For Alba cf. Silv. v. 3, 37. The Thebais must recognize its inferiority to the Aeneid: Theb. xii. 816,
‘Vive, precor; nec tu divinam Aeneida tempta,
sed longe sequere et vestigia semper adora.’
(2) WORKS.
1. The Thebais, an epic poem in twelve Books, occupied Statius for twelve years: xii. 811,
‘O mihi bis senos multum vigilata per annos
Thebai.’
Cf. Silv. iv. 7, 26,
‘Thebais multa cruciata lima.’
The twelve years were probably 79-91 or 80-92 A.D. Silv. i. praef. (written 91 or 92), ‘Adhuc pro Thebaide mea, quamvis me reliquerit, timeo.’ The publication apparently did not take place till A.D. 95 (cf. Silv. iv. 4, 87 sqq. written in that year).
The subject of the poem is the strife between the brothers Eteocles and Polynices, and the subsequent history of Thebes to the death of Creon. The dedication is to Domitian. For the popularity of the Thebais cf. Juv. Sat. 7, 82,
‘Curritur ad vocem iucundam et carmen amicae
Thebaidos, laetam cum fecit Statius urbem
promisitque diem. Tanta dulcedine captos
afficit ille animos tantaque libidine volgi
auditur; sed, cum fregit subsellia versu,
esurit, intactam Paridi nisi vendit Agaven.’