An Introduction to Silius Italicus and the Punica

John Jacobs

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781350071063
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Roman Ancient History
• Index: History

In a much-needed comprehensive introduction to Silius Italicus and the Punica, Jacobs offers an invitation to students and scholars alike to read the epic as a thoughtful and considered treatment of Rome's past, present, and (perilous) future. The Second Punic War marked a turning point in world history: Rome faced her greatest external threat in the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal, and her victory led to her domination of the Mediterranean. Lingering memories of the conflict played a pivotal role in the city's transition from Republic to Empire, from foreign war to civil war. Looking back after the events of AD 69, the senator–poet Silius Italicus identified the Second Punic War as the turning point in Rome's history through his Punica. After introductory chapters for those new to the poet and his poem, Jacobs' close reading of the epic narrative guides students and scholars alike through the Punica. All Greek and Latin passages are translated to ensure accessibility for those reading in English. Far more than simply a retelling of Rome's greatest triumph, the Punica challenges its reader to make sense of the Second Punic War in light of its full impact on the subsequent course of the city's history.

1

Who Is Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus?

1. Introduction: The Julio-Claudians and the Flavians (31 BC–AD 96)

Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus¹ was born c. AD 25, likely in northern Italy, and died c. AD 100, likely at one of his villas on the Bay of Naples. Silius was a Roman senator, consul, orator, and poet who lived during the final stages of the fraught transition from the Republic to the Empire: from the middle of the reign of the Julio-Claudian emperors (31 BC–AD 68) to the Year of the Four Emperors (AD 68–9), and then, after that long year of civil war, from the reign of the Flavian emperors (AD 69–96) to the beginning of the reign of the Five Good Emperors (AD 96–180). This was undoubtedly one of the most tumultuous periods in Roman history and a time of great change in Rome, as well as in the Roman world at large. The violent and ultimately irrevocable transition from Republic to Empire manifested itself most visibly in the concomitant shift from foreign war (bellum externum) to civil war (bellum internum). Indeed, many later Romans, and many modern scholars, have located the beginning of this process in the end of the three Punic Wars (264–146 BC) and, specifically, in the fall of Carthage (as well as Corinth) in the fateful year of 146 BC. Rome’s rise to hegemony over the Mediterranean put the city not only on the path to empire, but also on the path to Empire, the imperium Romanum in both senses of the term.² Various internal conflicts, from the agitations of the Gracchi (133–121 BC) to the Social War (91–88 BC), culminated in three rounds of full-scale civil war, between Marius (and his son) and Sulla (88–81 BC), Caesar and Pompey (49–45 BC), and Octavian (the future Augustus) and Mark Antony (42–31 BC). These three gladiatorial bouts between rival claimants to a nonexistent throne marked successive stages in the steady degradation of the consulship and the seemingly inevitable return to monarchy. Fittingly, Caesar’s conquest of Gaul (58–50 BC) during this century of civil war likewise marked the last great foreign war of the Republic, when the Romans exorcised their Gallic demons only to turn their swords against each other and then themselves in the suicide of civil war which followed Caesar across the Rubicon.

The assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March (March 15) in 44 BC inaugurated the final phase of this transition from Republic to Empire, culminating in Octavian’s victory over Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium in 31 BC. The transition from Caesar to Octavian functioned as a homology for the larger shift from Republic to Empire and laid the foundation for the dynastic principle in Rome.³ Through the progressive consolidation of various traditional, and non-traditional, powers, Octavian gradually strengthened his position as the princeps (first citizen), rather than making any bold, and potentially unsuccessful, claim to outright supremacy. That said, by adopting the new name of Imperator Caesar Divi filius Augustus (Emperor Caesar son of the Divine [Julius Caesar] Augustus), he also transformed himself from a mere mortal into an abstract idea(l) and, ultimately, into a divine being (divus) in his own right.⁴ By the time of his death in AD 14, Augustus had likewise transformed Rome and the rest of the Roman world by sparking a cultural revolution which, primarily through literature and the arts, radically redefined what it meant to be Roman and, in doing so, paved the way for the progressive consolidation of both the empire and, once again, the Empire.⁵ The line of Julio-Claudian emperors, Rome’s first imperial dynasty, thereafter continued with the reigns of Tiberius (r. 14–37), Caligula (r. 37–41), Claudius (r. 41–54), and Nero (r. 54–68). With each successive emperor, the Republic and, in particular, the circumstances surrounding the fall of the Republic faded further and further into the past, as the Empire became entrenched in every aspect of Roman culture. At the same time, the specters of Caesar and Augustus continued to loom large long after their res gestae (deeds and accomplishments) had made the fraught transition from history to memory. In many ways, the reign of Nero marked a return to the heady days of the reign of Augustus: like Augustus, Nero patronized literature and the arts in support of the ongoing cultural revolution.⁶ All of this came to an abrupt end, however, when Nero, faced with growing opposition both in Rome and in the provinces, committed suicide in AD 68, thereby unleashing a new wave of civil strife. This was the world of Silius, who was born and raised during the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula, and who entered the Senate and held the consulship during the reigns of Claudius and Nero. In fact, Silius was the last consul appointed by Nero, and so there is no doubt that Nero’s suicide had a profound impact on Silius and on the subsequent course of both his public and his private life.

