Under Vespasian, the mad terror of the reign of Nero was succeeded by a period of calm. In literature also greater dignity and better taste succeeds to the exaggerated rhetoric of the preceding years. The writers of the Flavian period—the so-called Silver Age of Roman literature—revert to the manner of the great Augustan writers. Tacitus alone develops a style of marked originality, and Tacitus is the only really great writer of this period. The others, foremost among whom are Quintilian, Statius, and the elder Pliny, show learning and judgment, but not genius.
The earliest poet of the Flavian epoch is Gaius Valerius Flaccus, whose only known work is an epic poem entitled Argonautica, on the adventures of Jason and his comrades in quest of the golden fleece. A reference to the capture of Jerusalem by Titus shows that the earlier part of the poem was written not long after 70 A. D., and the mention of the eruption of Vesuvius proves that Valerius Flaccus. it was not completed until after 79 A. D. The poet died shortly before 90 A. D. Further than this nothing is known of his life. The story of the Argonautic expedition was told in the Argonautica of the Greek poet Apollonius Rhodius in the third century B. C., and Valerius Flaccus imitates Apollonius in his general treatment of the subject, sometimes even translating his words; but he amplifies some scenes which Apollonius had treated briefly and adds some new elements to the tale, while on the other hand he omits much of the superfluous learning displayed by Apollonius and narrates briefly parts of the story which the Greek poet had told at greater length. In general, when Valerius changes the treatment of Apollonius the change is for the better. For instance, in the Latin poem, when Jason reaches Colchis, he finds Æetes hard pressed by a hostile army, and receives from him the promise of the golden fleece in return for his assistance in the war. When the enemy is defeated Æetes breaks his promise, and Jason is thus justified in accepting the aid of Medea and her magic arts. Nothing of all this is to be found in Apollonius, and the Roman poet has made a decided addition to the plot of the story. Valerius pays more attention to character painting than Apollonius, and is especially successful in making the characters of Æetes and Jason stand out in strong relief. His description of the mental struggles of Medea, torn between her love for Jason and her duty to her father and her country, is far more effective than that of Apollonius or even than Virgil’s description of Dido’s love for Æneas, which is founded upon Apollonius. In diction Valerius imitates Virgin, though his style is far less simple and clear than Virgil’s, and in the treatment of many episodes of the poem he copies Virgil’s treatment of similar themes; the work shows also the influence of Ovid and of Seneca’s tragedies. In its present condition the Argonautica breaks off in the eighth book, leaving the tale incomplete; but whether the remainder of the poem is lost or was never written can not be determined.
Silius Italicus, whose whole name was Tiberius Cattius Silius Italicus, chose for the subject of his epic a Roman theme, the second Punic War. Silius Italicus. He was born in 25 A. D. and starved himself to death on account of an incurable disease in 101 A. D. He is said to have been an informer (delator) under Nero, but rose to the consulship in 68 A. D., and was afterwards governor of Asia under Vespasian. The latter part of his life was spent in honorable retirement in Campania. Here he devoted himself to literature and wrote the seventeen books of the Punica, in which he tells the story of the second Punic War to the decisive battle of Zama, in 202 B. C. His historical information is derived from Livy, and is therefore correct in all essential matters. The events of the war are described in chronological order. The style is an imitation of Homer and Virgil, and the imitation extends to more than mere style, for the traditional epic machinery of gods, prophecies, heroes, and the like, is employed as freely as if the second Punic War were as mythical as the adventures of Æneas. So Juno strives to give Hannibal the victory, while Venus aids the Romans. The sea-god Proteus foretells the course of the war to a Carthaginian fleet, and Hannibal, with his crested helmet, his sword, and his spear “fatal to thousands,” rages about the walls of Saguntum like Achilles at the siege of Troy. In short, Silius, having no poetic inspiration or imagination of his own, uses in his account of the Punic War the methods which had been appropriately applied to the myths of earlier days by Homer and Virgil. As a result, the Punica, though written in good hexameters, is hopelessly dull and uninteresting. The so-called Homerus Latinus, or Ilias Latina, an epitome of the Iliad in one thousand and seventy hexameters, is attributed to the earlier years of Silius Italicus. It attained considerable popularity, but is a work of little merit.
The most eminent poet of this period was Publius Papinius Statius. Statius. He was born at Naples, probably about 40 A. D., but spent most of his life at Rome, though he returned to Naples, probably in 94 A. D. The last date to which reference is made in his poems is 95 A. D. His father was of a distinguished but not wealthy family, and attained some distinction as a poet and teacher, first at Naples, and later at Rome, where Domitian was among his pupils. He had intended to write a poem on the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A. D., but was prevented by death, which must therefore have come upon him about 80 A. D. From him Statius received his early education and his first impulse toward poetry. Statius won prizes for poetry at the Augustalia at Naples, and at Alba, but failed to win a prize at the Capitolia in Rome. This was probably in 94 A. D., and his retirement to Naples may have been due to his disappointment. He was married to a widow named Claudia, who had a daughter by her former husband; but Statius had no children of his own. Domitian regarded him with favor, gave him a supply of running water for his country house at Alba, and invited him to his table. These few details of his life are derived from his poems, chiefly from a poem in honor of his father’s memory, which is published as the third in the fifth book of the Silvæ.
The chief work of Statius is the Thebais, an epic poem in twelve books, the subject of which is the strife between the two sons of Œdipus, Eteocles and Polynices, and the legendary history of Thebes to the death of Creon. This work occupied the poet for twelve years, probably about 80-92 A. D. Works of Statius. His other extant works are the Silvæ, a collection of shorter poems on various subjects, divided into five books, and the Achilleis. None of the poems contained in the Silvæ appears to have been written before 91 or 92 A. D., and the fifth book, which has no preface and which contains some incomplete poems, was probably published after the poet’s death. The Achilleis was to be an account of the life of Achilles, embracing the story of the Trojan War, but it breaks off in the second book, before Achilles reaches Troy. The only lost works of Statius to which any reference exists are a pantomime entitled Agave, and an epic on Domitian’s German war; but the latter work was probably never completed.
Statius was an ardent admirer of Virgil, and the Thebais is an elaborate imitation of the Æneid. The Thebais. Not only Virgil’s language is imitated, but the division of the poem into twelve books, the general chronological sequence of events, the arrangement by which the scenes of combat begin with the seventh book, and the treatment of many individual scenes are adopted from the Æneid. The subject of the Thebais had been treated by many previous poets, and Statius could find the story in various mythological handbooks. It is therefore not certain, though not improbable, that he followed the version given by Antimachus in his Thebais, written in the fifth century B. C. Statius is not a great epic poet. He lacks the sense of proportion and has little dramatic power, in spite of the fact that he evidently aims at dramatic effect. He excels in descriptions and similes, but devotes far too much space to each; his similes especially become wearisome. The entire poem lacks the charm of true poetic inspiration. It is learned and correct, but artificial, imitative, and tedious. One of the briefest of the powerful descriptions in the Thebais, and one which shows Statius’s liking for what is horrible and painful, is that of Œdipus, when he hears of the death of his sons and comes forth to lament over their bodies:
But when their father heard the tale of crime,
He rushed from the deep shadows where he dwelt,
And on the cruel threshold brought to view
His half-dead form; his hoary locks unkempt