SLC Thesis Template - ResearchSpace@Auckland - The University ...

political message. This message may distort the presentation of an event or underlying
structure of a text irrespective of genre. The approach to the comparisons of structural
features in this thesis is informed by Burck‟s studies on Livy and Silius Italicus, Luce on
the structure of Livy‟s text, 8 as well as Ahl, Davis and Pomeroy on the structure of the
Punica. 9
Although Polybius‟ Histories are generally utilised by scholars as a historical source,
more recently some have argued for greater recognition of literary structure in the text,
an area not much discussed by the pre-eminent historian on the Histories, Walbank. 10
Champion, for example, argued that Polybius‟ representations of Romans are
ingeniously manipulated by his politico-cultural language of Hellenism. 11 It is arguable
that Polybius‟ Hannibal is cleverly glorified because it directly impacts on the
presentation of Scipio Africanus, for example, the implicit comparison of Hannibal to
Agamemnon in the battle at Zama raises both generals to the mythical realm (Hist.
15.16.3). Although the greater glorification of Scipio is the obvious level of reading the
passage, on another level it must be remembered that Polybius was a political hostage at
Rome, and, no matter how friendly he became with Scipio Aemilianus, this
circumstance allows for a certain ambiguity in reading the representation of Hannibal.
Furthermore, Polybius‟ implicit comparison of Hannibal to a mythical figure supports
Wiseman‟s view that the interconnection of myth and history is especially relevant for
this period of Roman history. Wiseman believes that it was during the period in which
Ennius and Polybius were writing that the first historical Romans became mythic figures
in their own right, „some even descended from gods.‟ 12
This thesis aims to show that the combined literary/historical approach to texts in the
historiographical tradition may also be applied to poetry based on history, in that the
Flavian poet, Silius Italicus, inherits both historiographical and poetic sources. He is, as
noted by Augoustakis, located at the crossroads of these two inter-related traditions. 13 It
will be argued that Silius Italicus creatively combines a number of apparently divergent
traditions found in the historiographical texts and a variety of other allusions to present
his uniquely Flavian version of events. Furthermore, and with a surprising frequency, he
8
Luce, 1977, 31; Burck, 1971 (on Livy); 1984 (on the Punica).
9
Ahl, Davis and Pomeroy, 1986.
10
Marincola, 2001, esp 113-149; Eckstein, 1995; Champion, 2001; 2004. Cf. Walbank, 1957-79, 1972,
2002.
11
Champion, 2004, 235, with review by Cazemier, 2006, 14.
12
Scipio Africanus and Fabius Maximus are two examples. Wiseman 2004, 193. Also Griffith, 2006, 7.
9