When Statius published the Thebaid in 92 CE, late in the reign of the emperor Domitian, he hoped to secure the lasting success of his epic by attracting imperial favour and by achieving a place in the Roman educational system. In an unusual envoi bidding farewell to his epic, Statius records indications of the present popularity of the poem as an index of its future acclaim: iam certe praesens tibi Fama benignum | strauit iter coepitque nouam monstrare futuris. | iam te magnanimus dignatur noscere Caesar, | Itala iam studio discit memoratque iuuentus (‘Certainly attendant Fame has already laid a benevolent path for you, and begun to show you, new as you are, to future generations. Already generous Caesar deigns to know you; already the youth of Italy learns you with zeal and recites you’, Theb. 12.812–15). Statius was neither the first nor the last in the long line of ancient epicists to aspire to a place in the classical curriculum on the model of Homer, whose poetry enjoyed pride of place in education throughout antiquity.