The epic poem the Thebaid by P. Papinius Statius, written about AD 80 to 92, deals with the fraternal strife between Oedipus' sons Eteocles and Polynices for the mastery of Thebes. Book VII describes the forced march of the Seven and their arrival at Thebes, Jocasta's vain attempt at mediation and Amphiaraus' spectacular katabasis. This book is the first which deals with Thebaid VII since Barth (1664) and Amar & Lemaire (1825-30). Apart from being a commentary in the philological sense, it examines in close detail the poet's mannered style and analyses the text as a...

The reign of the Flavian emperors (69-96) saw the production of a large and varied body of Latin poetry: the epics of Valerius Flaccus, Silius Italicus and Statius, the Silvae of the same Statius, and the Epigrams of Martial. This poetry, long seen as derivative or decadent, is now increasingly appreciated for the daring originality of its responses both to the Latin literary tradition and to the contemporary Roman world. In the summer of 2003, the first-ever international conference on Flavian poetry, was held at Groningen, The Netherlands, bringing together leading scholars in the...