Statius: Silvae. Thebaid (Books 1-4) [1] 9780674992269, 0674992261

Citation preview

THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY EDITED BV T. E.

E.

CAPPS,

PAGE,

MIT.D.

W. H. D. ROUSE,

PH.D., LL.D.

STATIUS I

i.itt.d.

s^

STATIUS WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY J.

MOZLEY,

H.

M.A.

SOMETIME SCHOLAR OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE LECTURER IN CLASSICS AT EAST LONDON COLLIGE, UNIVERSITY Of LONDON

TWO VOLUMES

IN

THEBAID

SILVAE

I-IV

y-b-

LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS

NEW YORK

:

MCMXXVIII

P/9

V.I

&CC.Z

printed

iti

Great Britain.

CONTENTS OF VOLUME

I PACE

Inthoduction

vii

SILVAE Book

I-

Statius to his friend Stella I.

II.

The

... ...

statue of Domitian Epithalaiiiium in honour of Stella and Violentilla

III.

IV. V.

VI.

....

The villa of Manlius Vopiscus To Kutilius Gallieus The baths of Claudius Etruscus The Kalends of December .

.

.

.

.

.

.

2 6

14 38 46 58 6'4

Book II— Statins to his friend Melior I.

11.

III.

IV.

V. VI. VII.

Glaucias

The The

of Pollius Felix tree of Atedius Melior Melior's parrot villa

The tame lion To Flavins Ursus

.

To Polla on Lucan's birthday

72 76 94 106 112 116 118 128

CONTENTS Book III— I.

Statins to his friend Pollius The temjile of Hei'cules at

....

Surrentum

To Maecius Celer To Claudius Etruscus The tresses of Elavius Earinus To liis wife Claudia

II.

III.

IV.

V.

IV—

Book

Statius to his friend Marcellus

The seventeenth consulship To the Emperor Domitian The Domitian Road To Vitorius Marcellus To Septimius Severus The Hercules statuette To Vibius Maximus To Julius Menecrates To Plotius Grypus

I.

n. III.

IV V.

VI.

of Domitian

.

VII. VIII.

IX.

Book

V—

Statius to his friend Abascantus I.

II.

On

the death of Priscilla

The

praises of Crispinus

III.

A

IV.

To Sleep

V.

A

lament

lament

Fragment

of a

.....

for his father

.

for his adoj^ted son

Poem on

the

German War

THEBAID Book

INTRODUCTION PuBLius Papinius Statius was born at Naples, probably about A.D. 40." His father was a native of Velia on the Lucanian coast, but had moved to Naples, where as " graniniatlcus " he conducted a school to which pupils came from all parts of Italy. Here he taught literature, which in the secondary school of the time meant poetry, with exposition of grammar, style, and antiquities he also instructed his pupils in augury and the various rites of the Roman state religion. He was himself a poet, and had won prizes in the Grecian contests, at Delphi, Nemea, and the Isthmus he had written a poem on the civil war of a.d. 69, and was planning another on the eruption of Vesuvius in 79, when he died. He was buried on an estate that he possessed near Alba. ;

;

The younger Statius owed to his father's personal care and instruction all his education and poetical training, a debt which he acknowledges in terms of the warmest gratitude he soon gained fame as a poet himself, and won prizes at the local competitions in Naples, held at the festival of the Augustalia. Probably after his father's death he left Naples and ;

"

See references to his senium

in Silv.

iii.

5. 13, 24, iv. 4.

the date also suits his father's Hfetime. Other information will be found for tlie most part in Silv. v. 3, 70, V. 2. 158

and

iii.

5.

