Silius Italicus
Silius was generally believed to have voluntarily and enthusiastically become an informer under Nero, prosecuting in court persons whom the emperor wished condemned.
[8] He was consul in the year of Nero's death (AD 68), and afterward became a close friend and ally of the emperor Vitellius, whom he served, according to Pliny sapienter et comiter, wisely and amicably.
[8] He is mentioned by Tacitus as having been one of two witnesses who were present at the conferences between Vitellius and Flavius Sabinus, the elder brother of Vespasian, when the legions from the East were marching rapidly on the capital.
[9] Silius became proconsul of Asia AD 77-78 as attested in an inscription from Aphrodisias which describes his activities in maintaining the institutions of the city.
Despite his wealth and importance in the state, Silius eventually left politics in favor of a leisurely life; after his proconsulship in Asia he seems to have exercised little power and avoided offence.
Pliny depicts him spending time in learned conversation at his villas, writing, passionately collecting books and sculpture,[12] and giving recitations of his works.
His poem contains several passages relating to the Flavians, and Book 14 has been dated tentatively to after AD 96 based on the poet's treatment of Domitian,[15] who is eulogized both as a warrior and as a singer whose lyre is sweeter than that of Orpheus himself.
[16] The poet's attitude to Domitian tends to be laudatory and friendly, employing the full spectrum of Virgilian panegyrical language and imagery.
[25] His dual interests in composing epic poetry and discussing philosophical questions have been compared to the intellectual efforts of his heroes, Virgil and Cicero, respectively.
[29] The poem takes Virgil as its primary stylistic and dramatic inspiration throughout; from its opening, the Punica is configured as the continuation of Juno's grudge against Rome developed in the Aeneid.
"[32] Lucan is also an important model for the writing of historical epic, geographical excursus, and Stoic tone, although Silius' approach toward the gods is much more traditional.
[33] The poem opens with a discussion of Juno's wrath against Rome on account of Aeneas' treatment of Dido and of Hannibal's character and upbringing.
The Carthaginians are catalogued, Hannibal crosses the Alps, and Jupiter reveals that the Punic War is a test of Roman manliness in Book 3.
Petrarch's Africa was composed independently of the Punica, as the manuscript was discovered by Poggio Bracciolini in 1417 at the Abbey of Saint Gall during the Council of Constance.
[39] Many authors were familiar with Silius' work, such as Montaigne, Milton, Dryden (who considered him better than Lucan), Gibbon, and Alexander Pope.
