Lucan Reader

Susanna Braund
A Lucan Reader
DI t j vCoogle
Ronnie Ancona
These readers, written by experts in the field, provide well annotated
Latin selections to be used as authoritative introductions to Latin au-
thors, genres, or topics, for intermediate or advanced college Latin
study. Their relativelysmall size (covering 500-600 lines) makes them
ideal to use in combination. Each volume includes a comprehensive
introduction, bibliography for further reading, Latin text with notes
at the back, and complete vocabulary. Sixteen volumes are scheduled
for publication; others are under consideration. Check our website for
updates: www.BOLCHAZY.com.
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A Lucan Reader
Selections from Civil War
Susanna Braund
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc.
Mundelein, Illinois USA
DI t j vCoogle
Series Editor: Ronnie Aneona
Volume Editor: Laurie Haight Keenan
Contributing Editor: Timothy Beck
Cover Design e!r Typography: Adam Phillip Velez
Map: Mapping Specialists, Ltd.
ALucan Reader
Selections from Civil War
Susanna Braund
2009 Bolchazy-Cardueci Publishers, Irre.
All rights reserved.
Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Inc.
1570 Baskin Road
Mundelein, Illinois 60060
www.bolchazy.eom
Printed in the United States of America
2009
by United Graphies
ISBN 978-0-86516-661-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publieation Data
Luean, 39-65.
[Pharsalia. Seleetions 1
A Luean reader: seleetions from Civil war / Susanna Braund.
p. em. -- (Latin reader series)
Text in Latinj introduetion, notes, and eommentary in English.
ISBN 978-0-86516-661-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Rome--History--Civil War, 49-45 B.C.--
Poetry. 2. Latin language--Readers--Poetry. 1. Braund, Susanna Morton. H. Title.
PA6478.A22008
873:01--de22
2008040485
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Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Latin Text, Civil War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
1.1-45 .................................. 2
1.67-157 ................................ 3
1.183-227 ................................ 7
1.486-504. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
3.8-35 .................................. 9
3.399-445 ............................... 10
6.624-53 ............................... 12
7.617-37 ............................... 13
7.647-82 ............................... 14
7.728-46 ............................... 15
7.760-811. .............................. 16
8.542-636 ............................... 18
8.663-88 ............................... 21
9.190-217 ............................... 22
9.961-99 ............................... 23
Map ................................... 26
Eastern Mediterranean in Caesar's Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Commentary . ............................ 27
Lucan's theme, 1.1-45 ........................ 27
The causes ofthe civil war, 1.67-157 ............... 34
v
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vi A LUCAN READER
Caesar at the Rubicon, 1.183-227 .... .
Rome is abandoned, 1.486-504 ....... .
Pompey is visited by the ghost of Julia, 3.8-35 ..
Caesar fells the sacred grove, 3.399-445 .
The witch Erichtho prepares to perform
a necromancy, 6.624-53 ........ .
The end ofthe battle ofPharsalia, 7.617-37 .
Pompey concedes defeat and leaves
the battlefield, 7.647-82 .......... .
Caesar on the battlefield, 7.728-46 ..... .
Caesar on the battlefield (continued), 7.760-811
The death of Pompey, 8.542-636 ......... .
The death of Pompey (continued), 8.663-88 ... .
Cato's funeral oration for Pompey, 9.190-217
Caesar at the site of Troy, 9.961-99 ..... .
Vocabulary ................... .
.... 47
.. 53
.. 55
.... 58
.. 65
.69
.71
.74
.. 76
.. 82
.... 92
.. 95
.. 99
... 105
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Preface
I am delighted to have been offered the opportunity to share my
passion for the poetry of Lucan by Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers.
Lucan is not often read by students at the advanced level and alm ost
never at the intermediate level. There are reasons for this, apart from
fashion. His Latin can be very difficult and the articulation of his
ideas sometimes seems downright perverse. But whether his Latin
is really more difficult than any other author of the post-Augustan
period is debatable. And to understand how and why he narrates-
or refuses to narrate-the story of the civil war between Caesar and
Pompey is to gain an important insight into early imperial poetry.
It is my fervent hope that the brief selection from Lucan's Civil War
offered in this volume will provoke students to study this amazing
poem in greater depth.
I here express my gratitude to Ronnie Ancona for supporting my
unexpected proposal to produce a volume on Lucan and for her on-
going help during production. Laurie Haight Keenan at the Press
has also been most helpful. Elaine Fantham, Vincent Hunink, Corby
Kelly, and Toph Marshall have all assisted in different ways. Two dear
friends have made special contributions. Victoria Pagan, whose un-
derstanding of imperial literat ure and of the needs of teachers and
students alike is unparalleled, read the whole manuscript atvery short
notice and made suggestions large and small that improved the book
significantly. My largest debt of gratitude is to Jo Wallace-Hadrill for
producing the total vocabulary-a task requiring, and receiving, the
most painstaking attention to detail. Without Jo's contribution the
sheer joy of writing this book might have been overwhelmed by the
challenge of generating the vocabulary list. I knew I needed to find a
special person for this role and I count mys elf fortunate that J 0 was
happy to undertake it.
vii
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viii A LUCAN READER
It is my final pleasure to dedicate this book to J ohn Henderson,
with whom I first read Lucan, to the memory of Charles Tesoriero,
who was a fellow enthusiast for Lucan's Erichtho, and to all my stu-
dents, past, present, and future.
SUSANNA BRAUND
Bowen Island, British Columbia
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Introduction
~ Lucan's life and times
Lucan is an intriguing figure. He moved in court cireles from a young
age and was a prolific poet. He seems to have enjoyed the favor of the
emperor Nero, two years his eIder, for a while, but was later in effect
silenced. Finally he joined a conspiracy to overthrow Nero but was
compelled to commit suicide at the age of25.
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus was born in 39 CE at Corduba (modern
C6rdova), Spain, into a wealthy and prominent family. The rheto-
rician and historian Seneca the EIder was his grandfather and the
Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger, later tutor to the young Nero,
was his father's brother. Lucan was raised at Rome and received an
education typical for the sons of the elite, consisting of the study of
literat ure and rhetoric (public speaking). He mayaiso have studied
Stoic philosophy with a freedman of Seneca. Nero invited him into
his cirele of elose friends and gave him prominence in Roman public
life with the bestowal of the positions of quaestor and augur, even
though Lucan was below the minimum age for the quaestorship. Lu-
can reciprocated with a eulogy of the emperor that he recited at the
Neronia, the quinquennial games established by Nero in 60 CE. But
in 64 CE Nero banned Lucan from public recitation ofhis poetry and
from practicing advocacy in the law-courts, thus in effect removing
him from the public eye. We do not know the reason for this rift.
Our sources personalize the matter with stories ofNero's jealousy of
Lucan's manifest literary abilities. But there may have been political
reasons for Nero's action, perhaps connected with Seneca's enforced
retirement from public life in 62 CE. In any case, early in 65 CE Lucan
joined the so-called "Pisonian conspiracy" that planned to replace
Nero with Calpurnius Piso; the biographer Suetonius describes Lucan
ix
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x A LUCAN READER
as the "standard-bearer" ofthe conspirators. But the plot was exposed
and the leading players were either executed or forced to commit sui-
eide. Lucan chose to commit suicide in April 65 CE, a fate shared by
the end of 66 CE by his father and uncle too. The account ofLucan's
suicide provided by the historian Tacitus (Annals 15.70) has him re-
citing some lines from one of his own poems as his last words.
The accession ofNero in 54 CE was celebrated by many as a new
golden age, redolent of the reign of Augustus, and literat ure appears
to have been revitalized under the patronage and encouragement of
the emperor, who had artistic interests and literary ambitions him-
self. According to our sourees, Lucan contributed to this flowering
of poetry with prolific productivity. Although his epic poem on the
civil war between Caesar and Pompey is the only poem of his to
survive, we have fragments of his Journey to the Underworld, Tale
of Troy, Orpheus, and epigrams, and we know by title alone of his
Eulogy of Nero, Address to Polla (his wife), ten books of occasional
poetry, Saturnalia, Medea (a tragedy), fourteen books of pantomime
libretti, a poem On the Burning of Rome, and Letters from Campania
(probably in verse) as well as prose orations.
It seems reasonable to regard his epic poem, Civil War, as his ma-
jor achievement. The poem has generated controversy and scholarly
dispute concerning its title and its political position. Many scholars
have called it Pharsalia, on the basis of some lines from Book 9 where
Lucan links Caesar's immortality with his own (980-86). He prom-
ises to Caesar that "future ages will read me and you" and that "our
Pharsalia shalllive" for ever.
But it seems clear that he here refers to the battle of Pharsalia as
won by Caesar and as recorded by Lucan in his poem. Certainly, no
surviving manuscript gives Pharsalia as the title, while the major-
ity of manuscripts have De bello ciuili, "On the Civil War." Some
scholars prefer to use the title Bellum Ciuile, simply "Civil War."
It is even imaginable to think of the opening line of the poem as
its title, Bella ... plus quam ciuilia, "wars worse [literally, "more"]
than civil wars," given that many poems in antiquity were known
by their opening words.
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INTRODUCT10N xi
Lucan's political position in relation to Nero and the Principate
is just as intractable. Some scholars have pointed to Lucan's partici-
pation in an attempted political coup against Nero (the "Pisonian
conspiracy") and have retrojected Lucan's hostility towards Nero.
On this view, Lucan's flattery of Nero at the opening of the poem
must be heavily ironie (see 1.33-45 in this volume) and marked by
doublespeak. This interpretation is fueled by the discomfort that
modern western culture experiences when confronted with extrava-
gant panegyric. However, many other societies have generated praise
addressed to rulers that is similarly effusive, or even more effusive-
the English and French courts in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, for example, or some modern Arab monarchies. It is cer-
tainly possible to take Lucan's praise ofNero as the expected tribute
bya poet to the autocrat who held absolute power in the Roman state.
There are certainly plenty of analogues from within Roman cul-
ture-the praise offered to Octavian (not yet Augustus) by Virgil in
his Georgics and to Augustus by Horace in his Odes (although some
critics are as skeptical of the message there as they are of Lucan's
attitude here) as weH as the eulogies to later emperors composed by
poets such as Statius and Martial.
Some have read Lucan as a "Republican" because ofhis participa-
tion in the Pisonian conspiracy and because of his condemnation of
Caesar, who inaugurated one-man rule at Rome when he assumed
the dictatorship in the early 40s BCE. Although this view of "Lucan
the Republican" is understandable at the zenith of his popularity
in the anti-monarchical and revolutionary climates of seventeenth
century England and eighteenth century France, it involves a pro-
found misunderstanding of Roman politics in the first century CE.
The Principate was a fact by the time that Lucan was writing and it is
clear that the aim of the conspirators was not to res tore the Republic
but to replace Nero with another emperor who would treat the Ro-
man elite with more dignity and respect.
To read Lucan's hostility towards Caesar as a manifestation of
Republican or even anti-Neronian sentiment is also too simplistic.
Although Nero was certainly a "Juli an" emperor in his descent from
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xii A LUCAN READER
Augustus and through him from Julius Caesar, Augustus' great-uncle
and adoptive father, he may not have identified closely with Julius
Caesar. Rather, it is possible that he identified with the Pompeian
party through his (blood) ancestor Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus,
who is picked out for favorable treatment by Lucan. Domitius, who
was Nero's great-great-grandfather, appears twice in the poem, in
Book 2 when he displays a noble bearing on his surrender to Cae-
sar and in Book 7 when his death receives possibly the most heroic
treatment of any in the poem. Since other accounts depict Domitius'
behavior in much less favorable terms, it is clear that Lucan sought
to present Nero's ancestor positively. In short, to my mind there is
no reason to posit any growing discontent with either Nero or the
Principate. Rather, Lucan seems to have flourished under Nero until
late in 64 or early in 65 CE when he decided to join the conspiracy; we
can never knowwhether his reason was simply Nero's ban or broader
political issues. The issue of Lucan's ideological stance remains the
most contentious issue in the interpretation of his poem. The clear-
est account of the problem is still that of Frederick Ahl in Lucan: An
Introduction (lthaca and London, 1976) 35-61.
Lucan chose as his topic for his epic poem the civil war between
Caesar and Pompey. Below I shall outline the events of the civil war,
discuss Lucan's choice of genre, give an outline of the poem, analyze
its scope and structure, and discuss its literary dimensions, including
Lucan's relationship with his predecessors in the genre, particularly
Virgil. Topics include Lucan's handling of the gods and the super-
natural, the marked Stoic dimension of the poem, the three protago-
nists and the other characters, the strategies he adopts to maximize
the horror of his subject-matter and, finally, the characteristics of
his Latin. After a protracted lack for appreciation ofLucan's achieve-
ment and years of scholarly neglect, happily there is now an abun-
dance of excellent scholarship to enhance our reading of Lucan. I
have selected a few items for the bibliography, which appears at the
end of the Introduction.
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INTRoDUCTION xiii
~ The civil war between Caesar and Pompey
Lucan chose to compose his epic poem about events from relatively
recent history-the civil war between Caesar and Pompey that start-
ed when Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BCE. The civil war set in
motion a sequence of events that led to the supremacy of Octavian,
Julius Caesar's heir and adoptive son, who had himself proclaimed
Augustus in 27 BCE. Augustus is usually regarded as the first em-
peror, or princeps, and he made every attempt to keep the succession
within his family. At his death in 14 CE he was succeeded by his step-
son, Tiberius, who ruled until 37 CE. He in turn was succeeded by
Gaius, whose nickname was Caligula, the son of Germanicus, Tibe-
rius' nephew and adoptive son. Gaius ruled for just four years be-
fore he was murdered and replaced by his uncle Claudius, who ruled
41-54 CE, until he was allegedly poisoned by his wife Agrippina in
her machinations to make her son Nero emperor. With Nero's death
in 68 CE, the so-called Julio-Claudian dynasty came to an end.
The civil war of 49-45 BCE can only be understood through events
that led up to it-as Lucan himself understands very well, supplying
a lengthy consideration of its causes at the beginning of Book 1 of
his poem. Analysis of the background events usually begins in 60
BCE, following Sir Ronald Syme, the great Roman his tori an, in his
crucial book, The Roman Revolution, first published in 1939 and still
in print. The year 60 BCE saw an informal coalition, often called the
"First Triumvirate," between Julius Caesar, just returned from a suc-
cessful campaign in Spain, with the millionaire Marcus Crassus and
the brilliant general Gnaeus Pompeius, Pompey the Great, who had
recently returned from his conquest and political reorganization of
the N ear East. The collaboration was sealed by the marriage of Cae-
sar's daughter Julia to Pompey the next year and as consul in 59 BCE
Caesar was able to ratify the coalition's legislation as well as set up
a five-year command in Gaul for himself. The command was not
only a vehicle for his military ambitions, both in terms of the glory
that ca me from conquest and the power that came from the loyalty
of troops bound more to their individual commander rather than to
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xiv A LUCAN READER
the Roman state. It also brought him immunity from prosecution,
which was a major concern for any Roman who had held high of-
fice. In Roman Republican politicallife, it was absolutely normal for
political enemies to take their revenge via prosecution, but this could
happen only once the individual had returned to private status. Since
anyone who rose to the highest positions had inevitably made many
enemies on the way, the fear of prosecution was very real.
The coalition weathered some bumpy moments to be consoli-
dated in 56 BeE at a meeting at Luca (modern Lucca) with the vio-
lent installation of Pompey and Crassus as consuls for the next year.
The consuls used their position to protect themselves with five-year
commands in Spain and Syria respectively and extended Caesar's
command of Gaul into the year 50 BeE, a measure designed to give
him uninterrupted power until it was legal for him to stand for the
consulship again. But the coalition did not last that long.
In 54 BeE the bond between Caesar and Pompey was weakened
by the death ofJulia in childbirth and in 53 BeE Crassus was killed by
the Parthians at the battle of Carrhae. In 52 BeE, after months of an-
archy, Pompey became sole consul, a constitutionally unprecedented
position. He used his power to enact measures, some of which ap-
peared to support Caesar's position but others of which clearly un-
dermined it. His shift away from Caesar and back towards what we
might call the senatorial party was marked by his marriage to Cor-
nelia, daughter of one of the traditionalists.
Caesar had nearly been out-maneuvered by Pompey, but not quite.
In 50 BeE he persuaded Curio, one ofthe tribunes, to veto the legisla-
tion that would jeopardize his position, by paying off Curio's mas-
sive debts. As the year progressed, civil war seemed more and more
inevitable. When in December Curio proposed the motion to the
Senate that both Pompey and Caesar should give up their provinces
and armies, support was overwhelming. However, the consul Mar-
cellus dismissed the Senate without implementing the motion and a
few days later, in response to a rumor that Caesar was invading Italy,
entrusted the defense of Italy to Pompey. In the first few days of 49
BeE, the new consul Lentulus overrode the veto of the new tribunes
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INTRODUCT10N xv
Antony and Cassius who were now acting for Caesar, had the Senate
declare astate of emergency, and started the process of replacing Cae-
sar as governor of Gaul. This gave Caesar the pretext he needed to act:
he could claim that he was defending the tribunes and their rights.
So in January 49 BeE Caesar crossed the Rubicon, which was the
boundary between his province of Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. In re-
sponse to his rapid advance down the east co ast of Italy, Pompey
and the Senate withdrew from Rome to Brundisium and in March
sailed across to Epirus, leaving Italy in Caesar's control (Books 1-2).
Caesar entered Rome, seized the Treasury, and then went to Massilia
where he began to besiege the city (Book 3) and moved on to Spain,
where he defeated Pompey's generals (Book 4). Meanwhile in Africa
his lieutenant Curio was defeated and killed by King Juba, an ally
of Pompey (Book 4). Caesar returned to Rome in December to be
elected consul and in January crossed to Epirus (Book 5) and faced
Pompey at Dyrrachium (Book 6). Pompey then moved east to Thes-
saly and the two armies met in the battle ofPharsalia on 9 August 48
BeE, where Caesar inflicted a resounding defeat on Pompey (Book
7). Pompey fled with the remnants of the Senate (other senators went
directly to Africa with Cato and Pompey's son Gnaeus) and was
killed on his arrival in Egypt on 29 September (Book 8). Caesar ar-
rived in Alexandria three days later (Books 9-10), waged war against
Ptolemy XIII and in the spring of 47 BeE established Cleopatra as
ruler. In the summer he returned to Rome, but in December crossed
over to Africa to deal with the Pompeian forces that had mustered
there under Pompey's father-in-Iaw Scipio. Caesar finally took Thap-
sus after besieging it for four months. Soon afterwards, Cato the
Younger, one of the Pompeian leaders, committed suicide at Utica.
As a result of his victory Caesar was voted dicta tor for ten years and
he returned to Rome to celebrate a fourfold triumph. But the war was
not yet over. Before the end of 46 BeE he had to go to Spain to face the
troops that Pompey's sons had assembled there. Caesar ended the
brief campaign with his victory at the battle ofMunda on 17 March
45 BeE. Caesar then returned to Rome where he remained until his
assassination in March 44 BeE.
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xvi A LUCAN READER
Our sources for the events of the civil war include Caesar's own
commentaries on the Civil War (three books) as well as accounts
written by his officers, the Alexandrian War covering 48-47 BCE,
the African War on the events of 47-46 BCE, and the Spanish War
on the campaign that climaxed with the battle of Munda; the nar-
ratives written in Greek by Appian in the second century CE (Civil
Wars Book 2) and by Dio Cassius in the early third century CE (Ro-
man History Books 41-43); and the relevant Lives by Plutarch (also in
Greek, written in the late first and early second century CE), most ob-
viously those ofPompey, Caesar, and Cato the Younger. The sources
available to Lucan included Caesar's account and the narrative writ-
ten by Livy as part of his monumental history of Rome, From the
Foundation of Rome; unfortunately, these books of Livy do not sur-
vive. Since Lucan could assume his audience's familiarity with the
events of the civil war, and since his choice of genre was epic poetry
not prose historiography, he did not feel any need to provide relent-
less detail. In fact, he at times omits, minimizes, amplifies, and even
invents incidents and minor characters. A good example of this is
the appearance ofCicero in Pompey's camp at the battle ofPharsalia
(Book 7): we know from Plutarch that Cicero was not present, but
dramatically it makes good sense to deploy him as the spokesman
of the Senate. Another example is Lucan's account of the assassina-
tion of Pompey in Book 8, where a comparison with the cluttered
but probably more reliable account by Plutarch demonstrates clearly
Lucan's tendency towards simplification for dramatic effect.
~ Lucan's choice 0/ genre
Lucan chose to write an epic poem in the long-established hexam-
eter meter. This decision sets some parameters for our judgment of
his achievement. He is not inviting comparison with the writers of
historiographical narrative. Rather, his models are his predecessors
in the epic genre, above all, Virgil, whose Aeneid was an instant
success when the emperor Augustus published it after Virgil's death
in 19 BCE. In fact, the poem was so esteemed that it immediately
became a set-text for Roman schoolboys and a text against which
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INTRODUCT10N xvii
any subsequent epic poet was forced to measure himself. Virgil's
achievement in the Aeneid is often regarded as the high point ofLat-
in literature, after which there could only be decline. That attitude
explains the labels "Golden" and "Silver" that have been applied to
Augustan and post-Augustan literat ure respectively. But instead of
constructing an acme and subsequent decline, it is more valuable to
consider how the preeminence of the Aeneid inspired subsequent
poets to define themselves and their projects differently-a topic
explored brilliantly by Philip Hardie in his book The Epic Succes-
sors of Virgil (Cambridge, 1993). As I proceed to indicate some of
the characteristics of Lucan's poetry, including manifestations of
his deli berate differences from Virgil, I intend to make the case for
reading Lucan on his own terms and for valuing his achievement as
one of the most original poets produced by Rome.
~ Epic and the theme 0/ civil war
When we think of Greco-Roman epic poems, Greek mythological ep-
ics such as the Iliad and Odyssey and Argonautica immediately come
to mind. In Latin literature, Virgil's Aeneid too arguably belongs in
that category, in that it deals with events in the distant past before the
foundation ofRome, although Virgil forges strong links between past
and present. Against that backdrop, Lucan's decision to tackle the rela-
tively recent civil war looks like an innovation. But there was a strong
tradition ofhistorical epic at Rome, startingwith the earliest Latin ep-
ics, Naevius' Punic War (written in the Saturnian meter) and Ennius'
Annals (written, like the Homeric epics, in the dactylic hexameter),
composed in the late third century BCE and second century BCE re-
spectively. The fragments of poems on the civil wars written under
the emperor Augustus and during the first century CE that survive
demonstrate that historical epic was still alive and that the topic was
considered viable. More than that, such poems seem to have been
comfortable depicting the involvement of the gods in the action. It
turns out that one ofLucan's chief innovations was not his choice of re-
cent history but his dispensing with the expected divine machinery (as
Denis Feeney shows in Chapter 6 of The Gods in Epic [Oxford, 1991]).
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xviii A LUCAN READER
~ Outline 0/ the poem, contextualizing the
excerpts in this volume
Lucan starts by stating the theme ofhis poem, the civil war between
Caesar and Pompey, expressing his regret about Rome's embroil-
ment in civil war, but declaring that everything was worthwhile
to have Nero as emperor (1.1-45). After asking Nero to inspire his
poetry, he analyzes various causes of the civil war: the inevitable
collapse of mighty structures, the impossibility of sharing power at
Rome, the death of Crassus, and the death ofJulia (Caesar's daugh-
ter and Pompey's wife). He devotes most attention to the person-
alities of the two leaders, introducing similes in which Pompey is
compared to a massive old oak tree and Caesar is compared to a
lightning-bolt (1.67-157). After a brief tirade against Rome's luxury
and immorality, Lucan finally begins his narrative of the civil war.
Caesar advances to the Rubicon and after being halted for a moment
bya vision of Rome personified, crosses into Italy (1.183-228). He
advances through Italy and is joined by his supporter Curio, the
previous year's tribune, now fleeing from Rome in fear for his life.
After scenes depicting Caesar as a commander and a catalogue of
his troops, a standard feature of epic, Lucan portrays the panic at
Rome at the (false) reports of Caesar's imminent invasion (1.486-
504). The rest of Book 1 is devoted to the supernatural: terrible
prodigies and portents, an unsuccessful purification of the city and
prophecies of doom, an astrologer's prediction of civil war, and fi-
nally a prophecy of the events of the civil war delivered by a Roman
matron in a frenzy.
Book 2 commences with an old man's lengthy recollections of the
previous civil wars, between Marius and Sulla, and then intro duces
the grim Stoic moralist Cato the Younger, the third protagonist in
the poem, who will take over as leader after Pompey's death. Cato
is depicted first in conversation with Brutus, the future assassin
of Caesar, and then renewing his marriage-vows with Marcia in a
simple, rather bleak ceremony designed to show his austerity. Lucan
then narrates Pompey's withdrawal from Rome to Campania and
Caesar's unstoppable advance through Italy, including the surrender
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INTRODUCT10N xix
of Corfinium and with it Pompey's general Domitius Ahenobarbus
(an ancestor ofNero), who is spared by Caesar. Unable to inspire his
troops, Pompey withdraws to Brundisium, pursued by Caesar, who
tries to blockade him. Pompey's fleet manages to es cape and Caesar
is welcomed into the city.
Book 3 starts with Pompey's voyage to Epirus, during which his
dead wife Julia appears to him as a Fury and vows to hound him for-
ever (3.8-35). Back in Italy, Caesar marches to Rome and ransacks
the Treasury. After a catalogue of Pompey's troops, Lucan shifts the
focus to Massilia in Gaul for the rest of the book. Refused access to
Massilia, Caesar begins a siege, cutting down a sacred grove in the
process (3.399-445). Then his troops attack the city from the sea
and Lucan delivers his first battle narrative: his sea-battle is a display
ofhis interest in violent and strange deaths.
The setting of Book 4 is Spain, Illyria, and Africa. In Spain, Cae-
sar takes on Pompey's generals near the town ofIlerda. After Caesar
experiences flood and famine and the Pompeians thirst and after
an incident of fraternization that ends in a massacre, the Pompeian
troops surrender. In Illyria on the Adriatic shore Pompeian troops
are besieging Caesar's general Antonius. The Caesarian troops at-
tempt to escape on rafts, but one raft is trapped and those on board
commit mutual suicide (i.e., they make a pact to kill one another)
rather than be captured. Caesar's lieutenant Curio arrives in Africa,
where he is told the story by a local of the fight between Hercules
and Antaeus. He defeats the Pompeian commander but is himself
defeated and killed by Pompey's ally King Juba.
Much of Book 5 is occupied by incidents that do not advance the
narrative. First Lucan devotes a long passage to the consultation of
the Delphic orade in Greece by Appius, one of the Pompeian lead-
ers. Then Caesar quells a mutiny among his troops. After going to
Rome to be invested as dictator, he crosses with his troops across the
Adriatic from Brundisium to Epirus, even though it is past the sail-
ing season. Once he has arrived there and camped at Dyrrachium,
he sends for his remaining forces in Italy to join him; because they
delay, he attempts to cross back to Italy in a small boat. Lucan de-
votes the rest of the book to a narrative of the storm at sea that Lucan
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xx A LUCAN READER
presents as a contest in which Caesar defiantly challenges the gods to
overwhelm him. He does not make the crossing but he survives the
elements and returns safely to his troops in Epirus. Book 5 ends with
a touching episode in which Pompey decides to send his beloved wife
Cornelia to the island ofLesbos for safety.
Book 6 starts with conflict between Caesar and Pompey: Pompey
seizes Dyrrachium but is besieged by Caesar. As it attempts to break
through Caesar's rampart, Pompey's army is driven back by the he-
roic efforts of one man, Scaeva. This is Lucan's version of another
standard element in epic (like the catalogue in Book 1), the aristeia,
or celebration of the "best exploits" of a single warrior. Eventually
Pompey breaks out and Caesar heads for Thessaly, with Pompey in
pursuit. The rest of the book is devoted to Thessaly, starting with an
extended geographical description, displaying Lucan's learning and
rhetorical skill. The night before battle Pompey's son Sextus consults
the terrifying witch Erichtho about the outcome. Lucan provides a
brilliantly atmospheric narrative of Erichtho's necromancy (literally
"corpse-divination"), in which she selects a corpse to revive so that
it can deliver a prophecy (6.624-53). The focus is on Erichtho's ter-
rifying magic rites and her power to command the forces of the Un-
derworld and not on the prophecy, which is vague.
Book 7 is devoted to the battle ofPharsalia.1t starts with Pompey's
dream and with his troops demanding battle. Against his better
judgment, he concedes. An account of portents heightens the ten-
sion. Caesar delivers an inspiring speech to his men, in contrast with
Pompey, whose battle-speech ends with a picture of defeat. Lucan
then reflects on the devastating effect of the battle on his own times,
again heightening tension. Once the battle begins, Lucan punctu-
ates his narrative with authorial interventions expressing horror. He
focuses on very few individuals-only Brutus (Lucan urges him to
wait to kill Caesar) and Domitius, the ancestor ofNero who featured
in Book2 and whose death receives elaborated treatment here. Lucan
expresses the difficulty of narrating individual deaths in civil warfare
(7.617-37) and then narrates Pompey's dignified departure from the
battlefield (7.647-82). Caesar captures Pompey's camp (7.728-46),
but his troops have nightmares when they lie down to sleep, with
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INTRODUCT10N xxi
Caesar experiencing everyone else's nightmares and more. But the
next morning he takes breakfast on the battlefield and commands
that the dead be left unburied, for which Lucan remonstrates with
him (7.760-811). After a grisly description of the birds and beasts
devouring the corpses, Lucan addresses Thessaly, imagining future
finds of relics of the battle.
The focus of Book 8 is Pompey and his death. First he flees fear-
fully and is reunited with Cornelia in a scene that moves every-
one, induding Pompey, to tears. As Pompey sails away, he sends
his ally King Deiotarus to seek assistance from the Parthians, who
were Rome's arch-enemies: this probably fictitious episode shows
Pompey's lapse in judgment. In a meeting of the Senate in exile,
Pompey urges that they take refuge in Parthia, but his proposal is
defeated by a more powerful speech advocating refuge in Egypt with
Ptolemy. Pompey bows to this and sets sail for Egypt. At the Egyp-
tian court, the eunuch Pothinus successfully makes the case for the
assassination of Pompey and a task force is dispatched to meet him.
