STONES IN THE FOREST 29
specific occasions (however one is to understand the term “commis-
sioned”),^28 the Silvae are strongly rooted in the real world. But that
world presents Statius with a challenge: if his patrons are to appreciate
his poetry, they must recognize in it themselves and their surround-
ings, but they must like what they see (or, rather, hear); Statius’ task is
to elevate and transmogrify his addressees’ mundane circumstances so
that they take on supranormal dimensions and glamorous hues. Most
of the people for whom he was writing were rich, and lived well; in-
deed, they included the person who was the richest and best-living of
all, the emperor himself. So, Statius had to be alert to their pride in
their possessions, and pick out what was special in their lives and
invest it with those vast dimensions and glamorous hues. This results
in a kind of paradox, with Statius using the most elaborate and allu-
sive language to describe the most familiar artifacts of daily life. He
makes this strategy explicit in his instructions to his “letter” (epistula)
in Silvae 4.4, which, following the precedent of Catullus, Horace, and
Ovid (who variously address their papyrus, book, and letter), is thor-
oughly anthropomorphized: cui primum solito uulgi de more salutem,
/ mox inclusa modis haec reddere uerba memento, “Give Marcellus
the greetings formula in the usual way, then be sure to address him
with the following words enclosed in metre” (Silv. 4.4.10–1). Statius’
verse-letter is therefore treated as a herald rather than as a messenger
of the written word: the everyday epistolary formula in prose is to be
supplemented by an elevated verse epistle.
Statius performs a tour de force by conveying the material world in
words. He can describe a floor-plan or a cityscape with elaborate pre-
cision. Features of dress and gesture, the posture of a statue large or
small, a ‘shopping-list’ of low-grade presents—he can conjure it all up
with his verbal wizardry. Yet, there are remarkably few overt allu-
sions to writing in the Silvae, with the notable exception of poems
written to friends who have taken an interest—or even an active
role—in Statius’ “serious” writing, his epic endeavours of the Thebaid
and the Achilleid; or are themselves authors, such as Vibius Maximus,
recipient of 4.7, who apparently composed an epitome of world-
history; or at least make claims to literary connoisseurship, like
Plotius Grypus, recipient of 4.9, who sent Statius for the Saturnalia a
copy of some boring speeches by Brutus the tyrannicide (it seems),
28 On the “initiative” taken by Statius’ patrons, see Nauta 2002a, 28–30, 244–8.