Exemplary Epic: Silius Italicus' Punica. (Oxford Classical Monographs) by Ben Tipping

410 PHOENIX A recent article with thephrase initstitle concerns a specialized combination ofnursery night-light andfood warmer;1 thegaudy anddiverse examples display vividly that even a narrow function canelicit manifold forms. Columbia University inthe CityofNewYork James E. G. Zetzel Exemplary Epic:SiliusItalicus'Punica. ByBenTipping. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford Classical Monographs). 2010.Pp.x,245. Thisbook(theauthor's revised Oxford doctoral dissertation) addstothesmall number ofmonographs on SiliusItalicus' Punica and,more generally, is part oftheongoing revival ofinterest inFlavian epic(asshown byanincreasing number ofpublications and conferences). Outofthemany issues ofSilius Italicus' Punica thatstill await further discussion, BenTipping hasselected thestatus ofkey figures functioning asexemplary characters. He analyzes theparticular shape Silius Italicus hasgiven tothese historical exemplars inthecontext ofthecontemporary situation atRome, andhealsotakes into account theintertextual relationships with thegeneric tradition (10-11): I believe Silius sensitive tothe problems ofRoman history. Henot only evinces nostalgia for the past, but also presents itasa time when the seeds ofsubsequent decline were sown. I propose to show inthis monograph that ifSilius parades exemplary Romans, healsoraises questions about their value asexemplars. Such representation prompts consideration ofthe exemplary status ofthe figures sorepresented and ofthe process by which epic poetry establishes heroic models. Tipping regards hispresentation ofSilius Italicus' description ofheroes from theSecond Punic Warandtheresulting conclusions onthepoet's viewofthepastinrelation to thepresent as a contribution to ongoing scholarly discussions on the"optimistic" or "pessimistic" interpretation ofRoman epic. In anintroductory chapter ("Exordium") Tipping discusses thekey concepts ofhis study, considering the Roman tradition ofhistorical epic andthe role ofexemplary figures. Another preliminary chapter ("Perspective andParadigm") explores basic aspects ofsuch characters aswellastheir relationship tothehistorical andtheliterary traditions. The main body ofthe bookconsists ofdetailed casestudies ofthree major figures intheepic ("Hannibal," "Fabius Maximus Cunctator," "Scipio Africanus Maior"). Theinvestigation finishes with someconcluding remarks ontheshaping androleofhistorical figures in Silius Italicus ("Upending"); attheend,thevolume provides a comprehensive multilingual bibliography andindices. Thesecond chapter sketches theframework for theanalysis ofcasestudies ofindividual heroes byconsidering issues suchas therelationship between myth andhistory, between virtue andviceinthebehaviour ofindividuals, aswellasbetween characters in theepicandactual historical figures, with a focus onSilius Italicus, butincluding references toother literary works. Tipping attempts toshow howSilius Italicus' narrative isinextricably linked with theassessment offigures from contemporary history andthe recent pastandalsowith thepresentation of"historical" andmythical heroes inearlier epics. Attheendofthis chapter healready voices hisview ofthetensions andambiguities that underlie Silius Italicus' poem:"ThepastSilius portrays isatonceanidealthat 1C.Penn-Romine, "Veilleuse-théières : Form andFunction inNightLight Teapots," Gastronomica 10(2010) 45-48. BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTESRENDUS 411 contrasts with subsequent decline, thesource ofthat decline, anddisconcertingly parallel with thepresent" (49). Although inTipping's viewfigures suchas Romulus, Scipio, andDomitian were exemplary heroic characters serving asmodels inSilius Italicus, he believes that they still bearelements ofindividuality andthat their character portrayal exhibits tensions astheir behaviour andtypical features may beseenina positive light, butareclosetocorresponding negative characteristics atthesame time. Thethree major figures arethen discussed against the background oftheir appearance inearlier literature. Thechapter onHannibal charts thedepiction ofthis character over thecourse ofthePunica inrelation totheliterary tradition; itdemonstrates thepositive andnegative characteristics highlighted; anditaddresses thequestion ofwhat kind of example sucha figure might provide to Roman audiences. WhileTipping describes Hannibal's predominantly negative characterization, heargues that, dueto"intertextual instability," healsodisplays positive Roman virtues, which invite recipients ofthepoem todraw parallels with Roman heroes. Similarly, according toTipping, theRoman heroes inSilius Italicus arenotpresented aswholly positive characters; instead, thenarrative reveals that there areproblems with their useofpower, their political views, andtheir status asunique heroes, which turn them into problematic examples ofRoman heroism: for instance, Scipioisbotha piousandcourageous fighter andalsogiven toexcessive emotions andassociated with autocrats. Throughout, Tipping works closely onthetext andcarefully documents thebasis for hisinterpretation byproviding references torelevant passages intheLatintext aswell asquotations ofkey passages where appropriate. Although occasionally this makes the prose somewhat difficult toread, thefull documentation isuseful andenables readers to engage fully with Tipping's proposals. Bypointing outaplethora ofpossible connections, Tipping emphasizes that Silius Italicus' epiccannot befully appreciated inisolation, but that itisintimately connected with thecontemporary historical andpolitical context as wellaswith previous literary works - Virgil's Aeneid, Lucan's Bellum civile , andLivy's Ab urbe condita inparticular. Eventhough notallpossible intertextual andhistorical connections outlined inthis investigation seem tobeequally straightforward orofthesame relevance, thestudy confirms thesophisticated literary texture ofSilius Italicus' epic,anditshows that hehas created hischaracters onthe basis ofa variety ofexisting literary andhistorical works and that healsomakes a statement onRome's political development uptohistime. Byhis argument Tipping provides insightful readings ofSilius Italicus' compositional technique with reference tothecharacterization ofhistorical figures inthepoem.Whileearlier scholarship...

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