{"product_id":"no-more-heroes-neronian-readings-of-silius-italicus-punica-9783119145244","title":"No More Heroes: Neronian Readings of Silius Italicus' \u003ePunica","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Theodore Antoniadis\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: de Gruyter\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: de Gruyter\u003cbr\u003e • BISAC: Ancient and Classical\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book offers an alternative reading of Silius Italicus' \u003cem\u003ePunica\u003c\/em\u003e against the political and literary backdrop of Nero's reign--one of the most underexplored areas in Flavian scholarship. Although Silius is no longer dismissed for his lack of originality or reduced to a nostalgic imitator of Vergil, readers have yet to fully grasp the subtle implications of his self-conscious engagement in a constructive dialogue with the imperial present. As a result, they often misinterpret the \u003cem\u003ePunica\u003c\/em\u003e as an epic firmly rooted in the Flavian era, overlooking or downplaying Silius' multifaceted \"belatedness\" as a man who lived under twelve emperors and witnessed firsthand Nero's downfall and its aftermath.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eNevertheless, the primary goal of this monography is not to challenge the \"official dating\" of the poem's composition--though it does raise legitimate questions about its status as an \"exclusive product\" of Flavian Rome. Instead, its central premise is that the \u003cem\u003ePunica\u003c\/em\u003e should not merely be seen as a historical epic linking Rome's distant past to its imperial present but rather as a fundamentally political poem that reflects Silius' \"imperial anxieties\"--anxieties rooted in Nero's reign and persisting beyond his fall.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"de Gruyter","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47595435393175,"sku":"9783119145244","price":13097.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9783119145244.webp?v=1774989763","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/no-more-heroes-neronian-readings-of-silius-italicus-punica-9783119145244","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}