Editing Hostius

{{Short description|Roman poet}}
'''Hostius''' an ancient [[Roman_Republic | Roman]] poet. He is most famous for writing the lost poem  ''Bellum Histricum'', which was at least two books long.<ref name=OCD>{{cite encyclopedia| encyclopedia=Oxford Classical Dictionary| last=Courtney| first=Edward| entry=Hostius| edition=4th}}</ref>  It is uncertain which [[Istria | Istrian]] war was the subject of this poem, but scholars generally consider the second war (129 BC) is more likely, as the first (178&ndash;7) had already been treated by [[Ennius]] in his ''[[Annales (Ennius)|Annales]]''.<ref>{{cite journal| last=Casali| first=Sergio| title=The Poet at War: Ennius on the Field in Silius's "Punica"| journal=Arethusa |year=2006| volume=39| issue=3| jstor=44578937| page=593}}</ref>  Only seven fragments of Hostius' poem survive,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| encyclopedia=Brill's New Pauly| entry=Hostius| last=Courtney| first=Edward| doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e518240}}</ref> but it was probably in the [[panegyric]] style which was common in the [[Hellenistic period]].<ref name=FLP>{{cite book| last=Courtney| first=Edward| title=Fragmentary Latin Poets| year=2003| publisher=Oxford| location=Oxford University Press| page=52}}</ref>

Based on a reference to a ''doctus avus'' ("learned ancestor") in a poem by [[Propertius]], many scholars believe that his lover Cynthia &ndash; whose real name was apparently Hostia &ndash; was descended from Hostius.<ref name=FLP/>  Edward Courtney doubts this, arguing that the girl addressed in the poem is not Cynthia.<ref name=FLP/>

==References==
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[[Category:2nd-century BC Roman poets]]
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