Gaius Valerius Flaccus

Gaius Valerius Flaccus (; died ) was a 1st-century Roman poet who flourished during the "Silver Age" under the Flavian dynasty, and wrote a Latin Argonautica that owes a great deal to Apollonius of Rhodes' more famous epic.

Life The only widely accepted mention of Valerius Flaccus by his contemporaries is by Quintilian (10.1.90), 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. Recent scholarship, however, puts forward an alternative date of about 95 AD, and definitely before the death of Domitian in 96 AD.

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). The assumption that this indicates he himself was a member, however, has also been contested.

A contested mention of a poet of the name "Valerius Flaccus" is by Martial (1.76), who refers to a native of Padua. A subscription in the Vatican Library 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.

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 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 in securing Roman rule in Britain and opening up the ocean to navigation (as the Euxine was opened up by the Argo).

In 1911, the compilers of the Encyclopædia Britannica remarked,

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" and commenting on his narrative technique:

Editions Older editions Editio princeps, Bologna 1474 Giovanni Battista Pio, Bologna 1519 (with commentary and continuation of the poem: remainder of book 8, book 9, and book 10) Aldine edition, Venice 1523 Louis Carrion, Antwerp 1565 (2nd ed. 1566) (Plantin edition) Nicolaas Heinius, Leiden 1680 (2nd ed. Utrecht 1702 [by Pieter Burman], 3rd ed. Padua 1720 [by Giuseppe Comino] Pieter Burman, Leiden 1724 (variorum edition) Bipontine edition, Zweibrücken 1786 J.A. Wagner, Göttingen 1805 (with commentary)

Modern editions G. Thilo, Halle 1863 C. Schenkl, Berlin 1871 E. Baehrens, Leipzig 1875 (Bibliotheca Teubneriana) P. Langen, Berlin 1896-7 J.B. Bury, London 1900 (in Postgate's Corpus Poetarum Latinorum) C. Giarratano, Palermo 1904 O. Kramer, Leipzig 1913 (Bibliotheca Teubneriana) J.H. Mozley, London & Cambridge, MA, 1934 (Loeb Classical Library) E. Courtney, Leipzig 1970 (Bibliotheca Teubneriana) W.W. Ehlers, Stuttgart 1980 (Bibliotheca Teubneriana) G. Liberman, Paris 1997 (Collection Budé) – Books 1–4 F. Caviglia, Milan 1999 (Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli [BUR]) G. Liberman, Paris 2002 (Collection Budé) – Books 5–8

English translations J.H. Mozley, London & Cambridge, MA, 1934 (Loeb Classical Library) D.R. Slavitt, Baltimore 1999 Michael Barich, Gambier, OH 2009

In popular culture Valerius Flaccus appears as a recurring character in Caroline Lawrence's 21st-century Roman Mysteries series of children's novels. He is the husband of the main character, Flavia Gemina. In the television adaptations, the character is played by British actor Ben Lloyd-Hughes.