SILIUS ITALIC US

The full name of Silius is got from an inscription ( C.I.L. vi. 1984), and is Ti. Catius Silius Italic us. Our chief information about his life is found in Pliny, Epist. iii. 7, where his recent death is mentioned. It was probably written A.D. 101, and as it states that Silius was then 75 years old, the year of his birth was A.D. 25. His birthplace is unknown, but was not Italic a in Spain, otherwise Martial would have claimed him as a countryman. Pliny tells us that Silius had risen by acting as a delator under Nero, who made him consul A.D. 68. He had taken the side of Vitelli us in the war of the succe ion A.D. 69 [85] and had afterwards, as proconsul, governed Asia with succe (under Vespas i an). After this he po e ed great social influence. Towards the end of his life, he retired to Camp an i a, and gave himself up to study. The account of his learned retirement, [86] his reverence for Virgil, [87] the consulship of his son, [88] the death of his younger son, [89] and other details, are corroborated by his contemporary Martial. The pa age of Pliny is as follows: ‘Modo nuntiatus est Silius Italic us in Neapolitano suo inedia fini e vitam. Causa mort is valetudo. Erat ill i nat us insanabilis clavus, cuius taedio ad mortem inrevocabili constant i a decucurrit, usque ad supremum diem beatus et felix, nisi quod minorem ex liber is duobus amisit, sed maiorem melioremque florentem atque etiam consul a rem reliquit. Laeserat famam suam sub Nerone, credebatur sponte accusa e: sed in Vitelli amicitia sap i enter se et comiter ge erat, ex proconsulatu Asiae gloriam report aver at, maculam veteris industriae laudabili otio a bluer at. Fuit inter principes civitatis sine potent i a, sine i nvidia: salutabatur, colebatur, multum que in lectulo iacens cubiculo semper non ex for tuna frequent i docti imis sermon i bus dies transigebat, cum a scribendo vacaret. Scribe bat carmina maiore cur a quam ingenio, non numquam iudicia hominum recitation i bus experiebatur. Novi ime ita suadentibus ann is ab urbe sece it, seque in Camp an i a tenuit, ac ne adventu quidem nov i principis inde commot us est... Erat φιλόκαλος usque ad emacitatis reprehensionem. Plures isdem in loc is villas pos side bat adam at is que nov is priores neglegebat. Multum ubique librorum, multum statuarum, multum imaginum, quas non habebat modo verum etiam venerabatur, Vergilii ante omnes, cuius natalem religiosius quam suum celeb rabat, Neapoli maxime, ubi mon i mentum eius adire ut templum solebat. In hac tranquil lit ate annum quintum et septuagensimum exce it, delicato mag is corpore quam infirmo; utque nov is sim us a Nerone fact us est consul, ita post rem us ex omnibus quos Nero consules fecerat dece it.’ Silius’ career as an orator is mentioned by Martial vii. 63, 5-8, ‘Sacra cothurn at i non attigit ante Mar on is, implevit magni quam Ciceronis opus. Hunc miratur adhuc centum gravis hasta virorum, hunc loquitur grato plurimus ore cliens.’ The Punica is an Epic in seventeen Books on the Second Punic War, and treats of events down to the battle of Zama, B.C. 202. The historical treatment is founded mainly on Livy, and in point of style Silius has followed Homer and Virgil, imitations of whom are found on every page. For Silius’ reverence for Virgil, see above, and cf. viii. 593, ‘Mantua Musarum dom us, atque ad sider a cantu evecta Aonio, et Smyrnaeis aemula plectris.’ Silius also follows Homer and Virgil in their mythology, bringing in supernatural motives in a way unsuitable to a historical subject, e.g. in xv. 20, where Scipio has, like Hercules, to choose between Voluptas and Virtus. The example of Hannibal’s dream, iii. 163-182, will show these different points. The story of the dream is got from Livy xxi. 22, but, for iuvenis divina specie , Silius, like Virg. Aen. iv. 222 sqq. and 259 sqq. substitutes Mercury. Individual imitations in the pa age are: l. 172, ‘Turpe duci totam som no consumere noctem,’ from Il. ii. 24, οὐ χρὴ παννύχιον εὕδειν βουληφόρον ἄνδρα ; l. 168, ‘umentem noctis umbram’ is from Aen. iv. 7, ‘umentemque Aurora polo dim over at umbram’; l. 174, ‘iam maria effusas cernes turbare carinas,’ from Aen. iv. 566, ‘iam mare turbari trabibus... videbis’; l. 182, ‘altae moenia Romae’ is from Aen. i. 7; l. 181, ‘respexi e veto’ from Ecl. 8, 102, ‘nec respexeris.’ The Epitome of the Iliad (in 1075 hexameters), which pa es under the name of Homerus Latin us , has been attributed to Silius. It is a close adaptation from the original.