This moves Lucan to express his outrage at Ptolemy's intervention
in Rome's civil war. His narrative of Pompey's murder brings out
Pompey's thoughts of dying honorably along with Cornelia's desper-
ate devotion to her husband (8.542-636). Lucan expresses horror
that Pompey's head is cut off and embalmed (8.663-88). Book 8 con-
dudes with the humble burial of Pompey's body by a loyal follower
on the shore and Lucan's curse of Egypt.
Book 9 opens with the apotheosis of Pompey. Cato, who is the
main character of the book, then assumes command and takes
Pompey's forces to Africa. Once Cornelia has joined him there,
Cato delivers a funeral oration for Pompey (9.190-217). The troops
mutiny, dedaring their devotion to Pompey alone, but Cato shames
them into staying the course. He sets sail to King Juba, losing some
ofhis ships in another storm at sea. Lucan takes the opportunity to
indude geographical and mythological material relevant to Africa.
Cato leads his troops across land through the hazards of Libya-
heat, wind, and thirst-to the temple of Jupiter Ammon where he
dedines to consult the orade because of his Stoic outlook. Lucan
now devotes more than three hundred lines to a narrative of the
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xxii A LUCAN READER
snakes that afflict Cato's army and the cure offered by the local peo-
pIe. Book 9 closes with the episode of Caesar's visit to the decayed
site of Troy, during which Lucan promises immortality to Caesar
(9.961-99), before he travels on to Egypt where he is presented with
Pompey's head and weeps feigned tears.
The incomplete Book 10 starts with Caesar's visit to the tomb
of Alexander the Great and Lucan's invective against Alexander.
When Ptolemy and Cleopatra vie for Caesar's favor, it is Cleopatra
who succeeds. She invites Caesar to a luxurious banquet that is de-
scribed lavishly by Lucan. During the banquet Caesar he ars theories
about the source of the Nile. Meanwhile the eunuch Pothinus plots
to seize power by assassinating Caesar and Cleopatra; his task force
surrounds the palace. Caesar barricades himself in, but manages to
resist the onslaught. At this moment of extreme danger, Caesar is
inspired by the thought of his soldier Scaeva, who single-handedly
resisted the Pompeian army in Book 6. At this point, our text breaks
off, curiously at the same point as Caesar's narrative of the civil war
in his commentaries.
~ The scope and structure 0/ the poem
The poem breaks off partway through Book 10. Was it unfinished
at the time of Lucan's death in 65 eE or was part of the text lost at
a very early stage? Speculation about this and about the scope and
structure of the poem has produced very different interpretations.
Possible end-points proposed include the suicide of Cato after the
battle of Thapsus in 46 BeE, the assassination of Caesar in 44 BeE,
the battle ofPhilippi in 42 BeE, and the battle of Actium in 31 BeE.
Given that in ten books Lucan has covered the events of just twenty
months, Cato's suicide offers the most plausible solution and would
have been viable in an epic of twelve or sixteen books; the other theo-
ries require a much longer poem. This solution has the advantage of
literary coherence: Cato is introduced in the extant text as the third
protagonist; after Pompey's death, he is immediately depicted as the
leader of the senatorial faction; and his Stoicism and suicide would
have reprised prominent themes in the poem.
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INTRoDUCTION xxiii
It is clear that the consultation of the witch Erichtho in Book 6
is designed as an inversion, or perversion, of Aeneas' visit to the
Sibyl in Book 6 of Virgil's Aeneid. That suggests that Lucan may
have planned a poem in twelve books as achallenge to the supreme
position occupied by the Aeneid. At the same time, once we note
that other post-Virgilian epics reject the twelve-book model-for
example, Ovid's Metamorphoses in fifteen books and (after Lucan)
Silius' Punic Wars in seventeen books-it be comes less necessary to
postulate a twelve-book poem. In any case, Lucan's method of com-
position is more episodic than Virgil's and more closely resembles
the structure ofOvid's epic poem. Given the importance ofvirtuosic
rhetorical display in the early empire, it is easy to imagine the perfor-
mance of excerpts in Nero's court-such as the entire necromancy
episode that concludes Book 6 or Caesar's visit to Troy from Book 9.
~ The role 0/ the gods, Fate, and Fortune
Earlier epic deploys anthropomorphized dei ti es as main movers of
plot-just think of the interventions by Juno and Venus in Virgil's
Aeneid, or the involvement in human life by the gods who appear in
Ovid's Metamorphoses. Lucan's decision to abandon the traditional
divine machinery is, then, very marked. And it was not for shortage
of possibilities. He could easily have made Venus Caesar's champion,
since she was claimed as his ancestor through Aeneas, and Hercules
the supporter of the Pompeians; we are told that the passwords at
the battle ofPharsalia were "Venus Victorious" (Venus Victrix) and
"Hercules Unconquered" (Hereules Inuictus) respectively. Instead,
we find only vague references to "the gods." He replaces the divine
apparatus with the Stoic concepts of Fate and Fortune. The Stoics
regarded Fate (fatum or fata) as destiny, as the fixed, immutable
order of the world. Fortune they regarded as a fickle and capricious
power capable of elevating or destroying any individual. On a Stoic
reading ofLucan's poem, it was a fact and an act ofFate that Caesar
was victorious and that Nero consequently became emperor (1.33),
but it was Fortune who presided over Caesar's rise (e.g., 1.225-27)
and Pompey's fall (e.g., 7.665-68). One important consequence of
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xxiv A LUCAN READER
removing the traditional interventions of anthropomorphic divini-
ties is that Lucan emphasizes the element of human responsibility
for the horrors of civil warfare. There are no excuses for the atroci-
ties performed. The concept ofFate makes the outcome terrifyingly
inexorable and the concept of Fortune highlights the randomness
of victimhood. These are deliberate choices by Lucan designed to
increase the horror quotient of his poem.
~ The influence 0/ Stoic ideas
Lucan's deployment of Fate and Fortune is one aspect among many
of the Stoic coloring of the poem. Lucan moved in Stoic circles-for
example, his uncle Seneca, who was tutor to the young Nero, was
committed to Stoicism and produced a prodigious amount of Stoic
protreptic (persuasion) in the form of letters and essays-and it is
reasonable to say that Stoicism is Lucan's idiom. One of the stron-
gest Stoic elements in the poem is the character of Cato the Younger,
whose suicide in preference to being "enslaved" (as our sources put
it) by Caesar after the battle of Thapsus had made him a model of
moral rectitude in Stoic thought. Lucan intro duces Cato in Book 2
as wise, stern, strict, austere, and devoted to the concept of freedom;
in Book 9 the trials he experiences as he leads his troops through the
desert offer an allegory of the trials of the Stoic sage. Lucan would
undeniably have developed Cato's role further in the rest of the
poem. Suicide is another Stoic element in the poem, for example, in
the strange incident of the mutual suicide of Caesar's troops on the
captured raft in Book 4. The choice between living in slavery and
achieving freedom in death is explicit and would probably have been
developed in Lucan's treatment of Cato's suicide.
~ Manifestations 0/ the supernatural
Even without the traditional divine machinery, Lucan's poem pro-
vides plenty of supernatural phenomena. Dreams and visions,
which were standard in epic and historiography too, are deployed
to great effect by Lucan. As the poem survives, there are only four
such episodes: Caesar's vision of Rome on the banks of the Rubicon
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INTRoDUCTION xxv
(1.185-203), the appearance to Pompey of his dead wife Julia (3.8-
35), Pompey's dream on the night before the battle of Pharsalia at
the beginning of Book 7, and the nightmares experienced by Caesar
and his troops after the battle as they sleep in the Pompeians' camp
(7.760-86). Even more striking are the portents, prophecies, and su-
pernatural consultations via divination, oracles, and necromancy,
with their concomitant scenes of ritual and sacrifice. For example,
the final third of Book 1 and the opening third of Book 5 are both
devoted to such material. Lucan uses these episodes to heighten the
general level of apprehension and to create individual moments of
horror. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Book 6, where Lucan's
description of the witch Erichtho and her sinister rite of necromancy
occupies fuHy half of the book. (An excerpt, 6.624-53, is included in
this volume, but there is no substitute for reading the entire episode,
which has remained one ofthe most popular parts ofLucan's poem
through the centuries.) The fact that the corpse's prophecy makes
up only around forty lines of an episode more than four hundred
lines long (6.413-830) is proof positive that Lucan is more interest-
ed in exploring the macabre and gruesome rites than in furthering
the plot. Given that there are several similar scenes in the tragedies
written by his uncle Seneca at around the same time, we can safely
conclude that there was an appetite for this kind of horrific material
among the Roman audience of literature at this time.
~ The protagonists in the poem
Lucan intro duces his two central protagonists early in Book 1 as he
weighs their ambitions, achievement, and personalities through a
combination of analysis, description, and memorable imagery that
depicts the energetic and younger Caesar as a thunderbolt about
to strike the majestic, revered oak-tree that represents the compla-
cent older man, Pompey (1.120-57). Neither Pompey nor Caesar
can be properly caHed a "hero" in the conventional epic sense. AI-
though Lucan's affection for his character Pompey shows through,
his weaknesses-indecision, insecurity, reliance on the past-are on
fuH display; he only redeems himself at the moment of death, when
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xxvi A LUCAN READER
he shows supreme self-control (8.618-36). Caesar is the most promi-
nent and active character in the poem as it survives. He is intro-
duced as decisive and ambitious and as reveling in war (1.143-50)
and, apart from a moment's hesitation on the banks of the Rubicon
in Book 1, his speed and military prowess make him seem invin-
cible and even quasi-divine. But that does not make him the "hero";
if anything, he is the "anti-hero." His hubristic qualities are revealed
clearly when he fells the sacred grove ne ar Massilia (3.426-45) and
especially in the storm in Book 5, a long episode that does not ad-
vance the plot at all, but seems designed to show that Caesar thinks
that in surviving the storm he has taken on and defied the gods.
As noted above, Cato emerges as a third protagonist after Pompey's
death. In some ways he comes closest to being a "hero" -a Stoic
hero, that is, the embodiment of Stoic principles, but always one-
dimensional and never attractive. In short, Lucan has opted not to
provide a single hero, such as Odysseus or Aeneas, but instead to
create three strongly contrastive protagonists. This invites the con-
clusion that in civil war, there can be no heroes.
~ The rest 0/ the cast
Lucan deploys other characters in his poem to enhance the depic-
tions of his protagonists, to simplify what could otherwise be a
complex narrative by offering an emblem of a particular position,
and to convey the moral or emotional thrust of a scene. The women
associated with the protagonists reflect important aspects of their
characters: Marcia in Book 2 is the ascetic wife of the Stoic Cato,
while the sexy, scheming Cleopatra in Book 10 is the perfect match
for Caesar-she is another clever and ambitious tactician. Pompey's
wife Cornelia, who is certainly the most sympathetic female charac-
ter in the poem, is used by Lucan to convey Pompey's human fragil-
ity, as well as the deep loyalty that he inspires. Their mutual affection
and devotion emerge from several episodes, at the very end ofBook 5
and especially in Book 8. But Pompey is also haunted by the ghost of
his previous wife, Julia, the daughter of Caesar. Lucan uses Julia to
show that Pompey can never escape his past.
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INTRoDUCTION xxvii
Julia is also one of several manifestations of the supernatural
in female form. Lucan associates the female with the supernatural
starting in Book 1, with the vision of Rome in mourning and with
the dimactic prophecy delivered by a crazed Roman matron. In
Book 5 he presents the terrifying spectade of the Pythian priestess
at the Delphic orade being possessed by Phoebus Apollo. In Book 6,
Lucan excels in his bravura display of witchcraft by Erichtho, with
her supernatural powers over the dead.
The appearance of Cicero in Pompey's camp just before the battle
ofPharsalia (Book 7) was noted above: the episode is certainly unhis-
torical, but Cicero makes a good spokesman for the senatorial view-
point. Another unhistorical episode is the single-handed defense of
Caesar's line by the centurion Scaeva in Book 6. Lucan makes Scaeva
an illustration ofhow heroism can be perverted into a sinister super-
human force by blind devotion to Caesar's cause. While Pothinus,
an adviser to Ptolemy, was a historical figure, Lucan strips his role to
a single function: to advocate the assassination of a Roman general,
first Pompey (Book 8) and then Caesar (Book 10). Lucan empha-
sizes the fact that he was a eunuch, which was not remarkable in the
Egyptian court, in order to diminish his credibility and to arouse the
Roman loathing of such a "half-man."
Three further minor characters are given symbolic significance
that reflects features of the protagonists. Caesar's legate Curio, who
appears twice in the poem (in Books 1 and 4), in Lucan's hands be-
comes a symbol for the corruption of Roman values in the name of
ambition. Brutus is depicted as entirely devoted to Cato when he
converses with him in Book 2, treating him as an oracular source of
wisdom and authority; it seems likely that Lucan would have devel-
oped his character further in the rest of the poem. Finally, through
the young Roman who risks his life to bury Pompey's body in Book 8
Lucan shows yet again the depth of devotion that Pompey inspires,
even after his death. The youth, who is apparently Lucan's fiction,
has the entirely appropriate name of Cordus, derived from the Latin
word for "heart" (cor, cordis).
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xxviii A LUCAN READER
~ Lucan as a character in his own poem
There is one further character in the poem that must be mentioned-
the poet himself. Unlike Virgil, who mostly adopts the position of the
omniscient narrator and whose interventions into his narrative are
few and far between, Lucan inserts himself repeatedly and insistently.
Right at the start, he expresses regret that Rome embroiled herself in
civil war when she might have been pursuing foreign conquests. Lu-
can's interventions are marked by the device of apostrophe, when he
directly addresses a character, or a place, in the poem. At 1.8 he ad-
dresses "Roman citizens," at 1.21 and 1.84-85 Rome, at 1.119-20 Tulia,
at 1.121-24 Pompey and then Caesar, and so on. In fact, by my calcula-
tions there is one case of apostrophe every fifty-six lines on average.
Probably the most important case of apostrophe occurs near the
end of Book 9, when Lucan enters his poem to promise Caesar the
same kind of immortality that Homer bestowed on the Homeric he-
roes (9.980-86). This bold claim by the young poet is an intimation
of his own literary immortality-and here we are nearly 2000 years
later, still reading Lucan ...
~ Narrative momentum and delay
Tust as Lucan eschews the epic norm of heroes and heroic conduct,
so too he resists the rapidity of narrative that we associate with Vir-
gil. Tust as there can be no real heroes in a civil war, so too the re-
sponsible poet cannot be eager to tell his story of civil war. Lucan's
narrative technique is marked by resistance, by delay, by deferral.
Lucan's narrative technique privileges the static over the dynamic.
He allows speech to outweigh narrative and he inserts a number of
mythological episodes and scientific discussions (of geography, as-
trology, astronomy, and natural phenomena such as the snakes of
North Africa and the source of the Nile) that slow the pace and de-
fer the moment when he must depict citizen slaughtering citizen. In
this "deliberate deformation ofVirgilian narrative structure" (David
Quint, Epic and Empire [Princeton, 1993]134), Lucan's strategy is an
extension ofhis interventions into the poem: he miss es no opportu-
nity to ratchet up the level of horror.
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INTRODUCTION xxix
Book 1 offers a good example. Unlike Virgil, Lucan does not
plunge us into the action (in medias res), but prefers to devote nearly
two hundred lines to exploring the causes of the civil war before be-
ginning his narrative at line 183. In a single line Lucan's Caesar has
crossed the Alps, but then the narrative stops, just as soon as it has
started, when Caesar is halted by avision of Rome in mourning. In
fact, the episode consists of speeches by Rome and by Caesar, then a
long simile comparing Caesar to an African lion, then a description
of the river Rubicon, then the narrative of the crossing (lines 220-24),
and then another speech by Caesar, marking the significance of what
he has just done. The proportion of narrative (i.e., material that ad-
vances the action) to non-narrative (i.e., material that delays the ac-
tion) here is instructive and far from atypical. It is always valuable to
assess any passage from Lucan in terms of its division between narra-
tive and non-narrative mo des.
~ The horror 0/ civil war/are
War was of course the staple of epic poetry, starting from Homer's
Iliad. The epic tradition in effect prescribed certain episodes as
standard, for example, catalogues of troops, preparations for battle,
speeches by leaders, mass battle, heroic exploits of an individual war-
rior (which we label the aristeia, his "best" moment when he is in the
spotlight), scenes of wo unding, siege, fire, and the capture of a city.
Lucan incorporates many of these standard features but often alters
their presentation to convey his horror of civil warfare. One good ex-
ample early in the poem is his description ofRome as ifit were a sacked
city (1.486-504): in fact, no one has invaded Rome, but the report of
Caesar's rapid advance through Italy causes the people and senators
alike to abandon the city. Lucan also likes to create paradoxes, such
as in the sea battle off Massilia in Book 3, which soon becomes like
aland battle once the ships have rammed one another. Another case
of paradox is the aristeia of Caesar's centurion Scaeva in Book 6. In
his single-handed stand against Pompey's army, Scaeva is said to be
protected only by the vast number of spears stuck in his chest-and,
extraordinarily, he does not die from the onslaught but reappears at
the very end of our text, providing Caesar with inspiration.
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xxx A LUCAN READER
Lucan's handling of violence and death likewise focuses on the
horror of civil war. Most of the deaths in the poem are marked by
their strangeness or suddenness and by their lack of dignity or hero-
ism. Mutilation of bodies, living and dead, is a recurrent theme and
so is burial, or lack ofburial. Lucan intro duces the motif ofheadless
corpses at the end of Books 1 and 3 and also in Book 2 as a prepa-
ration for the decapitation of Pompey in Book 8. Unburied corps es
tom apart by carrion crows mark the end of Book 4 and the after-
math of the battle of Pharsalia in Book 7, while Erichtho's prepara-
tions for necromancy in Book 6 show indignities inflicted on anoth-
er unburied body. The makeshift burial ofPompey's headless corpse
at the end of Book 8 contrasts starkly with the magnificent tomb of
Alexander the Great that Caesar visits at the start of Book 10. Lucan
creates horror at bodily mutilation and denial ofburial as a manifes-
tation of the breakdown of morality in civil warfare.
But it is not only the rules of humanity that are broken in civil
warfare. Again and again, Lucan emphasizes that civil war involves
Roman fighting Roman, brother fighting brother, father fighting
son. The bonds of familial relationships are also the victims of civil
war. This theme is announced before anything else, in the poem's
opening line. His topic is "wars worse than civil wars." Caesar and
Pompey (father-in-Iaw and son-in-Iaw) were not the only combat-
ants related to one another. Hence the graphie picture of"a mighty
people attacking its own guts" with the sword (lines 2-3) and hence
the stark confrontation between Roman standards, Roman eagles,
and Roman javelins (lines 6-7).
~ Lucan's Latin
Lucan likes repetition, reiteration, and reduplication especiallywhen,
as discussed above, it allows him to slow the pace, to resist his chosen
topic, and to ram home his reluctance to narrate. About one hundred
years after his death, Lucan was criticized for precisely this by the
orator Fronto, who was tutor to the future emperor Marcus Aurelius:
"In the first seven verses at the beginning of the poem he has done
nothing but paraphrase the words 'wars ... worse than civil.' Count
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INTRODUCTION xxxi
up the phrases in which he rings the changes on this ... Lucan, what
end will there be?" Fronto's criticism misses the point: Lucan wants
his audience to stop and confront the issue.
The same motive lies behind Lucan's insertion of arresting max-
ims (sententiae) and paradoxes into his narrative. Examples from
the excerpts ineluded in this volume are in se magna ruunt ("mighty
structures coHapse onto themselves," 1.81) and in bellum fugitur
("they flee towards war," 1.504); there are many more. Lucan often
uses sententiae and paradoxes to elose a section, providing his audi-
ence with something to relish or puzzle over. Another delaying tactic
deployed by Lucan is that of "negative enumeration" -that is, listing
things that might but do not happen. A good example is the por-
trayal of Pompey's "funeral" in Book 8: the speech delivered over
the corpse on the Egyptian shore details the features of the funeral
procession of a great Roman, thereby underlining their absence.
Repetition of key words connected with the horror of civil war-
fare operates at the level of vocabulary and imagery too. There is
a relentless recurrence of nouns and verbs denoting disintegration
and destruction, on the level of the individual, the state, and the
cosmos, such as ruina ("coHapse"), spargere ("to scatter, break up"),
and calcare ("to trample"), as weH as sanguis ("blood"), cadauera
("corpses"), uiscera ("guts"), and tabes ("decay, putrefaction"). Panic
is denoted by repetition of praeceps ("headlong"),fuga ("flight") and
fugere ("to flee"). The guilt involved in civil war is emphasized by
Lucan's insistence on scelus ("crime") and nefas ("abomination").
Lucan's choice of imagery underlines his re action of horror. One
of the most prominent strands is drawn from gladiatorial combat.
Lucan uses repeated comparisons and similes to present areversal
of normal roles: instead of Romans watching barbarians and wild
beasts killing one another in the arena, it is now Romans who parade
their self-inflicted slaughter in front of the watching world.
Tust as Lucan's style is designed to match his theme, so too his
meter and his diction. In contrast with Virgil's versatile and musical
handling of the hexameter, Lucan's rhythm is rather repetitive, even
monotonous. His diction is prosaic, with a preference for everyday
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xxxii A LUCAN READER
words, such as gladius and cadauer, over romantic or heroic poeti-
cisms. Generally his range of vocabulary is limited and he avoids
ornamental embellishment. Color words provide a good example:
the dominant colors of the poem are black, white, and red; the glitter
and shine of armor, hair, faces, sun, sea, and sky are largely absent.
These choices all contribute to the stark, dark horror of civil war.
Lucan is not interested in glamorizing or poeticizing the events he
describes. Instead, he takes the highest genre of literat ure known to
his culture and, rejecting, inverting, and perverting the models pro-
vided by his predecessors, makes it grimly realistic, to fit the horrific
topic ofRomans fighting Romans.
~ Suggested reading
Introductory
Bramble, J. C. "Lucan." In The Cambridge History of Classical Lit-
erature, Vol. 2: Latin Literature, edited by E. J. Kenney and W. V.
Clausen, 533-57. Cambridge, 1982.
Braund, s. H. "Introduction." In Lucan: Civil War, xiii-liv. Oxford
World's Classics, 1992.
The poem as a whole
Ahl, F. M. Lucan: An Introduction.lthaca, NY, 1976.
Bartsch, S. Ideology in Cold Blood: A Reading of Lucan's Civil War.
Cambridge, 1997.
Behr, F. D'A. Feeling History: Lucan, Stoicism, and the Poetics of Pas-
sion. Columbus, OH, 2007.
Henderson, J. G. W. "Lucan: the word at war." In Fightingfor Rome:
Poets and Caesars, History and Civil War, 165-211. Cambridge,
1998.
Johnson, W. R. Momentary Monsters: Lucan and his Heroes. Ithaca
and London, 1987.
Leigh, M. Lucan: Spectacle and Engagement. Oxford, 1997.
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INTRODUCTION xxxiii
Masters, J. M. Poetry and Civil War in Lucan's Bellum Civile. Cam-
bridge, 1992.
Sklemir, R. The Taste for Nothingness. A Study of"virtus" and Related
Themes in Lucan's BELLUM CrVILE. Ann Arbor, 2003.
Particular aspects of the poem
Feeney, D. C. "Stat magni nominis umbra. Lucan on the greatness of
Pompeius Magnus." Classical Quarterly 36 (1986): 239-43.
Gordon, R. "Lucan's Erictho." In Homo Viator: Classical Essays for
lohn Bramble, edited by M. Whitby, P. Hardie, and M. Whitby,
231-41. Bristol and OakPark, IL, 1987.
Grimal, P. "Is the Eulogy of Nero at the Beginning of the Pharsa-
lia Ironie?" [Translated from French, REL 38 (1960): 296-305.]
Forthcoming in Oxford Readings in Lucan, edited by C. Tesori-
ero. Oxford, 2009.
Lapidge, M. "Lucan's imagery of cosmic dissolution." Hermes 107
(1979): 344-70.
Martindale, C. A. "Paradox, hyperbole, and literary novelty in Lu-
can's de Bello Civili." Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies
23 (1976): 45-54.
--. "The Politician Lucan." Greece & Rome 31 (1984): 64-79.
Morford, M. P. O. The Poet Lucan. Oxford, 1967.
O'Hara, J. J. "Postscript: Lucan's Bellum Civile and the inconsistent
Roman epic." In Inconsistency in Roman Epic: Studies in Catullus,
Lucretius, Vergil, Ovid and Lucan, 131-42. Cambridge, 2007.
O'Higgins, D. "Lucan as vates." ClassicalAntiquity 7 (1988): 208-26.
Roller, M. "Ethical Contradiction and the Fractured Community in
Lucan's Bellum Civile." Classical Antiquity 15 (1996): 319-47.
Lucan in the context of Roman epic
Feeney, D. C. "Epic ofHistory: Lucan's Bellum Civile and Silius' Pu-
nica." In The Gods in Epic: Poets and Critics of the Classical Tradi-
tion, 250-312. Oxford, 1991.
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xxxiv A LUCAN READER
Hardie, P. The Epic Successors ofVirgil. Cambridge, 1993.
Martindale, C. A. Redeeming the Text: Latin Poetry and the Herme-
neutics of Reception. Cambridge, 1993.
Quint, D. Epic and Empire: Politics and Generic Form from Virgil to
Milton. Princeton, 1993.
Digitized by Google
Latin Text
NOTE: I retain Housman's use of consonantal u for authenticity, even
though students find this achallenge compared with the alternative,
v. I retain most of Housman's spellings, including adfligo, inpello,
inpius, etc., hut I have changed his uolgus, uolnus, and uoltus to
uulgus, uulnus, and uultus. I use the acc. pI. form in -es throughout,
where Housman has -iso
Specific divergences from his text and punctuation are the
following:
1.16 oris for horis
1.18 Pontum for pontum
1.495 Vrbem for urbem
1.503 Vrbe for urbe
3.435 telo for ferro
6.637 pectore for gutture
6.638 ducitur for ducit et
7.658 fouit for uouit
7.666 question mark for period after meum
7.730 comma added after ratus
7.734 Fortuna for fortuna
7.768 nocentes for nocentem
7.810 Natura for natura
8.562 longe for longa
8.563 adpellat for appulerat
8.665 placatam for iratam
9.215 comma removed after maior
9.216 comma removed after laudes
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2 A LUCAN READER
~ 1.1-45
Bella per Emathios plus quam ciuilia campos
iusque datum sceleri canimus, populumque potentem
in sua uictrici conuersum uiscera dextra
cognatasque acies, et rupto foedere regni
cer tat um totis concussi uiribus orbis
in commune nefas, infestisque obuia signis
signa, pares aquilas et pila minantia pilis.
quis furor, 0 ciues, quae tanta licentia ferri?
gentibus inuisis Latium praebere cruorem
10 cumque superba foret Babyion spolianda tropaeis
Ausoniis umbraque erraret Crassus inulta
bella geri placuit nullos habitura triumphos?
heu, quantum terrae potuit pelagique parari
hoc quem ciuiles hauserunt sanguine dextrae,
15 unde uenit Titan et nox ubi sidera condit
quaque dies medius flagrantibus aestuat oris
et qua bruma rigens ac nescia uere remitti
astringit Scythico glacialem frigore Pontum!
sub iuga iam Seres, iam barbarus isset Araxes
20 et gens siqua iacet nascenti conscia Nilo.
tum, si tantus amor belli tibi, Roma, nefandi,
totum sub Latias leges cum miseris orbem,
in te uerte manus: nondum tibi defuit hostis.
at nunc semirutis pendent quod moenia tectis
25 urbibus Italiae lapsisque ingentia muris
saxa iacent nulloque domus custode tenentur
rarus et antiquis habitator in urbibus errat,
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CIVIL WAR BOOK 1
horrida quod dumis multosque inarata per annos
Hesperia est desuntque manus poscentibus aruis,
30 non tu, Pyrrhe ferox, nec tantis cladibus auctor
Poenus erit: nulli penitus descendere ferro
contigit; alta sedent ciuilis uulnera dextrae.
quod si non aliam uenturo fata Neroni
inuenere uiam magnoque aeterna parantur
35 regna deis caelumque suo seruire Tonanti
non nisi saeuorum potuit post bella gigantum,
iam nihil, 0 superi, querimur; scelera ipsa nefasque
hac mercede placent. diros Pharsalia campos
inpleat et Poeni saturentur sanguine manes,
40 ultima funesta concurrant proelia Munda,
his, Caesar, Perusina fames Mutinaeque labores
accedant fatis et quas premit aspera classes
Leucas et ardenti seruilia bella sub Aetna,
multum Roma tamen debet ciuilibus armis
quod tibi res acta est.
~ 1.67-157
fert animus causas tantarum expromere rerum,
inmensumque aperitur opus, quid in arma furentem
inpulerit populum, quid pacem excusserit orbi.
