Editing Statius (section)

===The ''Silvae''===
{{main|Silvae}}

The ''Silvae'' were probably composed by Statius between 89 and 96. The first three books seem to have been published together after 93, Book 4 was probably released in 95, and Book 5 is thought to have been released posthumously in c. 96.<ref>Shackleton Bailey, D. R. ''Statius Silvae'' (Cambridge, 2003) pg.5</ref> The title of the collection (''silvae'' meaning "forest" or "raw material") was used to describe the draft of a poet's work which was composed impromptu in a moment of strong inspiration and which was then revised into a polished, metrical poem.<ref>Quintilian 10.3.17</ref> This suggests that the ''Silvae'' are revised, impromptu pieces of occasional poetry which were composed in the space of a few days' time. There are thirty-two poems in the collection (almost all with a dedicatee), divided into five books, each with a dedicatory epistle. Of nearly four thousand lines which the books contain, more than five-sixths are [[hexameter]]s. Four of the pieces are written in the hendecasyllabic metre, and there is one [[Alcaic]] and one [[Sapphic stanza|Sapphic]] ode.
 
Subjects of the ''Silvae'' vary widely. Five poems are devoted to the emperor and his favorites, including a description of [[Domitian]]'s equestrian statue in the Forum (1.1), praise for his construction of the [[Via Domiziana|Via Domitiana]] (4.3), and a poem on the dedication of the hair of Earinus, a eunuch favorite of Domitian's, to a shrine of Aesculapius (3.4). Six are lamentations for deaths or consolations to survivors, including the highly personal poems on the death of Statius's father and his foster-son (5.3,5). The poems on loss are particularly notable in the collection and range from consolations on the death of wives (3.3) to pieces on the death of a favorite parrot (2.4) and a lion in the arena (2.5). Another group of the ''Silvae'' give picturesque descriptions of the villas, gardens, and artworks of the poet's friends. In these we have a more vivid representation than elsewhere of the surroundings Roman aristocrats of the empire lived in the country. Important examples include a piece on Pollius's temple to [[Hercules]] (3.1), the aetiology of the tree at Atedius' villa (2.3), an antique statue of [[Lysippus]]'s [[Heracles]] (4.6) and a description of Pollius' villa at [[Surrentum]] (2.2). The rest of the ''Silvae'' consist of congratulatory addresses to friends, and poems for special occasions such as the wedding poem for Stella and Violentilla (2.2), the poem commemorating the poet [[Lucan]]'s birthday (2.7), and a joking piece to Plotius Grypus on a Saturnalia gift (4.9).

As with the ''Thebaid'', Statius's relationship to Domitian and his court caused him to fall out of favor with critics and readers, but in recent times, the ''Silvae'' have been rehabilitated by scholars.<ref>Coleman in Bailey, pp.11–17</ref> Domitian is an important presence in the ''Silvae'', and many of the poems appear to flatter the emperor and court. The content of the ''Silvae'' is primarily dictated by the needs of Statius's [[Patronage in ancient Rome|patrons]], and many of the addressees come from the wealthy, privileged class of landowners and politicians.<ref>{{cite journal |author-last=Cannizzaro |author-first=Francesco |date=July 2021 |title=Statius' ''Silvae'' 4.8 and 4.9: The Poet's Anger and Patronage |editor-last=Nooter |editor-first=Sarah |journal=[[Classical Philology (journal)|Classical Philology]] |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] for the Department of Classics, Division of the Humanities, [[University of Chicago]] |volume=116 |issue=3 |pages=445–455 |doi=10.1086/714432 |s2cid=235598972 |eissn=1546-072X |issn=0009-837X}}</ref> Statius's flattery of these elites has been interpreted in two ways by scholars; some maintain that the collection is highly subversive and is a subtle criticism of Domitian and the Roman aristocracy.<ref>Newlands, C. E. ''Statius' Silvae and the Poetics of Empire'' (Cambridge, 2002)</ref> Others urge a reading of the ''Silvae'' as individual pieces that respond to specific circumstances with their own unique viewpoints.<ref>Nauta, R. R. ''Poetry for Patrons: Literary Communication in the Age of Domitian'' (Leiden, 2002)</ref>