"But when all this has befallen, Asclepius, then the Master and Father, God, the first before all, the maker of that God who first came into being, will look on that which has come to pass, and will stay the disorder by the counterworking of His will, which is the good."

"They will no longer love this world around us, this incomparable work of God, this glorious structure which He has built..."

"And in that day men will be weary of life, and they will cease to think the universe worthy of reverent wonder and of worship. And so religion, the greatest of all blessings, for there is nothing, nor has been, nor ever shall be, that can be deemed a greater boon, will be threatened with destruction; men will think it a burden, and will come to scorn it."

"Darkness will be preferred to light, and death will be thought more profitable than life; no one will raise his eyes to heaven."

"He will call back to the right path those who have gone astray; He will cleanse the world from evil, now washing it away with water-floods, now burning it out with fiercest fire, or again expelling it by war and pestilence."

"Sanus est, qui scit quid sit insania, quippe insania scire se non potest, non magis quam caecitas se videre."

"Ad vivendum velut ad natandum is melior qui onere liberior."

"En adsum tuis commota, Luci, precibus, rerum naturae parens, elementorum omnium domina, saeculorum progenies initialis, summa numinum, regina manium, prima caelitum, deorum dearumque facies uniformis, quae caeli luminosa culmina, maris salubria flamina, inferum deplorata silentia nutibus meis dispenso: cuius numen unicum multiformi specie, ritu vario, nomine multiiugo totus veneratus orbis."

"Nam cum coeperis deae servire, tunc magis senties fructum tuae libertatis."

"Parit enim conversatio contemptum; raritas conciliat admirationem."

"Accessi confinium mortis et calcato Proserpinae limine per omnia vectus elementa remeavi, nocte media vidi solem candido coruscantem lumine, deos inferos et deos superos accessi coram et adoravi de proximo."

"Thus the Phrygians, earliest of all races, call me Pessinuntia, mother of all gods. Thus the Athenians, sprung from their own soil, call me Cecropeian Minerva and the sea-tossed Cyprians call me Paphian Venus, the archer Cretans Diana, Dictynna, and the trilingual Sicilians Proserpine; to the Eleusinians I am Ceres, the ancient godess, to others Juno, to others Bellona and Hecate and Rhamnusia. But the Ethiopians, who are illumined by the first rays of the sun-god as he is born every day, together with the Africans and Egyptians, who excel through having the original doctrine, honour me with my distinctive rites and give me my true name of Queen Isis."

"The elegant, the tender, and the passionate Tibullus."

"Est nobis voluisse satis."

"Illam, quidquid agit, quoquo vestigia movit, componit furtim subsequiturque Decor."

"Credula vitam spes fovet et fore cras semper ait melius."

"Difficile est tristi fingere mente iocum."

"Quis fuit, horrendos primus qui protulit enses? quam ferus et vere ferreus ille fuit!"

"Atque aliquis senior veteres veneratus amores annua constructo serta dabit tumulo, et "bene" discedens dicet "placideque quiescas, terraque securae sit super ossa levis.""

"Periuria ridet amantum Iuppiter."

"Nec iurare time: veneris periuria venti inrita per terras et freta summa ferunt. gratia magna Iovi: vetuit Pater ipse valere, iurasset cupide quidquid ineptus amor."

"Audendum est: fortes adiuvat ipsa Venus."

"Te propter nullos tellus tua postulat imbres, arida nec pluvio supplicat herba Iovi."

"Ex hoc barbaricis abacta plectris spernit senipedem stilum Thalia, ex quo septipedes videt patronos."

"Te spectem, suprema mihi cum venerit hora, Et teneam moriens deficiente manu."

"O neccessitas abiecta nascendi, vivendi misera dura moriendi."

"Hi sunt, quos timent etiam qui timentur."

"Mors obruit illos, non timor; invicti perstant animoque supersunt jam prope post animam."

"Quid me, etsi valeam, parare carmen Fescenninicolae iubes Diones inter crinigeras situm catervas et Germanica verba sustinentem, laudantem tetrico subinde vultu quod Burgundio cantat esculentus infundens acido comam butyro?"

