This volume is one of the latest in De Gruyter's excellent TCSV (Trends in Classics Supplementary Volumes) series, and as the editors note, one of several to be published on Flavian studies at this time (N. Coffee, C. Forstall, L. Galli Milić and D.P. Nelis [edd.], Intertextuality in Flavian Epic Poetry [TCSV 64, 2019, forthcoming], and L.D. Ginsberg and D.A. Krasne [edd.], After 69 ce – Writing Civil War in Flavian Rome [TCSV 65, 2019, forthcoming]). There is no doubting, therefore, the huge interest in Flavian literature at the moment, and this volume caters well for scholars in that field and beyond, featuring papers that deal with a variety of authors and which incorporate wide-ranging discussions on genre and textual influences that extend beyond the Flavian period.

Born of a conference held in Turin (‘I generi letterari nell'età dei Flavi. Canoni, trasformazioni, ricezione’) in September 2013, this volume states its intention ‘to investigate the dynamics of genres in the literary production of the Flavian age as a whole: including prose and poetry, the main literary forms, all major authors’ (p. 1). Ambitious in its scope, this volume at times comes close to being too broad, too expansive and at risk of losing its cohesion as a result. Nonetheless, the editors are largely successful in bringing together a disparate range of papers through a comprehensive introduction in which they have identified some common themes that unite many of the papers, such as the consideration of genre and generic influence in terms of ‘large’ vs ‘small’ (e.g. epic vs the epigram) and what the study of genre can add to the debate on high vs low culture. Moreover, whilst the breadth of material under discussion at times causes problems for the volume's cohesion, it also makes for a refreshingly expansive range of papers, which is rarely seen in collective volumes on Flavian literature. It is true that Frontinus, Josephus and ps.-Seneca's Octavia are missing, but there are two papers on Quintilian and two on the elder and the younger Pliny, whilst the other papers engage with a broad array of authors that extend far beyond the usual range of Augustan works.

The volume (a total of seventeen papers) is divided into seven main sections: (1) ‘Genres and Literary History’, (2) ‘Encyclopaedism and Oratory’, (3) ‘Tradition and the Poetics of the Epigram’, (4) ‘Occasional Poetry and Literary Genres’, (5) ‘Models and Transformations of the Epos’, (6) ‘War and Generic Tensions’ and (7) ‘Epic and Other Genres’. Part 1 contains two papers on Quintilian, by M. Citroni (‘Antiqui, veteres, novi: Images of the Literary Past and the Impulse to Progress in the Cultural Program of Quintilian’) and T. Baier (‘Quintilian's Approach to Literary History via imitatio and utilitas’). Both authors read Quintilian as a Flavian writer who consciously considers his position within the discipline of oratory as well as the wider literary tradition. Citroni's paper examines how Quintilian posits his work in relation to his predecessors as well as his views on the evolution of literary history. Baier's paper focuses on Quintilian's reception of Greek and Latin texts with respect to their educational value for their audience and on how Quintilian encourages his readers to select suitable exempla from literary models to improve their own style and ability to persuade.

Part 2 contains two papers, on Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia by S.C. Marchetti (‘Contingat aliqua gratia operae curaeque nostrae: an Ethic of Care in the Naturalis historia’) and on Pliny the Younger by A. Balbo (‘Roman Oratory and Power under the Flavians: some Case Studies from Pliny the Younger’). Both papers have much to offer in their own right, although Marchetti's paper on Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia does not fit as comfortably within the overarching theme of this volume as some of the other papers. Balbo's paper on Pliny the Younger offers some fascinating comparisons with Cicero's work that paint Pliny as a young orator of the past standing up for liberty in the Flavian law courts (especially those under Domitian).

Part 3 consists of two papers that focus on Martial's Epigrams, by A. Canobbio (‘Bipartition and Non-distinction of Poetical Genres in Martial: magnum vs parvum’) and A.M. Morelli (‘Catullus 23 and Martial. An Epigrammatic Model and its ‘Refraction’ throughout Martial's libri’). Canobbio's paper, despite being an overly condensed version of earlier work (‘Generi “grandi” e generi “piccoli” in Marziale e in Stazio’, BStudLat 44 [2014], 442–70), offers an intriguing exploration of how the poet uses notions of ‘large’ (e.g. epic) and ‘small’ (e.g. epigram) to turn the traditional generic hierarchy on its head and to prioritise the parvum. Morelli's paper, through a consideration of Martial's relationship with Catullus, offers a convincing reading of how Martial, our established auctor, tries to define himself as a poet in a post-Domitianic world.