;

INTRODUCTION went to Rome, where he hved till the year Qi, writing poetry and declaiming extracts from his Thebaid before crowded audiences. He was awarded a prize in the annual poetical contest held by Domitian in honour of Minerva at his residence near Alba, but to his great disappointment, when he competed at the important Capitoline " Agon " in Rome, he met with failure. In Rome he married his wife Claudia, a widow with one daughter. The poet himself was childless, and adopted a slave-boy born in his own house, whose early death he mourns with real sorrow in his last, unfinished poem. About 9^ he returned in broken health to Naples, where he died, probably in 95 or 96. Although one may take Juvenal's word for it that Statins, in spite of the large crowds his recitations drew, made no money out of poetry, one need not assume that he lived in poverty and was forced to write libretti for the stage in order to make a living * there is nothing in his own wi'itings that implies it, while from the mention of his father's estate at Alba one would gather that he was ^t least moderately well off. The poet, at any rate, seems to have lived on terms of familiarity with the wealthy Pollius Felix and others, and his wife was the personal friend of Priscilla, whose husband Abascantus was secretary of state. It seems doubtful whether he formed part of any circle or group of poets his patrons were those of Martial, Atedius Melior, for instance, and Pollius Felix, but neither writer ever mentions the other, whence some have thought that there was a coolness between the two. This is not unlikely, for from what we know of the two men we should conclude that they ;

;

"

See Juv.

vii.

82 sqq.

INTRODUCTION were extremely uncongenial to each other.

Juvenal

indeed, is the only Latin writer before Sidonius Apollinaris who does mention Statius, though his influence upon later poets was strong. His relations with the Court were those of the humble aspirant to Imperial favour his poems upon the colossal equestrian statue of Domitian, the Emperor's 17th Consulship, the tresses of his favourite Earinus, and the banquet to which the Emperor invited him, are all marked by the flattery that the subservience of the times was eager to bestow Domitian affected to be a patron of letters, even a poet himself it was one of the stock compliments of the time to wonder whether he were more brilliant a poet or a commander.'* Statius frequently mentions his campaigns, and follows the convention of pretending to be planning a great work on the Emperor's wars, to which the actual epics are only preliminary.^ Statius flourished in tlie middle of the Silver Age of Latin literature, coming after Seneca and Lucan (though born about the same time as the latter), before Juvenal, Tacitus, and the younger Pliny, and contemporary with Martial, Valerius Flaccus, and Quintilian. The later part of his life was thus spent under the Flavian dynasty, which in spite of its faults did really encourage letters. He also lived at a time when the practice of recitation had become a popular rage his pleasant voice, his poetry, with its subtle ;

;

:

'^

;

" See Thebald, i. 32, Ach. i. 19. See Achilleid, i. 15. vocem iucundam, Juv. vii. 82 for the dulcedo which Juvenal also mentions (1. 8i) see on Statius's versification (below) the word was probablj' the origin of Dante's line (put in Statius's niouth), " Tanto fu dolce mio vocale spirto " {Purg. xxi. 88).

« '^

:

;

ix

INTRODUCTION effects of alliteration and assonance, its brilliant passages, startling tricks of style and language, its avoidance of the obvious and occasional touches of the pathetic and the horrible, all this combined to tickle the ears and feelings of the popular audiences of the day." Or again, with an Italian's gift of rapid improvisation, he would delight a patron by dashing off a description of his villa in marvellously smooth hexameters, or obhge him with occasional verse on any subject, serious or trivial. The poetry of Statins shows many of the characteristics of the Silver Age. (i.) The rhetorical influence is evident, frequency of hyperbole, straining after

epigram and point,

and obedience to a tendency to realism which shows itself now in the petty, now in the horrible, as for instance in many of the battle-scenes of the Thehaid. (iii.) There is a general diminution of scale, characteristic perhaps of Silver periods of literature, when the great subjects are exhausted and poets descend to more trivial themes ; or, if the grand themes are still attempted, the treatment is unequal to them, and lack of proportion is the inevitable result. The search for new matter takes the form of describing things that the great poets would not have thought worth describing, or not suitable to poetry. The Description, indeed, as such, the eK(/)/ja*^ ex quo frater inops ignota per oppida tristes exsul agit casus et te iam tempus aperto sub love ferre dies terrenaque frigora membris 405 ducere et externos submissum ambire penates. pone modum laetis satis ostro dives et auro conspicuus tenuem germani pauperis annum risisti moneo, regnorum gaudia temet dedoceas patiensque fugae mereare reverti." 410 Dixerat. ast illi tacito sub pectore dudum ignea corda fremunt, iacto velut aspera saxo comminus erigitur serpens, cui subter inanes longa sitis latebras totumque agitata per artus convocat in fauces et squamea coUa venenum " cognita si dubiis fratris mihi iurgia signis 415 ante forent nee clara odiorum arcana paterent, sufficeret vel sola fides, qua^ torvus et^ ilium mente gerens,^ ceu saepta novus iam moenia laxet si tibi

:

.

