In the twenty-first canto of the Purgatorio, Dante and his guide Virgil encounter the poet Statius, who introduces himself to the Florentine master (Purgatorio 21.91-93):

Stazio la gente ancor di là mi noma:
   cantai de Tebe, e poi del grande Achille,
   ma caddi in via con la seconda soma.

(Statius people yonder still call me:
   I sang of Thebes and then of great Achilles,
   but I fell on the way with the second burden.)

Shortly after, Statius acknowledges his reverence for Dante's companion and his own poetic mentor (Purg. 21.100-102):

E per esser vivuto di là quando
   visse Virgilio, assentirei un sole
   più che non deggio al mio uscir di bando.

(To have lived yonder when
   Virgil lived, I would consent to one more sun
   than I owe to...