P.PapiniusStatius, the celebrated poet. Our information with regard to
his personal history is miserably defective. He is named by no ancient author, except Juvenal,
so that any knowledge we possess of his family or career has been gleaned from incidental
notices in his own writings, and many of these are couched ill very ambiguous language. It
appears that under the skilful tuition of his father he speedily rose to fame, and became
peculiarly renowned for the brilliancy of his extemporaneous effusions, so that he gained the
prize three times in the Alban contests (see Sueton. Dom. 4); but having,
after a long career of popularity, been vanquished in the quinquennial games (Suet. Dom. l.c.) he retired to Naples, the place of his nativity, along with his
wife Claudia whom he married in early life, to whom he was tenderly attached, and whose
virtues he frequently commemorates. From the well-known lines of Juvenal, s. 7.82,-- Curritur ad vocem jucundam et carmen amicaeThebaidos, laetam fecit quum Statius UrbemPromisitque diem : tanta dulcedinie captosAfficit ille animos, tantaque libidine vulgiAuditur, sed, quum fregit subsellia versu,Esurit, intactam Paridi nisi vendat Agavem,-- we should infer that Statius, in
his earlier years at least, was forced to struggle with poverty, but he appears to have
profited by the patronage of Domitian (Silv.
4.2), whom in common with Martial and other contemporary bards he addresses ill strains of the
most fulsome adulation. The tale that the emperor, in a fit of passion. stabbed him with a
stilus, seems to be as completely destitute of foundation as the notion that he was a
Christian. Dodwell fixes upon A. D. 61 and A. D.
96, as the epoch of his birth and of his death, but these conclusions are drawn from
very uncertain premises. Those dates, which can be ascertained with precision, will be noted
as we review his productions in succession.
Works
The extant works of Statius are : --
I. Silvarum Libri V.Silvarum Libri V., a collection of thirty-two occasional
poems, many of them of considerable length, divided into five books. To each book is
prefixed a dedication in prose, addressed to some friend. The metre chiefly employed is the
heroic hexameter, but four of the pieces (1.6, 2.7, 4.3, 9), are in Phalaecian
hendecasyllabics, one (4.5) in the Alcaic, and one (4.7) in the Sapphic stanza. The first
book was written about A. D. 90 (1.4. 91), the third after the
commencement of A.D. 94 (3.3. 171), the first piece in the fourth book was composed
expressly to celebrate the kalends of January, A. D. 95, when
Domitian entered upon his 17th consulship, and the fifth book appears to have been brought
to a close in the following year.
II. Thebaidos Libri XII.Thebaidos Libri XII., an heroic poem in twelve books,
embodying the ancient legends with regard to the expedition of the Seven against Thebes. It
occupied the author for twelve years (12.811), and was not finished until after the Dacian
war, which commenced in A. D. 86 (1.20), but had been published
before the completion of the first book of the Silvae (Silv. i. prooem.; comp. 3.2. 143, 4.4. 86, &c.).
III. Achilleidos Libri II.Achilleidos Libri II., an heroic poem breaking off abruptly.
According to the original plan, it would have comprised a complete history of the exploits
of Achilles, but was probably never finished. It was commenced after the completion of the
Thebais (Achill. 1.10), and is alluded to in
the last book of the Silvae (5.2. 163, 5.5. 37). In some manuscripts this fragment is
comprised within a single book, in others is divided into five.
Assessment
Statius may justly claim the praise of standing in the foremost rank among the heroic poets
of the Silver Age, and when we remember how few of the extant specimens of the Roman muse
belong to this department, we do not feel surprised that Dante and Scalier should have
assigned to him a place immediately after Virgil, provided always we regard them as separated
by a wide impassable gulph. While by no means deficient in dignity, and not unfrequently
essaying lofty flights, he is in a great measure free from extravagance and pompous
pretensions; but, on the other hand, in no portion of his works do we find the impress of
high natural talent and imposing power. Those passages which have been most frequently
quoted, and most generally admired, display a great command of graceful and appropriate
language, a liveliness of imagination which occasionally oversteps the limits of correct
taste, brilliant imagery, pictures designed with artistic skill, and glowing with the richest
colours, a skilful development of character, and a complete knowledge of the mechanism of
verse; but they are not vivified and lighted up by a single spark of true inspiration. The
rules of art are observed with undeviating accuracy, and the most intricate combinations are
formed without the introduction of a disturbing element; but there is a total absence of that
simple energy which is the surest mark of true genius.
The pieces which form the Silvae, although evidently thrown off in haste, and
probably regarded by their author as trifles of comparatively little importance, produce a
much more pleasing effect than either the Thebaid or the Achilleid, in which the original
strength of expression seems to have been worn away by repeated polishing, and the native
freedom of the verse to have been shackled and cramped by a laborious process of
correction.
Editions
The Editio Princeps of the Silvae is a quarto volume, without date and without name of place or
printer, not later probably than 1470. The Silvae will be found also in the editions
of Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius, which appeared in 1472,
1475, and 1481, and in the edition of Catullus of
1473. The text was revised and published with a commentary by Domitius
Calderinus, in a volume containing also remarks upon Ovid and Propertius, fol. Rom. Arnold
Pannartz, 1475. The best editions are those of Markland, whose critical notes
evince remarkable sagacity, 4to. Lond. 1728, and of Sillig, 4to. Dresd. 1827,
which is a reprint of Markland, with some additional matter.
The Editio Princeps of the Thebais and Achilleis is a folio volume, without date and without name of place or
printer, but belonging probably to the year 1470. Besides this there are a
considerable number of editions of these poems, either together or separately, printed in the
15th century, a sure indication of the estimation in which they were held.
The Editio Princeps of the collected works is a folio volume, without date, and
without name of place or printer. It contains the commentary of Calderinus on the Silvae,
and must therefore have been published after the year 1475. No really good edition of
Statius has yet appeared. That of Hurd, which was a work of great promise, was never
carried beyond the first volume, which contains the Silvae only, 8vo. Leips. 1817.The best for all practical purposes is that which forms one of the series of Latin
Classics by Lemaire. 4 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1825-1830.
Translations
The first five books of the Thebaid were
translated into English verse by Thomas Stephens, 8vo. Lond. 1648, and the whole
poem by W. L. Lewis, 2 vols. 8vo. Oxford, 1767 and 1773. The translation
of the first book by Pope will be found in all editions of his works.
The Achilleid was translated into English
verse by
Howard. 8vo. Lond. 1660.
Of translations into other languages, the only one of any note is the version into Italian
of the Thebaid by Cardinal Bentivoglio,
4to. Rom. 1729, and 8vo. Milan, 1821.