:for the personal name, see statius (praenomen). for other uses, see statius (disambiguation). publius papinius statius (c. 45, in naplesc. 96 ad, in naples) was a roman poet of the 1st century ad (silver age of latin literature). besides his poetry in latin, which include an epic poem, the thebaid, a collection of occasional poetry, the silvae, and the unfinished epic, the achilleid also are known. he is also known for his appearance as a guide in the purgatory section of dante's epic poem the divine comedy. ==life== ===family background=== information about statius' life is almost entirely drawn from his silvae and a mention by the satirist juvenal. he was born to a family of graeco-campanian origin; his roman cognomen suggests that at some time an ancestor of his was freed and adopted the name of his former master, although neither statius nor his father were slaves. the poet's father (whose name is unknown) was a native of velia but later moved to naples and spent time in rome where he taught with marked success. from boyhood to adulthood, statius' father proved himself a champion in the poetic contests at naples in the augustalia and in the nemean, pythian, and isthmian games, which served as important events to display poetic skill during the early empire. statius declares in his lament for his father (silv. 5.3) that his father was in his time equal to any literary task, whether in prose or verse. he mentioned mevania, and may have spent time there, or been impressed by the confrontation of vitellius and vespasian in&nbsp;69. statius' father was a roman eques, but may have lost his status because of money troubles. at naples, he was a teacher of greek and roman literature who attracted many pupils who were destined for religious offices in rome. he died in 79 ad. ===birth and career=== less is known of the events of statius' life. he was born c. 45 ad. from his boyhood he was victorious in poetic contests many times at his native naples and three times at the alban festival, where he received the golden crown from the hand of the emperor domitian who had instituted the contest. for the alban festival, statius composed a poem on the german and dacian campaigns of domitian which juvenal lampoons in his seventh satire. statius is thought to have moved to rome c. 90 after his father's death where he published his acclaimed epic poem the thebaid c. 92. in the capital, statius seems to have made many connections among the roman aristocracy and court, and he was probably supported through their patronage. statius produced the first three books of occasional poetry, his silvae, which were published in 93, which sketch his patrons and acquaintances of this period
1st-century_poets 45_births 96_deaths Latin-language_writers People_from_Naples Roman-era_poets Silver_Age_Latin_writers