70 inuida fatorum series summisque negatum
stare diu nimioque graues sub pondere lapsus
nec se Roma ferens. sie, cum conpage soluta
saecula tot mundi suprema coegerit hora
75/76 antiquum repetens iterum chaos, ignea pontum
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3
4 A LUCAN READER
astra petent, tellus extendere litora nolet
excutietque fretum, fra tri contraria Phoebe
ibit et obliquum bigas agitare per orbem
indignata diem poscet sibi, totaque discors
80 machina diuolsi turbabit foedera mundi.
in se magna ruunt: laetis hunc numina rebus
crescendi posuere modum. nec gentibus ullis
commodat in populum terrae pelagique potentem
inuidiam Fortuna suam. tu causa malorum
85 facta tribus dominis communis, Roma, nec umquam
in turbam missi feralia foedera regni.
o male concordes nimiaque cupidine caeci,
quid miscere iuuat uires orbemque tenere
in medio? dum terra fretum terramque leuabit
90 aer et longi uoluent Titana labores
noxque diem caelo totidem per signa sequetur,
nulla fides regni sociis, omnisque potestas
inpatiens consortis erit. nec gentibus ullis
credite nec longe fatorum exempla petantur:
95 fraterno primi maduerunt sanguine muri.
nec pretium tanti tellus pontusque furoris
tune erat: exiguum dominos commisit asylum.
temporis angusti mansit concordia discors
paxque fuit non sponte ducum; nam sola futuri
100 Crassus erat belli medius mora. qua liter undas
qui secat et geminum gracilis mare separat Isthmos
nec patitur conferre fretum, si terra recedat,
Ionium Aegaeo frangat mare, sie, ubi saeua
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CIVIL WAR BOOK 1
arma ducum dirimens miserando funere Crassus
105 Assyrias Latio maculauit sanguine Carrhas,
Parthica Romanos soluerunt damna furores.
plus illa uobis aeie, quam creditis, actum est,
Arsaeidae: bellum uictis eiuile dedistis.
diuiditur ferro regnum, populique potentis,
110 quae mare, quae terras, quae totum possidet orbem,
non cepit fortuna duos. nam pignora iuncti
sanguinis et diro ferales omine taedas
abstulit ad manes Parcarum Iulia saeua
intercepta manu. quod si tibi fata dedissent
115 maiores in luce moras, tu sola furentem
inde uirum poteras atque hinc retinere parentem
armatasque manus excusso iungere ferro,
ut generos soceris mediae iunxere Sabinae.
morte tua discussa fides bellumque mouere
120 permissum dueibus. stimulos dedit aemula uirtus.
tu, noua ne ueteres obscurent acta triumphos
et uictis cedat piratica laurea Gallis,
Magne, times; te iam series ususque laborum
erigit inpatiensque loei fortuna secundi;
125 nec quemquam iam ferre potest Caesarue priorem
Pompeiusue parem. quis iustius induit arma
seire nefas: magno se iudice quisque tuetur;
uictrix causa deis placuit sed uicta Catoni.
nec coiere pares. alter uergentibus annis
130 in senium longoque togae tranquillior usu
dedidieit iam pace ducem, famaeque petitor
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5
6 A LUCAN READER
multa dare in uulgus, totus popularibus auris
inpelli plausuque sui gaudere theatri,
nec reparare nouas uires, multumque priori
135 credere fortunae. stat magni nominis umbra,
qualis frugifero quercus sublimis in agro
exuuias ueteris populi sacrataque gestans
dona ducum nec iam ualidis radicibus haerens
pondere fixa suo est, nudosque per aera ramos
140 effundens trunco, non frondibus, efficit umbram,
et quamuis primo nutet casura sub Euro,
tot circum siluae firmo se robore tollant,
sola tamen colitur. sed non in Caesare tantum
nomen erat nec fama ducis, sed nescia uirtus
145 stare loco, solusque pudor non uincere bello.
acer et indomitus, quo spes quoque ira uocasset,
ferre manum et numquam temerando parcere ferro,
successus urguere suos, instare fauori
numinis, inpellens quidquid sibi summa petenti
150 obstaret gaudensque uiam fecisse ruina,
qualiter expressum uentis per nubila fulmen
aetheris inpulsi sonitu mundique fragore
emicuit rupitque diem populosque pauentes
terruit obliqua praestringens lumina flamma:
155 in sua templa furit, nullaque exire uetante
materia magnamque cadens magnamque reuertens
dat stragem late sparsosque recolligit ignes.
[Removed from Book 1: 75-76 omnia mixtis I sidera sideribus con-
current]
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CIVIL WAR BOOK 1
~ 1.183-227
iam gelidas Caesar eursu superauerat Alpes
ingentisque animo motus bellumque futurum
185 eeperat. ut uentum est parui Rubieonis ad undas,
ingens uisa duei patriae trepidantis imago
clara per obseuram uoltu maestissima noetem
turrigero eanos effundens uertiee erines
eaesarie laeera nudisque adstare laeertis
190 et gemitu permixta loqui: 'quo tenditis ultra?
quo fertis mea signa, uiri? si iure uenitis,
si eiues, hue usque lieet.' tum pereulit horror
membra dueis, riguere eomae gressumque eoereens
languor in extrema tenuit uestigia ripa.
195 mox ait '0 magnae qui moenia prospieis urbis
Tarpeia de rupe Tonans Phrygiique penates
gentis Iuleae et rapti seereta Quirini
et residens eelsa Latiaris Iuppiter Alba
Vestalesque foei summique 0 numinis instar
200 Roma, faue eoeptis. non te furialibus armis
persequor: en, adsum uietor terraque marique
Caesar, ubique tuus (lieeat modo, nune quoque) miles.
ille erit ille noeens, qui me tibi feeerit hostem.'
inde moras soluit belli tumidumque per amnem
205 signa tulit propere: sieut squalentibus aruis
aestiferae Libyes uiso leo eomminus hoste
subsedit dubius, totam dum eolligit iram;
mox, ubi se saeuae stimulauit uerbere eaudae
erexitque iubam et uasto graue murmur hiatu
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7
8 A LUCAN READER
210 infremuit, tum tor ta leuis si lancea Mauri
haereat aut latum subeant uenabula pectus,
per ferrum tanti securus uulneris exit.
fonte cadit modico paruisque inpellitur undis
puniceus Rubicon, cum feruida canduit aestas,
215 perque imas serpit ualles et Gallica certus
limes ab Ausoniis disterminat arua colonis.
tum uires praebebat hiemps atque auxerat undas
tertia iam grauido pluuialis Cynthia cornu
et madidis Euri resolutae flatibus Alpes.
220 primus in obliquum sonipes opponitur amnem
excepturus aquas; molli tum cetera rumpit
turba uado faciles iam fracti fluminis undas.
Caesar, ut aduersam superato gurgite ripam
attigit, Hesperiae uetitis et constitit aruis,
225 'hic' ait 'hic pacem temerataque iura relinquo;
te, Fortuna, sequor. procul hinc iam foedera sunto;
credidimus satis <his>, utendum est iudice bello.'
~ 1.486-504
nec solum uulgus inani
percussum terrore pauet, sed curia et ipsi
sedibus exiluere patres, inuisaque belli
consulibus fugiens mandat decreta senatus.
490 tum, quae tuta petant et quae metuenda relinquant
incerti, quo quemque fugae tulit impetus urguent
praecipitem populum, serieque haerentia longa
agmina prorumpunt. credas aut tecta nefandas
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CIVIL WAR BOOKS 1 AND 3
corripuisse faces aut iam quatiente ruina
495 nutantes pendere domos, sic turba per Vrbem
praecipiti lymphata gradu, uelut unica rebus
spes foret adflictis patrios excedere muros,
inconsulta ruit. qualis, cum turbidus Auster
reppulit a Libycis inmensum Syrtibus aequor
500 fractaque ueliferi sonuerunt pondera mali,
desilit in fluctus deserta puppe magister
nauitaque et nondum sparsa conpage carinae
naufragium sibi quisque facit, sic Vrbe relicta
in bellum fugitur.
~ 3.8-35
inde soporifero cesserunt languida somno
membra ducis; diri tum plena horroris imago
10 uisa caput maestum per hiantis Iulia terras
tollere et accenso furialis stare sepulchro.
'sedibus Elysiis campoque expulsa piorum
ad Stygias' inquit 'tenebras manesque nocentes
post bellum ciuile trahor. uidi ipsa tenentes
15 Eumenidas quaterent quas uestris lampadas armis;
praeparat innumeras puppes Acherontis adusti
porti tor; in multas laxantur Tartara poenas;
uix operi cunctae dextra properante sorores
sufficiunt, lassant rumpentis stamina Parcas.
20 coniuge me laetos duxisti, Magne, triumphos:
fortuna est mutata toris, semperque potentes
detrahere in cladem fato damnata maritos
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9
10 A LUCAN READER
innupsit tepido paelex Cornelia busto.
haereat illa tuis per bella per aequora signis,
25 dum non seeuros lieeat mihi rumpere somnos
et nullum uestro uaeuum sit tempus amori
sed teneat Caesarque dies et Iulia noetes.
me non Lethaeae, eoniunx, obliuia ripae
inmemorem feeere tui, regesque silentum
30 permisere sequi. ueniam te bella gerente
in me dias acies. numquam tibi, Magne, per umbras
perque me os manes genero non esse lieebit;
abscidis frustra ferro tua pignora: bellum
te faciet ciuile me um.' sie fata refugit
35 umbra per amplexus trepidi dilapsa mariti.
~ 3 . 3 9 9 - 4 4 5
lueus erat longo numquam uiolatus ab aeuo
400 obseurum cingens eonexis aera ramis
et gelidas alte summotis solibus umbras.
hune non rurieolae Panes nemorumque potentes
Siluani Nymphaeque tenent, sed barbara ritu
saera deum; struetae diris altaribus arae
405 omnisque humanis lustrata eruoribus arbor.
siqua fidem meruit superos mirata uetustas,
illis et uolueres metuunt insistere ramis
et lustris reeubare ferae; nee uentus in illas
ineubuit siluas exeussaque nubibus atris
410 fulgura: non ulli frondem praebentibus aurae
arboribus suus horror inest. tum plurima nigris
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CIVIL WAR BOOK 3
fontibus unda cadit, simulacraque maesta deorum
arte carent caesisque extant informia truncis.
ipse situs putrique facit iam robore pallor
415 attonitos; non uulgatis sacrata figuris
numina sie metuunt: tantum terroribus addit,
quos timeant, non nosse, deos. iam fama ferebat
saepe cauas motu terrae mugire cauernas,
et procumbentes iterum consurgere taxos,
420 et non ardentis fulgere incendia siluae,
roboraque amplexos circum fluxisse dracones.
non illum cultu populi propiore frequentant
sed cessere deis. medio cum Phoebus in axe est
aut caelum nox atra tenet, pauet ipse sacerdos
425 accessus dominumque timet deprendere luci.
hanc iubet inmisso siluam procumbere ferro;
nam uicina operi belloque intacta priore
inter nu da tos stab at densissima montis.
sed fortes tremuere manus, motique uerenda
430 maiestate loci, si robora sacra ferirent,
in sua credebant redituras membra securis.
inplicitas magno Caesar torpore cohortes
ut uidit, primus raptam librare bipennem
ausus et aeriam ferro proscindere quercum
435 effatur merso uiolata in robora telo
'i am nequis uestrum dubitet subuertere siluam
credite me fecisse nefas.' tum paruit omnis
imperiis non sublato secura pauore
turba, sed expensa superorum et Caesaris ira.
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11
12 A LUCAN READER
440 procumbunt orni, nodosa inpellitur ilex,
siluaque Dodones et fluctibus aptior aInus
et non plebeios luctus testata cupressus
tum primum posuere comas et fronde carentes
admisere diem, propulsaque robore denso
445 sustinuit se silua cadens.
~ 6.624-53
dixerat, et noctis geminatis arte tenebris
625 maestum tecta caput squalenti nube pererrat
corpora caesorum tumulis proiecta negatis.
continuo fugere lupi, fugere reuolsis
unguibus inpastae uolucres, dum Thessala uatem
eligit et gelidas leto scrutata medullas
630 pulmonis rigidi stantes sine uulnere fibras
inuenit et uocem defuncto in corpore quaerit.
fata peremptorum pendent iam multa uirorum,
quem superis reuocasse uelit. si tollere totas
temptasset campis acies et reddere bello,
635 cessissent leges Erebi, monstroque potenti
extractus Stygio populus pugnasset Auerno.
electum tandem traiecto pectore corpus
ducitur inserto laqueis feralibus unco
per scopulos miserum trahitur per saxa cadauer
640 uicturum, montisque caui, quem tristis Erictho
damna rat sacris, alta sub rupe locatur.
haud procul a Ditis caecis depressa cauernis
in praeceps subsedit humus, quam pallida pronis
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CIVIL WAR BOOKS 3, 6, AND 7
urguet silua comis et nullo uertice caelum
645 suspiciens Phoebo non peruia taxus opacat.
marcentes intus tenebrae pallensque sub antris
longa nocte situs numquam nisi carmine factum
lumen habet. non Taenariis sic faucibus aer
sedit iners, maestum mundi confine latentis
650 ac nos tri, quo non metuant admittere manes
Tartarei reges. nam, quamuis Thessala uates
uim faciat fatis, dubium est, quod traxerit illuc
aspiciat Stygias an quod descenderit umbras.
~ 7.617-37
inpendisse pudet lacrimas in funere mundi
mortibus innumeris, ac singula fata sequentem
quaerere letiferum per cuius uiscera uulnus
620 exierit, quis fusa solo uitalia calcet,
ore quis aduerso demissum faucibus ensem
expulerit moriens anima, quis corruat ictus,
quis steterit dum membra cadunt, qui pectore tela
transmittant aut quos campis adfixerit hasta,
625 quis cruor emissis perruperit aera uenis
inque hostis cadat arma sui, quis pectora fratris
caedat et, ut notum possit spoliare cadauer,
abscisum longe mittat caput, ora parentis
quis laceret nimiaque probet spectantibus ira
630 quem iugulat non esse patrem. mors nulla querella
digna sua est, nullosque hominum lugere uacamus.
non istas habuit pugnae Pharsalia partes
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13
14 A LUCAN READER
quas aliae clades: illic per fata uirorum,
per populos hic Roma perit; quod militis illic,
635 mors hic gentis erat: sanguis ibi fluxit Achaeus,
Ponticus, Assyrius; cunctos haerere cruores
Romanus campisque uetat consistere torrens.
~ 7.647-82
iam Magnus transisse deos Romanaque fata
senserat infelix, tota uix clade coactus
fortunam damnare suam. stetit aggere campi,
650 eminus unde omnes sparsas per Thessala rura
aspiceret clades, quae bello obstante latebant.
tot telis sua fata peti, tot corpora fusa
ac se tam multo pereuntem sanguine uidit.
nec, sicut mos est miseris, trahere omnia secum
655 mersa iuuat gentesque suae miscere ruinae:
ut Latiae post se uiuat pars maxima turbae,
sustinuit dignos etiamnunc credere uotis
caelicolas, fouitque sui solacia casus.
'parcite,' ait 'superi, cunctas prosternere gentes.
660 stante po test mundo Romaque superstite Magnus
esse miser. si plura iuuant mea uulnera, coniunx
est mihi, sunt nati: dedimus tot pignora fatis.
ciuiline parum est bello, si meque meosque
obruit? exiguae clades sumus orbe remoto?
665 omnia quid laceras? quid perdere cuncta laboras?
iam nihil est, Fortuna, meum?' sic fatur et arma
signaque et adflictas omni iam parte cateruas
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CIVIL WAR BOOK 7
circumit et reuocat matura in fata ruentes
seque negat tanti. nec derat robur in enses
670 ire duci iuguloque pati uel pectore letum.
sed timuit, strato miles ne corpore Magni
non fugeret, supraque ducem procumberet orbis;
Caesaris aut oculis uoluit subducere mortem.
nequiquam, infelix: socero spectare uolenti
675 praestandum est ubicumque caput. sed tu quoque, coniunx,
causa fugae uultusque tui fatisque negatum
parte absente mori. tum Magnum concitus aufert
a bello sonipes non tergo tela pauentem
ingentesque animos extrema in fata ferentem.
680 non gemitus, non fletus erat, saluaque uerendus
maiestate dolor, qualem te, Magne, decebat
Romanis praestare malis.
~ 7.728-46
Caesar, ut Hesperio uidit satis arua natare
sanguine, parcendum ferro manibusque suorum
730 iam ratus, ut uiles animas perituraque frustra
agmina permisit uitae. sed, castra fugatos
ne reuocent pellatque quies nocturna pauorem,
protinus hostili statuit succedere uallo,
dum Fortuna calet, dum conficit omnia terror,
735 non ueritus graue ne fessis aut Marte subactis
hoc foret imperium. non magno hortamine miles
in praedam ducendus erat. 'uictoria nobis
plena, uiri:' dixit 'superest pro sanguine merces,
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15
16 A LUCAN READER
quam monstrare me um est; neque enim donare uocabo
740 quod sibi quisque dabit. cunctis, en, plena metallis
castra patent; raptum Hesperiis e gentibus aurum
hic iacet Eoasque premunt tentoria gazas.
tot regum fortuna simul Magnique coacta
expectat dominos: propera praecedere, miles,
745 quos sequeris; quascumque tuas Pharsalia fecit
a uictis rapiuntur opes.'
~ 7.760-811
760 capit inpia plebes
caespite patricio somnos, stratumque cubile
regibus infandus miles premit, inque parentum
inque toris fra trum posuerunt membra nocentes.
quos agitat uaesana quies, somnique furentes
765 Thessalicam miseris uersant in pectore pugnam.
inuigilat cunctis saeuum scelus, armaque tota
mente agitant, capuloque manus absente mouentur.
ingemuisse putem campos, terramque nocentes
inspirasse animas, infectumque aera totum
770 manibus et superam Stygia formidine noctem.
exigit a meritis tristes uictoria poenas,
sibilaque et flammas infert sopor. umbra perempti
ciuis adest; sua quemque premit terroris imago:
ille senum uultus, iuuenum uidet ille figuras,
775 hunc agitant totis fraterna cadauera somnis,
pectore in hoc pater est, omnes in Caesare manes.
haud alios nondum Scythica purgatus in ara
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CIVIL WAR BOOK 7
Eumenidum uidit uultus Pelopeus Orestes,
nec magis attonitos animi sensere tumultus,
780 cum fureret Pentheus aut, cum desisset, Agaue.
hunc omnes gladii, quos aut Pharsalia uidit
aut ultrix uisura dies stringente senatu,
illa nocte premunt, hunc infera monstra flagellant.
et quantum poenae misero mens conscia donat,
785 quod Styga, quod manes ingestaque Tartara somnis
Pompeio uiuente uidet! tamen omnia passo,
postquam clara dies Pharsalica damna retexit,
nulla loci facies reuocat feralibus aruis
haerentes oculos. cernit propulsa cruore
790 flumina et excelsos cumulis aequantia colles
corpora, sidentes in tabem spectat aceruos
et Magni numerat populos, epulisque paratur
ille locus, uultus ex quo faciesque iacentum
agnoscat. iuuat Emathiam non cernere terram
795 et lustrare oculis campos sub clade latentes.
fortunam superosque suos in sanguine cernit.
ac, ne laeta furens scelerum spectacula perdat,
inuidet igne rogi miseris, caeloque nocenti
ingerit Emathiam. non illum Poenus humator
800 consulis et Libyca succensae lampade Cannae
conpellunt hominum ritus ut seruet in hoste,
sed meminit nondum satiata caedibus ira
ciues esse suos. petimus non singula busta
discretosque rogos: unum da gentibus ignem,
805 non interpositis urantur corpora flammis;
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17
18 A LUCAN READER
aut, generi si poena iuuat, nemus extrue Pindi,
erige congestas Oetaeo robore siluas,
Thessalicam uideat Pompeius ab aequore flammam.
nil agis hac ira: tabesne cadauera soluat
810 an rogus, haud refert; placido Natura receptat
cuncta sinu, finemque sui sibi corpora debent.
~ 8.542-636
o superi, Nilusne et barbara Memphis
et Pelusiaci tam mollis turba Canopi
hos animos? sic fata premunt ciuilia mundum?
545 sic Romana iacent? ullusne in cladibus istis
est locus Aegypto Phariusque admittitur ensis?
hanc certe seruate fidem, ciuilia bella:
cognatas praestate manus externaque monstra
pellite, si meruit tam claro nomine Magnus
550 Caesaris esse nefas. tanti, Ptolemaee, ruinam
nominis haut metuis, caeloque tonante profanas
inseruisse manus, inpure ac semiuir, audes?
non domitor mundi nec ter Capitolia curru
inuectus regumque potens uindexque senatus
555 uictorisque gener, Phario satis esse tyranno
quod poterat, Romanus erat: quid uiscera nostra
scrutaris gladio? nescis, puer inprobe, nescis
quo tua sit fortuna loco: iam iure sine ullo
Nili sceptra tenes; cecidit ciuilibus armis
560 qui tibi regna dedit. iam uento uela negarat
Magnus et auxilio remorum infanda petebat
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CIVIL WAR BOOKS 7 AND 8
litora; quem contra non longe uecta biremi
adpellat scelerata manus, Magnoque patere
fingens regna Phari celsae de puppe carinae
565 in paruam iubet ire ratem, litusque malignum
incusat bimaremque uadis frangentibus aestum,
qui uetet externas terris adpellere classes.
quod nisi fatorum leges intentaque iussu
ordinis aeterni miserae uicinia mortis
570 damnatum leto traherent ad litora Magnum,
non ulli comitum sceleris praesagia derant:
quippe, fides si pura foret, si regia Magno
sceptrorum auctori uera pietate pateret,
uenturum tota Pharium cum classe tyrannum.
575 sed cedit fatis classemque relinquere iussus
obsequitur, letumque iuuat praeferre timori.
ibat in hostilem praeceps Cornelia puppem,
hoc magis inpatiens egresso desse marito
quod metuit clades. 'remane, temeraria coniunx,
580 et tu, nate, precor, longeque a litore casus
expectate meos et in hac ceruice tyranni
explorate fidem' dixit. sed surda uetanti
tendebat geminas amens Cornelia palmas.
'quo sine me crudelis abis? iterumne relinquor,
585 Thessalicis summota malis? numquam omine laeto
distrahimur miseri. poteras non flectere puppem,
cum fugeres alto, latebrisque relinquere Lesbi,
omnibus a terris si nos arcere parabas.
an tantum in fluctus placeo comes?' haec ubi frustra
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19
20 A LUCAN READER
590 effudit, prima pendet tamen anxia puppe,
attonitoque metu nec quoquam auertere uisus
nec Magnum spectare potest. stetit anxia classis
ad ducis euentum, metuens non arma nefasque
sed ne summissis precibus Pompeius adoret
595 sceptra sua donata manu. transire parantem
Romanus Pharia miles de puppe salutat
Septimius, qui, pro superum pudor, arma satelles
regia gestabat posito deformia pilo,
inmanis uiolentus atrox nullaque ferarum
600 mitior in caedes. quis non, Fortuna, putasset
parcere te populis, quod bello haec dextra uacaret
Thessaliaque procul tam noxia tela fugasses?
disponis gladios, nequo non fiat in orbe,
heu, facinus ciuile tibi. uictoribus ipsis
605 dedecus et numquam superum caritura pudore
fabula, Romanus regi sie paruit ensis,
Pellaeusque puer gladio tibi colla recidit,
Magne, tuo. qua posteritas in saecula mittet
Septimium fama? scelus hoc quo nomine dicent
610 qui Bruti dixere nefas? iam uenerat horae
terminus extremae, Phariamque ablatus in alnum
perdiderat iam iura sui. tum stringere ferrum
regia monstra parant. ut uidit comminus enses,
inuoluit uultus atque, indignatus apertum
615 fortunae praebere, caput; tum lumina pressit
continuitque animam, nequas effundere uoces
uellet et aeternam fletu corrumpere famam.
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CIVIL WAR BOOK 8
sed, postquam mucrone latus funestus Achillas
perfodit, nullo gemitu consensit ad ictum
620 respexitque nefas, seruatque inmobile corpus,
seque probat moriens atque haec in pectore uoluit:
'saecula Romanos numquam tacitura labores
attendunt, aeuumque sequens speculatur ab omni
orbe ratem Phariamque fidem: nunc consule famae.
625 fata tibi longae fluxerunt prospera uitae:
ignorant populi, si non in morte probaris,
an scieris aduersa patio ne cede pudori
auctoremque dole fati: quacumque feriris,
crede manum soceri. spargant lacerentque licebit,
630 sum tamen, 0 superi, felix, nullique potestas
hoc auferre deo. mutantur prospera uita,
non fit morte miser. uidet hanc Cornelia caedem
Pompeiusque meus: tanto patientius, oro,
claude, dolor, gemitus: gnatus coniunxque peremptum,
635 si mirantur, amant.' talis custodia Magno
mentis erat, ius hoc animi morientis habe bat.
~ 8.663-88
at, Magni cum terga sonent et pectora ferro,
permansisse decus sacrae uenerabile formae
665 placatamque deis faciem, nil ultima mortis
ex habitu uultuque uiri mutasse fatentur
qui lacerum uidere caput. nam saeuus in ipso
Septimius sceleris maius scelus inuenit actu,
ac retegit sacros scisso uelamine uultus
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21
22 A LUCAN READER
670 semianimis Magni spirantiaque occupat ora
collaque in obliquo ponit languentia transtro.
tune neruos uenasque secat nodosaque frangit
ossa diu: nondum artis erat caput ense rotare.
at, postquam trunco ceruix abscisa recessit,
675 uindicat hoc Pharius, dextra gestare, satelles.
degener atque operae miles Romane secundae,
Pompei diro sacrum caput ense recidis,
ut non ipse feras? 0 summi fata pudoris!
inpius ut Magnum nosset puer, illa uerenda
680 regibus hirta coma et generosa fronte decora
caesaries conprensa manu est, Pharioque ueruto,
dum uiuunt uultus atque os in murmura pulsant
singultus animae, dum lumina nuda rigescunt,
suffix um caput est, quo numquam bella iubente
685 pax fuit; hoc leges Campumque et rostra mouebat,
hac facie, Fortuna, tibi, Romana, placebas.
nec satis infando fuit hoc uidisse tyranno:
uult sceleris superesse fidem.
~ 9.190-217
190 'ciuis obit' inquit 'multum maioribus inpar
nosse modum iuris, sed in hoc tamen utilis aeuo,
cui non ulla fuit iusti reuerentia; salua
libertate potens, et solus plebe parata
priuatus seruire sibi, rectorque senatus,
195 sed regnantis, erat. nil belli iure poposcit,
quaeque dari uoluit uoluit sibi posse negari.
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CIVIL WAR BOOKS 8 AND 9
inmodicas possedit opes, sed plura retentis
intulit. inuasit ferrum, sed ponere norat.
praetulit arma togae, sed pacem armatus amauit.
200 iuuit sumpta ducem, iuuit dimissa potestas.
casta domus luxuque carens corruptaque numquam
fortuna domini. darum et uenerabile nomen
gentibus et multum nostrae quod proderat urbi.
olim uera fides Sulla Marioque receptis
205 libertatis obit: Pompeio rebus adempto
nunc et ficta perit. non iam regnare pudebit,
nec color imperii nec frons erit ulla senatus.
o felix, cui summa dies fuit obuia uicto
et cui quaerendos Pharium scelus obtulit enses.
210 forsitan in soceri potuisses uiuere regno.
seire mori sors prima uiris, set proxima cogi.
et mihi, si fatis aliena in iura uenimus,
fac talem, Fortuna, Iubam; non deprecor hosti
seruari, dum me seruet ceruice reeisa.'
215 uoeibus his maior quam si Romana sonarent
rostra dueis laudes generosam uenit ad umbram
mortis honos.
~ 9.961-99
Sigeasque petit famae mirator harenas
et Simoentis aquas et Graio nobile busto
Rhoetion et multum debentes uatibus umbras.
eircumit exustae nomen memorabile Troiae
965 magnaque Phoebei quaerit uestigia muri.
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23
24 A LUCAN READER
iam siluae steriles et putres robore trunci
Assaraci pressere domos et templa deorum
iam lassa radice tenent, ac tota teguntur
Pergama dumetis: etiam periere ruinae.
970 aspicit Hesiones scopulos siluaque latentes
Anchisae thalamos; quo iudex sederit antro,
unde puer raptus caelo, quo uertice Nais
luxerit Oenone: nullum est sine nomine sax um.
inscius in sicco serpentem puluere riuum
975 transierat, qui Xanthus erat. securus in alto
gramine ponebat gressus: Phryx incola manes
Hectoreos calcare uetat. discussa iacebant
saxa nec ullius faciem seruantia sacri:
'Herceas' monstrator ait 'non respicis aras?'
980 0 sacer et magnus uatum labor! omnia fato
eripis et populis donas mortalibus aeuum.
inuidia sacrae, Caesar, ne tangere famae;
nam, siquid Latiis fas est promittere Musis,
quantum Zmyrnaei durabunt uatis honores,
985 uenturi me teque legent; Pharsalia nostra
uiuet, et a nullo tenebris damnabimur aeuo.
ut ducis inpleuit uisus ueneranda uetustas,
erexit subitas congestu caespitis aras
uotaque turicremos non inrita fudit in ignes.
990 'di cinerum, Phrygias colitis quicumque ruinas,
Aeneaeque mei, quos nunc Lauinia sedes
seruat et Alba, lares, et quorum lucet in aris
ignis adhuc Phrygius, nullique aspecta uirorum
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CIVIL WAR BOOK 9
Pallas, in abstruso pignus memorabile templo,
995 gentis Iuleae uestris clarissimus aris
dat pia tura nepos et uos in sede priore
rite uocat. date felices in cetera cursus,
restituam populos; grata uice moenia reddent
Ausonidae Phrygibus, Romanaque Pergama surgent.'
Digitized by Google
25
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Commentary
~ Lucan's theme, 1.1-45
Lucan states the theme ofhis poem (1-7), the civil war between Cae-
sar and Pompey, which he describes as "worse than civil war" be-
cause the two leaders were related to one another by marriage. He
then expresses regret about Rome's embroilment in civil war when
she might have been conquering the rest of the world (8-32). But he
declares that the civil war and other terrible events which followed
were worthwhile if the result was to have Nero as emperor (33-45).
bella the conventional topic of epic poetry, but later in the line
Lucan qualifies these "wars" not as "civil wars" but as "worse
(lit. "more") than civil wars," thereby delivering a surprise
right at the start of his poem.
Emathios ... campos technically Emathia was in Macedonia,
but Lucan uses the adjective to me an Thessaly, the location of
the battle of Pharsalia, the main battle of the civil war.
plus quam duilia because the protagonists, Caesar and
Pompey, are not only fellow Roman citizens but also related to
one another by marriage, hence they will sometimes be called
"father-in-Iaw" and "son-in-Iaw."
2 ius "law," "legality"
canimus by convention epic poets use the plural.
3 This is the first case of a "Golden Line" in Lucan's epic, a mod-
ern name given to a line with the balanced pattern abVAB,
where a and bare adjectives that qualify nouns A and B,
flanking the verb (here a pf. participle) in central position. It
is typical ofLucan to deploy formal perfeetion in combination
with distressing or gruesome ideas, as here.
27
Digitized by Google
28 A LUCAN READER
in sua ... uiscera in + acc., "into," after conuersum
uictrici ... dextra "victorious" over the rest of the world; the
"right hand" denotes the sword hand.
4 rupto foedere abI. absolute
foedere regni "the pact of tyranny" was the so-called first
triumvirate, a pact made in 60 BeE, in which Pompey, Caesar,
and Crassus agreed to cooperate politically with one another;
this arrangement broke down in the late 50s; the word regnum
makes the Roman state a "kingdom" not a republic, with all
the accompanying negative associations about kings in Ro-
man thought.
