«Pugnam fugientum more petebant». Flaminius' march to Lake Trasimene between epic and historiography

Abstract

This paper deals with a passage from Silius Italicus’ Punica (v 28-33): Flaminius’ army marches towards Lake Trasimene disregarding the divisions between the troops and the usual order of march. This section reworks both historiographical and poetic intertexts (notably Livy and Lucan) and has a parallel in Statius’ Thebaid. The disorder of the troops before the battle at Lake Trasimene, which corresponds to the recklessness of the commander and foreshadows the defeat, is paralleled by Varro’s speech at Cannae, which incites insubordination among the soldiers (Sil. IX 23-37). The theme of the ‘chaotic army’ also appears in some passages of Tacitus’ Historiae, where lack of discipline is treated as a symptom of civil war. It is therefore possible that this theme was also associated with civil war by Flavian poets, who lived through the nightmare of 68-69.