Iranian Themes in the Poetry of Statius
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/CC.21.2018.21.01Keywords:
Statius, Romano-Parthian relations, Flavian poetry, Iran in Latin poetryAbstract
Iranian Themes in the Poetry of Statius
Publius Papinius Statius was one of the most important poets of the Flavian Age. His works (Thebais, Silvae and unfinished Achilleis) became the object of great interest of scholars. One of the issues of Statian poetry that was so far ignored by scholars was its image of the East and Easterners. Among them the Iranian world (first of all Parthian empire) is the one that deserves special interest because of the importance of relations between Rome and Parthia as well as the old literary tradition concerning Persia, Parthia etc. Although this matter is of marginal importance in Statius, there are a lot of references to Iranian themes in Thebais and Silvae. Some of them are connected with military and political relations with Rome (esp. the Armenian War in the times of Nero), while some refer to ethnographic tradition and traditional image of Achaemenid Persia. In these passages we can find great influence of Augustan poets, Horace in particular.
PlumX Metrics of this article
References
Primary sources and commentaries:
P. Papini Stati Silvae, rec. A. Marastoni, Leipzig 1970.
P. Papinius Statius, Thebais, eds. A. Klotz, T.C. Klinnert, Leipzig 1973.
Stacjusz, Sylwy, transl. M. Brożek, Wrocław 2006.
Stacjusz, Tebaida. Epopeja bohaterska w dwunastu pieśniach, transl. M. Brożek, Kraków 1996.
Statius, Silvae IV, edited with an English Translation and Commentary by K.M. Coleman, Oxford 1988. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780198140313.book.1
Statius, Silvae 5, edited with Introduction, Translation and Commentary by B. Gibson, Oxford 2009.
Statius, Silvae, Thebaid I-IV, with an English Translation by J.H. Mozley, London – New York 1928.
Statius, Thebaid V-XII, Achilleid, with an English Translation by J.H. Mozley, London – New York 1928.
Secondary sources:
Babnis T., 2016, ‘Persowie, Medowie, Partowie w Pieśniach Horacego’, Nowy Filomata XX, pp. 171–187.
Bardon H., 1962, ‘Le goût à l’époque des Flaviens’, Latomus 21, Fasc. 4, pp. 732–748.
Campbell B., 2002 (19931), ‘War and diplomacy: Rome and Parthia, 31 BC–AD 235’, [in:] War and Society in the Roman World, J. Rich, G. Shipley (eds.), London–New York, pp. 213–240. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003071341-10
Dalby A., 2000, Empire of Pleasures. Luxury and Indulgence in the Roman World, London – New York.
Dąbrowa E., 1981, ‘Les rapports entre Rome et les Parthes sous Vespasien’, Syria 58(1/2), pp. 187–204. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/syria.1981.6723
Dąbrowa E., 1983, La politique de l’État parthe à l’égard de Rome - d’Artaban II à Vologèse I (ca 11 – ca 79 de n.e.) et les facteurs qui la conditionnaient, Kraków.
Debevoise N.C., 1938, A Political History of Parthia, Chicago.
Dominik W.J., 2016, ‘Epigram and Occasional Poetry: Social Life and Values in Martial’s Epigrams and Statius’ Silvae’, [in:] A Companion to the Flavian Age of Imperial Rome, A. Zissos (ed.), Wiley & Blackwell, pp. 412–433. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118878149.ch23
Eck W., 1985, ‘Statius Silvae 1.4 und C. Rutilius Gallicus als Proconsul Asiae II’, The American Journal of Philology 106(4), pp. 475–484, [on-line:] https://dx.doi.org/10.2307/295198. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/295198
Edwell P.M., 2008, Between Rome and Persia. The Middle Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Palmyra Under Roman Control, London – New York. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203938331
Edwell P.M., 2013, ‘The Euphrates as a Boundary between Rome and Parthia in the Late Republic and Early Empire’, Antichthon 47, pp. 191–206, [on-line:] https://doi.org/10.1017/S0066477400000332. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0066477400000332
Gauly B.M., 2006, ‘Das Glück des Pollius Felix. Römische Macht und privater Luxus in Statius’ Villengedicht “silv.” 2,2’, Hermes 134(4), pp. 455–470. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25162/hermes-2006-0037
Gibson B., 2008, ‘Battle Narratives in Statius, Thebaid’, [in:] The Poetry of Statius, J.J.L. Smolenaars, H.-J. van Dam, R.R. Nauta (eds.), Leiden–Boston, pp. 85–109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004171343.i-276.16
Gibson B., 2015, ‘Negative Stereotypes of Wealth in the Works of Statius’, [in:] Brill’s Companion to Statius, W.J. Dominik, C.E. Newlands, K. Gervais (eds.), Leiden–Boston, pp. 123–138, [on-line:] https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004284708_008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004284708_008
Grosso F., 1954, ‘Aspetti della politica orientale di Domiziano’, Epigraphica. Rivista italiana di epigrafia 16, pp. 117–179.
