Saleius Bassus was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

epic poet. He lived during the reign of

Vespasian Vespasian (; ; 17 November AD 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman emperor from 69 to 79. The last emperor to reign in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27 years. His fiscal reforms and consolida ...

, being a contemporary of

Gaius Valerius Flaccus Gaius Valerius Flaccus (; died ) was a 1st-century Roman poet who flourished during the "Silver Age" under the Flavian dynasty, and wrote a Latin ''Argonautica'' that owes a great deal to Apollonius of Rhodes' more famous epic.Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

credited him with a vigorous and poetical genius and

Julius Secundus Julius Secundus was a Roman orator and a friend of Quintilian. He is one of the speakers in Tacitus's short dialogue, '' Dialogus de Oratoribus''. In his ''Institutio Oratoria ''Institutio Oratoria'' ( English: Institutes of Oratory) is a twelv ...

, one of the speakers in

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

' ''

Dialogus de oratoribus The is a short work attributed to Tacitus, in dialogue form, on the art of rhetoric. Its date of composition is unknown, though its dedication to Lucius Fabius Justus places its publication around 102 AD. Summary The dialogue itself, set in ...

'' styles him a perfect poet and most illustrious bard. Saleius was apparently overtaken by poverty, but was generously treated by Vespasian who gave him a present of 500,000

sesterces The ''sestertius'' (: ''sestertii'') or sesterce (: sesterces) was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The name ''sester ...

. Nothing from his works has been preserved; the ''

Laus Pisonis The ''Laus Pisonis'' (''Praise of Piso'') is a Latin verse panegyric of the 1st century AD in praise of a man of the Piso family. The exact identity of the subject is not certain. Some scholars identify him with Gaius Calpurnius Piso, the ...

'', which has been attributed to him, is probably by

Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November AD 39 – 30 April AD 65), better known in English as Lucan (), was a Roman poet, born in Corduba, Hispania Baetica (present-day Córdoba, Spain). He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imper ...

Titus Calpurnius Siculus Titus Calpurnius Siculus was a Roman bucolic poet. Eleven eclogues have been handed down to us under his name, of which the last four, from metrical considerations and express manuscript testimony, are now generally attributed to Nemesianus, who ...

References

* The Siculus attribution cites J. Held, ''De Saleio Basso'', 1834. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bassus, Saleius 1st-century Roman poets