Silius Italicus (Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus), Punica
(4,328 words)
A. Life and work
Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus (c. AD 26–c. 102) pursued a political career at first and was consul under Nero in AD 68. He later withdrew to his estates in Campania and devoted himself to his interests in writing. His epic in 17 books, the Punica (= P.), on the Second Punic War (218–202 BC) between Rome and Carthage, appeared during the time of the Flavian emperors, to whom homage is paid within the poem (Sil. Pun. 3,593–629). S. himself put an end to a life dogged by illness by fasting to death.