Silius Italicus, Tiberius Catius Asconius (c. AD 25–c. 101)

Latin epic poet, consul in 68, and governor of Asia in 77. He was the author of Punica, on the second of the Punic Wars, which was discovered by Poggio Bracciolini in 1416. It is by common consent the longest and worst poem in the whole range of Latin literature. Suffering from an incurable illness, he starved himself to death.