5 certatum in effect, "the struggle"; the n. sing. pf. pass. parti-
ciple is used substantivally; cf. negatum (70)
orbis Lucan identifies the Roman conflict as one which af-
fects the entire world.
6 in commune nefas lit. "towards a shared crime," i.e., "for uni-
versal guilt": Lucan is saying that everyone who participates
in the civil war is committing a "crime." nefas is a key word
in the poem as Lucan condemns the civil war; it denotes the
contravention of divine law and etymologically it may derive
from the verb for, fari, "to speak"; if that is correct, Lucan as
poet puts himself in the impossible position of speaking "the
unspeakable."
6-7 Lucan finds three different ways of depicting Roman battle
line facing Roman battle line, by mentioning three distinc-
tively Roman items: the standards (signa), the eagles (aquilae)
and the javelins (pila). Further, the idea that signa might be
aggressively facing (obuia) "hostile" (infestis) signa is designed
to be shocking.
7 aquilas each Roman legion had an eagle as its standard.
pila n. pI.; the pilum, a javelin or throwing-spear, was the dis-
tinctive weapon of the Roman legionary soldier.
8 quis ... quae ... ? the question words assume a verb such as
fuit.
Digitized by Google
COMMENTARY 1.1-45 29
o eiues this is the first example in the poem of apostrophe,
i.e., when Lucan directly addresses a character or place in the
poem; it is a technique he deploys very frequently and it means
that we are more aware of the authorial voice than usual in
Greco-Roman epic poetry.
tanta licentia ferri "excessive freedom with the sword" (lit.
"of the sword"); licentia is usually negative;ferrum, lit. "iron,"
metonymically = the item made from iron, here "sword."
9 gentibus inuisis dat. after praebere; the foreign nations sur-
rounding the Roman empire
Latium "Latian" me ans "Roman," as often, referring to
Latium, the area ofItaly in which Rome was located.
praebere cruorem the infinitive is parallel to bella geri (12),
connected by -que after cum, and both infinitives follow pla-
cuit (12).
10 foret ... spolianda periphrastic gerundive, expressing an im-
perative, "ought to be stripped"
Babyion a city in Parthia
10-1l tropaeis Ausoniis abI. of deprivation; the "Ausonian trophies"
were the Roman standards recently lost to the Parthians by
Crassus at the battle of Carrhae in 53 BeE; Lucan asserts that
these should have been recovered before the Romans indulged
in civil war. Ausonia = Italy, hence "Ausonian" can mean "Ital-
ian" or "Roman."
II umbra ... inulta abI.; Crassus died at the battle of Carrhae.
12 bella geri lit. "that wars be waged"
placuit supply uobis, i.e., "to you citizens"
nullos habitura triumphos habitura is fut. participle expand-
ing on bella, "which would bring no triumphs"; a triumph,
which was an honor coveted by all Republican generals, could
be earned only by a victory over a foreign enemy; see also
1.121.
13-14 Understand as quantum terrae pelagique parari potuit hoc
sanguine quem dextrae ciuiles hauserunt.
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30 A LUCAN READER
13 quantum the subject of potuit, followed by partitive gen.
14 duiles ... dextrae i.e., the sword-hands of citizens
15-18 Lucan indicates the possible extent of Roman conquests, re-
ferring to east, west, south, and north in turn by means of
periphrases.
15 Titan a poetic designation for the sun
16 quaque i.e., qua ("where") + -que
dies medius i.e., midday
17 bruma qualified by rigens and nescia uere remitti
remitti pres. pass. infinitive after nescia
18 Pontum the Black Sea
19 sub iuga i.e., under Roman rule
Seres a people imagined in the south of Africa but later identi-
fied with the Chinese
isset plpf. subjunctive of eo, expressing the apodosis of an un-
real condition, i.e., ifRome had not become embroiled in civil
warfare; the verb has three subjects, Seres (pl.), Araxes (sing.)
and gens (sing.).
Araxes a river in Armenia
nascenti ... Nilo dat., after conscia; lit. "the Nile being born,"
translate "the Nile's birth"; the Romans were fascinated by the
topic of the source of the Nile and Lucan includes a discussion
of the subject in Book 10.
21-23 Lucan addresses Roma directly, a second case of apostrophe.
21 tum i.e., then and only then
si . .. supply est in the usual Latin expression for possession,
"if you have such a great ... "
nefandi echoes nefas (6)
22 Latias see n. on 1.9
miseris fut. pf. of mitto
tibi dat. after defuit, of the person experiencing the lack
hostis i.e., an external enemy
Digitized by Google
COMMENTARY 1.1-45 31
24-31 A long sentence that starts with clauses introduced by quod,
"the fact that," in anticipation of non . .. auctor ... erit, "the
originator ... will not be .... " In the quod clauses Lucan
(falsely) depicts the towns and lands of Italy as ruined and
deserted because of the civil wars.
25 urbibus Italiae abI. of place where
lapsis ... muris abI. absolute
26 domus nom. pI., subject of tenentur
27 rarus et et is postponed; rarus qualifies habitator.
28 horrida ... inarata both f. nom. sing., describing Hesperia
quod parallel to quod at 24: see above
dumis abI. after horrida
29 Hesperia lit. "the western land" (from a Greek perspective),
usually denoting Italy, as here.
manus a good example of the economy of Latin; technically
the noun is nom. pI., subject of desunt, but it also functions as
acc. pI., object of poscentibus.
poscentibus aruis "the fieIds demand" hands to cultivate
them.
30 Lucan attributes the deserted state ofItaly not to her two en-
emies most renowned in history, Pyrrhus and Hannibal, but
to herself.
Pyrrhe ferox a momentary apostrophe of Pyrrhus, king of
Epirus, who inflicted several major defeats on Rome during
the third century BCE.
auctor usually + gen., here + dat.
31 Poenus "the Carthaginian" is Hannibal, who waged the Sec-
ond Punic War against Rome, 218-201 BCE; the adjective,
used as a noun, is enough to identify him.
31-32 nulli ... ferro I contigit impersonal verb + dat., lit. "it has
befallen no sword"; for ferrum, see 1.8.
32 alta sedent "sink deep," alta in apposition to uulnera, almost
adverbial in sense
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32 A LUCAN READER
ciuilis ... dextrae gen. sing. after uulnera, i.e., "the wounds
inflicted by a citizen's sword-hand"; Lucan repeats the phrase
from 1.14.
33 quod si "but if," followed by three parallel clauses
uenturo ... Neroni lit. "for Nero about to come," translated
most easily as a noun, "for the coming ofNero"
fata n. pI., as often; a central concept in the poem, which has
no conventional anthropomorphic deities; in their place Lu-
can deploys "fate" and "fortune" as agents in the plot, which
seem at times to be personified as Fate and Fortune. "Fate"
denotes the inevitable predetermined sequence of events
while "Fortune" denotes the apparently random changes that
can happen in life (see 1.84). Stoicism advocated psychologi-
cal self-sufficiency in order to ignore the vagaries of fortune
and to accept whatever fate has in store. Lucan has taken both
concepts from Stoic philosophy, which enjoyed prominence
among the Roman elite during the early empire; Lucan's uncle
Seneca the Younger was instrumental in articulating the te-
nets ofStoicism in Latin.
34 inuenere for inuenerunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act. indicative
magno "for a lot," "at great cost," abI. of price
parantur here "are purchased"
35 deis abI. of agent; Lucan more or less identifies his vague
"gods" with "fate" here; his treatment of the gods contrasts
significantly with that of earlier Greek and Latin epic.
35-36 Understand as [si] caelum suo Tonanti seruire potuit non nisi
post bella gigantum saeuorum.
suo ... Tonanti "its own Thunderer": Lucan here equates
Nero's power on earth with that of Jupiter (the Thunderer)'s
power in heaven; for Tonans, cf. 1.196.
bella gigantum the giants challenged the authority of Jupiter
and the other Olympian gods but the gods overcame them at the
battle of Phlegra; this is often referred to as the gigantomachia.
37 nihil with adverbial force, i.e., we do not complain at all
Digitized by Google
COMMENTARY 1.1-45
scelera ipsa nefasque the subjects of placent
hac mercede abI. of price
placent supply nobis
33
38-45 This long sentence, addressed to Nero (Caesar41), consists of
four concessive clauses with subjunctive verbs expressing the
idea of "although," to which the tarnen clause replies. Lucan
here specifies some of the most infamous events of the civil
wars (both those between Caesar and the Pompeians and the
wars that followed his assassination, between Mark Antony
and Octavian, Caesar's heir) then caps the sentence by claim-
ing that N ero's succession as emperor justifies all that carnage.
Some scholars have thought that Lucan cannot be serious in
this assertion; however, this form of flattery is common under
autocratic regimes and more repulsive examples can be found
from Roman and other societies. Without knowing his inten-
tions, it seems more prudent to take Lucan at face value and to
remember that great optimism accompanied Nero's accession
to power at the age of 17 in 54 eE.
38 diros ... campos Pharsalia's "plains" are "dreadful" because
of the carnage that will happen there at the battle of Pharsalia
(9 August 48 BeE).
Pharsalia a district in Thessaly ne ar the town of Pharsalus;
the chief battle between Caesar and Pompey (described in
Book 7) was fought there.
39 Poeni ... manes "Carthaginian shades," probably specific,
i.e., Hannibal's ghost, which Lucan imagines as awaiting re-
venge for his defeats at the hands of the Romans during the
Second Punic War (218-201 BeE); this revenge is figured as
the battle ofThapsus in46 BeE which was fought in Africa not
far from Carthage.
40 A perfect case of a "Golden Line"; as at 1.3, polished poetic
form conflicts with ghastly content.
ultima ... proelia the decisive "final battle" (pI. for sing., as
often in poetry) of the civil war was fought at Munda in Spain
(17 March 45 BeE).
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34 A LUCAN READER
concurrant proelia proelia as the subject ofthe verb concurro
is a poeticism.
41-42 his ... fatis fata is here used in a different, weaker, sense from
line 33; "to these deaths," almost "to these horrors."
Caesar i.e., Nero; Caesar became a cognomen of all the emperors
and could be used alone to denote the reigning emperor, as here.
Perusina fames i.e., the long siege of Mark Antony's brother
Lucius in Perusia (mod. Perugia) by Octavian all through the
autumn and into the winter of 41 BeE.
Mutinae ... labores another lengthy siege: Mark Antony be-
sieged Decimus Brutus in Mutina (mod. Modena) 44-43 BeE.
42-43 Lucan supplies two further subjects of accedant, "although
there be added ... "; und erstand as eae classes quas Leucas aspera
premit as well as the more straightforward bella seruilia.
quas premit aspera classes I Leucas "the fleets which rugged
Leucas overwhelms" refers to the battle of Actium in 31 BeE,
which was fought ne ar the island of Leucas off the coast of
western Greece; at this battle Octavian defeated Mark Antony
and Cleopatra and thus established his supremacy.
seruilia bella "the slave wars" is a pejorative way of referring
to the defeat ofPompey's son Sextus in the Sicilian seas in 36
BeE; Sextus' fleet was partly manned by slaves.
ardenti ... Aetna the volcano on Sicily
44 ciuilibus armis "to citizens' weapons," i.e., weapons taken up
in civil warfare
45 tibi gains emphasis from position: "because it was for you that
everything was done."
~ The causes ofthe civil war, 1.67-157
After further praise ofNero and anticipation ofhis deification, Lu-
can proceeds to analyse the various causes of the civil war, includ-
ing (a) the fated and inevitable collapse of mighty structures, such
as Rome (70-82); (b) the impossibility of power-sharing at Rome
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COMMENTARY 1.1-45 AND 1.67-157 35
(82-97); (c) the death of Crassus, the millionaire who was the third
member ofthe so-called triumvirate (98-111); (d) the death ofJulia,
Caesar's daughter, who was married to Pompey to cement their po-
litical alliance (111-20); (e) the personalities of the two leaders, in
which Pompey is compared to a massive old oak tree and Caesar is
compared to a lightning-bolt (120-57).
68 aperitur opus "the task" that is "opened up" is actually the
consequence of Lucan's mind prompting him to explain the
causes, although the clauses are paratactic (i.e., parallel);
accordingly, he devotes the next hundred lines or so to the
causes of the civil war. Lucan's exploration of the causes serves
at least two purposes: it allows him to establish certain themes
which will recur throughout the poem and it allows him to
postpone the narrative of the events he finds so horrifying,
thus breaking with the Virgilian model of rapid narrative in
order to make moral and aesthetic points.
68-69 quid ... quid ... both mark indirect questions dependent on
an unexpressed verb such as dicere.
in arma i.e., "to war"
furentem again, civil war is described as a madness; cf. furor
(1.8).
69 orbi dat. of disadvantage
70-72 There is no verb expressed, just four phrases in the nom. case
(se ries, negatum, lapsus, and Roma); add "It was" to introduce
these explanations of the civil war.
inuida fatorum series expresses the Greek idea of nemesis,
i.e., that any form of overreaching (the Greek concept of hy-
bris) is ultimately brought low; for fatorum see 1.33; the "chain
of destiny" refers to the Stoic view of predetermination.
summis ... negatum I stare diu lit. "the fact of it having been
denied to the highest things to stand for a long time," i.e., "the
impossibility of the highest lasting long"; summis is dat. pI. after
negatum, which is n. sing. nom. of the pf. pass. participle used
substantivally, as certatum (5).
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36 A LUCAN READER
nec se Roma ferens i.e., "Rome's inability to bear herself"
72-80 Lucan compares the collapse of Rome to the collapse of the
universe. His picture of reversion to "primeval chaos" resem-
bles the Stoic idea of the cyde of recurring universal confla-
gration. This long sentence consists of a temporal dause (cum
... chaos) followed by six predictions (in the future tense), all
of which represent disruptions of nature.
72 conpage soluta abI. absolute, referring to the "structure" of
the universe (mundus)
73 tot goes with saecula, "so many ages"
coegerit unusual sense; lit. "driven together" in the sense of
"compressed" or "collapsed"
77 fratri contraria Phoebe highly poetic; Phoebe is the mo on,
the sister of Phoebus, the sun; Lucan imagines the moon
"confronting" the sun, wanting to take over the daytime.
78 bigas the moon's chariot was imagined as a two-horse chariot,
but the sun's as a four-horse chariot.
agitare infinitive after indignata
79-80 "The whole discordant mechanism of the torn-apart universe
will disrupt its own laws"; discors and diuolsi and turbabit em-
phasize the idea of disruption; it is typical ofLucan to reiterate
his ideas like this.
81 in se magna ruunt the vague magna ("big things") is the
subject of ruunt; another typical feature ofLucan's Latin: the
short sentence full of impact; these are often called sententiae
if they are generalizations, as here.
laetis ... rebus dat., "to prosperous things," so "to prosperity"
hunc with modum
numina another vague reference to the gods, like deis at 1.35
82 crescendi gerund after modum, "limit to growing"
posuere for posuerunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act. indicative
nec gentibus ullis i.e., not to any foreign race; Lucan echoes
ideas expressed earlier, at 30-32.
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COMMENTARY 1.67-157 37
83 in "against"
terrae pelagique gen. after potentem; the reference to "land
and sea," though conventional, reminds the reader of the huge
extent of Roman power.
84 inuidiam Lucan echoes 1.70 inuida fatorum series
Fortunam "chance" is here personified in the dosest manner
that Lucan ever gets to the anthropomorphic deities familiar
from earlier epic; see 1.33. Fortune, who is prominent in Stoic
philosophy, is a fickle and capricious power who can bestow
success and failure on any individual; similar is the idea of the
wheel of fortune, a powerful element in Roman thought.
84-85 tu ... Roma a brief apostrophe to Rome, to drive home the
contrast with foreign races: Rome is "the cause of [her own]
troubles."
85 facta ... communis a true pf. participle, "once Rome had be-
come shared"
tribus dominis dat. after communis; the "three masters" is
another reference to the pact between Pompey, Caesar, and
Crassus known as the first triumvirate (see 1.4); significantly,
dominus is the word used to denote the master of a slave.
85-86 Lucan elaborates with a second dause; understand as foedera
feralia regni numquam missi [agrees with regni] in turbam,
"the ill-omened pact of tyranny, never shared among a crowd"
(lit. "sent into a crowd");foedera is pI. for sing. as often; on the
negative tone of regni, see 1.4.
87-89 Now Lucan addresses the three "triumvirs" reproachfully.
87 male concordes "evillyin unison" or "harmonious in evil," i.e.,
working together with an outcome that is bad (for Rome).
88 quid ... iuuaU supply uos, "why it is pleasing to [you]?"
89 in medio "in common"
89-93 Lucan strongly asserts the impossibility of sharing power by
reference to unchanging natural phenomena, disposed in pairs,
relating to earth + sea, then air + earth, then day + night.
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38 A LUCAN READER
89-91 dum ... leuabit ... uoluent ... sequetur translate as if pres.
tense: "as long as earth supports ... "; leuabit has two subjects,
terra and aer.
90 uoluent Titana labores lit. "his toils make Titan revolve"; Ti-
tan = the sun, as 1.15.
91 caelo abI. of place where
totidem per signa i.e., the twelve signs of the zodiac
92 nulla fides supply erit, "there will be no loyalty"
regni gen. after sociis, "associates in tyranny"
93 consortis gen. after inpatiens
gentibus ullis i.e., foreign ra ces, as at 1.82
94 credite it is not clear who is the subject of the imperative; per-
haps still the triumvirs, perhaps vaguer.
nec longe "not from afar," i.e., from Rome's own history
exempla the Romans learned all important moral lessons,
positive and negative, from exempla, stories of role models
drawn from his tory.
95 Another "Golden Line"; see 1.3. Lucan's choice to describe
thus the prima I act of fratricide at the founding of Rome con-
veys much about his attitude: he sets out to overturn the con-
ventions of epic through shock tactics.
fraterno ... sanguine Romulus is said to have killed Remus in
a quarrelover the new city-walls ofRome. For Lucan, this act
offratricide is a predictor ofthe civil warfare ofhis poem.
96 pretium in apposition to the subjects, tellus pontusque
tanti ... furoris reprises 1.8, 68
97 exiguum dominos commisit asylum lit. "the tiny asylum
brought its masters to fight (one another)"; the point is that
the stakes were minuscule compared with those of the civil
war and yet the two brothers fought to the death. The asylum
was the sanctuary for slaves and criminals established by Ro-
mulus, from which Rome grew.
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COMMENTARY 1.67-157 39
98 temporis angusti ... concordia gen. of quality, "concord
[consisting] of a narrow time"
concordia discors a paradox, a literary technique relished by
Lucan
99 ducum gen. pI. of dux, after sponte, lit. "by the will of the
leaders"; Lucan calls both his main protagonists, Pompey and
Caesar, duces.
99-100 Understand as mora sola belli futuri erat Crassus medius ("in
between"). Crassus was the fabulously wealthy member of the
so-called first triumvirate and had played a delicate political
balancing act of support for Pompey and Caesar. Lucan here
introduces an idea central to his poem, that of"delay." In sharp
contrast with Virgil, and Homer before him, Lucan does not
launch into the action but instead delays initiating his narrative
of the civil war. His own poetic concern with delay is matched
by his attention to instances of delay within the narrative.
100-106 The first simile of the poem-an elaborate one, comparing
Crassus with the isthmus of Corinth, the thin strip of land
connecting the Peloponnese with mainland Greece and sepa-
rating the Ionian Sea to the west from the Aegean Sea to the
east. Lucan's focus is negative, on the turmoil unleashed by
the removal of the isthmus and by the death of Crassus. In
this way human activities are likened to a natural disaster.
101 Isthmos the subject (Greek form of nom.) offrangat, modi-
fied by the adjective gracilis and the reI. clause qui secat et ...
separat . .. nec patitur
103 Aegaeo supply mari; either abI. or dat., "smash by means of
the Aegean" or "smash against the Aegean"
103-4 saeua I arma ducum dirimens a true pres. participle: "at the
time when he was keeping apart the leaders' savage weapons"
104 miserando funere goes with maculauit, denoting the atten-
dant circumstances, "in lamentable death"
lOS Not a perfect "Golden Line" (see 1.3) but nevertheless elegant-
ly balanced through chiasmus.
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40 A LUCAN READER
Assyrias ... Carrhas Carrhae, an important city in the As-
syrian empire (mod, Herran), was where the Parthians de-
feated and killed Crassus in 53 BeE.
Latio ... sanguine also with maculauit, abI. of means
106 A true "Golden Line" (see 1.3); as often, Lucan seems to re-
serve this poetic effect for especially grim material.
Romanos ... furores the civil war is again labeled madness by
Lucan; cf. 1.8, 68, 96
damna subject of soluerunt; the "losses" or "disasters" are en-
visaged from the Roman perspective, with Parthica meaning
not "of the Parthians" but in effect "to the Parthians" or "in-
flicted by the Parthians"
107-8 A brief apostrophe to the Parthians, here called "sons of Ar-
saces," after Arsaces, the first king of the Parthian dynasty.
plus subject of actum est
uohis abI. of agencywith actum est
hellum uictis civile dedistis a condensed and surprising, al-
most paradoxical, statement (cf. 1.81); whatever victors (the
Parthians) might give to "the defeated" (the Romans), one
would not expect it to be civil war.
109 diuiditur pres. for pf., as often in epic narrative
regnum on the word's negative implications see 1.4; cf. 1.86
populi ... potentis gen., after fortuna
110 The three rel. clauses anticipate their subject,fortuna, in the
next line; all three use the verb possidet.
totum ... orhem another grand claim for the extent of Ro-
man power
111 non cepit ... duos i.e., Pompey and Caesar; for capio = "to con-
tain" or "to be big enough for," think of our word "capacious."
111-14 Julia, the daughter of Julius Caesar, was another obstacle to
strife between Pompey and Caesar: in 59 BeE she married
Pompey as part of the political allegiance between the two
men, but she died in childbirth in 54 BeE.
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COMMENTARY 1.67-157 41
112 diro ferales omine as often in post-Augustan Latin, an adjec-
tive can govern another phrase; Lucan probably me ans that
the end of the marriage was a grim omen of the breakdown of
the relationship between father-in-Iaw and son-in-Iaw.
taedas by mentioning the "wedding-torches" Lucan makes it ap-
pear that Pompey's marriage to Julia was brief er than it was; to
call "wedding-torches" "deadly" (jerales) sounds paradoxicaI.
113 Parcarum the three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos,
who were imagined to spin, measure, and cut off human lives
as iftheywere threads; cf. 3.18-19.
113-14 saeua ... manu with Parcarum
114 intercepta nom., ofJulia
quod si "but if"
llS in luce i.e., alive
mo ras pI. for sing.
furentem goes with both uirum and parentem; Lucan again
emphasizes the madness of civil war, cf. 1.68.
117 excusso ... ferro abI. absolute; in English it works better to
turn it around and make it a main verb parallel to the finite
verb: here "you alone could have ... thrown away their swords
and joined their armed hands," rather than "the sword having
been thrown away";ferro is sing. for pI.
118 ut intro duces a simile which represents Julia as the Sabine
women; according to early Roman legend, the Sabine women
were carried offby Romulus and Romans, who needed wives,
and when their fathers ca me to fight for their return they rec-
onciled their husbands with their fathers.
generos soceris the juxtaposition represents what the Sabine
women are able to achieve; soceris is dat. after iunxere
mediae some Latin adjectives, including medius, resist being
rendered as adjectives in English; the sense is adverbial, "in
between."
iunxere for iunxerunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act. indicative
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42 A LUCAN READER
119-20 A brief apostrophe to Julia.
119 discussa supply est
hellum mouere a standard Latin idiom, "to initiate war"
120 permissum supply est, followed by the infinitive mouere
ducihus dat. after the impersonal pass. permissum
stimulos dedit aemula uirtus lit. "rivalrous excellence gave
them the spurs," so "rivalry in excellence spurred them on";
although uirtus looks like English "virtue," that is hardly ever
the best translation, because it has acquired irrelevant Chris-
tian overtones since antiquity; it helps to remember that the
root of uirtus is uir and that the abstract noun is the quality of
being a [proper] man.
121-24 Lucan introduces his two protagonists, Pompey and Caesar,
addressing a brief apostrophe to each (tu . .. Magne ... ; te ... ).
121-23 Pompey's rivalry is rooted in fear that Caesar's more re cent
achievements will eclipse his own. Pompey had celebrated
three triumphs, over Numidia (81 BeE), Spain (71 BeE), and
Asia (62 BeE), and in 67 BeE had overcome the pirates, who
had been plaguing shipping throughout the Mediterranean;
Caesar's conquest of Gaul was more recent than any of these
achievements (58-51 BeE), though he did not celebrate his tri-
umph over Gaul until46 BeE.
121 Another "Golden Line" (see 1.3), with striking juxtaposition
of noua and ueteres.
ne ... ohscurent ... et ... cedat clauses offearing after times
triumphos a triumph was a spectacular celebratory pro ces-
sion of a victorious Roman general from the Campus Mar-
tius outside the walls through the city to the temple ofJupiter
Capitolinus on the Capitoline Hill; the criteria for the award
of a triumph were stringent (see 1.12) and relatively few were
granted
122 uictis ... Gallis Caesar's conquest of Gaul during the 50s BeE
is memorialized in his own account, his Commentaries, which
we call the Gallic Wars.
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COMMENTARY 1.67-157 43
piratica Iaurea a triumphing general was awarded a crown
of laurel; Lucan's expression here is compact: i.e., the laurel
crown awarded for victory over the pirates.
123 Magne "the Great," the cognomen (something like "nick-
name") given to Pompey early in his career, in 81 BeE, after
victories in Sicily and Africa; Lucan usually prefers to call him
Magnus rather than Pompeius (more than twice as often).
series ususque both nom. sing., with erigit
123-24 Lucan associates Caesar's rivalry with his endurance of diffi-
cult tasks and his ambition; the fighting in Gaul in the late 50s
had been especially challenging. By 50 BeE Caesar was seeking
the consulship again, after Pompey's sole consulship in 52 BeE.
124 inpatiens ... 10 ei ... secundi another case where an adjective
governs its phrase; inpatiens takes the gen. of the thing not
tolerated.
fortuna another subject of erigit; refers to Caesar's own "for-
tune"; Fortune personified presides over Caesar's rise-that
is why he swears allegiance to her as he crosses the Rubicon
(1.225-27) and commits himselfinto her hands as he ventures
a dangerous sea-crossing in Book 5 (5.510 and 696-97).
125-26 The comparison modulates from the 2nd into the 3rd person.
nec quemquam "and not anyone" (ace.); the phrase goes
with priorem (in the case of Caesar) and parem (in the case of
Pompey); in other words, Lucan asserts that Caesar was pre-
pared to share the top position but that Pompeywas not-one
of the most negative things he says about Pompey.
iam ferre potest goes with each of Caesar and Pompeius
Pompeius Lucan generally calls him Magnus (as 1.123).
126-28 Lucan weighs the two sides in terms of justification and au-
thority. Although he declines to pass explicit judgement, say-
ing that it is forbidden knowledge (scire nefas), it is clear here
and throughout that his sympathies are with Pompey.
127 seire nefas supply est; lit. "fit is] a crime to know"; nefas is a
favorite word (already used at 1.6 and 37).
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44 A LUCAN READER
magno se iudice quisque tuetur lit. "each protects himself
with a great judge," where "judge" means authority or umpire;
Lucan immediately explains who these judges are: the gods
are on Caesar's side (hence the establishment of the princi-
pate) but Cato is on Pompey's side.
128 This line is shaped by the contrast between uictrix and uicta,
both agreeing with causa; the effect is to suggest that Cato
alone is almost equivalent to "the gods." Marcus Porcius Cato
is the third major protagonist of the poem and the "hero" of
Book 9, when he assumes leadership of the Republican armies
after Pompey's assassination. He was famously a model of
stern virtue and austere Stoicism.
129 nec coiere pares coiere is for coierunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act.
indicative; take nec with pares: "and they came together not
equally matched." This brief sentence intro duces an extended
description of the two protagonists; Lucan starts each descrip-
tion directly and provides a telling simile (129-57).
129-43 Lucan starts with Pompey, referring to him only as alter, "one
[oftwo]."
uergentibus annis abI. absolute
130 in senium a misrepresentation by Lucan, as Pompey was only
six years older than Caesar.
togae after longo . .. usu; the toga, the characteristic garb of the
Roman citizen (as opposed to the Roman soldier), metaphori-
cally denotes "peace-time," as at 9.199; Pompey's previous ex-
perience of active warfare had been fourteen years earlier, in
his victory over King Mithridates ofPontus in 63 BeE.
131 ducem i.e., leadership; Lucan strains the language a little here.
famae ... petitor it is central to Lucan's portrayal of Pompey
that he craves popularity.
132 multa dare in uulgus "was generous to the crowd"; Pompey
staged shows and games to entertain the people, e.g., at the
opening of his theater (Plutarch, Pompey 52).
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COMMENTARY 1.67-157 45
dare initiates a sequence of five historic infinitives, in place of
the pf. indicative; cf. 147-49 below.
totus best translated as an adverb, "totally"
popularibus auris another metaphor, i.e., the "breezes" of fa-
vor, popularity
133 inpelli pres. pass. infinitive
sui ... theatri Pompey built Rome's first permanent, stone
theater in 55 BeE.
134 nouas the adjective almost has adverbial force, "anew."
134-35 priori ... fortunae Lucan characterizes Pompey as relying on
his former achievements and looking back to the past.
135 stat magni nominis umbra "he stands, the shadow of a great
name"; the phrase magni nominis plays on Pompey's cogno-
men (see 1.123) Magnus
136-43 An extended simile, comparing Pompey to a great oak tree,
impressive and still venerated alone but liable to be toppled
by the first strong wind; it is important that the tree is ancient
and static.
136 quercus governs sublimis, gestans, haerens and fixa est; effun-
dens and efficit; casura; and so la ... colitur.
137 exuuias ueteres populi i.e., armor stripped from enemies in
former battles and hung on the tree by the people as dedica-
tions, a standard practice in antiquity.
138 dona ducum i.e., the dedications made by generals too
nec iam ualidis take together, "not now strong"
139 aera acc. sing. (Greek form), three syllables
140 trunco non frondibus i.e., although the tree has no foliage
(hence nudos . .. ramos, 139) its sheer bulkis enough to create
shade.