Gruen E.S., 2011, Rethinking the Other in Antiquity, Princeton–Oxford. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400836550
Griffin M., 2008, ‘The Flavians’, [in:] Cambridge Ancient History. Volume XI. The High Empire, A.D. 70-192, A.K. Bowman, P. Garnsey, D. Rathbone (eds.), pp. 1–83, [on-line:] https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521263351.002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521263351.002
Hardie A., 1983, Statius and the Silvae. Poets, Patrons and Epideixis in the Graeco-Roman World, Liverpool.
Hardie Ph., 2007, ‘Images of the Persian Wars in Rome’, [in:] Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars. Antiquity to the Third Millennium, E. Bridges, E. Hall, P.J. Rhodes (eds.), Oxford, pp. 127–143, [on-line:] https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279678.003.0007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199279678.003.0007
Henderson J., 1998, A Roman Life. Rutilius Gallicus on Paper & in Stone, Exeter.
Henriksén C., 1997, ‘Earinus: An Imperial Eunuch in the Light of the Poems of Martial and Statius’, Mnemosyne, Fourth Series 50(3), pp. 281–294, [on-line:] https://doi.org/10.1163/1568525972609681. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/1568525972609681
Hershkowitz D., 1998, The Madness of Epic: Reading Insanity From Homer to Statius, Oxford.
Hollis A.S., 1994, ‘Statius’ Young Parthian King (‘Thebaid’ 8.286-93)’, Greece and Rome 41(2), pp. 205–212. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S001738350002341X
Jones B.W., 2002, The Emperor Domitian, London–New York. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203036259
de Jong A., 1997, Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin Literature, Leiden–New York–Köln. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004301467
Kozłowski J., 2012, Wschód rzymski pod panowaniem Flawiuszów (70-96 po Chr.). Reformy administracyjne i polityka zewnętrzna, Poznań–Gniezno.
Lerouge Ch., 2007, L’image des Parthes dans le monde gréco-romain, Stuttgart.
Lipiński E., 2014, ‘Median *Ganza- as Loanword’, Anabasis 5, pp. 7–12.
Lovatt E., 2005, Statius and Epic Games: Sport, Politics and Poetics in the Thebaid, Cambridge, [on-line:] https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511482274. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511482274
Myers K.S., 2000, ‘‘Miranda Fides’: Poet and Patrons in Paradoxographical Landscapes in Statius’ Silvae’, Materiali e discussioni per l’analisi dei testi classici 44, pp. 103–138. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/40236153
Newlands C.E., 2004, Statius’ Silvae and the Poetics of Empire, Cambridge.
Olbrycht M.J., 1997, ‘Parthian King’s Tiara–Numismatic Evidence and Some Aspects of Arsacid Political Ideology’, Notae Numismaticae 2, pp. 27–65.
Olbrycht M.J., 2013, Imperium Parthicum. Kryzys i odbudowa państwa Arsakidów w pierwszej połowie pierwszego wieku po Chrystusie, Kraków.
Sonnabend H., 1986, Fremdenbild und Politik. Vorstellungen der Römer von Ägypten und dem Partherreich in der späten Republik und frühen Kaiserzeit, Frankfurt am Main–Bern–New York.
Spawforth A., 2012, Greece and the Augustan Cultural Revolution, Cambridge, [on-line:] https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511997853. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511997853
Szelest H., 1971, „Sylwy” Stacjusza, Wrocław–Warszawa–Kraków–Gdańsk.
Śnieżewski S., 2010, Słowo i obraz. Studia historycznoliterackie nad Sylwami Stacjusza, Kraków.
Traina G., 2010, La resa di Roma. 9 giugno 53 a.C., battaglia a Carre, Bari.
Tuplin Ch., 1989, ‘The False Neros of the First Century AD’, [in:] Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History, C. Deroux (ed.), Bruxelles, pp. 364–404.
White P., 1975, ‘The Friends of Martial, Statius, and Pliny, and the Dispersal of Patronage’, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 79, pp. 265–300. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/311139
Zabłocki S., 1965, Antyczne epicedium i elegia żałobna. Geneza i rozwój, Wrocław.
Zeiner N.K., 2005, Nothing Ordinary Here. Statius as Creator of Distinction in the Silvae, New York–London.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2018 Tomasz Babnis
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