"Nam qui maxume doctus sibi videtur, dictionem sanam et insanam ferme appetitu pari revolvit, non amplius concupiscens erecta quae laudet quam despecta quae rideat. atque in hunc modum scientia pompa proprietas linguae Latinae iudiciis otiosorum maximo spretui est, quorum scurrilitati neglegentia comes hoc volens tantum legere, quod carpat, sic non utitur litteris, quod abutitur."

"In the very beginning he unluckily betrays his ignorance in the rules of poetry (which Horace had already taught the Romans) when he asks his Muse where to begin his Thebaid..."

"It may be remarked of Statius's heroes, that an air of impetuosity runs through them all; the same horrid and savage courage appears in his Capaneus, Tydeus, Hippomedon, etc. They have a parity of character which makes them seem brothers of one family."

"Curritur ad vocem jucundam, et carmen amicae Thebaidos, laetam fecit quum Statius urbem, Promisitque diem, tanta dulcedine captos Afficit ille animos, tantaque libidine vulgi Auditur! sed quum fregit subsellia versu, Esurit, intactam Paridi nisi vendat Agaven."

"[Statius] has as luxuriant an imagination as Lucan, but it is easy to see that he oftener checked it. You will find in his Thebaid innumerable beauties, but you will also see too many faults. You will see a fire and spirit equal to all that appeals in the Poets of the greatest name; but you will wish not only that it had been more limited, but that it had been better regulated: he has a great deal of natural dignity, but in carrying it too far he often spoils its lustre. His language is often elegant to a very great degree, and though not universally, yet in a very great part, is appropriated in a very happy manner. If there be one fault predominant above the others in the Thebaid, it is that he is too florid; but you will see that in this the fault was in the impetuosity of his fancy rather than in defect of judgment: his subject ran away with him, and he gave the reins to imagination. In his Sylvae we see him with all this false glare, natural, elegant, and easy. His Achilleid there is no pronouncing any thing upon, for it was never retouched. You will find in many parts of his Thebaid a great deal of the true sublime: in others he carries it into rant and bombast. In the Achilleid there is more of this in proportion than in the Thebaid; but we are not from thence to conclude that he grew worse in this respect as he continued his application: had he lived to finish, he would also have corrected that poem."

"Among the writers of antiquity, I remember none except Statius who ventures to mention the speedy production of his writings, either as an extenuation of his faults, or a proof of his facility. Nor did Statius, when he considered himself as a candidate for lasting reputation, think a closer attention unnecessary, but amidst all his pride and indigence, the two great hasteners of modern poems, employed twelve years upon the Thebaid, and thinks his claim to renown proportionate to his labour.Thebais, multa cruciata lima, Tentat, audaci fide, Mantuanae Gaudia famae.Polished with endless toil, my lays At length aspire to Mantuan praise."

"Strada, in his Prolusions, has placed Statius on the highest top of Parnassus; thereby intimating the strength of his genius, and the lofty spirit of his style; which indeed is generally supported by a bold and lively expression, and full flowing numbers. His manner, therefore, resembles rather the martial strut of a general, and the magnificence of a triumph, than the majestic port and true grandeur of a prince, which better suits the inimitable character of Virgil's style. As a soldier cannot easily lay aside the roughness of his character, neither can Statius descend from the pomp of language and loftiness of numbers, when his subject requires it."

"The best of all the Latin epic poets after Virgil."

"Stazio la gente ancor di là mi noma: cantai di Tebe, e poi del grande Achille; ma caddi in via con la seconda soma."

"And kis the steppes, wher-as thou seest pace Virgile, Ovyde, Omer, Lucan, and Stace."

"Lo dolce poeta."

"Dignissima caeli progenies."

"The cruelty of war makes for peace."

"I think Statius a truer poet than Lucan, though he is very extravagant sometimes."

"Serit arbores, quae alteri saeclo prosint"

"I do not scruple to prefer Statius to Virgil; his images are strongly conceived, and clearly painted, and the force of his language, while it makes the reader feel, proves that the author felt himself."

"Studiis multum Mavortia, Thrace."

"Ni pudor et junctae teneat reverentia matris."

"Jamdudum tacito lustrat Thetis omnia visu."