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THE PROLOGUE OF VALERIUS FLACCUS’ ARGONAUTICA (1.1–21): QUINDECIMVIRATE, CORTINA AND CALEDONIAN SEA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2019

Francis Cairns
Francis Cairns*
Affiliation:
Florida State University, USA
*
*fcairns@fsu.edu
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Abstract

This paper challenges certain more or less standard interpretations of Valerius Flaccus’ Argonautica prologue, viz. that lines 5–9 reveal that the poet was a xvvir sacris faciundis, that the cortina (6) stood in or in front of his house to symbolise his quindecimvirate, and that Caledonius … | Oceanus (8–9) refers to an exploit of Vespasian during the Claudian invasion of Britain. I argue that Valerius’ quindecimvirate is a mirage, that the cortina stood in a different ‘house’, and that ‘Caledonian Ocean’ refers to an event or events closer in time to the composition of the Argonautica. The alternative interpretations proposed radically alter perceptions of the prologue.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Cambridge Classical Journal , Volume 65 , December 2019 , pp. 1 - 28
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2019. Published by Cambridge University Press 

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Footnotes

Dates not specified as BC are AD. The secondary literature cited has been restricted to essentials; for a broader sweep of bibliography on the prologue see Zissos (2008) 79 on lines 5–21. I am indebted to Ian Duquesnay, Bruce Gibson, Trevor Luke, Tim Stover and Tony Woodman for advice on this paper, and for additional supportive material; their assent to its proposals should not be assumed. I also thank the anonymous referees of CCJ for their corrections and suggestions. All remaining errors are mine.

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