Flavian Poetry

Poetry written under the Flavian emperors--Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian in 69-96 CE--is generally considered continuous with earlier and later post-Augustan or silver Latin poetry, and so not really suitable for study as a separate group. However, an August 2003 international colloquium in Groningen focused on it as a way of narrowing the over-broad field of silver Latin poetry. These 21 essays are revised from presentations there. They consider such aspects as the encomium as aestheticization of power, linking the Saguntum and Cannae episodes in Silius Italicus' Punica, and the unity of Martial's metres. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ruurd R. Nauta is Professor of Latin at Groningen University. He is the author ofPoetry for Patrons. Literary Communication in the Age of Domitian (Brill, 2002), and co-editor ofCatullus’ Poem on Attis (Brill, 2005).Harm-Jan van Dam is Associate Professor of Latin at Free University Amsterdam. He is the author ofStatius Silvae II, A Commentary (Brill, 1984) and Hugo Grotius De imperio summarum potestatum circa sacra(Brill, 2001).Johannes J.L. Smolenaars is Associate Professor of Latin at Amsterdam University. He is the author ofStatius Thebaid VII, A Commentary (Brill, 1994), and published widely on Virgil, Ovid, Seneca tragicus and Statius.