LIFE

Our evidence for St.'s life comes mainly from the Siluae, particularly 3.5, an epistle to his wife, and 5.3, the poem on his father's death. St. was a poet of two cities and two cultures. He was born around 50 ce in Naples, ‘practically a Greek city’ (quasi Graecam urbem, Tac. Ann. 15.33), where Hellenic culture was supported by Roman wealth and power. The city celebrated Greek-style games founded by Augustus; Greek and Latin, and probably Oscan, were spoken in the city, with Greek remaining the language of cultural prestige in many official contexts. St. was the son of an eminent grammaticus and Greek professional poet who, composing in a tradition of extemporaneous poetry, won prizes at the major Greek games and was honoured with a statue in the Athenian agora. St. was doubly privileged: born in a city with a rich cultural heritage, he was taught a demanding curriculum in Greek literature by his father in a period when such knowledge was crucial for social advancement.

At some point in St.'s youth father and son moved to Rome where St. senior had a successful career as grammaticus to the Roman elite and probably also to the imperial family. He enjoyed too the great honour of reciting his poem on the civil war of 68–9 in the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitol (5.3.199–204). The father thus may have been closer to the imperial court than the son.