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have been better for Rome than victory is similar to the paradox underlying Lucan‟s de
bello civili, that victory is no proof of righteousness. 258
Silius Italicus directly relates Cannae to a theme of moral decline through his
concluding remarks in Punica 10:
haec tum Roma fuit; post te cui vertere mores
si stabat fatis, potuis, Carthago, maneres.
104
Pun. 10.657-658
Such was Rome in those days; and, if it was fated that the Roman
character should change when Carthage fell, would that Carthage were
still standing!
Duff, 1989, 99.
The battle at Cannae is the centrepiece of the Punica with the three central books
(Punica 8, 9 and 10) devoted to Hannibal‟s victory and balanced with seven books on
either side. 259 The structure of the Punica has been a subject of some discussion. Some
suggest that its structure is not based on any prior tradition on the Second Punic War, 260
while others have argued for the influence of either Ennius or Virgil on Silius Italicus
for the length of the Punica and criticise Silius Italicus because there is a problem in
terms of „fitting‟ the seventeen books of the Punica to the length of either of these two
predecessors. 261 Wallace suggests that the seventeen book structure of Punica was
poorly modelled on the 12-Book Aeneid, while von Albrecht hypothesises that the
Punica is based on a series of three pentads (1-5; 7-11 and 13-17) which are
„interspersed by two Books‟ to account for the two „extras,‟ Punica 6 and Punica 12. 262
Undoubtedly the Punica responds in a variety of ways to the Aeneid 263 and undoubtedly
258 Ahl, Davis, Pomeroy, 1986, 2503-4; Boyle and Sullivan, 1991, 299.
259 Boyle and Sullivan, 1991, 299: Two heptads separated by a triad; Dominik, 2006, 116. Cf. Ahl, Davis,
Pomeroy, 1986, 2505 who identify Silius Italicus‟ invocation of the Muses just prior to battle at Cannae
(Pun. 9.340-353) as the centrepiece of Punica 9 and the centre of the whole poem. Contra, Moore, 1921,
151: „no well developed climax...nor are such great events as...Cannae... adequately used.‟ Note also
Pomeroy, 1989a, 127 „the 17 books are carefully planned and not the mark of an ailing poet.‟
260 Ahl, Davis, Pomeroy, 1986, 2493, 2507; McGuire, 1977.
261 Mendell, 1924, 92-106; Martin, 1946, 163-5 and Conte, 1994, 491 argue for Ennius as a model which
requires an 18 book structure. Leigh, 2000b, 478 argues that Silius Italicus aspired (but failed) to produce
something comparable to the eighteen Books of Ennius‟ Annales.
262 von Albrecht, 1999, 294; Wallace, 1958, 100.
263 There is much scholarship on the relationship between the Aeneid and the Punica. Ahl, Davis &
Pomeroy, 1986, 2493-2501; Hardie, 1989, 3-20; and Spaltenstein, F, 1986 note many of the relevant
passages. Also references in Wilson, 1993 and 2004; Boyle and Sullivan, 1991, 301. Boyle, 1993, 91,
Rome‟s future assured in Aeneid 12, makes a similar point.