Hostius

{{Short description|Roman poet}}

Hostius an ancient Roman poet. He is most famous for writing the lost poem Bellum Histricum, which was at least two books long.{{cite encyclopedia| encyclopedia=Oxford Classical Dictionary| last=Courtney| first=Edward| entry=Hostius| edition=4th}} 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.{{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}} Only seven fragments of Hostius' poem survive,{{cite encyclopedia| encyclopedia=Brill's New Pauly| entry=Hostius| last=Courtney| first=Edward| doi=10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e518240}} but it was probably in the panegyric style which was common in the Hellenistic period.{{cite book| last=Courtney| first=Edward| title=Fragmentary Latin Poets| year=2003| publisher=Oxford| location=Oxford University Press| page=52}}

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. Edward Courtney doubts this, arguing that the girl addressed in the poem is not Cynthia.