3 of 5 stars

Don’t let me 3 star review darken the quality of the volume. It only applies to the works of Statius in it, not the wonderfully put together translation, apparatus and introduction that Betty Rose Nagle has produced. I was drawn to Statius through his unfinished Achilleid, which I really enjoyed (4 stars). It’s a story that starts with Achilles upbringing and his being hidden by his mother and fetched by Odysseus and others before the Trojan War. From there I read his Thebaid, which when I reviewed it I said that “Virgil pales in comparison to Homer and Statius pales in comparison to Virgil.”

I turned next to the Silvae, contained in this volume. These varied pieces are interesting and useful for a look at everyday Roman cultural goings on and how people acted & reacted to common events. Sadly, throughout, it has ridiculous sychophantic passages praising the Roman emperor Domitian, who was emperor while Statius wrote these pieces. It’s just embarrassing.

I did like some of the pieces, e.g. Silvae 1.3 (pp. 50-4) for its beautiful description of a villa in Tivoli, particularly lines 1-82. A short sample suffices: “O day that must be long recalled! Delights / that come to mind once more, and eyesight wearied / from seeing so many wonderful things! / How gentle is the land’s inherent temper! / What beauty found in places richly blessed / before man’s artful touch! Nowhere has Nature / indulged herself so lavishly. Tall groves / bend over swiftly moving streams; deceptive / reflections answer leafy boughs; along / the river’s length the same dark image flits” (lines 20-29).

I also liked Silvae 2.1 (pp. 66-74) for its sorrowful beauty describing the lament of the death of the foster son of one of Statius’s friends. The opening lines “This consolation for your foster son, / taken too early, Melior, is thoughtless. / How can I start here where his ashes still / show sparks of life?” (lines 1-4).

Finally, Silvae 2.4 (pp. 82-3). is good, a lament over the death of a friend’s pet parrot. It reminded me of Thomas Gray’s ode over the death of his friend Horace Walpole’s cat. One excerpt: “Just yesterday / you came with us to dinner, piteous thing, / so soon to perish; we were there to see / as you went picking treats from favorite dishes, / as you went hopping, way past midnight, couch / to couch. You even greeted us, repeated / your practiced phrases. But, great songster, now / you dwell in Lethe’s never-ending silence” (lines 4-11).

So, if you are into Statius, this is an excellent volume to use as your entrée to his Silvae. If not, feel free to move along to another classical author’s works.