Statius' Silvae and the Poetics of Empire

Carole E Newlands author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:14th Mar '02

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Statius' Silvae and the Poetics of Empire cover

A study of the poems of Statius' Silvae, exploring their insights into the culture of the Flavian period.

Although traditionally derided by critics, this study argues that Statius' Silvae offer fascinating insights into the history, politics, art and literature of the Flavian period. They celebrate and explore a flourishing literary and artistic culture which was largely suppressed after the Emperor Domitian's assassination in AD 96.Statius' Silvae, written late in the reign of Domitian (AD 81–96), are a new kind of poetry that confronts the challenge of imperial majesty or private wealth by new poetic strategies and forms. As poems of praise, they delight in poetic excess whether they honour the emperor or the poet's friends. Yet extravagant speech is also capacious speech. It functions as a strategy for conveying the wealth and grandeur of villas, statues and precious works of art as well as the complex emotions aroused by the material and political culture of empire. The Silvae are the product of a divided, self-fashioning voice. Statius was born in Naples of non-aristocratic parents. His position as outsider to the culture he celebrates gives him a unique perspective on it. The Silvae are poems of anxiety as well as praise, expressive of the tensions within the later period of Domitian's reign.

Review of the hardback: '… a valuable contribution to the scholarship on Flavian poetry … A sophisticated and relevant critique … an ambitious and learned project, characterised throughout by an alert eye for detail and inter- (and intra-) textual connections … A book-length study of Silvae had been badly needed for some time and this one is bound to give ample food for thought and promote important debates on the Flavian era and Flavian art.' Efi Spentzou, Royal Holloway, University of London

ISBN: 9780521808910

Dimensions: 236mm x 160mm x 26mm

Weight: 710g

366 pages