Editorial note — CAIUS SILIUS
Reading edition · Edition 2
In the original book, each page had three sections: the poem itself; the Variae Lectiones; and the commentary. For this e-text, the poem and notes— broken into small segments— have been kept together, while the Variae Lectiones have been placed in a block at the end of each Book. All words discussed in the Variae have been underlined, with links in both directions.
Greek used in this text falls into a few distinct groups:
—Quotations from Greek works illustrating literary devices used by the author or giving historical or linguistic background —Greek forms of names used in the poem —Grammatical or literary terms that have no Latin equivalent
In general, Greek words have only been given mouse-hover transliterations where necessary for linguistic explanations such as the derivation of a place name. The word τὸ (occasionally in the dative form τῷ) is a definite article, meaning “the word X”. Common adverbs are:
σαρκαστικῶς, “sarcastically” ὑπερβολικῶς, “hyperbolically” ἀρχαϊκῶς, old-fashioned (“archaically”) δεικτικῶς, pointing out δεινῶς, “wonderfully” or “terribly” according to context, but best translated as “the author is showing off”.
Citations from the Iliad and Odyssey are shown as printed. The editors generally used lower-case letters for both works; inconsistencies are in the original.
Cross-references supplied by the editors themselves—Ruperti or Lemaire—are linked directly to the referenced passage (text, notes or variae). In general, lines cited by other scholars (“Draken. ad...”, “D. Heins. laudat...”) are not linked. To aid in linking, missing line numbers were added to the Notes. These numbers are shown in italics with a mouse-hover reminder: 323. or (v. 323). Duplicate numbers in the original are unchanged.
Known errors in cross-references are similarly italicized and labeled. Cross-references with minor errors are shown as printed, but linked to the correct line: “cf. ad III, 162”. Not all errors have been found.
References between the Notes and Variae for any one line are not directly linked, but both are linked to the main text.