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: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (The American University of Paris)

Dates

Born
Died c. Dec 90

Places

Active in Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire)

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

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 (…

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2218 words

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

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