[Sidenote: The Achilleis and the Silvæ.] The _Achilleis_ has much the same good and bad qualities as the _Thebais_, and is less wearisome only because it is less long. In the _Silvæ_ Statius shows to better advantage. These occasional poems were evidently written for the most part in haste. In fact Statius says in his preface to the first book that none of the poems contained in it occupied him more than two days, and one of these poems contains 277 lines. The poems were written chiefly to please some noble or wealthy patron, and the subjects are in many cases trivial, such as a parrot, a fine bath-house, or a beautiful tree belonging to the person addressed. Such works call for little poetic fervor, but merely for skill in writing verses, and that Statius possessed in remarkable measure. Nearly all the poems are in hexameters, only six, among them one in celebration of Lucan’s birthday, being in other metres. There is more or less padding in the poems; invocations of the Muses or of gods take up considerable space, and mythological allusions are needlessly multiplied; but these things are excusable in a poet who writes to order to please a patron. Of all the poems of Statius the most pleasing is one of only nineteen lines addressed to Sleep, the “youth, most gentle of the gods.” The wakeful poet begs Sleep to come, but does not ask him to spread all his wings over his eyes, but merely to touch him with his wand, or pass lightly over him. The _Thebais_ and the _Achilleis_ attained immediate popularity, and continued to be much read and admired in the Middle Ages; but modern times have reversed the former judgment, and such admiration as is still accorded to Statius is given him on account of the _Silvæ_. [Sidenote: Other poets.] The epics of Saleius Bassus and of Statius’s father, both of whom wrote under Vespasian, have disappeared, as have the tragedies and orations of Curiatius Maternus, who lived at the same time. The lyric poet, Arruntius Stella, and the poetess, Sulpicia, wrote under Domitian, but their works also are lost, for the extant short poem attributed to Sulpicia is a product of a later time. The only Flavian poet, besides Valerius Flaccus, Silius Italicus, and Statius, whose works remain, is Martial.