141 quamuis governs both subjunctives, nutet and tollant
casura fut. participle, "ab out to fall" or "ready to fall"
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46 A LUCAN READER
142 siluae nom. pI., meaning "trees"; the "trees that raise them-
selves all around with sturdy trunks" are younger competitors
for power who still cannot diminish Pompey's authority.
143 colitur the worship of the oak tree matches the veneration of
Pompey.
143-57 Lucan now describes Caesar.
143-44 non ... tantum ... erat "there was ... not only ... "
144 nomen, fama both nom., with ducis; Caesar's military achieve-
ments, in Asia and Spain and most recently Gaul, were on an
unprecedented scale.
144-45 nescia uirtus I stare loco lit. "excellence that does not know
how to stand in [one] place"
145 solus ... pudor supply est
non uincere bello in apposition to solus ... pudor; this prob-
ably means "to conquer not with war," i.e., without war; Lucan
represents Caesar's delight in waging war.
146 quo spes quoque ira uocasset two parallel phrases introduced
by quo ("to where") after ferre manum; spes and ira are both
subjects of uocasset (for uocauisset).
147 ferre manum the first of four historic infinitives, in place of
pf. indicative; cf. 132-35; "to carry one's hand" is to move into
action.
parcere with numquam, followed by dat. ferro
temerando gerundive, lit. "that had to be defiled," i.e., Caesar
"never flinched from defiling his sword."
148 fauori dat. after insto; Lucan represents Caesar as so confi-
dent in divine favor that he can insist on it.
149 numinis Lucan does not specify the deity but leaves it vague,
"of divinity."
149-50 inpellens ... gaudens the pres. participles convey a sense of
dynamism through their simultaneity with the main verbs:
Caesar is all action.
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COMMENTARY 1.67-157 AND 1.183-227 47
quidquid sibi summa petenti I obstaret translate "all obstacles
to his high ambitions"; quidquid is object of inpellens and sub-
ject of obstaret; sibi is dat. after obsto; petenti is dat. with sibi;
summa is the n. pI. object of petenti, lit. "the highest things."
151-57 an extended simile, comparing Caesar to a thunderbolt which
causes terror and devastation along its irresistible path; cru-
cial is the thunderbolt's energy and movement; the clear im-
plication is that the unstoppable power of the thunderbolt will
shatter and fell the giant oak tree.
151 expressum pf. pass. participle agreeing with fulmen
uentis abI. of cause after expressum
152 This line describes the sounds made by the thunderbolt, soni-
tu and fragore.
inpulsi pf. pass. participle of inpello; technically belongs with
aetheris but perhaps describes mundi too.
ISS in sua templa furit "it rages against its own precincts," the
notion of mad rage yet again; the action of the thunderbolt
symbolizes Caesar's waging war on fellow Romans.
ISS-56 nulla ... exire uetante I materia abI. absolute, exire infinitive
after uetante
156 magnam ... magnam the repetition gives huge emphasis to
the destruction (stragem) caused by the thunderbolt and may
also be a play on Pompey's name Magnus.
cadens, reuertens pres. participles of action simultaneous
with the verb dat, "as it falls" and "as it returns"
~ Caesar at the Rubicon, 1.183-227
After all these preliminaries about the causes of the civil war, Lu-
can finally embarks on his narrative. Caesar advances to the river
Rubicon but is immediately halted on the banks by avision of the
city of Rome, personified, in mourning. In response to her words
Caesar uncharacteristically hesitates, utters a prayer to the gods of
Rome in self-justification, then crosses the river. The narrative of
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48 A LUCAN READER
action is outweighed by a long simile in which Caesar is compared to
an African lion. Lucan then describes the Rubicon and the crossing
of Caesar's troops made easy by his strategie skill. The momentous
significance of his act is marked by another, shorter, speech from
Caesar. The contrast with usual epic narrative technique is strong;
Lucan deploys delay and narrative doubling to avoid broaching the
horrendous topic of the civil war.
183 In a single line Lucan gets Caesar over the Alps, an arduous
journey, especiaHy in winter (hence gelidas); by contrast, Livy
had devoted a substantial part of Book 21 of his his tory of the
Roman Republic to Hannibal's crossing of the Alps. Lucan's
choice ofthe verb supero suggests that Caesar has "defeated"
the Alps as weH as "crossed" them.
184-85 animo ... ceperat "in his mind he had conceived"
185 uentum est impersonal pass., lit. "there was a coming"
Rubiconis a smaH river in north Italy flowing into the Adriatic
Sea not far from Ariminum (mod. Rimini), which formed the
boundary between the province of Gallia Cisalpina and Italy.
186 uisa supply est, pf. pass. with adstare and loqui, "seemed" or
"appeared"
duci dat. after uisa lest], "to the leader," i.e., Caesar
patriae trepidantis imago Lucan deploys visions and dreams
very sparingly in his epic; Caesar's vision ofRome is balanced
by the appearance of the ghost of J ulia to Pompey at the start
ofBook 3; after that, there are no further dreams until Book 7,
where Pompey has a dream before the battle of Pharsalia and
Caesar and his men have nightmares afterwards.
187 clara ... obscuram Lucan juxtaposes the contrasting terms.
uultu after maestissima, "in her face"
188 Another "Golden Line" (see 1.3)
turrigero ... uertice in Roman art cities were often repre-
sented wearing turreted crowns; in the case of Rome, this
may be modeled on the iconography of Cybele, the great
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COMMENTARY 1.183-227 49
mother goddess from Phrygia whose cult was brought to
Rome around 200 BeE.
189 caesarie it is hard to resist seeing a play on Caesar's name here.
190 permixta n. pI. acc., perhaps with ellipse of uerba
191 uiri "men" as in "warriors" or "soldiers"
192 si eiues supply uenitis, i.e., "ifyou come as [Roman] citizens"
huc usque lieet supply uobis uenire; the reason it was illegal
for Caesar to progress further is that as governor of Gallia
Cisalpina he was permitted to deploy his army there, but in
Italy (i.e., once he crossed the Rubicon) he was not.
192-94 Since Lucan's Caesar alm ost never experiences fear or appre-
hension (as the rest of the poem reveals), his being overcome by
"trembling," "weakness" (languor), and hesitation here marks
the moment as profoundly significant; Lucan emphasizes the
effect of Rome's words on Caesar by repeating the idea of his
being halted (gressum ... coercens and tenuit uestigia).
194 in extrema ... ripa "on the edge of the bank"
195 mox indicates that Caesar "so on" recovers self-command.
195-203 In response, Caesar appeals to the gods ofRome to favor him. The
gods he names-Jupiter Capitolinus, the Phrygian house-gods,
Quirinus, Jupiter ofLatium, Vesta, and Rome herself-combine
the highest god, Jupiter, with evocations of Rome's foundation
myths, including the myth of Julius Caesar's own ancestor Ae-
neas. The effect is to emphasize Caesar's Romanness.
195-96 The word order is rather contorted; understand as 0 [Iuppiter]
Tonans, [tu] qui de rupe Tarpeia moenia urbis magnae prospicis.
Tarpeia de rupe a precipice on the Capitoline Hill in Rome,
which was where the temple ofJupiter Capitolinus was located.
Tonans the cult title ofJupiter Capitolinus, as at 1.35
196-97 Phrygii ... penates I gentis Iuleae the household gods (pena-
tes) brought from Troy (in Phrygia) to Italy by Aeneas, who was
the father of Iulus (also called Ascanius) who was claimed as
ancestor of the J ulian clan and hence of J ulius Caesar himself.
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50 A LUCAN READER
197 rapti secreta Quirini the cult of Quirinus, a god worshipped
on the Quirinal Hill at Rome and usually identified with Ro-
mulus, the founder ofRome, after he was "carried off" (rapti)
to heaven and deified.
198 Jupiter ofLatium was worshipped in an ancient cult at atempie
on the Alban Mount in Latium; since the settlement of Alba
Longa was said to have been founded by Aeneas' son Iulus and
since Rome was said to have been founded from Alba Longa,
Caesar is again linking himself with the early history of Rome.
199 Vestales ... fod pI. for sing.; the Vestal Virgins tended the
sacred fire supposedly brought from Troy by Aeneas, in the
temple ofVesta in the heart of the Forum at Rome.
summi ... numinis gen. after instar
instar often follows the word(s) that it governs.
200 Roma Caesar makes the goddess the climax of his catalogue
of divine powers, with a compliment to her, and addresses
his prayer to her alone (jaue, sing.). Pompey uses exactly the
same words, Roma, faue coeptis, at 8.322 when out of des-
peration he proposes an alliance with the Parthians, another
act of disloyalty.
coeptis dat. after faue
201 terraque marique the phrase terra marique ("by land and sea")
is standard; here the extra -que elevates the tone, as fits a prayer.
202 liceat modo lit. "let it only be permitted," i.e., "ifI am permit-
ted"; his words echo Rome's words, huc usque licet (192). Cae-
sar is claiming loyalty to Rome and legitimacy for entering
Italy under arms; for the legal situation, see Introduction.
203 ille erit ille the repetition elevates the tone and conveys Cae-
sar's passion.
nocens i.e., "guilty" of causing civil war; cf. 1.126-27 where Lu-
can poses the question "who more justly took up weapons?"
qui me tibi fecerit hostem he implies Pompey, as the leader of
the senatorial cause.
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COMMENTARY 1.183-227 51
fecerit fut. pf.
204 mo ras soluit belli whereas Lucan seems anxious to delay his
account of the civil war, his protagonist Caesar is keen to ini-
tiate the action.
205 signa the standards lead the way; the rest of the army crosses
after Lucan has inserted a simile.
205-12 Another extended simile: Caesar is compared with a lion
goading himself to fight and persisting in his attack even
when he is wounded; Lucan thus implies that Caesar is like-
wise goading himself into arage.
206 Libyes gen. sing. (Greek form); Lucan specifies his lion as
"Libyan" to invite the Roman reader to draw a comparison
between Caesar and Rome's "Libyan" enemy, HannibaI.
uiso ... hoste abI. absolute
208 mox Lucan repeats the sequence of hesitation and quick re-
covery from Caesar's encounter with Rome (192-95, NB mox
195); mox is followed by two sub ordinate clauses introduced
by ubi and si; the main verb is exit (212).
saeuae ... uerbere caudae "with his fiercely lashing tail"
209 murmur cognate acc. after infremuit, unusual diction
210 torta pf. pass. participle of torqueo, with lancea, i.e., "once
hurled"
leuis gen. sing. with Mauri
212 per ferrum ... exit a strange expression, lit. "he goes out
through the weapon," i.e., he runs onto the weapon and drives
it deeper into himself.
tanti ... uulneris gen. after securus
213-19 A description of the river Rubicon, setting the scene for the
crossing by Caesar's troops in J anuary 49 BeE.
214 puniceus a gloss on the "red" element in the name Rubicon
215-16 certus I limes in apposition to Rubicon, "as a fixed boundary"
217 auxerat the subject is Cynthia (218) and also Alpes (219).
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52 A LUCAN READER
218 tertia iam grauido pluuialis Cynthia cornu condensed po-
etic language: i.e., it had already been raining steadily. Cyn-
thia denotes Diana and hence the mo on (counterpart to her
brother Apollo as the sun); tertia Cynthia is the third night
of the new moon and her "laden crescent" is a meteorological
effect associated with rain.
219 madidis Euri resolutae flatibus Alpes more poetic language:
lit. "the Alps unfastened by the wet blasts of the Eurus," i.e.,
the Alpine snows melted bya moist wind from the east.
220 primus technically an adjective but adverbial in sense, espe-
cially in the nom. case.
sonipes a poetic word for a horse; collective sing., i.e., the
cavalry.
in obliquum ... amnem lit. "facing the slanting river," but it
is the cavalry and not the river that is "aslant"; Caesar's strate-
gy is to have the cavalry break the force of the water so that the
rest of his army can cross safely, as Lucan explains (221-22).
221 excepturus aquas the fut. participle here denotes purpose.
221-22 molli ... uado abI. of manner, "with an easy crossing"
222 iam with fracti
223 superato gurgite abI. absolute
224 Hesperiae i.e., Italy
et postponed from the start of its clause; connects constitit
with attigit.
225 temerata ... iura Caesar's perspective was that his opponents
had acted illegally against him by expelling the tribunes, who
had fled to him for protection.
226 te, Fortuna, sequor emphatically "it is you, Fortune, that I
follow"; Lucan has Caesar claim a special relationship with
the goddess Fortuna.
foedera presumably deals such as the "first triumvirate"
sunto 3rd person pI. pres. imperative of sum
227 his i.e.,foedera; this is the emendation printed by Housman
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COMMENTARY 1.183-227 AND 1.486-504 53
utendum est supply mihi; the gerund conveys necessity: "I
must use."
iudice bello abI. after utor; iudice is in apposition to bello: "war
as my referee"; this is Lucan's version of the famous statement
attributed to Caesar, alea iacta est ("the die is cast"), meaning
that he has made his decision and the outcome is out of his
hands.
~ Rome is abandoned, 1.486-504
At the word of Caesar's relentless advance through Italy, the people
and the Senate abandon Rome as if it were on fire, imagining that
northern invaders are right behind him, ready to sack Rome. The
scene at Rome resembles a sacked city (a literary set-piece, or topos)
and Lucan adds an extended simile of a shipwreck.
486-89 nec solum uulgus ... sed curia et ipse ... patres Lucan be-
trays his assumption that while the people might be prey to
terror, the Roman senatorial elite should be expected to show
intelligence and self-control; the defeat of this expectation
shows how menacing Caesar seems to everyone.
486 uulgus often a dismissive or contemptuous word
inani because the reports of northern invaders are without
foundation
487 curia the senate-house, hence by metonymy the Senate itself
488 patres the senators, whose title was in full patres conscripti,
"conscript fathers"
488-89 inuisa ... belli ... decreta "the dreaded declaration of war"
(decreta is pI. for sing.) is Lucan's way of referring to the sena-
tus consultum ultimum, which was the senate's declaration of
astate of emergency and the award of emergency powers to
the consuls and other magistrates against a public enemy; for
Caesar's account see Civil War 1.5.
489 fugiens this pres. participle vividly depicts the senate voting on
the emergencywhile actuallyrunning out ofthe senate-house.
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54 A LUCAN READER
490 quae tuta petant et quae metuenda relinquant indirect ques-
tions after incerti, agreeing with patres (the senators); tuta and
metuenda are both n. pI. acc. objects oftheir respective verbs,
lit. "what safe things they might seek and what fearful things
they might abandon."
491 quo quemque fugae tulit impetus reI. clause; understand as
quo [to where] impetus fugae quemque tulit; Lucan's wording
makes the fleeing senators the passive prey of their emotions:
they are running away without any forethought or plan.
491-92 urguent I praecipitem populum again, it is no surprise that
the populus is fleeing "headlong" but for the senators to "press
on their heels" is undignified.
492-93 The senators actually break through the long lines of ordinary
people.
493-504 Lucan here adapts the standard description of the captured
and sacked city, a topos in Greco-Roman works of history and
epic. He does so to make an ironic, paradoxical point: that
Rome has not been sacked.
493 credas the 2nd person verb draws the reader in with an invi-
tation to envisage the scene; credas is followed by two acc. +
infinitive phrases.
494 iam quatiente ruina "with collapse now shaking (them)"; as
often, Lucan heaps up the central idea, here that of instability
(quatiente, ruina, nutantes, and pendere)
495 turba its verb is ruit (498)
496-97 rebus ... adflictis probably dat. with spes unica, "the sole sal-
vation for their battered fortunes"; res (pI.) often = "situation."
497 foret equivalent of esset; the subjunctive indicates that this is
what they are thinking.
patrios ... muros Lucan's word-play, making the patres
conscripti leave their patrios ... muros ("ancestral walls"), is
meant to be shocking.
498 inconsulta agrees with turba
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COMMENTARY 1.486-504 AND 3.8-35 55
498-503 Lucan develops a lengthy simile of a shipwreck to depict the
flight from Rome, playing on the ancient metaphor of the
"ship of state."
499 Syrtibus dangerous shallows and sandbanks off the coast of
Africa between Cyrene and Carthage; Lucan envisages the
South Wind driving back the water from the sandbanks and
thus making the shallows even shallower and more dangerous.
500 Another "Golden Line" (see 1.3); lit. "the broken weight (pI. for
sing.) of the sail-bearing mast resounded," i.e., as it crashed
down.
501 desilit pres. for pf., for vividness
deserta puppe abI. absolute; best treated as aseparate clause:
"abandons ship and"
502 nauita second subject of desilit; collective sing., "the sailors"
i.e., "the crew"
nondum sparsa conpage carinae another abI. absolute; "with
the structure of the boat not yet broken up"
503 naufragium sibi quisque fadt i.e., everyone anticipates the
disaster.
Vrbe relicta another abI. absolute, again best treated as a sep-
arate clause, "they abandon Rome"
504 in bellum fugitur impersonal pass., lit. "there is a fleeing";
this is possibly Lucan's most brilliant paradox: the citizens of
Rome think they are running away from Caesar but in fact
they are "fleeing towards war."
~ Pompey is visited by the ghost 0/ Julia, 3.8-35
As Pompey sails away from Italy for the last time, his dead wife Ju-
lia appears to him in a dream in the shape of a Fury and vows to
hound him forever (12-34). Pompey married Julia, who was Caesar's
daughter, in 59 BCE to seal their political alliance, but she died in
childbirth in 54 BCE. This brief episode provides an equivalent to
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56 A LUCAN READER
Caesar's vision of Roma as he is about to cross the Rubicon (1.185-
94). Lucan makes sparing use of dreams and visions; the only others
in the poem as it survives are in Book 7.
8 cesserunt + dat., somno, "yield to"
9 ducis "the leader," often used to refer to one of the protago-
nists, here Pompey.
10 uisa for uisa est, "seemed"
Iulia either take Iulia as the subject and imago in apposition,
or the other way around.
11 furialis "like a fury"; the Furies were ancient powers who
avenged wrongs done to family members.
12 sedihus Elysiis campoque ... piorum the parts of the Under-
world inhabited by the good
expulsa pf. participle pass., ofJulia
14 post hellum ciuile i.e., since the civil war began
14-15 Understand as uidi ipsa Eumenidas tenentes lampadas quas
quaterent armis uestris. The subjunctive quaterent expresses
purpose: "to brandish at your weapons." In Greek the Furies
were the Eumenides, whose name by irony means "Kindly
Ones." Firebrands were among their usual apparatus.
16-17 Acherontis adusti I portitor The "ferryman of scorched
Acheron" is Charon, who ferried the souls of the dead across
the rivers of the Underworld. The river Acheron is here caHed
"scorched" by association with another river, Phlegethon, lit.
"Fiery."
17 Tartara here n. pI. subject.; Tartarus was the part of the Un-
derworld where the wicked were punished, hence in ... po-
enas = "for punishments."
18-19 The "sisters" are the three Fates (Parcae), Clotho, Lachesis,
and Atropos; cf. 1.113-14. Clotho's task was to spin the thread
oflife, Lachesis' to measure it, and Atropos' to cut it. But here
Lucan has aH three "breaking" the threads fuH-time, to indi-
cate the massive scale of slaughter.
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COMMENTARY 3.8-35 57
operi ... sufficiunt "are equal to the work"
20 coniuge me abI. absolute in the present tense, i.e., simultane-
ous with the main verb: "while I was your wife."
triumphos on the Roman triumph, see 1.12, 121; on Pompey's
three triumphs, see 1.121-23.
21 toris "marriage-bed" stands for "marriage" or "wife"
21-23 Julia extrapolates from the fate of Cornelia's first husband,
Crassus, who died at the battle of Carrhae fighting the Par-
thians in 53 BeE, to assert that Cornelia is bad luck for all her
husbands.
semper probably with detrahere in cladem; possibly with fato
damnata.
potentes with maritos
innupsit tepido ... busto "married into a warm tomb," refer-
ring to the ashes from the cremation. Julia's claim is unfair:
the usual ten-month period of mourning had been observed
and Pompey married Cornelia two years after Julia's death.
paelex Cornelia The name is postponed to create a shock-
ing oxymoron: Julia calls Cornelia, whose family was among
the most eminent and who was Pompey's legal spouse, a "par-
amour" or "mistress."
25 dum "provided that," followed by three subjunctive verbs,
liceat, sit, and teneat
non belongs not with the verb but with the adjective securos,
i.e., "disturbed"
26 uestro ... amori i.e., the love between Pompey and Cornelia
27 Julia plans to haunt Pompey's nights just as her father Caesar
occupies Pompey's days.
28 coniunx By calling Pompey "husband" she indicates that she
regards the marriage as continuing beyond her death.
obliuia n. pI. subject; translate as singular.
Lethaeae ripae Lethe was the river of forgetfulness in the
Underworld.
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58 A LUCAN READER
29 tui gen. sing. of the pronoun tu, after inmemorem
30 sequi as often in Latin, sequor means "follow with a purpose,"
e.g., "chase" as here.
te bella gerente abI. absolute, pres. tense, denoting simultane-
ous action: "while you are waging wars"
31-32 numquam tibi ... genero non esse licebit lit. "it will never be
permitted to you to not be a son-in-Iaw," with genero match-
ing the dat. case of tibi.
33 tua pignora the "pledges" made when he married Julia
33-34 bellum I te fadet duile meum "civil war will make you
. "
mme
35 dilapsa as often, the past participle of a deponent verb has a
vague temporal reference.
~ Caesar fells the sacred grove, 3.399-445
As Caesar races from Rome towards Spain, crossing the Alps again
(cf. 1.183), the only resistance he meets is from the city of Massilia.
Caesar besieges the city, felling the forests round about to make his
blockade. This passage pauses the action while Lucan describes the
sacred grove that Caesar cuts down. First, he describes the grove in
awe-inspiring terms (399-425), then he narrates how Caesar takes
the initiative in felling the grove when his troops hesitate out of fear
(426-45). Although it is clear that Caesar's troops needed wood, we
can be confident that this episode is invented by Lucan to enhance
his characterization of Caesar as a megalomaniac who has no fear
of the gods or of committing sacrilege. His destruction of the grove
enacts the implication of the pair of similes in Book 1, where Lu-
can suggests that the aged and venerated oak tree (Pompey) will be
toppled by the powerfullightning-bolt (Caesar).
399-425 Descriptive passages such as this are standard in ancient
epic poetry, providing an atmospheric setting for the follow-
ing narration of the events that take place there; cf. Lucan's
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COMMENTARY 3.8-35 AND 3.399-445 59
description of the setting of the witch Erichtho's necroman-
tic rites starting at 6.642. Here Lucan marks offthis section
by starting and ending it with the word lueus.
A lueus was a sacred grove; this one is numinous in a sin-
ister and terrifying way: it is a place of barbarous rites and
primitive images; it belongs to no familiar deity but to an un-
named "master of the grove" (425). Lucan creates a paradox
in the tension between the etymology of the word, connected
with lux ("light") and lueere ("to shine"), and the darkness
that characterizes this particular grove, to which he draws at-
tention in the word that begins line 400, obseurum.
This sinister grove seems designed to contrast with an
idealized landscape that recurs in classical poetry, the loeus
amoenus (lit. "pleasant place") so typical of pastoral poetry in
particular. The characteristics of the loeus amoenus include
pleasant, cooling shade provided by spreading trees, moving
water (a stream or spring), lush and fertile vegetation, sooth-
ing sounds (turtle-doves or bees), and potential for benign
epiphany; the loeus amoenus is often the setting for beautiful
song. In contrast, Lucan has here created a loeus horridus by
reversing many standard features of the loeus amoenus.
399 lucus erat "there was a grove," a classic opening to an atmo-
spheric description of a location in Latin epic poetry, e.g.,
lueus in urbe fuit media Virg. Aen. 1.441.
ab in effect, "since"
400 aera Greek acc.
401 gelidas ... umbras like obseurum ... aera, acc. after eingens
alte summotis solibus abI. absolute, "the sunlight banished
far above"
402 hunc i.e., lueus
ruricolae noun used adjectivally
Panes pI. of Pan, a rustic god; the pI. suggests a group of
deities.
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60 A LUCAN READER
nemorum ... potentes lit. "powerful over the forests" hence
"lords of the forests"
403 Siluani pI. of Siluanus, i.e., gods associated with the forest
barbara ritu take the words closely together: "barbarous in
ritual"
404 sacra deum subject of tenent; deum = gen. pI. short form, for
deo rum
structae supply sunt
405 humanis ... cruoribus the pI. implies many victims in the
rituals of human sacrifice that Lucan locates in this grove;
since human sacrifice was obsolete in Rome, this is a mark of
brutality and barbarousness here.
lustrata supply est; this carefully crafted line is nearly a
"Golden Line"; see 1.3.
406 "if antiquity at all deserves credence for its awe of the gods";
i.e., if we can believe the reports about ancient superstition.
superos mirata mirata agrees with uetustas.
407 illis ... ramis emphatic: "upon those branches"
et either = "even" or looks ahead to the second et, "both ...
and"
408 Supply illis with lustris too.
409 incubuit gnomic perf.; sing. because of uentus, but fulgura is
also the subject.
excussa ... nubibus atris "shot from black clouds"; cf. 1.151
expressum uentis per nubila fulmen, there of Caesar as a force
of nature; here Caesar will descend upon the grove like a force
ofnature.
410-11 Understand as suus horror inest arboribus [abI. after ins um]
praebentibusfrondem [ace.] non ulli aurae [dat.]; there are two
contrasting ideas here: although the trees expose their foliage
to no breeze, the leaves tremble nevertheless.
non ulli = nulli, dat. sing. with aurae
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COMMENTARY 3.399-445 61
suus horror the grove's "shivering" or "trembling" is sinister.
tum not temporal, but marking the "next" element in Lucan's
description.
plurima with sing. noun, as often
411-12 nigris I fontibus abI. of place whence, i.e., "from"
413 arte abI. after carent
informia nom. n. pI. agreeing with simulacra
caesis extant ... truncis probably "stand out from the cut-
down trunks"; i.e., the images are carved into felled tree
trunks.
414 putri ... iam robore "the timber now rotting"
414-15 facit ... attonitos with the acc. pI. Lucan reintroduces people
who hold the grove in such awe, continuing with metuunt and
timeant.
415 non with metuunt
uulgatis sacrata figuris "consecrated with ordinary forms"
416 tantum "so much"
addit the subject is non nosse, "ignorance of."
417 Understand as non nosse [eos] deos quos timeant; nosse = nouisse
iam fama ferebat "now it was rumored" + acc. + infin.; Lucan
attributes the sinister events in the grove to vague "rumor."
418 motu terrae i.e., earthquake
419 procumbentes ... consurgere as the trees start to fall, they
mysteriously rise again.
taxos the yew tree, associated with death, was sinister for the
Romans; cf. 6.645.
420 Lit. "the fires of a wood that was not burning shone."
421 robora object of amplexos
circum adv., with fluxisse
fluxisse an unusual use of the term, more often applied to
liquids
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62 A LUCAN READER
422 illum i.e., lucum; emphatic by position
cultu ... propiore "with worship nearer at hand"
populi the Gallic tribes around Massilia
423 cessere for cesserunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act., indicative
deis dat. after cessere
medio cum Phoebus in axe est "when Phoebus is in mid-sky";
i.e., even at noon, the priest fears to enter the grove.
424 sacerdos a Druid priest
425 accessus acc. pI. after pauet, in effect, "fears to approach"
dominum ... lud by not specifying the identity of "the mas-
ter of the grove," Lucan makes his description even more sin-
ister: perhaps no one knows who the terrifying power is; by
careful ring-composition Lucan closes this section with the
word it began with, lucus.
426-45 Caesar's audacity is partly modeled on Ovid's Erisychthon,
the god-hating man who in Metamorphoses 8 violates the
grove of Ceres by felling with his axe an ancient oak (Met.
8.738-884). Unlike Erisychthon, Caesar is not punished for
his sacrilege. This passage ends with a description of the fell-
ing of the grove in which Lucan mentions five kinds of tree:
ash, holm-oak, oak, alder, and cypress (440-42). This is Lu-
can's version of an epic topos or set-piece. Usually the trees are
felled for the funeral pyre of a hero: so Homer, Iliad 23.114-
26; Ennius, Annales 175-79 Skutsch; Virgil, Aeneid 6.179-82
and 11.133-38. The Flavian epic poet Silius later reiterates the
motif (Punica 10.524-39), but Ovid and Lucan both bring
new twists to the topos. Ovid substitutes the creation for the
destruction of a grove at Metamorphoses 10.90-105, while Lu-
can here makes the destruction part of Caesar's personality
rather than part of a heroic narrative. In all the Latin texts,
many of the same trees are named, demonstrating the poets'
awareness of their predecessors.
426 iubet i.e., Caesar
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COMMENTARY 3.399-445 63
inmisso ... ferro rather than an abI. absolute ("after sending
in the steel"), abI. of me ans, "by sending in the steel";ferrum
here must stand for iron axes.
427-28 uicina, intacta, stabat, and densissima all with silua extrap-
olated from 426; Luean suggests that Caesar's assault on the
saered grove is driven by vindietiveness.
uicina operi i.e., elose to Caesar's siege-works
bello ... intacta priore perhaps a specifie earlier war in the
area; for intacta, cf. 399 numquam uiolatus; even when there
had been need of the timber, soldiers had refrained out of re-
ligious seruples.
nudatos . . . densissima a powerful eontrast; on praetieal
grounds, this "very thiek" grove will provide mueh timber.
429 fortes . .. manus i.e., Caesar's soldiers' hands
tremuere for tremuerunt, 3rd person pI. pf. aet. indieative
moti "affeeted"; the foeus shifts from the soldiers' hands to
their emotions.
uerenda gerundive agreeing with maiestate, lit. "whieh ought
to be feared," i.e., "awe-inspiring"
430 si robora sacra ferirent the eonditional elause belongs within
the credebant elause.
431 redituras supply esse, making the future infinitive after cre-
debant.
432-37 Understand as ut Caesar uidit, primus ausus [pf. participle], ef-
fatur ....
432 inplicitas the physieality of the word makes the soldiers' fear
graphie.
torpore the eause of their "paralysis" is fear.
433 primus position emphasizes meaning
raptam ... bipennem as often with a pf. pass. participle, it
works best to make it a finite verb: "he grabbed an axe and
balaneed it."