The Year of the Four Emperors (AD 68–9) marked perhaps the most important turning point in the history of the Empire, when Rome faced a stark choice between seemingly incessant civil war and the apparent stability of monarchical rule.⁷ In relatively quick succession, four rival claimants (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian) were proclaimed emperor, whether by their soldiers, the Senate, or both, and all, except Vespasian, marched on Rome to validate their claim. Galba was the first to be recognized as emperor, on June 9, 68: he ruled for seven months, until he was assassinated in the Roman Forum and then decapitated on January 15, 69 by supporters of Otho in the Praetorian Guard (the emperor’s personal bodyguard). After a brief reign of only three months, Otho committed suicide on April 17, 69, following his loss to Vitellius’ forces at the first battle of Bedriacum. Vitellius was subsequently recognized as emperor: he ruled for eight months, until he lost to Vespasian’s forces under the command of M. Antonius Primus at the second battle of Bedriacum and was later assassinated (and perhaps decapitated) in Rome. A war-weary Senate hailed Vespasian as emperor on December 21, 69, although Vespasian himself backdated his accession to July 1, when he was initially proclaimed emperor by the legions in Egypt under Ti. Julius Alexander, followed soon thereafter by the legions in Judaea. Through it all, the events of AD 68–9 had left an indelible mark not only on the Roman psyche but also on the physical city. At the climax of the fighting between the supporters of Vitellius and those of Vespasian, the Capitol itself was set ablaze, and the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus burned to the ground. The image of Roman soldiers trekking over the Alps into Italy, marching on the walls of their own city, and ascending the heights of the Capitol resurrected memories of the Gallic sack of 390 BC and of Hannibal’s march(es) on Rome during the Second Punic War, not to mention the many marches on the city during the civil wars of the Late Republic. In a sense, the self-inflicted defeats of the civil wars subverted the hard-fought triumphs of the foreign wars. Silius himself witnessed all of the destruction firsthand, since he played a pivotal role in the negotiations which eventually brought the fighting to an end and evidently ingratiated himself with the new emperor, Vespasian, despite having been an ally of Vitellius earlier in the conflict.

Vespasian (r. 69–79) arrived in Rome the following year, in AD 70, and inaugurated a series of reforms aimed at restoring stability and improving public morals. In doing so, Vespasian intentionally cast himself in the mold of Augustus in order to establish what would later become Rome’s second imperial dynasty.⁸ That same year, his older son, Titus, captured Jerusalem after a lengthy siege and razed the Second Temple to the ground, marking a turning point in the Jewish War (AD 66–74), the first of three such conflicts.⁹ Titus subsequently entered Rome in triumph in AD 71, a moment commemorated by the construction of the Temple of Peace and, later, the Arch of Titus.¹⁰ For Romans eager to put the Year of the Four Emperors behind them, the fall of Jerusalem and, especially, the fall of the Second Temple inspired hopes of other future conquests; in reality, however, the war continued until the fall of Masada through mass suicide in AD 73. Regardless, Vespasian wisely capitalized on the zeal for peace at home through war abroad by crafting the narrative of this new “Pax Flavia” in imitation of the earlier Pax Augusta. At his death in AD 79, Vespasian bestowed the Empire upon Titus. The brief reign of Titus (r. 79–81) was punctuated by two major events in Roman history: the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79, which destroyed ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Dedication
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• List of Maps
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Note on Text/Translation
• Note on Bibliography
• List of Abbreviations
• Maps
• Introduction: Why Silius?
• 1 Who Is Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus?
• 2 What Is the Punica?
• 3 A Reading of Punica 1–10: From Saguntum to Cannae
• 4 A Reading of Punica 11–17: From Cannae to Zama
• 5 Carthage and Rome in the Punica, Part 1
• 6 Carthage and Rome in the Punica, Part 2
• Conclusion: Silius Italicus and the Punica in Classical Literature
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright