Abstract This article offers some interpretative insights into the fifth book of Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica . In the first part, a Virgilian allusion is highlighted (5.379 ∼ A . 4.511), which contributes to the tragic irony that characterizes Jason’s speech to Medea during their first meeting. The second part suggests a reaction by Valerius to contemporary Virgilian criticism, specifically that of Marcus Valerius Probus. In part three, some considerations are made on the relationship between the “historical” scenes carved on the door of the temple of Sol (5.416-432) and the Argonautic saga, linking the pharaoh Sesostris to Jason, the nymph Aea to Medea, and the death of Phaethon to that of Apsyrtus. Finally, a brief appendix (§4) reaffirms the authenticity of Ov. Met . 2.398-400 in light of its relationship to the Homeric model ( Il . 19.399-403) and Valerius’ later allusion (5.432).

Abstract Proper names are frequently found with nominal appositives in Ancient Greek literature. Here, I provide a description of how the peculiar semantics and pragmatics of proper names can help us understand the uses of nominal appositives with them. I demonstrate that the prototypical use of nominal appositives is to help identify the referent of a proper name. From that, a local interpretation, based on the prototypical use, can be ascribed to individual uses in which a nominal appositive does not serve the purpose of identifying a referent: it is used for characterisation. To do so, I present data from Herodotus and Thucydides, and I comment on examples from both authors, to show that the position occupied by a proper name with a nominal appositive within a referential chain is significant with respect to the character’s status in the narrative and, therefore, is related to the presence of nominal appositives.

Abstract This article provides new insights into the reception of Horace’s Odes in the Punica of Silius Italicus which has received little attention in research to date. Firstly, I deal with Silius’ direct reference to Horace’s person and poetry, which he creates through an apostrophe to Maecenas. Secondly, I focus on the references to Horace’s poems in which the Punic wars play a role. The article examines the transfer of lyrical, anti-epic content to the epic plot, thus showing how Silius strove to produce an epic that incorporated different genres. By alluding to Horace’s poetic program, his critical remarks towards Ennius and the epic genre, the epic poet practiced a kind of implicit criticism of his poetic predecessor. At the same time, he pointed out the epic roots of this lyrical work.

Abstract This paper discusses the epigraphical evidence about P. Herennius Dexippus of Athens, with a view to exploring the extent to which inscriptions may enhance our understanding of the close connection between rhetoric and historiography in the Greek cities in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The Dexippus Inscription ( IG II² 3669), which was engraved on a statue-base, comprises an honorific decree and epigram that praise Dexippus, the 3rd c. AD Athenian rhetor and historian best known for his historiographical account of the wars between Rome and the Goths (‘Scythians’), for his outstanding record as both a rhetor and a syngrapheus preoccupied with history. This particular honorific inscription shows the close connection that was made, also in the wider public imagination and honorific discourse, between the disciplines of rhetoric and historiography in the Roman Imperial period.

Abstract The passage concerning the grammarian Apion Plistonices in the preface to Pliny’s Natural History (praef. 25) is corrupt. The present article attempts to restore the wanting title of Apion’s book, conjecturing that this was Apion’s well-known Αἰγυπτιακά, a history of Egypt. The article also deals with numerous other text-critical and interpretative problems that have confronted scholars working on praef. 25 from the late fifteenth century.

Abstract I argue that Horace Satire 1.5 presents a day in the life of a bumbling, inept Epicurean, one who constantly succumbs to the pitfalls and stereotypes associated with his philosophical school of choice. I draw attention to the narrator’s eager memorization of doctrine, aspirations towards Lucretian scientific analysis, idealization of friendship, constant sickness, exaggerated reaction to “death”, and obsession over food. I then demonstrate how these caricatures help explain the narrator’s complete apathy towards the political embassy, defang the vitriol of potential detractors, and facilitate in-group bonding among fellow Epicureans within the Circle of Maecenas.