In Silvae 3.5, published towards the end of A.D. 94, Statius announced his intention to leave Rome and spend his remaining years in Naples, his birthplace. The tranquility offered by his native city seems particularly appealing to the poet. For here, he says, is a place where both the climate and the sea are gentle, and where it is possible to enjoy an untroubled life, in sharp contrast to the violence and litigiousness of Rome (3.5.83-88). Here too, graceful architecture is complemented by literary festivals which rival those of the capital (89-92). In addition, Naples was also the home of some of Statius’ patrons, most prominently Pollius Felix to whom this third book of Silvae is addressed, and whose newly built shrine to Hercules on his Surrentine estate is the subject of Silv. 3.1. The latter poem, it has been noted, seems to be intended as a counterweight to Silv. 3.5, with the aim of establishing Naples as a primary focus of the whole book.