Part 4 consists of three papers predominately focused on Statius’ Silvae, by E. Merli (‘The festinatio in Flavian Poetry: a Clarification’), A. Bonadeo (‘Scattered Remarks about the ‘Non-genre’ of Statius’ Silvae. The Construction of a Minor Canon?’) and C. Newlands (‘The Early Reception of the Silvae: from Statius to Sidonius’). Merli and Bonadeo both offer papers that tie in well with the focus of this volume. Newlands's paper on the early reception of the Silvae is excellent, with an argument as clearly expressed as it is well-conceived. Moreover, Newlands's paper connects well with both Merli and Bonadeo, providing an added level of cohesion that the earlier sections in the volume lack. Of particular note is Newlands's argument that Sidonius, like Statius, is a poet of innovation who makes use of the ‘fluidity of genre’ (p. 183) that characterises both the Thebaid and the Silvae.

Part 5 consists of two papers on Valerius Flaccus by J. Fabre-Serris (‘The Argonautica of Valerius Flaccus and the Latin Tradition on the Beginning and End of History (Catullus, Virgil, Seneca)’) and A. Zissos (‘Generic Attire: Hypsipyle's Cloaks in Valerius Flaccus and Apollonius Rhodius’). Fabre-Serris explores how Valerius attempts to breathe new life into the Argonautic myth in response to earlier (largely negative) portrayals in Catullus and Seneca among others. Zissos's excellent paper takes Hypsipyle's cloak as an example for showing how Valerius relocates and reconceives Apollonian (as well as Virgilian) imagery on a larger scale.

Part 6, the longest section in the volume, consists of four papers that focus on the generic tensions within martial epic by H. Lovatt (‘The Beautiful Face of War: Refreshing Epic and Reworking Homer in Flavian Poetry’), R.J. Littlewood (‘Epic on the Edge: Generic Instability at the Pivotal Centre of Silius’ Punica [10.336–371]’), R. Marks (‘Silius, Sicily, and the Poetics of Generic Conflict: Grosphus in Punica 14.208–217’) and A. Keith (‘Lyric Resonances in Statius’ Achilleid’). Lovatt's paper is clear and convincing and focuses on generic conventions, notably the idea that beauty in war functions as a trope in epic. Littlewood focuses on the Cannae episode and its centrality within Silius Italicus’ Punica, using it as a barometer for measuring generic tension in the epic as a whole. Marks's paper on Book 14 of the Punica highlights a paradox: namely that in asserting the authority of epic over ‘small’ genres such as the works of Callimachus, Horace and Ovid, Silius must nonetheless appropriate these poets’ works. Finally, Keith's excellent paper on Statius’ Achilleid turns our attention to an often forgotten intertextual source for Statius’ epic works, lyric poetry, and illustrates how Statius’ Achilles acquires a ‘lyric profile’ that presents him as a hero who, whilst on the cusp of his epic destiny, is unsure whether he wishes to leave behind the delights of a lyric world.

The final Part (7) contains two papers, by A. Augoustakis (‘Burial Scenes: Silius Italicus’ Punica and Greco-Roman Historiography’) and C. Reitz (‘Is Capaneus an Epicurean? A Case Study in Epic and Philosophy’), that focus on how Flavian epic engages with other genres that include historiography and well as philosophical treatises. Augoustakis re-examines the burial scenes in Silius Italicus’ Punica, considering the influence of historiography – especially that of Polybius and Livy – upon them. In doing so, Augoustakis offers a new reading of how we can interpret the at times antagonistic relationship between epic and historiography in Silius’ work. Reitz's paper on Capaneus as a potential Epicurean is a fitting end to the volume, going beyond previous considerations of the generic influences at play in this pivotal scene from Thebaid 10 to illustrate that there is much more that we, as readers of Flavian epic, can gain from considering the wider generic influences at play in these works.

It is frustrating that in a volume that is so wide-ranging there is no index locorum or index of proper names and subjects. Also, the groupings are somewhat perplexing. On the one hand they are clearly author-driven, with even the last two sections limited to papers that focus predominantly on either Statius or Silius Italicus. Yet the titles of the sections imply a focus on different generic aspects. The most successful grouping, therefore, in terms of its focus is Section 6 that consists of four papers on a variety of works by Silius Italicus and Statius, all of which fit comfortably with the title ‘War and Generic Tensions’. Nevertheless, although it is a pity that this level of cohesion between individual papers and their sections could not be achieved with the same success elsewhere in the volume, this should not detract from what this volume offers as a whole. Almost without exception, the papers offer wide-ranging readings of Flavian authors that demonstrate the benefits that can be gained from approaching these authors through the perspective of generic influence. Rather than focusing on the minutiae of a text, therefore, the contributors encourage us to look outwards, considering not only the place of these writers within the Flavian age, but how they connect to those authors who precede them as well as those who would follow.