Silius Italicus was a successful politician under many Roman emperors but is best known as the author of the
Punica
, a seventeen‐book epic poem on the Second Punic War, against Hannibal. Although it is a historical epic, the gods are major characters and take part in the action. The poem marks Rome's ascent to world domination but also its shift from Republican freedom to the rule of emperors, and its tone is accordingly ambivalent.