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64 A LUCAN READER
librare suggests Caesar's physical control
434 ausus Lucan characterizes Caesar as bold.
aeriam scans as four syllables
quercum oak trees in epic poetry are often venerable; here
Lucan invites us to remember the simile in Book 1 comparing
Pompeywith an aged oak tree (quercus, 1.136): the symbolism
is dear.
435 merso ... telo abI. absolute: "after sinking the weapon ... "
uiolata in robora here the pf. pass. participle is simultaneous
with the action of merso ... ferro; robora is pI. for sing.
436 nequis intro duces a [negative] purpose dause
uestrum gen. pI. of uos, partitive gen.
437 nefas Lucan saves the strongest word for the end of Caesar's
brief speech; on the flavor of nefas, see 1.6.
omnis separated from its noun, turba (439)
438 imperiis dat. after pareo
non goes with secura
sublato ... pauore abI. absolute, "with dread removed"
439 turba Lucan's shift from the plural cohortes (432) to the singu-
lar turba indicates that Caesar's troops act as one in response
to his orders, an idea underlined by the unanimity of omnis.
expensa superorum et Caesaris ira another abI. absolute, "af-
ter weighing the wrath of the gods and the wrath of Caesar"
440 The asyndeton here imitates earlier epic treatments of the
tree-felling topos (see note on 426-45).
441 silua ... Dodones i.e., oak, referring to the oaks in the orade
of J upiter at Dodona; Dodones is Greek gen. sing.
fluctibus aptior aInus alder was excellent for making boats;
what comparison is implied by aptior + dat.? Either more
fit for boat-building than other timber or more fit for boat-
building than for other purposes, e.g., making weapons.
442 "cypress, witness to no plebeian grief"; i.e., cypress was an ex-
pensive wood often used in Roman aristocratic funerals.
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COMMENTARY 3.399-445 AND 6.624-53 65
ludus acc. pI. for sing.
443 tum primum areminder that the grove is numquam uiolatus
(399).
posuere for posuerunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act. indicative; plural
because all the trees named are the subjects.
posuere comas "shed their tresses"; comas personifies the
trees, intensifying the outrage of the violation.
fronde abI. after carentes
444 admisere for admiserunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act. indicative
444-45 propulsa ... cadens pf. pass. participle agrees with silua; the
pres. participle cadens as usual in Latin denotes action simul-
taneous with the main verb. The paradox of the felled forest
being unable to fall is typical of Lucan; he repeats the idea
with corps es unable to fall down because of the crush in battle
at 4.787.
robore denso cf. densissima 428; either abI. of means with
sustinuit se, "supported itself with its thick timber" or abI. of
location with propulsa, "pushed over onto its thick timber."
~ The witch Erichtho prepares to perform a
necromancy, 6.624-53
In the middle of the night before the battle of Pharsalia, Pompey's
son Sextus consults the Thessalian witch Erichtho about the out-
come of the war. In this passage she has just agreed to reveal the
future to him through necromancy, that is, prophecy given by a res-
urrected corpse. Here Lucan describes her selection of a corpse on
which to perform the rites of necromancy and the sinister setting
for the ritual.
Thessaly was supposed to be home to the most powerful witches.
Lucan takes advantage of the location of Pharsalia in Thessaly to
include this exciting episode, which is designed to complement and
contrast with Aeneas' consultation of the Sibyl in Book 6 of Virgil's
Aeneid. Where in the Aeneid Aeneas goes down to the Underworld,
in Lucan's poem the Underworld comes to the upper world.
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66 A LUCAN READER
624 dixerat the subject is Erichtho, the witch.
geminatis arte "doubled by her craft"
625 tecta caput f. sing. nom. pf. pass. participle (from tego) + acc.
ofrespect
626 corpora caesorum acc. after pererrat; the caesorum are "the
slain," from the pf. pass. participle of caedo. Lucan refers to
corpses he re and at 619, although no fighting has yet taken
place in Thessaly. This may be a sign that the poem is un-
finished.
tumulis proiecta negatis Unburied bodies are a repeated mo-
tif in Lucan, one shared with earlier epic poems, e.g., Hector's
corpse in Homer's Iliad and the bodies ofPriam, Misenus, and
Palinurus in Virgil's Aeneid. Here the desecration is increased
by scavenging wolves and carrion birds (627-28), areprise of
Achilles' threats to Hector at Iliad 22.345-54.
627 fuge re for fugerunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act. indicative; repeated,
in initial position, for emphasis
627-28 reuolsis I unguibus "after tearing out their talons"
628 dum + indicative = "while"
Thessala adjective used as noun
uatem her "prophet," the mouthpiece for prophecy
629 gelidas leto "chill with death"
medullas lit. "marrows," for "innards" generally
630 "a stiff lung's lobes, entire, without a wound"; stantes (agree-
ing with fibras) indicates that the lung is still intact.1t must be
undamaged so that the corpse can speak.
632 peremptorum pf. pass. participle of perimo
multa belongs with uirorum, i.e., "the fates of many dead war-
. "
flors
pendent i.e., hang in the balance
633 quem ... uelit indirect question
superis reuocasse = reuocauisse, "to summon back to life
above"; superi usually denotes "the gods."
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COMMENTARY 6.624-53 67
633-36 A statement of her power: had she wished, she could have
raised "entire armies" and the "multitude" inhabiting the Un-
derworld to fight.
634 temptasset for temptauisset
campis abI. of place where, "on the fields"
acies acc. pI., here in effect "armies"
bello dat. after reddere
635 leges Erebi Erebus = the Underworld; the "laws of Erebus"
prevent the dead from returning to life.
monstro ... potenti dat. of agent after the pf. pass. participle
extractus
636 extractus Stygio ... Auerno "drawn from Stygian Avernus."
The Styx was one of the rivers in the Underworld hence "Sty-
gian" = "hellish"; Lake Avernus, ne ar Naples, was the entrance
to the Underworld used by Aeneas in Aeneid 6.
pugnasset for pugnauisset
637 traiecto pectore Erichtho has thrown a rope around the
corpse's chest to drag it along (639).
638 inserto laqueis feralibus unco"a hooksunkin the dead man's
rope"
640 uicturum fut. participle from uiuere, denoting purpose, "to
live [again]"
montis ... caui gen. dependent on rupe 641
641 damnarat = damnauerat
sacris probably dat., "to her rites," rather than abI., "by her
rites"
642 caecis here "hidden"; more often "blind"
depressa describes humus, governs the whole line, "sinking
alm ost to the caves of Dis."
643 in praeceps "headlong"; praeceps is here a noun, more often
an adjective.
quam reI. pronoun expanding on humus
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68 A LUCAN READER
643-44 pronis ... comis as often in post-Augustan Latin, an abI.
phrase is dependent upon an adjective (here, pallida).
644-45 nullo uertice caelum I suspiciens lit. "looking up at the sky
with no top," referring to the yew (taxus), which is so dense
that it seems to look inward not upward.
645 Phoebo non peruia "impenetrable to Phoebus," i.e., to the
sun
taxus like most tree names, this noun is fem.; yew trees were
(and still are) associated with death.
647 longa nocte explains pallens
nisi carmine factum "unless created by aspeIl"; carmen has
a wide range of meanings, ranging from chant or incantation
through orade to song and poem.
648 habet has two subjects, tenebrae and situs, but is attracted into
the singular by the second.
Taenariis ... faucibus probably abI. of place where: "at the
jaws of Taenarus"; Taenarus was a cave in the Peloponnese in
Greece which emitted noxious vapors; it was thought to be a
gateway to the Underworld.
649 confine noun; the entrance to Taenarus constitutes "the
boundary" or "limit" between the Underworld and the upper
world.
mundi ... latentis lit. "the concealed world," "the unseen
world," i.e., the Underworld
650 nostri supply mundi again
manes acc., object of admittere
651 Tartarei reges "the kings of Tartarus" are the rulers of the
Underworld; Tartarus was the part of the Underworld where
punishments were exacted.
Thessala adjective, with uates; contrast 6.628.
652 uim facit fatis lit. "applies force to the fates"; on fate in Lucan
see 1.33.
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COMMENTARY 6.624-53 AND 7.617-37 69
652-53 dubium est ... shorthand for dubium est utrum aspiciat um-
bras quod traxerit ... an quod descenderit. Erichtho is the
subject of aspiciat; quod means "because." The necromancy
effaces the sacred boundary between the upper world and
the Underworld.
~ The end 0/ the battle 0/ Pharsalia, 7.617-37
This is one ofLucan's characteristic interventions into his narrative:
he is in effect a character in his own poem. Here he laments the scale
of the catastrophe, declining to name the individuals who died be-
cause the significance of the battle is on a wholly larger scale: it is the
death of Rome.
617-30 An enormous sentence, matching the enormity of the catas-
trophe. Essentially it is aseries of indirect questions from 619
onwards, marked by cuius, quis (4 times), qui, quos, quis (three
more tim es). This is achallenge for the translator, as modern
English does not use indirect questions like this; one solu-
tion is to render them as direct questions. Lucan evokes the
range of deaths that battle can bring, reprising his brilliant
treatment of this topic in the sea-battle at Massilia in Book 3
(509-762), culminating here in the particular horrors of civil
war, the slaughter ofbrother and father.
617 inpendisse pf. infinitive
pudet governs inpendisse and quaerere, supply me; his "shame"
is Lucan's way of apologizing for devoting twenty lines to the
death of a single individual, Domitius, ancestor of the emperor
Nero, in the preceding lines (not included in this volume).
in funere mundi virtually a temporal clause: "when the world
is dying"
618 mortibus innumeris dat. after inpendisse
singula fata sequentem agrees with unexpressed me, lit. "as I
follow individual destinies"
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70 A LUCAN READER
619 per cuius uiscera the first of the indirect questions: "through
whose guts"
620 fusa solo lit. "poured on the ground," agrees with uitalia, n.
pI. adjective used as a noun here
621 ore ... aduerso "facing the enemy"
621-22 Understand as moriens las he died, in the moment of death]
expulerit anim [drove out with his "breath" or perhaps "life"]
ensem demissum faucibus [the sword that had been thrust into
his throat].
623 dum takes pres. indicative when it me ans "while"
624 transmittant Lucan attributes agency to the people suffering
the wound: lit. "who send the weapons through their chests";
pectore is sing. for pI.
625 quis dat. pI., lit. "for which people"
perruperit aera Lucan evokes the violence of battle with the
blood that "splits the air" after the "veins are drained"; aera is
three syllabies.
626 sui with hostis
pectora pI. for sing.
627 notum ... cadauer "the familiar corpse."
628 abscisum ... mittat best translated as two verbs: "cuts off and
throws away"
629 nimia ... ira "by his excessive wrath"
spectantibus "to those watching"
630 quem iugulat i.e., the victim
non esse patrem acc. + infinitive after probet
630-31 querella ... sua i.e., its own personalized lament
631 nullos ... hominum i.e., "no individuals"
uacamus the poetic plural, as at 1.2 canimus
632-33 Lucan initiates a contrast between the battle of Pharsalia and
other battles (lit. "disasters"). Pharsalia, singular subject, gov-
erns habuit; the verb governed by aliae clades (habuerunt) is
left unexpressed.
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COMMENTARY 7.617-37 AND 7.647-82 71
633-35 The contrast is made by illie (in other disasters) and hie (at
Pharsalia). First Lucan contrasts per fata uirorum and per
populos: "through the destinies/deaths of [individual] war-
riors" and "through [entire] peoples." Then, making the same
point but in the singular, he contrasts [mors] militis with mors
... gentis.
635 ibi He expands on what happened at other battles.
636 cunctos ... cruores Lucan adds to the types of blood just
named that of all nations.
636-37 haerere, consistere governed by uetat. Lucan's rhetorical
point is extreme: the volume of Roman blood prevents all the
blood of the other nations "sticking and congealing" on the
battlefield.
637 Romanus ... torrens supply eruoris: "a torrent of Roman
gore"
~ Pompey concedes defeat and leaves the
battlefield, 7.647-82
Pompey finds avantage-point so that he can survey the disas-
ter unfolding on the battlefield (647-53). He addresses the gods,
conceding defeat (654-66), then he departs from the battlefield
in a dignified manner (666-82). After this passage, he proceeds
to Larisa, a town in Thessaly, where he gets a warm reception.
Lucan's account closely follows that of Valerius Maximus (4.55),
while Caesar's own account has him hurrying directly to the sea
without stopping at Larisa (Civil War 3.96).
647 deos Romanaque fata subject of transisse
648 uix take with eoactus, "reluctantly compelled"
649 Pompey's "fortune" is, like Caesar's "fortune" (1.124), his
personal experience of success; as Caesar's fortune rises so
Pompey's falls.
650-51 omnes ... clades "all the destruction"
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72 A LUCAN READER
651 quae ... latebant of the destruction, which was "hidden from
view" until he surveyed it from avantage-point
652 sua fata peti acc. + infinitive after uidit: "his own death was
the target"
fusa pf. pass. participle from fundo, "laid low"
653 se ... pereuntem the pres. participle denotes process.
654 miseris dat. after mos est
trahere supply eum, acc. + infinitive after iuuat
655 mersa agrees with omnia, lit. "everything that had been
plunged into ruin"
656 ut ... turbae the ut clause contains the substance of Pompey's
prayers, uotis (657).
657 sustinuit ... credere "he persisted in believing," followed by
acc. (caelicolas) + infinitive (esse, not expressed).
658 fouit "he cherished," my emendation of the manuscripts'
uouit ("prayed," the idea already expressed in uotis, 657) or
uoluit ("chose" or "desired" from uelle or "turned over [in his
mind]" from uoluere).
sui solacia casus Lucan emphasizes Pompey's magnanimity
and sense of responsibility in defeat, in not wishing to destroy
"Latium's multitude" by letting them continue to fight for his
cause.
659 parcite + infinitive, "refrain from"
660 stante ... mundo Romaque superstite two abI. absolutes:
"while ... "
661 miser i.e., defeated
si plura iuuant mea uulnera lit. "if more of my wounds please
you [gods]," i.e., "ifyou choose to wound me further"
662 pignora here "hostages": it is as ifPompey's wife and sons are
the stakes he has placed in his gamble with fate.
663-64 Lit. "is it too little for civil war, ifit [civil war] crushes both me
and mine?" Pompey suggests that the destruction of himself
and his family should satisfy the gods.
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COMMENTARY 7.647-82 73
664 exiguae clades sumus Pompey repeats the idea: "are we [i.e.,
his family] a trivial dis aster?"; the question expects a negative
answer.
orbe remoto abI. absolute, lit. "with the world removed," i.e.,
without the inclusion of the world as weH
665 The shift to 2nd person sing. becomes clear in the next line,
with the vocative Fortuna.
666 Latin texts are transmitted to us without any punctuation
marks; aH the punctuation in modern editions is inserted by
editors. This line offers a good example ofhow choice of punc-
tuation can make a difference to meaning and tone. Punctu-
ated as a question ("is nothing now mine?"), Pompey is claim-
ing his life and that of his wife and sons as the only things left
to him and offering them to Fortune, in a reproachful tone.
Punctuated as a statement ("now nothing is mine"), Pompey
is telling Fortune that he has nothing left for her to take from
him in a resigned tone of voice.
668 ruentes acc. pI.: he "caHs back" his troops as they are "rush-
ing" towards their deaths.
669 se ... negat tanti "he says he is not worth so much"; tanti is
gen. of worth.
669-70 Lucan asserts that Pompey's motive was not cowardice. Lit.
"Strength was not lacking to the leader to go towards swords
and to suff er death in throat or chest."
671-72 Lucan elaborates his earlier point (654-66), thatPompeywished
to avoid the destruction ofhis troops and of"the world."
strato ... corpore Magni abI. absolute: "once/ifMagnus' body
lay prostrate"
673 Lucan adds another possible motive for Pompey's withdrawal:
to avoid dying in Caesar's sight.
674 nequiquam, infelix Lucan again enters his poem, here address-
ing one ofhis characters directly. The adjective infelix is repeat-
ed from 648. Later (9.208) Pompey will be described as felix.
socero ... uolenti dat., after praestandum est; supply tuo.
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74 A LUCAN READER
675 ubicumque stands for a clause, "wherever it may be"
tu quoque, coniunx Lucan shifts to address Cornelia directly.
675-77 Lucan lists three items that are "the reason for his flight": Cor-
nelia, Cornelia's face, and "the fates' refusal that he should die
with part of himself missing." fatis negatum is lit. "it having
been denied by the fates," followed by unexpressed accusative
(eum) + infinitive (mori);parte absente is another abI. absolute.
678 sonipes an elevated word, designed to glorify Pompey's re-
treat; Caesar's own account has him grabbing a horse and rac-
ing away (Civil War 3.96).
pauentem agrees with Magnum
tela the object of pauentem
679 extrema in fata "towards his final destiny"
ferentem agrees with Magnum
680 uerendus supplyest
681 qualem object of praestare, referring to dolor: "the kind of grief"
~ Caesar on the battlefield, 7.728-46
Now that Pompey has withdrawn to the town of Larisa, Caesar de-
eides to halt the fighting. He addresses his troops, encouraging them
to enter and plunder the Pompeians' camp. The soldiers lie down to
sleep but are haunted by terrible dreams. Caesar experiences more
nightmares than everyone else. Lucan has devised this episode to
balance the dream of Pompey with which he started Book 7. His
use of dreams and visions is very sparing; as the poem survives, the
only other cases are Caesar's vision of Rome in Book 1 and Pompey's
dream ofJulia at the start ofBook 3.
The next day, Caesar takes breakfast on the battlefield and to
prolong the sight of his victory he commands that the dead be left
unburied. This is the climax to Lucan's horrific characterization of
Caesar as unhuman. Our passage ends with Lucan remonstrating
with Caesar for his inhumane behavior.
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COMMENTARY 7.647-82 AND 7.728-46 75
728 Hesperio here "western" means "ltalian"
729 parcendum impersonal gerundive, supply esse, after ratus;
the verb regularly takes the dative, hence ferro manibusque;
these are what Caesar has decided to "refrain from using."
730-31 ut uiles animas perituraque frustra I agmina The nouns are
the objects of permisit; ut means "as" and gives Caesar's ra-
tionale: their souls are "worthless" and the columns of troops
would "die to no purpose."
731 agmina permisit uitae acc. and dat. after permitto can be ei-
ther way around: here, give the troops to life.
fugatos i.e., the Pompeians, "who had been routed"
732 ne postponed from the start of the clause
734 Fortuna for Caesar's special relationship with Fortuna, see
1.226.
dum conficit omnia terror "while terror is all-accomplishing";
cf. the simile of Caesar as a thunderbolt at 1.151-57.
735 ne follows non ueritus, "not fearing that ... " or "with no fear
that ... "
fessis dat., "for the weary" (soldiers)
Marte subactis "exhausted by war," from subigo; like other
Latin epic poets, Lucan sometimes uses a god's name meta-
phorically, e.g., Bacchus = wine, Ceres = grain.
736 non magno i.e., moderate, slight
miles sing. for pI.
737 ducendus erat this periphrastic form with the gerundive usu-
ally conveys necessity, but here the sense seems to be "was
ready/waiting to be led."
737-38 uictoria nobis I plena supply est: "we have complete victory,"
"complete victory is ours"
738 uiri requires a strong translation such as "warriors."
superest "there remains," "there is stillieft"
739 quam reI. pronoun, object of monstrare
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76 A LUCAN READER
meum est "it is my task," followed by infinitive (monstrare)
neque enim donare uocabo Caesar explains why he used the
verb monstrare rather than don are, which would be usual for
a general assigning plunder. By doing this, Lucan's Caesar
makes his men share in the guilt for the plunder of the Pom-
peian camp.
740 plena takes the abI.
741 Hesperiis e gentibus here "western" means Iberian: the Ibe-
rian peninsula was a rich source of gold.
742 Eoas ... gazas "treasures from the east" create a polaritywith
the Spanish gold in the previous line; in Roman thought, the
eastern kingdoms (Persia, etc.) were fabulously wealthy.
743 tot regum fortuna simulque Magni Caesar refers (a) to the
wealthy kings who supported Pompey and (b) to Pompey's
personal fortune, which was huge.
co acta from cogo, here "massed"
744 dominos "masters," denoting absolute ownership
744-45 praecedere ... quos sequeris supply eos: "to get there before
the people you are chasing"
745-46 Understand as opes quascumque Pharsalia fecit tuas rapiuntur
a uictis. Lucan has Caesar appeal to his men's greed; the final
position of opes makes it emphatic.
Pharsalia the district in Thessaly where the battle was fought,
here the battle itself; see n. on 1.38
~ Caesar on the battlefield (continued), 7.760-
811
760-76 The troops' nightmares replay the battle in a typical case of
Lucan doubling back his narrative to heighten its horror.
760 inpia a key word in the epic; for Lucan many aspects of civil
war are "wicked."
plebes The idea of "the plebs" sleeping on "patrician turf" is
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COMMENTARY 7.728-46 AND 7.760-811 77
designed to be shocking, an oxymoron, given the long his tory
of conflict between the plebeian and patrician orders in Ro-
man Republican his tory. Caesar's own account of the civil war
mentions the luxurious tents of some of the Pompians, Civil
War 3.96; cf. Plutarch, Pompey 72.
762 regibus dat. after stratum (from sterno), "spread for kings"
miles sing. for pI.
763 nocentes Another key word, here used as a noun. They are
"guilty" for participating in civil war. Lucan's claim that there
were fathers and sons and brothers on opposing sides recalls
the opening claim of the poem, that his song is of "wars worse
than civil wars," which also refers to Caesar and Pompey be-
ing father-in-Iaw and son-in-Iaw.
764 quos refers to nocentes; translate "them" or "these men."
uaesana quies another oxymoron, since "rest" should be the
anti thesis of madness.
765 Thessalicam ... pugnam the battle of Pharsalia, which they
have just experienced.
miseris dat., lit. "for the wretches," but more comfortably
translated as if gen. pI. with in pectore, "in the wretches'
breasts"; pectore is sing. for pI.
766 inuigilat another paradox: though the soldiers are asleep,
their "savage crime is wide awake."
cunctis another dat., like miseris (765)
766-67 tota I mente abI. of place where, "in their whole mind," "in all
their thoughts," with mente sing. for pI.
767 capulo ... absente abI. absolute: "though there is no sword-
hilt there"
manus nom. pI., subject of mouentur
768 putem pres. subjunctive, 1st person sing., with a potential as-
pect: "I could think that ... ," followed by three acc. + infini-
tive phrases. The 1st person verb again indicates Lucan's sense
of involvement with his narrative.
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78 A LUCAN READER
768-69 nocentes ... animas The "guilty spirits" are the same as the
"ghosts" (manibus) in the next line, which haunt and torment
the sleeping soldiers.
769 inspirasse abbreviated form of inspirauisse
infectum supply esse, pf. infinitive after putem
770 superam ... noctem supply infectam esse; the "upper night"
denotes nighttime in the world above the Underworld.
Stygia a reference to the Styx, the major river of the Under-
world; the adjective often refers to the Underworld in general,
as in "hellish."
771 a meritis pf. participle of the deponent verb mereor, lit. "from
people who deserve it"; translate "deservedly"
772 sibila ... et flammas the marks of the Furies, with their snaky
ha ir and blazing firebrands
772-73 perempti I eiuis "of a murdered citizen": Lucan brings home
of horrors of civil war, war against one's fellow-citizens.
773 sua ... imago i.e., his own unique manifestation of mental
torment. Lucan continues with abrief catalogue of examples,
marked by ille, ille, hunc, pectore in hoc, and in Caesare.
774 ille ... ille both go with uidet
775 fraterna cadauera "his brother's corpse," probably pI. for sing.,
unless Lucan imagines that a brother has killed two siblings.
776 omnes in Caesare manes supply sunt; Lucan means that all
the ghosts (manes) that haunt the soldiers individually haunt
Caesar collectively.
777-80 Lucan offers comparisons with scenes from tragedy: Orestes
being pursued by the Furies after killing his mother; Pentheus'
frenzied state of mind when overwhelmed by Bacchus; and his
mother Agave's horrified state of mind when she emerged from
her Bacchic trance to discover that she had killed her own son.
777-78 The point of comparison is the "faces": haud alios uidit uultus
... Orestes, "no different were the faces that Orestes saw ... "
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COMMENTARY 7.760-811 79
777 nondum Seythica purgatus in ara eventually Orestes was
purified at the altar of Diana in the Crimea, here referred to
as "the Scythian altar"; until then the Furies chased him.
778 Eumenidum gen. pI. of Eumenides; see 3.15
Pelopeus Orestes was the great-grandson of Pelops, whose
name evokes a myth of cannibalism, which perhaps prepares
us for Caesar's cannibalistic enjoyment ofhis breakfast on the
battlefield (786-811).
779 attonitos adjective denoting the paralysis of horror, lit.
"thunderstruck"
animi subject of sensere, referring to the "minds" ofPentheus
and Agave: lit. "and their minds did not experience thunder-
struck turmoils any greater [than Caesar did] when Pentheus
was in the grips of frenzy or when Agave had ceased from her
frenzy."
sensere alternative form of 3rd person pI. pf. indicative,
senserunt
780 Pentheus scans as two syllables
desisset supply furere
781 hune Caesar
781-82 quos aut ... aut ... Caesar is tormented by visions of all the
swords that the battle of Pharsalia had witnessed (uidit) and
all the swords the day of retribution would bring (ultrix uisura
dies), when he would be murdered in the senate-house.
782 uisura supply est; periphrastic form of fut. tense
stringente senatu abI. absolute, using gladios as unexpressed
object, "with the Senate unsheathing [the swords]"
784-86 a tangled thought: "how much of [this] punishment does his
guilty mind forgive/remit the wretched man [misero, dat. af-
ter donat], because he sees the Styx, the shades, and Tartarus
thrust into his dreams while Pompey is [still] alive (Pompeio
uiuente, abI. absolute)!"; i.e., after Pompey's death, Caesar will
suffer more acutely.
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80 A LUCAN READER
785 ingesta lit. "heaped over," SO "thrust upon," with somnis (abI.);
acc. pI. agreeing with Tartara, but going with the other accu-
satives Styga and manes too.
786 omnia passo the participle is dat., ofCaesar, and omnia is the
object of passo: lit. "for him having suffered everything."
788 nulla Iod fades lit. "no appearance of the place," but in effect
the adjective negates the verb reuocat, "in no way summons
back."
feralibus aruis dat. after haerentes: his eyes are "clinging to
the deathly fields"; Caesar's appetite for the sight of carnage is
part ofLucan's negative characterization.
789 propulsa agrees withflumina
790 colles object of aequantia, which qualifies corpora
791 aceruos i.e., "heaps" of corps es
792 Magni ... populos Lucan repeats the idea (from 7.633 -35) that
entire nations are involved in Rome's civil war on Pompey's
side.
numerat according to Caesar, 15,000 Pompeians died at the
battle ofPharsalia (Civil War 3.99).
epulis Caesar's breakfast on the battlefield, one of the most
macabre moments in the poem, is the climax ofLucan's nega-
tive portrayal of Caesar. There is no evidence that this hap-
pened; according to Appian, Caesar simply ate Pompey's sup-
per (Civil Wars 2.81).
793 uultus ... fadesque iacentum beyond representing Caesar's
grisly curiosity, Lucan is making the point that in civil war,
the enemy is someone familiar; iacentum is gen. pI.
794 iuuat supply eum, Caesar: "it delights [him] that he cannot
see ... "
Emathiam ... terram technically Emathia was in Macedonia,
but Lucan uses the adjective to me an Thessaly, the location of
the battle ofPharsalia.
795 campos sub clade latentes "fields hidden [lit. hiding, lying
unseen] underneath the carnage"
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COMMENTARY 7.760-811 81
796 Caesar interprets the slaughter as a sign of supernatural favor.
Caesar's faith in his luck has been manifested before; here Lu-
can caps that with the idea that Caesar sees "his own gods"
in his success, as if he has his own personalized deities. This
megalomaniacal aspect of Caesar is foregrounded especially
in the storm scene in Book 5 (5.504-677).
in sanguine i.e., the blood shed in the battle
797 furens a strong word, "in a frenzy" (cf. the comparison with
Pentheus at 780), to denote Caesar's outrageous denial of
burial to the dead, another unsubstantiated allegation by Lu-
can, with prototypes in Athenian tragedy.
798 inuidet igne rogi miseris the verb inuideo can take many dif-
ferent constructions; here we have abI. of the thing refused
(igne) and dat. of the people denied (miseris) (OLD 2c).
798-99 caeloque nocenti I ingerit Emathiam i.e., "and he forces onto
guilty heaven [the sight of] Emathia," with Emathia (on which
see above, note on 7.794) standing for the battle of Pharsalia.
Lucan calls heaven "guilty" for not preventing this calamity;
his Caesar boldly challenges the gods to face the consequences
of their inaction.
799-801 Lucan makes a comparison with Hannibal that is to Caesar's
disadvantage; the analogy between Caesar and Hannibal
is established in Book 1 when Caesar comes over the Alps
(1.183) and is compared to a "Libyan lion" (1.226). Under-
stand as Poenus humator [i.e., Hannibal] consulis et Cannae
succensae lampade Libyc non illum conpellunt ut seruet
rits hominum in hoste. Hannibal is called "the Carthagin-
ian burier of the consul" because after the battle of Cannae
in Apulia (South Italy) in 216 BeE, he gave a proper burial to
the Roman consul Aemilius Paulus, who was killed in the
battle (Livy 22.52.6). The "Libyan torches" are the firebrands
used by the Carthaginians, who were from the part of Africa
known as Libya.
hominum ritus i.e., "the customs of humanity," lit. "the rites
of human beings"
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82 A LUCAN READER
in hoste "in the case of an enemy"
802 nondum satiata caedibus ira abI. absolute, "with his anger
not yet glutted by the slaughter"; Caesar's rage matches his
frenzy (jurens, 797).
803 eiues ... suos His rage is whetted by the fact that fellow-citizens
dared to take up arms against him, so that he hates them even
more than he would enemies (hostes) from other nations.
803-8 Lucan enters the poem again with apostrophe (i.e., direct ad-
dress) to Caesar, starting ironically (petirnus ... ) then offer-
ing instructions (da, urantur, extrue, erige, uideat).
