The only widely accepted mention of Valerius Flaccus by his contemporaries is by Quintilian (10.1.90),[5] who laments the recent death of "Valerius Flaccus" as a great loss; as Quintilian's work was finished about 90 AD, this traditionally gives a limit for the death of Valerius Flaccus.[6] Recent scholarship, however, puts forward an alternative date of about 95 AD, and definitely before the death of Domitian in 96 AD.[7]
It has been claimed that he was a member of the College of Fifteen, who had charge of the Sibylline books, based on a reference in his work to the presence of a tripod in a "pure home" (1.5).[8] The assumption that this indicates he himself was a member, however, has also been contested.[2][9]
A contested mention of a poet of the name "Valerius Flaccus" is by Martial (1.76),[10] who refers to a native of Padua. A subscription in the Vatican manuscript adds the name Setinus Balbus, a name which suggests that its holder was a native of Setia in Latium, however it is not clear if this inscription refers to "Valerius Flaccus" or someone else.[9] The connection of this "Valerius Flaccus" to Gaius Valerius Flaccus has been contested under the assumption that Martial was referring to his friend's financial strife, and that Gaius Valerius Flaccus was a member of the College of Fifteen, and therefore likely to have been wealthy.[4]
Argonautica
Valerius Flaccus' only surviving work, the Argonautica, was dedicated to Vespasian on his setting out for Britain. It was written during the siege, or shortly after the capture of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD. As the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD is alluded to, its composition must have occupied him a long time. The Argonautica is an epic poem probably intended to be in eight books (though intended totals of ten and twelve books, the latter corresponding to Virgil's Aeneid, an important poetic model, have also been proposed) written in traditional dactylic hexameters, which recounts Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece.[4]
The Argonautica was lost until 1411, when the first 4½ volumes were found at St Gall in 1417 and published at Bologna in 1474.[11]
The poem's text, as it has survived, is in a very corrupt state; it ends so abruptly with the request of Medea to accompany Jason on his homeward voyage, that it is assumed by most modern scholars[12] that it was never finished. It is a free imitation and in parts a translation of the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes, "to whom he is superior in arrangement, vividness, and description of character" (Loeb Classical Library). The familiar subject had already been treated in Latin verse in the popular version of Varro Atacinus. The object of the work has been described as the glorification of Vespasian's achievements[13] in securing Roman rule in Britain and opening up the ocean to navigation (as the Euxine was opened up by the Argo).[6]
Various estimates have been formed of the genius of Valerius Flaccus, and some critics have ranked him above his original, to whom he certainly is superior in liveliness of description and delineation of character. His diction is pure, his style correct, his versification smooth though monotonous. On the other hand, he is wholly without originality, and his poetry, though free from glaring defects, is artificial and elaborately dull. His model in language was Virgil, to whom he is far inferior in taste and lucidity. His tiresome display of learning, rhetorical exaggeration and ornamentations make him difficult to read, which no doubt accounts for his unpopularity in ancient times.[6]
More modern analysis has been more accepting of Valerius Flaccus' style, noting how it fits in the "long and energetic Roman tradition of appropriation of the golden age and iron age myths"[2] and commenting on his narrative technique:
Valerius has unjustly suffered from being viewed as a doggedly earnest imitator of mightier models; his self-awareness and wry humour have gone largely unnoticed, although he has been commended for the poise of his versification and the acuity of his observation.[2]
Book 1: Aad J. Kleywegt (Leiden: Brill, 2005); Daniela Galli (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2007); Andrew Zissos (Oxford: OUP, 2008)
Book 2: Alison Harper Smith (Diss. Oxford, 1987); Harm M. Poortvliet (Amsterdam: VU University Press, 1991)
Book 4: (lines 1–343) Matthias Korn (Hildesheim: Olms, 1989); Paul Murgatroyd (Leiden: Brill, 2009)
Book 5: Henri J.W. Wijsman (Leiden: Brill, 1996)
Book 6: Henri J.W. Wijsman (Leiden: Brill, 2000); Thomas Baier (Munich: Beck, 2001); (lines 427–760) Marco Fucecchi (Pisa: ETS, 1997); (lines 1–426) Marco Fucecchi (Pisa: ETS, 2006)
Book 7: A. Taliercio (Rome: Gruppo Ed. Int., 1992); Hubert Stadler (Hildesheim: Olms, 1993); Alessandro Perutelli (Florence: Le Monnier, 1997)
Book 8: Cristiano Castelletti (forthcoming)
Thematic discussions
Debra Hershkowitz, Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica: Abbreviated Voyages in Silver Latin Epic, Oxford University Press, 1999
Cannizzaro, Francesco (2023). Sulle orme dell'Iliade: riflessi dell'eroismo omerico nell'epica d'età flavia. Firenze: Società editrice fiorentina. ISBN9788860326898.
Söllradl, Bernhard (2023). Valerius Flaccus, Vespasian und die Argo: zur zeithistorischen Perspektivierung des Mythos in den Argonautica. Leiden: Brill. ISBN9789004526143.
Stover, Tim (2023). Valerius Flaccus and imperial Latin epic. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN9780192870919.
