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Parenthetical remarks in the Silvae 305
lecturing Statius’ young addressee, Crispinus, on the exploits of his father,
Vettius Bolanus, in Caledonia (5.2.144–9):
hic suetus dare iura parens, hoc caespite turmas
adfari victor; speculas (Davies: vitae specula M) castellaque longe 145
(aspicis?) ille dedit, cinxitque haec moenia fossa;
belligeris haec dona deis, haec tela dicavit
(cernis adhuc titulos); hunc ipse vocantibus armis
induit, hunc regi rapuit thoraca Britanno.
Here your father was accustomed to give laws, on this turf he addressed the
squadrons in victory; he provided lookouts and forts far and wide (do you see
them?), and surrounded these walls with a ditch; these are the gifts, these are
the weapons he dedicated to the gods of war (you still see the inscriptions); this
breastplate he himself put on when arms were summoning him, this one he seized
from the British king.
The classroom style is neatly conveyed by the parenthetical query (‘are you
paying attention?’) and the gesture drawing attention to the evidence (‘you
can still see the traces’).
3.2 Subjectivity
3.2.1 Authorial comment
A parenthesis is frequently used to convey an authorial comment on the
narrative, contributing a subjective point of view. Virgil was the first author
to use this technique to create a sense of empathy with the characters in
the text (Tarrant 1998: 152). Sometimes this takes the form of reporting the
reaction of the authorial persona, as when Statius, attempting to comfort
Flavius Ursus, laments that he helped set fire to Philetus’ pyre (2.6.14–15):
...hominemgemis(eimihi,subdo
ipse faces), hominem, Vrse, tuum
You mourn a human being (woe is me! I myself kindle the torch), your human
being, Ursus.
At other times, the authorial persona explains – and, by implication, sympathises
with – the actions of the participants within the narrative, as in
Statius’ description of the embalming of Priscilla, whose widower, he says,
could not stand the smoke and noise of the pyre (5.1.225–8):
hic te Sidonio velatam molliter ostro
eximius coniunx (nec enim fumantia busta
clamoremque rogi potuit perferre) beato
composuit, Priscilla, tholo.