804 gentibus again the idea that entire nations have died fighting
forPompey
80S Lit. "let the bodies be burnt with no flames in between them,"
i.e., in a holocaust, a single mass burning.
806 generi si poena iuuat supply te: "if the punishment of your
son-in-Iaw delights [you]." Lucan proposes to Caesar that he
erect an enormous funeral pyre consisting of the forests from
two whole mountains.
Pindi a mountain on the border of Thessaly.
807 congestas Oetaeo robore siluas "the woods packed with Oe-
ta's oak"; Oeta was a mountain in southern Thessaly
808 ab aequore i.e., as he flees from Thessaly across the sea
809-10 tabesne ... an rogus indirect question after haud refert, "it
does not matter," "it makes no difference"
810 Natura probably personified, as the Stoic concept of the gov-
erning force in the world; the natural decay ofbodies matches
the view of the atomists (such as Epicureans, including Lucre-
tius), but unlike the atomists the Stoics believed that the souls
of the good were purged and then rose into the ether-as hap-
pens with the soul of Pompey at the beginning of Book 9.
811 Lit. "bodies owe their own end to themselves," i.e., they decay
naturally, they have in them the source of their own demise.
sui gen. sing. of se, after finern
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COMMENTARY 7.760-811 AND 8.542-636 83
~ The death 0/ Pompey, 8.542-636
After he leaves the battlefield, Pompey first sails to Mytilene where
he is uni ted with his wife Cornelia and then he consults the Senate,
who are accompanying him, about whether to seek refuge in Libya,
Egypt, or Parthia. Though Pompey recommends Parthia, the pro-
posal of the senator Lentulus advocating Egypt wins. The first half
of Book 8 is designed to show Pompey at his weakest and least com-
manding. As Pompey's fleet approaches Egypt, the courtiers of the
boy-king Ptolemy XIII in Alexandria consider how to receive him.
Pothinus the eunuch, a powerful member of Ptolemy's court (see
8.552), advocates Pompey's assassination and the general Achillas is
dispatched to carry out the crime.
542-60 This passage starts with Lucan indignantly addressing the
gods, then Ptolemy. In his outrage Lucan incorporates many
of the various names associated with Egypt (the Nile, Mem-
phis, Pelusium, Canopus, and Pharos) to provoke the char-
acteristic Roman re action of dis trust. He asserts that a civil
war ought to be just that, a war between citizens without in-
terference by outsiders. This ironie twist is typical of Lucan;
elsewhere he declares a preference for war against foreigners.
542 Memphis a town in Egypt
543 Pelusiaci ... Canopi Canopus was a town on the westernmost
mouth of the Nile renowned for its luxury; Pelusium was a
marshy area on the easternmost mouth of the Nile, but the
adjective is often used to mean "Egyptian."
tam mollis turba an offensive phrase: turba implies a mob,
out of control, and mollis means "effeminate."
544 hos animos there is ellipse of a verb such as habent.
fata ... ciuilia a compressed phrase, meaning "the destiny of
civil war"
545 Romana n. pI., either an adjective used substantivally or agree-
ing with fata (544)
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84 A LUCAN READER
546 Pharius adjective derived from Pharos, the island at the mouth
of the Nile opposite Alexandria, often used to mean "Egyptian."
547 For a moment Lucan apostrophizes the "civil wars."
548 monstra used repeatedlywith reference to the court ofPtolemy
549-50 Lucan's thought is that the great reputation of Pompey "the
Great" makes it appropriate that he should fall victim to Cae-
sar himself and not to anyone else. Lucan juxtaposes Magnus
and Caesar to underline this.
550 Caesaris esse nefas compressed; "to be the crime of Caesar,"
i.e., to be Caesar's victim
Ptolemaee Lucan now fiercely addresses Ptolemy (550-60),
accusing him of arrogance and ingratitude.
550-51 tanti ... nominis again Lucan underlines Pompey's reputation
551 caelo ... tonante abI. absolute, "while heaven thunders," in-
dicating the enormous scale of the events unfolding; at such a
time, it is inappropriate for Ptolemy to intervene.
552 inpure ac semiuir The Romans persistently identified the
Egyptian as eunuchs. Although Ptolemy was neither Egyp-
tian (the ruling family were Macedonian in origin) nor a eu-
nuch, he had eunuchs in his entourage, including Pothinus,
the cour tier who advised Ptolemy to have Pompey killed.
553-56 A complicated thought: even if Pompey's achievements had
not been so impressive, all the same he was a Roman and that
should have been enough to make Ptolemy desist from attack-
inghim.
553 domitor mundi a strong claim that has as its basis Pompey's
settlement of the east after his conquest of King Mithridates,
in which he made Bithynia, Pontus, and Syria into Roman
provinces.
ter Lucan refers to the three triumphs that Pompey celebrat-
ed; see 1.121-23
Capitolia poetic pI., acc. denoting the destination of the tri-
umphal procession
554 regum ... potens the adjective takes the genitive case.
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COMMENTARY 8.542-636 85
555-56 Phario satis esse tyranno I quod poterat The whole phrase
looks ahead to the culminating Romanus erat: lit. "the thing
which could have been enough for the Pharian tyrant."
556 quid "why?"
uiscera nostra i.e., "Roman guts"
557 scrutaris the verb may suggest the physicality of extispicy-
probing the guts of the sacrificed animal.
puer inprobe another derogatory phrase, dismissing Ptolemy
for his youth and his immorality.
558 iure sine ullo The reason that Ptolemy holds power "illegalIy"
is that Pompey had granted him the right to the throne and
that since Pompey has now lost the civil war there is no legal
basis for Ptolemy's position (as Lucan says in 559-60).
560-636 Lucan now narrates the murder of Pompey. The sight of the
small boat that has been sent to meet him fills everyone in
his party with foreboding, but Pompey boards anyway, tell-
ing his wife and son to stay behind, for which Cornelia re-
proaches him. As he steps into the small boat he is greeted by
a Roman mercenary soldier in Ptolemy's pay, at which Lucan
expresses his outrage. Pompey's behavior is depicted as highly
dignified: his self-control is supreme, even after he has been
stabbed. Lucan provides Pompey's dying thoughts in the form
a speech to himself: as earlier in the poem, his thoughts are of
his popularity, fame, and reputation and he consciously be-
haves nobly so as not to damage his popular image.
560 negarat plpf., for negauerat
562 quem contra for contra quem, i.e., "to meet whom"; quem is
Pompey.
563 scelerata manus the subject of adpellat; also of iubet and
incusat.
Magno dat., after patere
564-65 The invitation to transfer from his "lofty vessel's stern into
their small boat" signifies the diminution of Pompey the
Great's status and is an omen ofwhat is to come.
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86 A LUCAN READER
566 bimarem the Casian promontory was flanked by bays on ei-
ther side.
uadis frangentibus lit. "with the shallows breaking fit]," i.e.,
the tide, the flow of the sea
567 qui rel. clause expanding on aestum
568 quod nisi "But if ... not .... " Lucan leaves out part of his
argument: "if the laws of fate ... were not dragging Magnus
[he could have escaped because] not one of his companions
lacked forebodings."
569 miserae uicinia mortis uicinia is the second subject of traher-
ent; the phrase intenta ... iussu ordinis aeterni expands on
uicinia: "directed by decree of the eternal order," articulating
the central Stoic idea of predestination.
570 damnatum leto "doomed to death"
571 ulli dat. sing., after derant
572 quippe "the fact is that"
fides The loyalty inspired by Pompey is one ofLucan's central
themes in the poem; it includes the loyalty of his wife Corne-
lia, the loyalty of the people of Larisa and Mytilene who wel-
come him in defeat, the loyalty of Cordus who later in Book 8
gives his body a proper burial despite the dangers involved.
Lucan describes the proper way for Ptolemy to welcome his
benefactor (574).
573 sceptrorum auctori dat., reminding us that Ptolemy owed his
power to Pompey (see 558-60).
574 uenturum supply fuisse; the acc. + infinitive represents the
thoughts ofPompey and/or his entourage.
575 cedit fatis the subject is Pompey.
576 Pompey makes a choice between death and fear: in particu-
lar he does not want to appear to be afraid, which is why he
chooses to meet his assassins.
577 praeceps Cornelia's "headlong" rush to join Pompey is just
one manifestation of her devotion to him.
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COMMENTARY 8.542-636 87
578-79 Lit. "not enduring to be absent from her husband as he left, by
this much the more, because she feared disaster."
579-82 Pompey forbids his wife and son from joining him in the
small boat.
in hac ceruice betrays Pompey's understanding that his life is
at risk.
582 explorate fidem "test the loyalty": although he knows that he
is doomed (see previous note), his words are an encourage-
ment to hope for a better result.
surda uetanti lit. "deaf to him forbidding" her to join him
583 tendebat the impf. tense is descriptive or iterative or both.
584-89 Lucan gives Cornelia a reproachful speech, like the one at the
end of Book 5 when Pompey has decided to send her away be-
fore the battle of Pharsalia (5.762-90), in which she also calls
him "cruel" (crudelis).
584 relinquor pass., "am lieft behind"; her complaint recalls that
of Ariadne in Catullus 64 when she is abandoned by Theseus.
585 summota agrees with implicit ego, "I who was kept away
from"
numquam omine laeto she means that whenever they are
separated, something bad happens to Pompey.
586 miseri the m. pI. includes both Pompey and Cornelia; this
generalization to the masculine is standard in Latin.
587 cum fugeres alto "when you were fleeing across the deep," a
poetic way of referring to the sea
relinquere like fiectere, after poteras, "you could have left me"
Lesbi She refers to the fact that Pompey sent her away to
Mytilene, the main city on the island of Lesbos, to keep her
safe during the campaign in Greece.
588 She is reproaching him for collecting her from her "hiding-
place on Lesbos" if it was his intention to prevent her from
making any other landfall with him, e.g., in Egypt.
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88 A LUCAN READER
589 an tantum in fludus placeo comes lit. "or do I pIe ase you as
a companion only for the waves?"
590 prima . .. puppe "the vessel's end"; the puppis was the stern,
though the word is often used by metonymy to denote the
entire ship.
593 ad ducis euentum "about their general's fate"
metuens By specifying the form of their fear, Lucan pro duces
another surprise: they are afraid not of the violent crime (ex-
pressed with simple accusatives) but of Pompey disgracing his
reputation (expressed with a ne clause).
595 sceptra sua donata manu repeats the point of 558-60 and
573
transire parantem a true pres. participle: "as he was prepar-
ing to step across," into the small Egyptian boat
596 Romanus Initial position in the line carries emphasis: it is
shocking that a Roman soldier would undertake the assassi-
nation of a Roman general. According to other sources, Sep-
timius had served as a centurion under Pompey in the cam-
paign to clear the Mediterranean of pirates (Caesar, Civil War
3.104; Plutarch, Pompey 78).
597 Septimius postponed for dramatic impact
pro superum pudor pro is an interjection marking shock or
surprise, followed by a variety of constructions, including the
nom. as here.
598 regia ... deformia both acc. pI. agreeing with arma
posito ... pilo abI. absolute, "the javelin having been put
aside"; as often, it works better to switch from passive to ac-
tive and to make this a second finite verb, "he had put aside
the javelin and .... " The pilum was the characteristic weapon
of the Roman legionary: see 1.7.
599-600 Lucan heaps up epithets in condemnation ofSeptimius.
nulla ... ferarum abI. of comparison, f. because of fera; lit.
"than none of the wild beasts"
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CMMENTARY 8.542-636 89
in caedes "fr bldshed," "fr slaughter"
600 quis non ... putasset for putauisset; the plpf. is rare with the
potential subjunctive; non is the regular negative in potential
clauses.
Fortuna Lucan addresses Fortune for the next few lines, and
then Pompey himself, thus slowing down and delaying his
narrative of the murder, to which we return at 610.
601 parcere ... populis lit. "spare the peoples," i.e., take pity on
the world, by keeping the mercenary soldier Septimius out of
the civil war.
bello haec dextra uacaret "this hand had no part in war," i.e.,
Septimius' sword-hand; bello is abI. after uacaret.
602 Thessalia abI. of separation, with procul
fugasses for fugauisses, transitive verb with tela as object
603-4 Lucan asserts that Fortune has stationed Roman swords ev-
erywhere, including in Egypt, so that acts of civil warfare-
i.e., against fellow-citizens-can be performed everywhere.
604 heu an interjection denoting emotion, regret
605 dedecus supply est, "it is a disgrace"; the substance of the "dis-
grace" and "the story" comes in the two clauses that follow,
Romanus ... and Pellaeus ....
caritura nom. sing. fut. participle of careo, agreeing with fabula
pudore abI. after caritura
606 regi dat. after paruit, from pareo
607 Pellaeus ... puer The boy-king Ptolemy; Pella, the birthplace
of Alexander the Great, was in Macedon, so Pellaeus often
means "Macedonian": the Ptolemies were descended from AI-
exander's general Ptolemy.
tibi dat. of disadvantage, almost the same as saying tua colla
608 tuo The sword used to cut off Pompey's head is "his own" in
the sense that Septimius had served under Pompey: see 596.
608-9 qua ... fama "with what reputation"
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90 A LUCAN READER
609 quo nomine dicent lit. "with what name shall they speak,"
i.e., "how shall they name," "what will they call"
610 qui Bruti dixere nefas compressed: "who have called [the actl
of Brutus a crime," a reference to the assassination of Julius
Caesar by Brutus and his accomplices. In Lucan's value sys-
tem, the murder of Pompey is ineffably worse than the mur-
der of Caesar.
dixere for dixerunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act. indicative
610-12 Pompey's loss of agency, which Lucan here describes, is
matched by the grammatical passivity of ablatus in alnum,
"carried off into the boat."
612 iura sui lit. "laws over himself," sui being gen. sing. of the pro-
nounse
613 regia monstra "the monsters of the king," referring to the as-
sassins; monstra makes them subhuman.
614 uultus pI. for sing.
apertum agrees with caput in the next line.
615 praebere infinitive after indignatus
caput the second object of inuoluit
pressit from premo, here "to elose"
616-17 nequas effundere uoces I ueUet lit. "lest he should have the
wish to pour out any utterances"
617 aeternam ... famam Pompey's awareness of his reputation is
one ofhis main driving forces, according to Lucan.
618 Achillas the general of Ptolemy who was given the job of as-
sassinating Pompey
619 nuUo gemitu The phrase is given prominence by initial po-
sition as Lucan emphasizes Pompey's self-control at the mo-
ment of death. It belongs with both consensit and respexit.
621 seque probat moriens "and as he dies he tests himself"
haec in pectore uoluit Lucan here imagines Pompey's dying
thoughts (622-35), making this an opportunity to reinforce
his characterization.
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COMMENTARY 8.542-636 91
622 numquam tacitura labores "that will never be silent about the
toils"; taeitura is fut. participle of taeeo, agreeing with saeeula.
623 sequens "future," lit. "following"
624 ratem Phariamque fidem The adjective goes with both
nouns. Pompey characteristically measures what is happen-
ing in terms of "loyalty."
consule famae imperative: Pompey is addressing himself;
eonsulo takes the dat. of the thing thought ab out; typically, he
is concerned about his posthumous reputation.
625 prospera in apposition, almost as an adverb after the verb,
"have flowed successful[ly]"
626 populi Pompey is confident that "the peoples" of the world
will judge his behavior and this makes him determined to
"prove himself in death."
probaris 2nd person sing., pres. pass.
627 scieris pf. subjunctive of seio after an, marking an indirect
question; seio + infinitive meaning "know how to" is common.
aduersa n. pI. acc., the object of pati, pres. infinitive from patior
ne cede ... dole a prose author would write noZi eedere ...
dolere.
pudori the shame derives from being killed at the instigation
of the Egyptians.
628 quacumque supply manu from man um in the next line: "by
whatever hand"
629 crede manum soceri supply esse; Pompey can cope better
with the situation if he imagines that Ptolemy is acting on the
orders of Caesar, his "father-in-law."
spargant lacerentque supply me as object
licebit a common Latin idiom, "although," with the subjunc-
tive; more often Zieet, pres. tense
630-31 nulli ... potestas I hoc auferre deo supply est, lit. "there is to
no deity the power to take this away," i.e., "no deity has the
power to take this away" [from me 1
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92 A LUCAN READER
631-32 To rise above the changes of fortune in life was a central aim
of the Stoic philosophy, to which Lucan subscribed.
631 prospera n. pI. as noun, subject of mutantur
uita abI., "in life"
633 Pompeius ... meus his son Sextus
tanto "by so much the more," with the comparative adverb
patientius
634 claude ... gemitus "suppress your groans"
dolor to encourage himself, Pompey addresses his "pain."
peremptum supply me, "me dead," "me in death." The word
is the object ofboth mirantur and amant: Pompey equates ad-
miration with devotion. He cannot imagine them loving him
if he behaves dishonorably and gives way to the pa in.
635 Magno dat. of possession, with erat: "Magnus had ... "
636 mentis after custodia
animi morientis gen. after ius, "power over"
~ The death 0/ Pompey (continued), 8.663-88
The narrative ofPompey's murder resumes after Cornelia has
delivered another impassioned speech, which echoes a speech
earlier in Book 8 (lines 88-105), blaming herself for Pompey's
fate and showing her devotion to him by wishing to join him
or even precede him in death. The Roman mercenary severs
Pompey's head and gives it to Achillas so it can be presented
to Ptolemy, who goes on to have it embalmed, a custom the
Romans regarded as barbaric. The passage ends with another
case ofLucan expressing his outrage.
664 permansisse pf. infinitive after fatentur (666)
665 placatam I prefer this emendation (taken from Shackleton
Bailey's 1988 Teubner text) to the manuscripts' iratam be-
cause it enhances Pompey's majesty to be reconciled to his
fate rather than "raging at the gods."
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COMMENTARY 8.542-636 AND 8.663-88 93
nil short form of nihil, object of mutasse
ultima mortis lit. "the last things of death," translate "utmost
death" or "the finality of death"
666 mutasse another pf. infinitive, short form of mutauisse
667 qui supply ei with fatentur
uidere for uiderunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act. indicative
668 Septimius sceleris maius scelus Lucan's juxtaposition of sce-
lus in two different cases with the Roman soldier's name con-
veys his disgust. sceleris is gen. after actu. The "discovery of a
greater crime" fits Lucan's tendency to take the horror to the
next point on the scale wherever possible.
669 sacros ... uultus Lucan virtually deifies Pompey; cf. Book 9,
which opens with Pompey's apotheosis; uultus is pI. for sing.
scisso uelamine as Lucan told us at 614-15, Pompey "covered
his face and head" before he was struck; Septimius here "tears
away the covering."
670 semianimis, spirantia with these details Lucan ratchets up
the horror: Pompey is not yet fully dead when he is decapi-
tated; semianimis scans as four syllabies, the first i being
consonantaI.
ora another pI. for sing.
671 colla again, pI. for sing.
in obliquo ... transtro as often with Latin adjectives of posi-
tion (e.g., medius, summus), the phrase needs unpacking in
English: "across a bench."
673 diu lit. "for a long time"; Lucan means that it takes him a long
time to sever the head.
nondum artis erat caput ense rotare Lucan is sarcastic, im-
plying that in his own day it had already become "an art to
send a head rolling with the sword," i.e., to decapitate at a sin-
gle stroke. artis is a partitive gen., i.e., "an element of skill."
674 abscisa recessit the two words reinforce, almost reiterate, one
another, an intensifying device favored by Lucan.
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94 A LUCAN READER
675 Pharius ... satelles i.e., Achillas
dextra gestare explains hoc
676-78 Lucan enters his poem to reproach Septimius for not following
through to its logical conclusion his decapitation ofPompey.
676 operae ... secundae gen. of description, "in a supporting role"
677 sacrum caput as at 669
678 0 summi fata pudorisl The gen. phrase explains what Pompey's
"destiny" consists of: Lucan here anticipates the next outrage,
that Pompey's head is stuck on a spear and taken to Ptolemy.
679 nosset short form of nouisset, plpf. subjunctive, which is
translated as if impf. tense.
679-80 uerenda I regibus "which should be revered by kings"; their
king, however, is showing no such respect.
680 generosa fronte probably abI. of place where, "on his noble
brow"
decora nom. sing. agreeingwith caesaries (681); the noun may
evoke Caesar's name here, as at 1.189.
682 uultus pI. for sing. again
in murmura lit. "into murmurs"; translate "to murmur"
683 singultus animae pI., subject of pulsant, "sobs ofbreath"
nuda in another sign of disrespect, no one has closed Pompey's
eyes.
684 suffixum caput est goes with ueruto (681)
quo ... bella iubente reI. clause expanding on caput
numquam goes with pax fuit: Lucan asserts Pompey's power
to determine whether the Roman state would be at war or at
peace.
685 hoc i.e., caput; another reference to Pompey's power in Ro-
manlife
Campum i.e., the Campus Martius ("Field of Mars"), the area
of Rome where elections were held
rostra the platform from which speeches were delivered by
politicians
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COMMENTARY 8.663-88 AND 9.190-217 95
686 Fortuna ... Romana Lucan briefly apostrophizes "Roman
Fortune," asserting that she "was pleasing to herself" through
Pompey, i.e., that Rome could be proud of her achievements
thanks to Pompey.
~ Ca to 's funeral oration for Pompey, 9.190-217
Lucan opens Book 9 with the apotheosis of Pompey: his spirit leaves
his ashes and flies up to the abodes of the blessed. This episode shows
once again Lucan's devotion to his far from perfect hero. Then Cato,
Pompey's senatorial ally and the moral touchstone of the poem, de-
livers a funeral oration in praise ofPompey. Cato the Younger, who
was introduced in Book 2 as an austere Stoic, became the leader of
the Republican cause after Pompey's death. Much of Book 9 focuses
on his powers of endurance, establishing him as the replacement for
Pompey in the narrative; we can assume that Lucan planned a ma-
jor role for him in the remainder of the poem, which might perhaps
have culminated with his Stoic-style suicide at Utica after the battle
of Thapsus (46 BeE), in preference to falling into Caesar's hands
alive. Cato's suicide is an episode celebrated by Lucan's uncle, the
Stoic philosopher Seneca, e.g., Moral Letters 24.6-8; On Providence
2.9-12; On Firmness 2.
Cato's funeral oration, delivered at his camp in Africa once Cor-
nelia and Pompey's sons have joined him, is relatively brief, resem-
bling a Roman epitaph (grave inscription).1t is no obsequious eulogy;
rather, its praise is balanced with criticisms, which make it seem more
sincere. Though grudging, Cato's admiration shows through.
190 ciuis Cato starts his tribute by firmly labeling Pompey "a Ro-
man citizen," implying his loyalty to the Roman state.
obit from obeo, gives us the word "obituary"
multum adv. with inpar
191 nosse short form of nouisse, pf. infinitive, with pres. force; the
infinitive follows inpar, "inferior at knowing"
192 cui refers to aeuum
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96 A LUCAN READER
fuit the pf. tense is used for generalizations
iusti gen. n. sing. of iustum, "justice," after reuerentia, "re-
spect for"
192-93 salua llibertate abI. absolute in the pres. tense: Cato is say-
ing that Pompey was "powerful" (potens) "without harming
liberty," lit. "with liberty [still] safe"; the implicit contrast is
with Caesar, whose power destroyed the liberty of the Roman
state, according to Lucan.
193-94 The syntax is compressed: "when the plebs was ready (abI. ab-
solute) to be slaves to him, [Pompey] was (erat, 195) the only
one [to bel a private citizen," i.e., to seek no public position to
underpin his power. Again, the contrast is with Caesar, who
continually sought public office. priuatus is almost a techni-
cal term, denoting someone who holds no public office.
194-95 rector ... senatus, I sed regnantis, erat again, compressed:
Cato describes Pompey as "the ruler of the Senate" (which
no individual was supposed to be) but qualifies this criticism
with the concession that at that time the Senate was still exer-
cising power, lit. "ruling," gen. sing. of the pres. participle of
regno; this pro duces the play on words rector . .. regnantis.
195 poposcit from posco
196 Supplyea as subject of negari: "what he wanted to be given [to
him], [those things] he wanted to be able to be denied to him";
use sibi in both clauses. dari and negari are both pres. pass. in-
finitives. Cato is saying that Pompey at least subscribed to the
theory that the Roman state was free to refuse any requests he
mightmake.
197 inmodicas possedit opes another criticism, especially com-
ing from the Stoic Cato; Stoicism commended a simple or
even ascetic lifestyle with no concern for material goods.
plura retentis lit. "more things than the things kept back"
198 intulit "paid in," i.e., to the state treasury
inuasit ferrum sed ponere norat another criticism which
is immediately balanced: "he did seize the sword, but knew
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COMMENTARY 9.190-217 97
how to put it down." ponere is simple verb for compound
(e.g., deponere); norat is the short form of nouerat, plpf. with
impf. sense.
199 togae i.e., "peace"; the characteristic garb of the Roman citi-
zen (as opposed to the Roman soldier) metaphorically denotes
"peacetime," as at 1.130.
armatus "once armed"
200 potestas the subject of both instances of iuuit, which is the
irregular (and unusual) pf. tense of iuuo
201-2 supply ei erat, lit. "there was to him," i.e., "he had ... "; domus (f.
sing.) is qualified by casta and carens (+ abI. luxu) and corrupta.
202 fortuna meaning "prosperity," "success"
202-3 Three expressions describe Pompey's nomen (supply est or
erat), darum, then uenerabile ... gen ti bus, then the relative
clause (with quod postponed). Pompey's great name is a major
obsession of Lucan. By gen ti bus Lucan is thinking especially
of the eastern nations and Pompey's eastern settlement.
203 multum adv. with proderat
quod i.e., nomen
204-6 Another negative formulation: Lucan has Cato say that in the
era of Marius and Sulla, who competed for power at Rome
some forty years earlier, "the true guarantee of liberty disap-
peared," but that with Pompey's death "even the bogus guar-
antee has gone." The fierce competition for power between
Marius (with his repeated consulships) and Sulla (who made
himself dictator) was the beginning of the process that led
to the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, partly through
the phenomenon of powerful men raising armies that had
greater loyalty to their commanders than to the state. Lucan
incorporates an old man's lengthy reminiscences of the civil
wars between Marius and Sulla at the beginning of Book 2
(2.16-33). Our sources sometimes map Caesar onto Marius
(because he was a relative ofhis) and Pompey onto Sulla (be-
cause he served under Sulla).
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98 A LUCAN READER
204 Sulla Marioque receptis abI. absolute, with the participle in the
abI. pI.: "once Sulla and Marius had been admitted [to power]"
205 Pompeio rebus adempto another abI. absolute, with rebus
(dat. of disadvantage) meaning "from the world"; adempto is
pf. pass. participle from adimo.
206 non iam regnare pudebit impers., lit. "now it will be no
cause for shame to rule"; regnare here has a strong sense con-
nected with rex, which for the Romans denoted an autocrat
or tyrant.
207 erit goes with both nec phrases: "there will not be ... "
frons ... senatus senatus is gen. sing., "outward show consist-
ing of the Senate"
208 felix the reason for Pompey's good fortune, according to Lu-
can, is that he did not continue to live under Caesar's tyranny.
obuia translate "to meet him"
uicto lit. "to him having been defeated," dat. after obuia
209 quaerendos the gerundive has a strong sense of obligation:
"which he should have sought out" on his own initiative.
enses poetic plural
210 potuisses Lucan's Cato addresses the dead Pompey directly,
borrowing Lucan's own habit of apostrophe.
regno "tyranny"; on the negative flavor of regnum and regno,
see 9.206.
211 This line forms a sententia, i.e., a pithy and memorable gener-
alization, part of the rhetorical apparatus of imperial Roman
writers.
seire mori the complement of sors
sors prima supply est; prima almost = optima here
uiris dat. pI., "for warriors"
proxima also with sors
cogi pres. pass. infinitive, after scire; supply mori after cogi
212 Cato hypothetically puts himself in the same position, of fall-
ing "into another's power," meaning Caesar's; he addresses
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COMMENTARY 9.190-217 AND 9.961-99 99
the goddess Fortuna with the request that Tuba, the king of
Numidia and another ally of Pompey, might do the same as
Ptolemy and kill him [Cato] first.
213 hosti dat. after seruari
dum + subjunctive, "provided that"
214 seruet the implicit subject is Tuba
ceruice recisa i.e., "with my head cut off"
215-17 Lucan claims that Cato's diluted praise for Pompey counted
for more than the standard funeral eulogies delivered in the
Roman forum at the rostrum, implying that to win the stern
Cato's approval was difficult.
215 maior with honor, 217
217 mortis honos "honor in death"
~ Caesar at the site ofTroy, 9.961-99
Lucan scrolls back in time to immediately after the battle ofPharsa-
lia. Caesar sets out in pursuit of Pompey but stops at Troy, where he
goes sightseeingwith a local guide (the Phryx incola and monstrator
mentioned below, 976-79), visiting places mentioned in the story of
the Trojan War, especially in Homer's Iliad. The site is in decay, but
Caesar prays to the gods of Troy, promising them the restoration
of their citadel if they make him successfuI. This invented episode,
as well as appealing to the antiquarianism of Lucan's audience,
is designed to emphasize Tulius Caesar's descent from the Trojan
founder of the Roman race, Aeneas, through his son Iulus, whose
name evokes both Ilium (one of the Greek names for Troy) and Cae-
sar's clan name Iulius. This passage includes Lucan's apostrophe to
Caesar, promising him immortality through Lucan's poem, a bold
claim by the young epic poet.
961 Sigeum was a promontory ne ar Troy.
962 Simoentis gen. sing. of Simois; a river running ne ar Troy
busto abI. after nobile
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100 A LUCAN READER
963 Rhoeteum was a place near Troy famous for the tomb of the
Greek warrior Ajax.
The "ghosts owe much to the bards" because poets such as
Homer immortalized the warriors who fought at Troy in po-
ems such as Iliad.
964 nomen memorabile again Lucan's concern with fame is
exhibited.
965 magna the epithet is transferred from muri to uestigia
Phoebei ... muri Apollo with Neptune built the city-wall of
Troy for King Laomedon.
966 putres robore lit. "rotten in their wood"
967 Assaraci king ofPhrygia, son ofTros, grandfather of Anchis-
es, great-grandfather of Aeneas
pressere for presserunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act. indicative
968 iam lassa radice "with roots now weary" because this has
been the situation for so long.
