2. Works.
The Argonautica, an Hexameter poem in eight Books, apparently unfinished. The poem is in part a translation, in part a free imitation of the Alexandrine epic of Apollonius Rhodius (222-181 B.C.) ‘His descriptive power, particularly shown in touches of natural scenery, his pure diction and correct style have inclined some critics to set Valerius Flaccus above his Greek model.’—North Pinder. The rhetorical treatment of the subject, so characteristic of the period of the decline, is, however, too prominent throughout his work. Both his rhythm and language are closely modelled on Vergil.
VALERIUS MAXIMUS, fl. 26 A.D.
1. Life.
VALERIUS
MAXIMUS.
All that we know of him is that he visited Asia in company with Sextus Pompeius (the friend of Ovid and of Germanicus), circ. 27-30 A.D.
2. Works.
Facta et Dicta Memorabilia, in nine Books. Each Book is divided into chapters on separate subjects (e.g. De Severitate, De Verecundia, De Constantia), under each of which he gives illustrations from Roman history and from the history of other nations, in order to show the native superiority (as he thinks) of Romans to foreigners, and especially to Greeks. As an historian he is most untrustworthy, but there are many gaps in Roman history (e.g. owing to the lost books of Livy) which he helps to supply. His style shows all the faults of his age and rhetorical training; his work was probably intended to be a commonplace-book for students and teachers of rhetoric.