Table of Contents

Introduction

I. Genres and Literary History

Antiqui, veteres, novi: images of the literary past and the impulse to progress in the cultural program of Quintilian

Quintilian’s approach to literary history via imitatio and utilitas

II. Encyclopaedism and Oratory

Contingat aliqua gratia operae curaeque nostrae: an ethic of care in the Naturalis historia

Roman oratory and power under the Flavians: some case studies from Pliny the Younger

III. Tradition and Poetics of the Epigram

Bipartition and non-distinction of poetical genres in Martial: magnum vs parvum

Catullus 23 and Martial. An epigrammatic model and its ‘refraction’ throughout Martial’s libri

IV. Occasional Poetry and Literary Genres

The festinatio in Flavian poetry: a clarification

Scattered remarks about the ‘non-genre’ of Statius’ Silvae. The construction of a minor canon?

The early reception of the Silvae: from Statius to Sidonius

V. Models and Transformations of the Epos

The Argonautica of Valerius Flaccus and the Latin tradition on the beginning and end of history (Catullus, Virgil, Seneca)

Generic Attire: Hypsipyle’s Cloaks in Valerius Flaccus and Apollonius Rhodius

VI. War and Generic Tensions

The beautiful face of war: Refreshing epic and reworking Homer in Flavian poetry

Epic on the edge: generic instability at the pivotal centre of Silius’ Punica (10.336‒371)

Silius, Sicily, and the poetics of generic conflict: Grosphus in Punica 14.208‒217

Lyric resonances in Statius’ Achilleid

VII. Epic and Other Genres

Burial scenes: Silius Italicus’ Punica and Greco-Roman historiography

Is Capaneus an Epicurean? A case study in epic and philosophy

Bibliography

List of Contributors