Virgil, imitations of whom are found on
every page. For Silius' reverence for Virgil, see above, and cf. viii.
593,

'Mantua Musarum domus, atque ad sidera cantu
evecta Aonio, et Smyrnaeis aemula plectris.'

Silius also follows Homer and Virgil in their mythology, bringing in
supernatural motives in a way unsuitable to a historical subject,
_e.g._ in xv. 20, where Scipio has, like Hercules, to choose between
Voluptas and Virtus.

The example of Hannibal's dream, iii. 163-182, will show these
different points. The story of the dream is got from Livy xxi. 22,
but, for _iuvenis divina specie_, Silius, like Virg. _Aen._ iv. 222
_sqq._ and 259 _sqq._ substitutes Mercury. Individual imitations in
the passage are: l. 172, 'Turpe duci totam somno consumere noctem,'
from _Il._ ii. 24, +ou chre pannychion heudein boulephoron
andra+; l. 168, 'umentem noctis umbram' is from _Aen._ iv. 7,
'umentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram'; l. 174, 'iam maria effusas
cernes turbare carinas,' from _Aen._ iv. 566, 'iam mare turbari
trabibus ... videbis'; l. 182, 'altae moenia Romae' is from _Aen._ i.
7; l. 181, 'respexisse veto' from _Ecl._ 8, 102, 'nec respexeris.'

The Epitome of the Iliad (in 1075 hexameters), which passes under the
name of _Homerus Latinus_, has been attributed to Silius. It is a
close adaptation from the original.

STATIUS.

(1) LIFE.

P. Papinius Statius was born at Naples (_Silv._ i. 2, 260, 'mea
Parthenope'), probably about A.D. 60, for he speaks of himself as on
the threshold of life at the time of his father's death, about A.D. 80
('limine primo fatorum,' _Silv._ v. 3, 72). The apparent discrepancy
in _Silv._ iv. 4, 69 (written A.D. 94-5), 'Nos facta aliena canendo
vergimur in senium,' may be explained by observing that 'senium' is
very often used for premature age induced by study (cf. 'insenuit,'
Hor. _Ep._ ii. 2, 82).

The father of Statius came of a distinguished but not wealthy family:
_Silv._ v. 3, 116,

'Non tibi deformes obscuri sanguinis ortus
nec sine luce genus, quamquam fortuna parentum
artior expensis.'

He taught first at Naples (_ibid._ l. 146) and then at Rome (l. 176);
and died at the age of sixty-five (l. 252) soon after the eruption of
Vesuvius, which he had intended to make the subject of a poem (l.
205). It was from his learned father ('genitor perdocte,' l. 3) that
Statius derived his first impulse towards poetry, and to his training
he acknowledges deep obligatio