ABSTRACT
Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the ancient author suffered criticism based almost exclusively on stylistic features. Other unwarranted assessments, such as Butlers unforgiving comment characterizing the Silvae as “fulsome to the verge of nausea,” further relegated the poet to the bottom rung on the hierarchical ladder of ancient Roman literature, accompanied by other underestimated poets such as Lucan and Silius Italicus. The later Roman poets of the fourth and fifth centuries, Claudian, Ausonius, and Sidonius Apollinaris, not only read the Silvae, but used Statius as inspiration for their own compositions. Following the later Roman period of literary history, the Silvae disappeared from common circulation during the Middle Ages, but the Thebaid and Achilleid were still widely read and Statius himself enjoyed great popularity, albeit as an epic poet. Statius’ popularity, however, was not limited to Italy, but, like other movements spread throughout Eurone, including Holland and Spain.
