Ambiguities of war : a narratological commentary on Silius Italicus' Battle of Ticinus (sil. 4.1-479)

"This Narratological Commentary on Silius' Battle of Ticinus lays bare the narrative form of the text by addressing numerous narratological aspects, including plot-development, focalization, space, and intertextuality. The book also focuses on the phenomenon of ambiguity with its dynamic processes of (un-)strategic production, perception, and resolution. Ambiguity is a central feature of the Punica because of the epic's constant oscillation between fact and fiction: it treats the changing fortunes of war and the tension between Rome and Carthage, which Silius translates into a moment of poetical equilibrium by his paradoxical problematization of triumph in defeat and defeat through triumph"-- Provided by publisher ‎Contents 6 ‎Preface and Acknowledgements 8 ‎Abbreviations 9 ‎Introduction 10 ‎Chapter 1. Premises, Objectives, Goals 12 ‎Chapter 2. Approaches and Methods 25 ‎Chapter 3. Ambiguity 39 ‎Chapter 4. The Structure of Book 4 87 ‎Chapter 5. Conceptual Structure: How to Use this Commentary 103 ‎Commentary 104 ‎Chapter 1. Scene 1: 1–55 Ausonia before the Outbreak of the Battles 106 ‎Chapter 2. Summary of 56–479: The Battle of Ticinus 145 ‎Chapter 3. Scene 2: 56–142 The First Encounter of the Armies 148 ‎Chapter 4. Scene 3: 143–188 The Attack of the Boians 195 ‎Chapter 5. Scene 4: 189–247 The Roman Counterattack 219 ‎Chapter 6. Scene 5: 248–310 Single Combat between the Consul and Crixus 251 ‎Chapter 7. Scene 6: 311–354 The Attack of the Carthaginians 285 ‎Chapter 8. Scene 7: 355–400 The Combat between Two Sets of Triplets 302 ‎Chapter 9. Scene 8: 401–479 The Consul Scipio in Trouble and His Rescue 324 ‎Glossary 370 ‎Bibliography 385 ‎General Index 418 ‎Index Locorum 421