;

;

;

:

^

Pw quod Postgate. torvus et w servo sed P. * gerens Puj geris DN.

qua Klotz quam

:

:

*

:

:

"

i.e.,

again. 424.

the shade of the leaves which have fallen

and grown

THEBAID,

II.

391-418

of speecli as ever and quick to anger, and with mixture of harsli words, altliough his plea was just, he thus " Hadst thou simple honesty left thee and began regard for a sworn bond, 'twere more right that envoys should go hence to thy brother, now thy year is finished, and that thou in due course shouldst put off thy state and contentedly leave thy throne, so that he, after long wanderings and unseemly hardships in many a strange city, should at length succeed But since thy darling to the promised kingdom. passion is to reign, and power exerts its flattering already hath the swift charm, we summon tliee circle brought round the starry globe, and the mountains have regained the shadows that they lost," since thy brother hath suffered the unhappy lot of :

;

now is it time poverty and exile in unknown cities thou too didst spend thy days under Jove's open sky, and let earth's coldness freeze thy limbs, and pay submissive court at the hearths of strangers. Set a term to thy prosperity long enough in rich pomp of gold and purple hast thou mocked at thy brother's year of mean poverty I warn thee, unlearn of thine own will the joys of ruling, and in patient exile merit thy return." He ended, but the other's fiery heart rages beneath his silent breast, as when a serpent angered by a flung stone darts up close at hand, whose limbs long thirst has racked, down in its hollow lair, and gathered ;

;

;

all

the

venom

to

its

throat and scaly neck.

"

Had

they been doubtful signs that forewarned me of my brother's quarrel, did not his secret hate shine clear as day to me, that bold assurance alone would suffice, whereby you, in mind his very pattern, thus prelude his fury, as though already a new train of 425

STATIUS fossoi* et liostiles ininiicent olassica

in

praefui'is.

medios

si

turmas,

coniminus orsa tulisses

420

Bistonas aut refuge pallentes sole Gelonos, parcior eloquio et niedii reverentior aequi

neque te furibundae crimine mentis arguerim mandata refers, nunc omnia quando plena minis, nee sceptra fide nee pace sequestra 425 poscitis, et propior capulo manus, haec mea regi Argolico, nondum aequa tuis, vice dicta reporta quae sors iusta mihi, quae non indebitus annis sceptra dicavit lionos, teneo longumque tenebo. 430 te penes Inachiae dotalis regia dono coniugis, et Danaae ^quid enim maioribus actis^ invideam ? cumulentur opes, felicibus Argos

inciperes.

:

:

—

—

auspiciis

Lernamque regas

nos horrida Dirces

;

pascua et Euboicis artatas fluctibus oras, 435 non indignati miserum dixisse parentem Oedipoden tibi larga Pelops et Tantalus auctor —

—

:

nobilitas,

!

propiorque fluat de sanguine iuncto

anne fei-et luxu consueta paterno hunc regina larem ? nostrae cui iure sorores 440 anxia pensa trahant, longo quam sordida luctu mater et ex imis auditus forte tenebris ofFendat sacer ille senex iam pectora volgi adsuevere iugo pudet heu plebisque patrumque, ne totiens incerta ferant mutentque gementes luppiter.

!

:

^

!

actis Pcj

:

aulis

Madvig.

