Template:Short description Hostius an ancient Roman poet. He is most famous for writing the lost poem Bellum Histricum, which was at least two books long.<ref name=OCD>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> It is uncertain which Istrian war was the subject of this poem, but scholars generally consider the second war (129 BC) is more likely, as the first (178–7) had already been treated by Ennius in his Annales.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Only seven fragments of Hostius' poem survive,<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> but it was probably in the panegyric style which was common in the Hellenistic period.<ref name=FLP>Template:Cite book</ref>
Based on a reference to a doctus avus ("learned ancestor") in a poem by Propertius, many scholars believe that his lover Cynthia – whose real name was apparently Hostia – 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/>