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Abstract
This is a thesis about Silius Italicus, a Latin poet, who wrote his epic poem, the Punica, during the reign of the emperor Domitian. Silius wrote his epic poem in the period after Vergils Aeneid, and, like his literary contemporaries, was forced to contend with his poetic forebears in order to insert his own poem into the Latin epic tradition. Thus, the poet looks back to Vergil, his principal poetic predecessor, through his use of allusion, metaphor, and other poetic imagery. The poem is also historical in nature, covering the period leading up to the Second Punic War, and Silius necessarily looks back to his historical predecessors, notably the Latin historian Livy. Silius creates, within the Punica, an interesting allusive technique that allows for a literary dialogue between the historical and epic genres, thus guaranteeing his position as a successor to both Vergil and Livy.