The Argive house was more directly descended from Jove than that of Oedipus. "

426

— THEBAID,

II. 419-444=

sappers were breaching our fenced walls, and the trumpets were kindling the hostile bands to fierceness. Even if thuu hadst been speaking to Bistonians face-to-face in their midst, or to the pale Geloni, on wlioni the sun shines not, thou wouldst have been more sparing of thy eloquence, and more observant of what is fair and just, in opening thy cause. Nor would I accuse thee of this madness thou speakest but at command. Now, therefore, since all your words are threats, and ye demand the sceptre with warrant neither of trust nor peace, and your hands are ever on the sword-hilt, carry back in turn this message of mine, far short of thine as yet, The fortune that is my right, t(j the Ai'golic prince the sceptre that due privilege of years hath assigned me, I hold, and Avill hold long. Keep thou thy royal dower, the gift of thy Inachian consort, pile up thy Danaan treasure for why should I envy thee those nobler deeds ? rule Argos and Lerna under happy auspices Be it mine to hold the rough pastures of Dirce, and the shores narrowed by the Euboean waves, nor think it shame to call unhappy Oedipus my sire Let ancestral splendour be thy boast scion of Pelops and Tantalus and by a nearer channel of descent unite Jove's blood with thine." Will thy queen, accustomed to her father's luxury, endure this simple home ? rightly would my sisters perform their anxious tasks for her, my mother, unsightly from long mourning, and that accursed dotard, heard clamouring pei'chance from his dark The people's seclusion, would give her oflTence minds are already accustomed to my yoke I am ashamed, alas for the folk and elders alike, lest they should suffer so oft the uncertainty of fortune :

:

—

—

!

!

!

—

!

;

!

427

STATIUS imperia et dubio pigeat parere tyranno. 445 non parcit populis regnum breve respice, quantus ;

horror et attoniti nostro in discrimine cives hosne ego, quis certa est sub te duce poena, relin!

quam iratus, si

?

germane, venis.

fac velle

modo notus amor meritique

nee

:

ipsi,

450

est gratia, patres

reddere regna sinent." non ultra passus et orsa " reddes," iniecit mediis sermonibus obvia ingeminat, " reddes non si te ferreus agger ambiat aut triplices alio tibi carmine muros Amphion auditus agat, nil tela nee ignes 455 obstiterint, quin ausa luas nostrisque sub armis :

;

humum

captivo moribundus tu merito

ast

;

horum

diademate pulses,

miseret, quos sanguine viles

coniugibus natisque infanda ad proelia raptos 460 proicis excidio, bone rex. o quanta Cithaeron funera sanguineusque vadis, Ismene, rotabis haec pietas, haec magna fides nee crimina gentis mira equidem duco sic primus sanguinis auctor incestique patrum thalami sed fallit origo 465 Oedipodis^ tu solus eras,^ haec praemia morum ac sceleris, violente, feres nos poscimus annum sed moror." haec audax etiamnum in limine retro^ vociferans iam tunc impulsa per agmina praeceps evolat. Oeneae vindex sic ille Dianae 470 erectus saetis et aduncae fulmine malae, !

!

:

:

;

!

Oedipodis Jortin

^

^

"

eras

P

:

Deipser.

The Calydonian

ship of Diana.

428

eris

boar,

;

:

Oedipodes '

Poj.

retro

who avenged

w

:

regis P.

the neglected wor-

THEBAID,

II.

445-470

and the distressful change of rulers, and unwillingly obey a doubtful throne. Unsparing to a people is a short reign turn and behold the dismay and horror of my citizens at my danger Shall I abandon these, whom under thy sway sure punishment awaits ? ;

!

O

kinsman, that thou comest. Or the fathers themselves will not suffer up the crown, if I but know their love and there is gratitude for all my bounty." No more endured he, but even in mid-speech flung " Thou shalt restore," he cries, at him this retort and again, " Thou shalt restore Nay, should an iron rampart fence thee, or Amphion with the strains of another song draw about thee a triple wall, in no wise shall fire or sword defend thee from paying for tliy bold deed, and, ere thou die, beating thj' captive diadem on the ground beneath our arms. Such a fate wilt thou deserve those do I pity, whose cheap lives thou dost seize and hurl to death in horrid butchery, worthy king, and their wives and babes withal. What carnage shalt thou see, Cithaeron, and thou, Ismenus, roll down upon thy blood-stained waters This then is loyalty, and this thy trusted word Nor marvel I at the crimes of your race such was the first author of your blood, such your incestuous sires but there is a flaw in your parentage, thou only art the son of Oedipus, and this, O man of violence, shall be the reward of thy sin and crime We claim our year But I waste words " Boldly thus he shouted back while still in the doorway, then dashed out headlong through their disordered ranks. Even so the famous champion of 'Tis

in anger,

me willing me to render

suppose

:

:

!

