Valerius Flaccus

Neil Bernstein (Ohio University)

Ed. by Sophia Papaioannou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

Activity c. 45-c. 90
Born c. 45
Died c. Dec 90

Places

Active in Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire)

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

Flaccus' Works

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Almost nothing is known about the life of Valerius Flaccus. The author’s life dates cannot be established with any degree of certainty, and the dating of the poet’s only known work, the eight-book Latin epic

Argonautica

, remains a subject of active scholarly controversy. Our main external evidence is a statement by the Roman rhetorician Quintilian, made sometime before 96 CE, that “we have recently (

nuper

) lost much in Valerius Flaccus” (

Institutio Oratoria

10.1.90). We do not know exactly when Quintilian wrote these words, nor how long ago he envisioned “recently” to be. From the narrator’s statement that his house contains Apollo’s sacred tripods (

Argonautica

1.5-6), scholars have supposed that Valerius held an important office in the state cult as “a member of the…

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2218 words

Citation: Bernstein, Neil. "Valerius Flaccus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 June 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13319, accessed 22 November 2024.]