315 sqq.
568. Statius is imitating early Greek epic. That might excuse him if these similes possessed either truth or beauty.
569. See p.123, note.
570. i. 841-85 gives a good idea of theAchilleisat its best. The passage describes the unmasking of the disguised Achilles.
571. Quint, x. 3. 17.
572.Silv.i. 1. 6; iii. 4; iv. 1. 2, 3.
573. ii. 1. 6; iii. 3.
574. v. 1. 3, 5.
575. iii. 5; iv. 4. 5, 7; v. 2.
576. i. 4.
577. iii. 2.
578. i. 3. 5; ii. 2; iii. 1.
579. i. 2.
580. ii. 7.
581. iv. 6.
582. ii. 4. 5.
583. v. 4.
584. Cp. also the extravagant dedication of theThebais.
585. It is hard to select from theSilvae. Beside, those poems from which quotations are given, iii. 5, v. 3 and 5 are best worth reading. But the average level is high. The Sapphic and Alcaic poems (iv. 5 and 7) and the hexameter poems in praise of Domitian (i. 1, iii. 4, iv. 1 and 2) are the least worth reading.
586. The poem on the death of his father (v. 3) shows genuine depth of feeling, but its elaborate artificiality is somewhat distressing, considering the theme. (The same is true to a less degree of v. 5.) V. 3 must be, in portions at any rate, the earliest of theSilvae, for (l. 29) the poet states that his father has been dead but three months. But it records (ll. 219-33) events which took place long after that time (i.e. victory at Alba and failure at Agon Capitolinus). The poem must have been rewritten in part, ll. 219-33 at least being later additions. The inconsistency between these lines and line 29 is probably due to the poet having died before revising bk. v for publication.
587. viii. 8; ii. 17; v. 6.
588. With Statius, as with Martial, the hendecasyllable always begins with a spondee. The Alcaics of iv. 5 and Sapphics of iv. 7 call for no special comment. They are closely modelled on Horace. The two poems fail because they are prosy and uninteresting, not through any fault of the metre, but it may be that Statius felt his powers hampered by an unfamiliar metre.
589. Ifiuvenisbe taken to refer to Statius, the poem must be an early work or depict an imaginary situation. The alternative is to take it as a vocative referring to Sleep.
590.C.I.L.vi. 1984. 9, in the 'fasti sodalium Augustalium Claudialium'. In MSS. Pliny and Tacitus, he is Silius Italicus, in Martial simply Silius or Italicus.
591. Plin.Ep.iii. 7. In the description of his life which follows, Pliny is the authority, where not otherwise stated.
592. Pliny writes in 101 A.D. to record Silius' death. Silius was over seventy-five when he died.
593.Italicusmight suggest that he came from the Spanish town ofItalica. But Martial, who addresses him in several epigrams of almost servile flattery, would surely have claimed him as fellow-countryman had this been the case.
594. Pliny, loc. cit.; Tac.Hist.iii. 65.
595. His poem was already planned in 88; cp. Mart. iv. 14 (published 88 A.D.). Some of it was already written in 92; cp.legis, M. vii. 62 (published 92 A.D.). But the allusion to Domitian, iii. 607, must have been inserted after that date, while xiv. 686 points to the close of Nerva's principate. Statius,Silv.iv. 7. 14 (published 95 A.D.) seems to imitate Silius:
Dalmatae montes ubi Dite viso pallidus fossor redit erutoque concolor auro.
Sil. i. 233 'et redit infelix effosso concolor auro.' The last five books, compressed and markedly inferior to i-xii, may have been left unrevised.