;

!

!

;

;

!

!

—

Oenean Diana," with

bristles stiff and lightning stroke of tusked jaw, liard pressed though lie be by the

429

— STATIUS cum premeret Pelopea

phalanx, saxa obvia volvens

fractaque perfossis arbusta Acheloia

iam Telamona

solo,

Meleagre, subit

te,

ripis,

iam stratum Ixiona linquens :

ibi^

demum

cuspide lata

haesit et obnixo ferrum laxavit^ in armo.

475

adhuc trepidum linquit Calydonius heros concilium infrendens, ipsi ceu regna negentur,

talis

festinatque vias

ramumque

precantis olivae

attonitae tectorum e limine

abicit.

summo

aspectant matres, saevoque infanda precantui*

Oenidae tacitoque simul sub pectore

480

regi.

Nee piger ingenio scelerum fraudisque nefandae iuvenum fidos, lectissima bello

rector eget.

corpora, nunc pretio, nunc

instruit,

ille hortantibus ardens nocturnaque proelia saevus 485 et sanctum populis per saecula nomen

legatum

insidiis

sollicitat dictis,

tacitoque invadere ferro

—

quid regnis non vile ? cupit. quas quaereret artes, si fratrem, Fortuna, dares o caeca nocentum !

consilia

o semper timidum scelus

!

plebs ferro iurata caput

apparet aut celsum crebri inclinare latus

:

!

exit in

unum

490

ceu castra subire

;

arietis ictibus^ urbis

densi sic agmine facto

funduntur in ordine portis.

quinquaginta

altis

macte animi,

tantis dignus qui crederis armisjy

495

Fert via per dumos propior, qua calle latenti praecelerant densaeque legunt compendia silvae. ^

ibi *

430

oj

:

tibi

P.

crebri arietis ictibus

-

P

lassavit Madvig. laxavit : crebris arietibus Pw. :

Unger

THEBAID,

II.

47l-i07

Argive band, that rolls down stones upon him and boughs of trees uprooted from Achelous' banks, yet leaves now Telamon, now Ixion prostrate on the ground, and attacks thee, Meleager there at last was he stayed upon the spear-thrust, and relaxed the weapon's force in his fierce-struggling shoulder. Such was the Calydonian hero, as he left the yet timorous council, wdth savage threats, as though 'twere he who was denied the kingdom he hastes away, hurling from him the branch of ohve. The mothers in amazement watch him from their thresholds' edge, and utter curses on the fierce son of Oeneus, and withal in their secret hearts upon ;

;

the king. But the monarch is not slothful, nor lacks cunning resource of crime and fraud unspeakable. A faithful company of chosen warriors he urges now by bribes, now by ardour of persuasive words, and fiercely plots a nocturnal affray, and would fain attack the ambassador a name reverenced by peoples through the ages by treachery and the silent-lurking sword. What is there that kings hold not vile What cunning would he devise, were it his brother thou didst place in his power, O Fortune O blind and guilty counsels O ever timorous crime A sworn band of soldiery go out against one single life, as though they made ready to storm a camp or level a city's lofty side Avith the ram's battering blows fifty thus form close array, and march in order through the tall gates. Heaven favour now thy courage, w^ho art deemed worthy of so numerous a foe A nearer road leads them through copses, where by a hidden path they make the better speed and travel by a cut through the dense woods. It was a

— —

.''

!

!

!

;

!

431

:

ST ATI us gemini procul urbe nialignis faucibus urgentur colles, quos umbra superni^ montis et incurvis claudunt iuga frondea silvis 500 insidias natura loco caecamque latendi struxit opem mediasque arte secat aspera rupes semita, quam subter campi devexaque latis arva iacent spatiis. contra importuna crepido, Oedipodioniae domus alitis hie fera quondam 505 pallentes erecta genas sufFusaque tabo lumina, concretis infando sanguine plumis relliquias amplexa virum semesaque nudis ^c«-