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© 2020 Adam Alexander Kozak NATURE, IMPERIALISM, AND THE ETHICS OF WAR IN FLAVIAN EPIC BY ADAM ALEXANDER KOZAK DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classical Philology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Antony Augoustakis, Chair Assistant Professor Clara Bosak-Schroeder Assistant Professor Brian Walters Professor Craig Williams ABSTRACT This dissertation argues that Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica, Silius Italicus’ Punica, and Papinius Statius’ Thebaid use human encounters with nature to reflect on the morality of their poems’ central characters. Interactions and conflicts with nature occur at programmatic points in the poems, further indicating their importance for the narratives. This common thread throughout all three epics points to a deeper interest in nature and the unknown beyond the edges of the empire. As such, ecocritical theory and theories of space and place have greatly informed my approach to this topic. By examining encounters with nature such as humans crossing geographical boundaries, cutting down forests, and fighting river gods, Flavian epic is shown to comment on the military exploits of the three Flavian emperors, their interactions with nature while on campaign, and the ideology of their regime. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign I have been very fortunate to find a group of scholars that are every bit as intellectually curious and rigorous as they were welcoming, kind, and supportive. I owe a debt of gratitude to Antony Augoustakis who not only introduced me to Flavian epic but also guided me through every stage of my graduate education. His seminar on Statius’ Thebaid changed the course of my graduate career. I am grateful to him for his indispensable advice, support, and gentle nudges when my course needed correcting. I owe him thanks for reading this dissertation multiple times and vastly improving my work, always encouraging me to choose the difficult, but more rewarding, path. I would like to thank Clara Bosak-Schroeder for her constant advice, encouragement, support for my interest in nature, and for reading and commenting on my dissertation. She profoundly shaped my thinking, writing, and teaching in ways I cannot count or ever repay. Clara made me a more thoughtful scholar and teacher and always challenged my ideas and conclusions. Her seminar on nature in the ancient world was formative for me and, hand-in-hand with the Statius seminar, changed the direction of my research. I am deeply grateful to Craig Williams for the time he put into reading this dissertation and his valuable feedback. I immensely enjoyed and was enriched by every class I took with Professor Williams, from his Martial seminar my very first semester to his seminar on Propertius and many others. Thanks to Brian Walters for the advice he gave me all the way back in the spring of 2013 when I visited UIUC and for reading and commenting on my dissertation. Although I was never iii able to take one of his courses, I deeply value his perspective on my work and found his feedback on my dissertation enlightening. I owe an immense debt of gratitude to Ariana Traill who went above and beyond to make me the best teacher I could be. Her consistent advice and attention to my teaching, especially in the form of class observations, were invaluable to me. She pushed me to be a better teacher and to always reflect on and improve my methods. I am also deeply grateful to my teachers at Case Western Reserve University. Paul Iversen’s archaeological survey in Isparta, Turkey in the summer of 2010 was the beginning of my career in Classics and he encouraged me to pursue graduate studies. Timothy Wutrich’s enthusiasm for Classics was infectious and I was deeply influenced by his classes and am grateful for his continued mentorship and friendship. Ricardo Apostol was a mentor who gave me invaluable advice about graduate school and whose classes and research influenced me massively. Rachel Sternberg’s love of all things Classics, especially Greek tragedy, was similarly infectious and I always enjoyed her classes. I cannot possibly express my gratitude to my friends, colleagues, and fellow Flavianists, Stephen Froedge and Clayton Schroer. Little did we know when we entered the graduate program at Illinois together in the fall of 2013 that we would all write dissertations on Flavian epic and finish at the same time seven years later. I owe them both for their constant support and friendship. We had many conversations about Classics, and life, over many beers throughout our time at Illinois. I especially owe Stephen for his support in fatherhood and during my hardest times. I would like to thank my friends and colleagues Chris Gipson, Jessica Wells, and Aine McVey for their friendship, support, and feedback on my work. Our discussions about thesis iv writing were an important first step for getting me to where I am and we shared many experiences and hardships during our years of graduate studies. I am grateful to my parents, Linda and Joe, for their constant support. As the children of immigrants they know the value of education and my education would not have been possible without them. To my daughter Evelyn I owe thanks for being a source of joy and distraction. I hope, when she reads this many years from now, she will know that I was always happy for her to prevent me from doing my work. To my son Samuel I owe thanks for teaching me the most important lesson of all. Words can never express my appreciation to my wife, Emily. She alone knows the effort, the hardship, and the cost of the last seven years and of this dissertation. I owe her everything. Although they will never know it, I owe thanks to my constant companions while writing this dissertation: Ajax, Freya, Till Lindemann, Richard Z. Kruspe, Paul Landers, Oliver Riedel, Christoph Scheider, Christian Lorenz, Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Nicko McBrain, and Mick Gordon. Finally, thanks to the School of Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics for awarding me a Dissertation Completion Fellowship, thus enabling me to finish my thesis. v For Emily, Evelyn, and Samuel lux in tenebris vi TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: THE PATH WHERE NO ONE GOES: CROSSING BOUNDARIES ......17 CHAPTER 2: WHEN THE PINES BEGIN TO CRY: FORESTS AND DEFORESTATION ...........................................................................................................66 CHAPTER 3: THE RIVER’S RED: RIVERS, IDENTITY, AND SINGLE-COMBAT .........................................................................................................128 CHAPTER 4: WE ARE YOUR OVERLORDS: FLAVIAN IDEOLOGY AND THE CONQUEST OF NATURE .............................................................................................188 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................227 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................228 vii INTRODUCTION In book 3 of Silius Italicus’ Punica, Hannibal and his forces approach the Alps but his soldiers are reluctant to advance (Sil. 3.500-502, 506-508): At miles dubio tardat uestigia gressu, 500 impia ceu sacros in fines arma per orbem natura prohibente ferant diuisque repugnent. ... ‘non pudet obsequio superum fessosque secundis 506 post belli decus atque acies dare terga niuosis montibus et segnes summittere rupibus arma?’1 But the soldiers slow their steps, hesitant to advance lest they bring impious weapons across sacred boundaries throughout the world, though natura forbade it, and march in opposition to the gods...“Are you not ashamed to be tired of the allegiance of the gods and your successes after the glory and battles of war and to turn your backs to snowy mountains and, sluggish, to lay down your arms to rocks?” Hannibal rebukes his soldiers declaring that they should be ashamed to retreat beaten by mountains and cliffs and further encourages them to think that even now they are scaling Rome’s walls as they climb the Alps (3.509-510). Hannibal fights against the mountainous Alpine landscape while his soldiers fear to transgress against natura and the gods. This passage exemplifies the human struggle against nature that I will examine throughout Flavian epic. This dissertation developed from the observation that Flavian epic shows a deep and abiding interest in the natural world, which in turn plays a central role in each poem’s narrative, and the intuition that the elements of nature in the poems are integral to the poems and more than mere decoration. A topic such as “nature” in three complete, or nearly complete, epic poems can rightly be called ingens. However, such a thematic approach allows for a comparative reading of these 1 Unless otherwise noted, the editions that I utilized are Ehlers’ (1980) Argonautica, Hall’s (2007) Thebaid, Delz’s (1987) Punica, and Mynors’ (1969) Aeneid. 1 poems which will produce a deeper analysis of the texts and how they interact with each other. The epics of Valerius Flaccus, Silius Italicus, and Papinius Statius, (hereafter Valerius, Silius, and Statius) written over a span of twenty-five years and the products of the Flavian period in Rome, demand to be read