The headless city: the decline and fall of Capua in Silius Italicus' Punica

The description of the Romans' siege and recapture of Capua in Silius Italicus' Punica develops the city's role as, at different times and to differing extents, a parallel, antitype, surrogate, and rival to Rome, as well as to the other cities, such as Saguntum, Troy, and Alba, which...

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Main Author: Cowan, R
Format: Book section
Language:English
Published: 2007
Subjects:
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author Cowan, R
author_facet Cowan, R
author_sort Cowan, R
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description The description of the Romans' siege and recapture of Capua in Silius Italicus' Punica develops the city's role as, at different times and to differing extents, a parallel, antitype, surrogate, and rival to Rome, as well as to the other cities, such as Saguntum, Troy, and Alba, which stand in a similarly complex relationship to Rome and to each other. This article explores these issues, through a close reading of the siege narrative and careful attention to its intertextual resonances, as well as Silius' development of a poetics of unfulfillment, his use of counterfactual history, and his treatment of themes of moral decline, civil war, and political power.
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spelling oxford-uuid:dceb6b5a-980c-46ca-ac9e-088615e7fbea2022-03-27T09:21:10ZThe headless city: the decline and fall of Capua in Silius Italicus' PunicaBook sectionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_3248uuid:dceb6b5a-980c-46ca-ac9e-088615e7fbeaHistory of the ancient worldEnglishOxford University Research Archive - Valet2007Cowan, RThe description of the Romans' siege and recapture of Capua in Silius Italicus' Punica develops the city's role as, at different times and to differing extents, a parallel, antitype, surrogate, and rival to Rome, as well as to the other cities, such as Saguntum, Troy, and Alba, which stand in a similarly complex relationship to Rome and to each other. This article explores these issues, through a close reading of the siege narrative and careful attention to its intertextual resonances, as well as Silius' development of a poetics of unfulfillment, his use of counterfactual history, and his treatment of themes of moral decline, civil war, and political power.
spellingShingle History of the ancient world
Cowan, R
The headless city: the decline and fall of Capua in Silius Italicus' Punica
title The headless city: the decline and fall of Capua in Silius Italicus' Punica
title_full The headless city: the decline and fall of Capua in Silius Italicus' Punica
title_fullStr The headless city: the decline and fall of Capua in Silius Italicus' Punica
title_full_unstemmed The headless city: the decline and fall of Capua in Silius Italicus' Punica
title_short The headless city: the decline and fall of Capua in Silius Italicus' Punica
title_sort headless city the decline and fall of capua in silius italicus punica
topic History of the ancient world
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