Commentary Purg XXII 82-87

Statius's epic is dedicated (fulsomely) to the emperor.  Thus Dante, believing that Domitian persecuted Christians and that Statius was a Christian, had to resolve that problem by imagining a conversion that only bloomed after he had begun writing the Thebaid.  See Toynbee's article on the emperor (Domiziano): 'Domitian (Titus Flavius Domitianus Augustus), Roman Emperor, younger son of Vespasian and successor of his brother, Titus; he was born at Rome A.D. 51, became Emperor in 81, and was murdered in 96.  Among the many crimes traditionally imputed to him was a relentless persecution of the Christians, which is mentioned by Orosius (Hist. VII.x.1), who was doubtless Dante's authority.'  Orosius, however, puts this persecution late in Domitian's reign, while Dante would seem to have believed that it occurred earlier, i.e., at the very least before Statius had reached the seventh book of his epic.  While later historians question either the severity or the very existence of Domitian's persecution of Christians (and Jews [see Andrea Lancia (DDP Ottimo.Purg.XXII.83)], Dante's early commentators, who may reflect traditions known also to him, insist that Domitian was only the second emperor (after Nero) to persecute Christians.  The Anonimo Fiorentino (DDP Fiorentino.Purg.XXII.74-89) states that Domitian's persecutions began in the fourth year of his reign (81-96) and that in 89, when they reached their height, they had made martyrs of such notable Christians as St. Clement.  If Dante was aware of the traditional timetable for the composition of the Thebaid, 80-92, his life of Statius, supplied in these verses, would match up well with those particulars.