969 Pergama the citadel ofTroy
etiam periere ruinae "ruins" should not be able to be de-
stroyed further; this is a surprise typical of Lucan; periere is
for perierunt, 3rd person pI. pf. act. indicative.
970 Hesiones Greek gen. sing.; the "rock" was where Hesione,
daughter of Laomedon, king of Troy, was exposed to a sea-
monster and rescued by Hercules.
silua "in the wood[s]"
971 Anchisae thalamos the place on Mount Ida where Anchises
and Venus made love; their son was Aeneas.
971-73 Three relative clauses after aspicit (970), introduced by quo,
unde, and quo.
971 quo ... antro i.e., aspicit antrum quo, "the cave in which ... "
iudex "the adjudicator" is the Trojan Paris, passing judgment
on the beauty of the three goddesses Juno, Minerva, and Ve-
nus (hence "the judgment of Paris"), again on Mount Ida.
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COMMENTARY 9.961-99 101
972 puer Ganymedes, son of Tros, abducted by Jupiter to be his
cupbearer and lover
raptus supply sit, pf. pass. subjunctive
caelo "to heaven"
quo uertice i.e., aspicit uerticem quo, "he sees the peak on
which ... "; the peak is Mount Ida, some way from the city.
973 luxerit pf. subjunctive of lugeo
Oenone a nymph (Naiad) loved by Paris; after he deserted her
for Helen, she refused to heal his battle-wound and he died,
which made her grief-stricken.
nomine lit. "name" (again), almost "story"
975 Xanthus a river near Troy
976 manes pI. for sing.
978 seruantia pres. participle agreeing with saxa
979 Herceas ... aras poetic pI.; the inner altar in Priam's palace
where Neoptolemus/Pyrrhus killed him (as narrated in Ae-
neid 2); when Zeus (= Jupiter) was viewed as the god of the
house in Greek cult he was called Zeus Herkeios.
980 uatum Lucan's exclamation about the importance of "the
work of bards" is a preliminary to his intimations of his own
literary immortality.
fato abI. of separation after eripis; "death," i.e., "oblivion"
981 aeuum lit. "age" or "time," hence "immortality"
982-86 Lucan addresses his anti-hero, Caesar, in a tone of intimacy,
promising him literary immortality to match that of the Ho-
meric heroes.
982 inuidia abI.
sacrae ... famae those immortalized by poets such as Homer
enjoy "sacred fame."
tangere 2nd person sing. pass. pres. imperative, with ne; a
prose author would write noZi tangi.
983 siquid object of promittere
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102 A LUCAN READER
Latiis ... Musis dat. after Jas est; Lucan means "Latin poets."
984 Zmyrnaei ... uatis Homer, who was said (according to some)
to have been born at Smyrna on the west coast of Asia Minor.
honores i.e., the honors bestowed on Homer, but also the hon-
ors bestowed by him.
985 Lucan omits the correlative to quantum, i.e., "so much," "so
long."
uenturi m. pI. nom. fut. participle used as a noun: "people in
the future," "future ages"
Pharsalia nostra i.e., the battle of Pharsalia as won by Caesar
and recorded by Lucan; some have taken this line to me an
that Lucan caHed his poem Pharsalia.
986 tenebris dat. after damnabimur
988 subitas English would use an adverb not an adjective here.
989 non inrita litotes; the phrase goes with uota, looking to the
future.
990-99 FuHy half of Caesar's prayer consists of invocations to the
deities that make the strongest connection between Troy and
Rome-and also between Troy and Julius Caesar, given his
purported des cent from the Trojan Aeneas.
990 di cinerum short form of dei with gen. pI. of cinis
quicumque m. pI. nom., with di, i.e., whichever are the gods
"that inhabit the ruins of Troy"
991 Aeneae ... mei gen. sing., after lares (992); Julius Caesar
claimed descent from Aeneas through Iulus, Aeneas' son
(hence, supposedly, the family name Iulius).
quos reI. clause expanding on the postponed noun lares
Lauinia sedes i.e., the city ofLavinium in Latium, which was
founded by Aeneas.
992 Alba i.e., Alba Longa, another ancient town in Latium, found-
ed by Aeneas' son IuluslAscanius and home of the house-gods
brought from Troy by Aeneas.
quorum the reI. clause expands upon lares
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COMMENTARY 9.961-99 103
993 ignis ... Phrygius the flame brought by Aeneas to Italy, never
extinguished (lucet ... adhuc)
nulli ... uirorum dat. of agent after the pass. participle as-
pecta, with partitive gen., "by no male"
994 Pallas the image of the goddess Pallas Athena, known as the
Palladium, which was the emblem of the safety and continu-
ity ofTroy, kept in the temple ofVesta at Rome.
995 gentis Iuleae Caesar specifies his clan name because that is
what links him to Troy (see 991).
997 date the imperative is almost a conditional, "if you grant me
... I shall res tore ... "
in cetera lit. "into the rest," i.e., "for the future"
998 grata uice "in grateful reciprocation"; i.e., just as Rome's walls
were built by Trojans, so Troy's walls will be rebuilt by Ro-
mans.
999 The line consists alm ost entirely of names, with powerful
juxtapositions designed to underline Rome's foundation from
Troy.
Ausonidae an elevated way of referring to the people of Auso-
nia, i.e., Italians
Romana ... Pergama Lucan perhaps hints at Caesar's alleged
plan to make Troy or Alexandria the capital of the empire
(Suetonius, The Deified Julius 79.3).
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Vocabulary
or ab, prep. + abi., from, away
from; by (agent)
abe, -ire, -ii or -iui, -itum, to
go away
abscid, -ere, abscindi,
abscisum, to cut off
absens, -entis, adj., absent,
missing
abstrusus, -a, -um, adj., hidden
abstuli. See aufer
ac. See atque
acced, -cedere, -ces si,
-cessum, to approach;
attack; be added to
accend, -ere, -cendi, -censum,
to burn, kindie
accessus, -us, m., the act of
approaching, approach, visit
cer, cris, cre, adj., fierce,
keen
aceruus, -I, m., heap, pile
Achaeus, -a, -um, adj., Achaean
Achern, -tis, m., Acheron, a
river in the Underworld
Achills, -ae, m., Achillas
acies, -ei,j, battle line; gaze,
vision
actum, -I, n., deed, action
actus, -us, m., act
ad, prep. + ace., to, towards
add, -ere, addidi, additum, to
add (to), intensify + dat.
105
adfig, -figere, -fixi, -fictum,
to fix, fasten to
adfIig, -ere, -fIigi, -fIictum,
to damage, injure, afflict
adim,-ere,-emi,-emptum,to
take away
admitt, -ere, -misi, -missum,
to admit, allow
adr (1), to supplicate, adore,
kneel before
adpell. See appell
adst, -re, -stiti, -, to stand
by, stand near
adsum, -esse, -fui, -, to be
present, be here
adur, -ere, -ussi, -ustus, to
burn, scorch
aduersus, -a, -um, adj.,
opposite, facing; adverse
Aegaeus, -a, -um, adj., Aegean
Aegyptus, -i,j, Egypt
aemulus, -a, -um, adj., rivaling,
vyingwith
Aenes, -ae, m., Aeneas
aequ (1), to equal, be as high as
aequor, -oris, n., plain; sea
er, eris, m., air, sky
erius, -a, -um, adj., in the air,
tall
aests, -ttis,j, summer
aestifer, -era, -erum, adj., heat-
bringing, torrid
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106 A LUCAN READER
aestu (1), to boil, blaze
aestus, -fis, m., surge, swell,
tide
aeternus, -a, -um, adj., eternal,
everlasting
aether, -eris, m., sky, upper air,
ether
Aetna, -ae,f, Etna, a volcano
in Sicily
aeuum, -I, n., age, era, time
Ague, -es,f, Agave, mother of
Pentheus
ager, agri, m., field, countryside
agger, -eris, m., mound
agito (1), to drive, harass
agmen, -inis, n., crowd, horde
agnosc, -ere, -nui, -nitum, to
recognize
ag, agere, egi, actum, to act,
do, achieve; drive
i, defective verb, to say
Alba, -ae,f, the city of Alba
Longa
alienus, -a, -um, adj., belonging
to another
alius, -a, -ud, adj., other
aInus, -i,f, alder; boat [made of
alder-wood]
Alpes, -ium,fpl., the Alps
altria, -ium, n.pl., burnt-
offerings
alte, adv., at/to/from a great
height, far above; at/to a
great depth
alter, -era, -erum, pron., one (of
two), the other
altum, -I, n. the sea, deep water
altus, -a, -um, adj., high; deep
mens, -entis, adj., frantic,
distracted
amnis, -is, m., river
am (1), to love
amor, -ris, m., love
amplector, -cti, amplexus, to
clasp, embrace, encircle
amplexus, -fis, m., embrace
an, conj., + subj., whether, or
Anchises, -ae, m., Anchises,
father of Aeneas
angustus, -a, -um, adj., narrow,
short
anima, -ae,f, breath, life; soul
animus, -I, mind, spirit,
courage; anger, arrogance
annus, -I, m., year
antiquus, -a, -um, adj., old,
ancient
antrum, -I, n., cave, cavern
anxius, -a, -um, adj., anxious
aperi, -ire, -ui, -ertum, to
open, reveal, uncover
appell (1), to address, speak to
appell, -ere, -uli, -ulsum, to
put in (of ships)
apsens. See absens
aptus, -a, -um, adj., fit, ready,
suitable, convenient
aquila, -ae,f, eagle; standard
ra, -ae, f, altar
Araxes, -is, m., a river in
Armenia
arbor, arboris,f, tree
arce, -ere, -ui, -, to ward off,
keep away
ardens, -entis, adj., burning,
fiery, hot
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VOCABULARY 107
arma, -orum, n.pl., weapons,
arms
armtus, -a, -um, adj., armed,
in armor
ars, artis,f, art, skill, craft
Arsacidae, -rum, m.pl.,
descendants of Arsaces
aruum, -I, n., field
asper, -era, -erum, adj., harsh,
rough, rugged
aspici, -ere, -spexi, -spectum,
to look at, see
Assaracus, -I, m., Assaracus
Assyrius, -a, -um, adj.,
Assyrian
astring, -ere, -strinxi,
-strictum, to bind, compress
astrum, -I, n., star
aslllum, -I, n., sanctuary,
asylum
at, conj., but
ter, tra, trum, adj., black,
dark
atque, conj., and
atrox, -cis, adj., fierce, cruel,
wild
attend, -ere, -tendi, -tentum,
to watch, consider
atting, -ere, -tigi, -, to touch,
reach
attonitus, -a, -um, adj.,
thunderstruck, astonished
auctor, -ris, m., originator,
author, person responsible
for
aude, -ere, ausus sum, to dare
aufer, -ferre, abstuli,
abltum, to carry off,
withdraw, remove
auge, -ere, auxi, auctum, to
increase
aura, -ae,f, breeze, wind,
breath
auris, -is,f, ear
aurum, -I, n., gold
Ausonidae, -rum, m., Italians
Ausonius, -a, -um, adj.,
Ausonian
Auster, -tri, m., the South wind
aut, conj., or
auxilium, -ii, n., help,
assistance
Auernus, -I, m., Avernus
uert, -ere, -uerti, -uersum,
to avert, turn away
axis, axis, m., axle, axis, the
earth's axis, the sky [i.e., the
end ofthe earth's axis]
Babyln, -nis,f, Babyion
barbarus, -a, -um, adj., foreign,
barbarian
bellum, -I, n., war
bigae, -rum,fpl., two-horse
chariot
bimaris, -e, adj., between two
seas
bipennis, -is,f, axe with two
blades
biremis, -is,f, boat with two
banks of oars
briima, -ae,f, winter
Briitus, -I, m., Brutus
bustum, -I, n., tomb, pyre
caduer, -eris, n., body, corpse
cado, -ere, cecidi, csum, to
fall, flow
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108 A LUCAN READER
caecus, -a, -um, adj., blind,
dark, hidden
caedes, -is,f, slaughter,
bloodshed
caed, -ere, ceeidi, caesum, to
cut down, slaughter
caelicola, -ae, m., heaven-
dweller, god
caelum, -I, n., sky, heaven
Caesar, -aris, m., Caesar
caesaries, -,f, hair, head of
hair,locks
caespes, -itis, m., turf, ground
caesus, -a, -um. See caed
calc (1), to tread upon, trample
cale, -ere, -ui, -, to be warm,
glow
campus, -I, m., plain
Campus Martius, m., the field
of Mars, where elections
were held at Rome
cande, -ere, -ui, -, to glow,
be hot
Cannae, -rum,fpl., Cannae
can, -ere, ceeini, cantum, to
sing
Canpus, -I, m., Canopus
cnus, -a, -um, adj., white
capi,-ere,cepi,captum,to
take, capture; conceive;
contain
Capitlium, -I, n., the Capitol
capulus, -I, m., sword-hilt
caput, -itis, n., head
care (2) + abi., to lack, be
without
carina, -ae,f, keel, boat
carmen, -inis, n., poem, song,
spell
Carrhae, -rum,fpl., Carrhae
castra, -rum, n.pl., camp
castus, -a, -um, adj., chaste,
pure
csus, -fis, m., chance, fortune;
disaster, defeat
caterua, -ae,f, squadron
Cat, -nis, m., Cato
cauda, -ae, f, tail
causa, -ae,f, cause, reason
cauerna, -ae, f, cavern, cave
cauus, -a, -um, adj., hollow
ced, -ere, ces si, cessum, to
yield (to), give way + dat.
celsus, -a, -um, adj., high, lofty
cern, -ere, creui, -, to see,
discern
certe, adv., at least, at any rate
cert (1), to struggle, contend
certus, -a, -um, adj., certain,
fixed
ceruix, -ieis,f, neck
ceterus, -a, -um, adj., the rest,
remaining
chaos, n., defective noun, chaos
eing, -ere, einxi, einctum, to
surround, encircle, enclose
einis, -eris, m., ash
eireum, adv., round ab out,
around; prep.+ ace., around
eircume, -ire, -ii or -iui,
-itum, to go around
eiuilis, -e, adj., civil, of a citizen
eiuis, -is, m., citizen
cldes, -is,f, disaster, calamity,
destruction, carnage
clrus, -a, -um, adj., clear,
bright; famous
classis, -is,f, fleet of ships
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VOCABULARY 109
claudo, -ere, clausi, clausum,
to elose, confine, suppress
coe, -ire, -iui or -ii, -itum, to
come together, meet
coeptum, -I, n., usually pi.,
undertaking, enterprise,
plan, scheme
coerce, -ere, -cui, -citum, to
check, restrain
cogntus, -a, -um, adj., related,
kindred
cg, cgere, coegi, coctum,
to gather together, force,
compe!, compress, restrain
cohors, -rtis,f, cohort, a
sub division of a legion
collig, -ere, -legi, -lectum,
to collect, gather up,
concentrate
collis, -is, m., hill
collum, -I, n., neck
col, -ere, colui, cultum, to
worship, venerate; inhabit
colnus, -I, m., farmer
color, -ris, m., color; pretext,
outward show, screen
coma, -ae,f, hair; foliage
comes, -itis, m., companion
comminus, adv., at elose
quarters, hand to hand
committ, -mittere, -misi,
-missum, to join, bring
together (in battle)
commod (1), to furnish,
supply, lend
commfinis, -e, adj., shared,
common, general
compges, -is,f, joint,
connection, structure
conci, -ere, -eiui, -citus, to stir
up, spur
concordia, -ae,f, harmony,
concord
concors, -cordis, adj., of the
same mind, in unison,
harmonious
concurr, -ere, -curri,
-cursum, to rush together,
join battle
concuti, -cutere, -cussi,
-cussum, to shake violently,
shatter, disturb
cond, -ere, -didi, -ditum, to
hide, bury; to found
cnexus, -a, -um, adj., linked,
joined together
confer, -ferre, -tuli, -ltum, to
bring together, join, meet
confici, -ere, -feei, -fectum, to
bring ab out, accomplish
confine, -is, n., boundary
conger, -ere, -gessi, -gestum,
to heap up, pile, load
congestus, -fis, m., heap
coniunx, -iugis, m. and f,
spouse, husband, wife
conpges, -is, f, joint,
structure, frame
conpell, -ere, -puli, -pulsum,
to compe!, force
conprend, -ere, -prendi,
-prensum, to seize, grasp
conscius, -a, -um, adj., having
knowledge of, knowing,
guilty
consenti, -ire, -sensi,
-sensum, to agree,
acknowledge
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110 A LUCAN READER
consist, -ere, -stiti, -, to
stand, stand still, halt
consors, -sortis, m. and f,
consort, partner
consul, -ulis, m., consul
consul, -ere, consului,
consultum, + dat., to have
regard for, take thought for
consurg, -ere, consurrexi,
consurrectum, to stand up,
rise
contine, -ere, -tinui, -tentum,
to keep, hold, hold fast
conting, -ere, -tigi, -tactum,
intransitive, + dat., to
happen,occur
continu, adv., at once,
straightaway
contra, prep. + ace., against,
opposite, face to face
contrarius, -a, -um, adj.,
against, opposed to,
confronting
conuert, -ere, -uerti, -uersum,
to turn, direct
Cornelia, -ae,f, Cornelia
cornfi, -fis, n., horn, crescent
corpus, -oris, n., body
corripi, -ere, -ripui, -reptum,
to seize, attack, set on fire
corrump, -ere, -rfipi, -ruptum,
to corrupt, destroy, spoil, mar
corru, -ere, -rui, -, to fall,
tumble
Crassus, -I, m., Crassus
cred, -ere, -didi, -ditum, +
dat., to trust, believe, rely on
cresc, -ere, creui, cretum, to
grow, increase
crinis, -is, m., hair
crfidelis, -e, adj., cruel
cruor, -ris, m., blood, gore
cubile, -is, n., bed
cultus, -fis, m., cultivation,
care; smartness; veneration,
worship
cum, conj., when, since; prep.+
abi., with
cumulus, -I, m., pile, heap,
mound
cunctus, -a, -um, adj., all,
entire
cupido, -dinis,f, desire, wish,
eagerness, greed, lust
cupressus, -i,f, cypress-tree
cfiria, -ae,f, senate-house,
senate
currus, -fis, m., chariot
cursus, -fis, m., course, path,
journey; rapidity, speed
custdia, -ae,f, guard, control
custs, -dis, m., guard
Cynthia, -ae,f, the goddess of
Mount Cynthus, i.e., Diana,
themoon
damn (1), to condemn, doom
damnum, -I, n., loss, damage,
disaster
de, prep. + abi., ab out, down
from
debe (2), to owe, be obliged to
decet, decuit, impers., it is
fitting
decrus, -a, -um, adj., fine,
handsome
decretum, -I, n., decree,
declaration
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VOCABULARY 111
deeus, deeoris, n., grace, beauty
dedeeus, -oris, n., shame,
dishonor, disgrace
dedise, -ere, -didici, -, to
unlearn, forget
defrmis, -e, adj., unsightly,
degrading
defunctus -a, -um, adj. and
noun, dead (person)
defungor, -fungi, -functus
sum, + abi., to have done
with, finish
degener, -is, adj., contemptible,
ignoble
demitt, -ere, -misi, -missum,
to send down, lower, thrust
densus, -a, -um, adj., thick,
dense, crowded, packed
depreeor, depreeari,
depreeatus sum, to decline,
beg ... not
deprend, -ere, deprendi,
deprensum, to come upon
suddenly, surprise
depressus, -a, -um, adj.,
sunken, low, sloping down
deseend, -ere, deseendi,
deseensum, to descend, go
down
desertus, -a, -um, adj.,
deserted, abandoned
desili, -ere, -silui, -sultum, to
jumpdown
desin, -ere, -sii, -situm, to
cease
desum, -esse, -fui, -, + dat., to
fail, be wanting, be lacking
detrah, -ere, -traxi, -tractum,
to dragdown
deus, -I, m., god
dexter, dextra, dextrum, adj.,
right
dextra, -ae,f, right hand
die, -ere, dixi, dictum, to say,
state
dies, diei, m., day, daylight; sky
dignus, -a, -um, adj., deserving,
worthy
dilabor, -labi, -lapsus sum, to
melt away, dissolve
dimitto, -ere, -misi, -missum,
to let go, resign
dirim, -ere, -emi, -emptum,
to part, separate, divide
dirus, -a, -um, adj., dreadful,
terrible, hideous
Dis, Ditis, m., Dis, god of the
Underworld
diseern, -ere, -ereui, -eretum,
to divide, separate
diseors, -eordis, adj.,
discordant, at variance with
diseuti, -eutere, -eussi,
-eussum, to break up,
shatter, remove, scatter
dispn, -pnere, -posui,
-positum, to dis tribute,
arrange, dispose
distermin (1), to divide,
separate
distraho, -trahere, -traxi,
-tractum, to drag apart
diii, adv., for a long time
diueU, -ueUere, -ueUi,
-uulsum or -uolsum, to tear
apart
diuid, -ere, -uisi, -uisum, to
divide, separate
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112 A LUCAN READER
d, dare, dedi, datum, to give,
grant, cause
Ddne, -es,f, a town in
Epirus, seat of an orade of
Jupiter
dole (2), to grieve, suffer,
resent
dolor, -ris, m., pain, grief
dominus, -I, m., master
domitor, -ris, m., conqueror
domus, -fis or -i,f, house,
home
dn (1), to give, bestow
dnum, -I, n., gift, present
drae, -nis, m., snake
dubit (1), to hesitate, be in
doubt
dubius, -a, -um, adj., doubtful,
hesitating, uncertain, undear
dfie, -ere, duxi, ductum, to
lead
dum, conj., as long as, while,
until (+ pres. indicative),
provided that (+ subjunctive)
dfimeta, -rum, n.pl., thorn-
bushes, thickets
dfimus, -I, m., thorn-bush,
bramble
duo, -ae, -0, adj., two
dfir (1), to endure
dux, ducis, m., leader, general,
ruler
effici, -ere, effeci, effectum,
to bring ab out, make
(effor), -ari, -atus, to say, dedare
effund, -ere, -ffidi, -ffisum, to
pour out, stream, spread
ego, pron., I
eligo, eligere, elegi, electum, to
select, choose, pick out
Emathia, -ae,f, Emathia
Emathius, -a, -um, adj.,
Emathian
emic, -are, -ui, -atum, dash
out, flash (out)
en, interj., see!
Erebus, -I, m., the Underworld,
the god of darkness
erig, -ere, -rexi, -rectum, to
raise, erect, rouse, stimulate
eripi, -ere, -ripui, -reptum, to
snatch away
et, conj., and; et ... et both ...
and; adv., even
Eurus, -I, m., the east wind
euentus, -fis, m., fortune, fate
exeed, -ere, eessi, eessum, to
go out, leave
exeelsus, -a, -um, adj., high,lofty
excipi, -ere, -eepi, -eeptum, to
receive, take up, catch
exeuti, -eutere, -eussi,
-eussum, to shake off, cast
off, throw away, shoot, expel
exemplum, -I, n., example
exe, -ire, -ii, -itum, to go out
exig, -ere, -egi, -actum, to
drive out, exact
exiguus, -a, -um, adj., small,
scanty, inadequate, trivial
exili, -ere, -ui, -, to leap up,
spring out
expect (1), to wait for
expell, -ere, -pulsi, -pulsum,
to drive out
expend, -ere, expendi,
expensum, to weigh
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VOCABULARY 113
exprim, -ere, pressi, pressum,
to press out, shoot forth
exprm, -prmere, -prompsi,
-promptum, to show, reveal
extend, -tendere, -tendi,
-tentum, to stretch out,
extend
externus, -a, -um, adj., foreign
ext, extare, extiti, to stand
out, protrude, exist, be
found
extrah, -ere, -traxi, -tractum,
to draw out, extract
extremus, -a, -um, adj., final,
furthest, edge of
extru, -ere, -uxi, -uctum, to
pile up, heap up
exur, -ere, -ussi, -ustum, to
burn up
exuuiae, -arum,fpl., spoils
fabula, -ae,f, story
faeies, -ei,f, appearance
faeilis, -e, adj., easy
faeinus, -oris, n., crime
faei, -ere, fed, factum, to
make, do
fama, -ae,f, fame, reputation,
report, rumor
fames, -is,f, hunger, famine
fas, defective noun, right
fateor, -eri, fassus sum, to
grant, acknowledge, say
fatum, -I, n., fate, destiny,
death, destruction
fauces, -ium,fpl., throat, jaws
faue, -ere, faui, fautum, +
dat., to favor, support
fauor, -ris, m., favor, support
fax, faeis,f, torch, firebrand
felix, -ieis, adj., lucky,
fortunate, prosperous
fera, -ae,f, wild beast
feralis, -e, adj., funereal, deadly,
ill-omened, of the dead
feri, -ire, -, -, to strike
fer, ferre, tuli, latum, to carry,
bring, lead, bear, endure,
report
ferrum, -I, n., iron, steel; sword
feruidus, -a, -um, adj., burning,
fiery
fessus, -a, -um, adj., weary,
tired
fibra, -ae,f, fiber, filament;
lobe
fides, -ei,f, trust, faith, loyalty,
promise, credence, alliance
figura, -ae, f, figure, form
fing, -ere, finxi, fictum, to
pretend, feign
finis, -is, m., boundary, limit,
end, stop, finish
fi, fieri, factus sum, to
happen, become, be done
firmus, -a, -um, adj., firm,
strong
fixus, -a, -um, adj., fixed,
immovable
flagell, -are, -, -, to whip,
lash, scourge
flagrans, -grantis, adj.,
burning,scorching
flamma, -ae,f, flame, fire,
blaze
flatus, -us, m., blast
flecto, -ere, flexi, flectum, to
turn
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114 A LUCAN READER
fletus, -fis, m., weeping,
lamenting
fluctus, -fis, m., wave
flfimen, -inis, n., river
flu, -ere, fluxi, fluctum, to
flow, stream, glide
focus, -I, adj., hearth
foedus, -eris, n., pact, treaty,
law
fons, fontis, m., spring, weH,
source
(for), fri, ftus sum, defective
verb, to say, speak
foret = futurus esset
forma, -ae,j, form, beauty
formid, -inis,j, fear, terror
forsitan, adv., perhaps, maybe
fortis, -is, -e, adj., strong, brave,
courageous
fortfina, -ae,j, fate, fortune,
luck, chance, prosperity,
success; sometimes
personified as Fortfina, the
goddess of luck or chance
foue, -ere, fui, ftum, to
keep warm, soothe, cherish,
support
fragor, -ris, m., crash
frang, -ere, fregi, fractum, to
break
frter, -tris, m., brother
frternus, -a, -um, adj.,
brotherly, of a brother
frequent (1), to visit, attend,
occupy
fretum, -I, n., strait, channel,
sea
frigus, -oris, n., cold
frons, frondis,j, foliage, leaves
frons, frontis,j, brow, forehead,
outward appearance
frfigifer, -era, -erum, adj.,
fruitful, fertile
frustr, adv., in vain
fuga, -ae,j, flight, escape
fugi, -ere, ffigi, -, to flee,
take flight
fug (1), to chase away, rout
fulge, -ere, fulsi, to shine,
flash, glitter, gleam
fulgur, -ris, n., flash oflightning
fulmen, -inis, n., thunderbolt
fund, -ere, ffisi, ffisum, to
pour, pour out, lay low
ffinestus, -a, -um, adj., deadly,
fatal
ffinus, -eris, n., death, funeral
furens, -entis, adj., furious,
raging, maddened
furilis, -e, adj., of the Furies,
raging, dreadful, frenzied
fur, -ere, -, -, to rage, rave
furor, -ris, m., madness,
insanity
futfirus, -a, -um, adj., coming,
future, imminent
Gallicus, -a, -um, adj., Gallic,
ofGaul
Gallus, -I, m., a Gaul
gaude, gaudere, guisus sum,
to enjoy, delight in
gaza, -ae, j, treasure
gelidus, -a, -um, adj., icy, cold
gemin (1), to double
geminus, -a, -um, adj., twin,
double, two
gemitus, -fis, m., groan, sigh
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VOCABULARY 115
gener, -eri, m., son-in-Iaw
genersus, -a, -um, adj., noble
gens, gentis,f, clan, family,
nation, ra ce
ger, gerere, gessi, gestum, to
wage, conduct, wear
gest (1), to wear, carry
gigas, -antis, m., giant
glacialis, -e, adj., icy
gladius, -I, m., sword
gnatus. See natus
gracilis, -e, adj., slender, slight
gradus, -fis, m., step, pace
Graius, -a, -um, adj., Greek
gramen, -inis, n., grass
gratus, -a, -um, adj., pleasing,
grateful
grauidus, -a, -um, adj., laden,
swollen
grauis, -e, adj., heavy; serious
gressus, -fis, m., step, progress
gurges, -itis, m., whirlpool,
flood, water
guttur, -uris, n., throat, breast
habe (2), to have, hold
habitator, -ris, m., inhabitant
habitus, -fis, m., bearing,
appearance
haere, -ere, haesi, haesum, to
stick, cling
harena, -ae, f, sand
hasta, -ae,f, spear
haud, adv., not, hardly
hauri, haurire, hausi,
haustum, to drain
haut. See haud
Hectoreus, -a, -um, adj.,
belonging to Hector
Herceus, -i, adj., Hercean
[epithet ofJupiter]
Hesione, -es,f, Hesione
Hesperia, -ae,f, Italy
Hesperius, -a, -um, adj.,
Hesperian, western, Italian
heul interject., oh no!
hic, adv., here, in this place
hic, haec, hoc, pron., this
hiemps, hiemis,f, winter,
storm
hinc, adv., from here, from this
place, from this side
hi (1), to lie open, gape
hirtus, -a, -um, adj., shaggy,
rough
hons, -ris,f, honor
hra, -ae,f, hour, season;
region
horridus, -a, -um, adj., rough,
bristling
horror, -ris, m., horror,
shaking, trembling
hortamen, -inis, n.,
encouragement
hostilis, -e, adj., hostile, of the
enemy
hostis, -is, m., enemy
hfic, adv., to here, to this place
hfimanus, -a, -um, adj., human
humator, -ris, m., person who
buries
humus, -i,f, ground
iace, iacere, iacui, -, to lie
iam, adv., now, already
ibi, adv., there
(ic), -ere, ici, ictum, to strike,
hit
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116 A LUCAN READER
ictus, -fis, m., blow, stroke,
thrust
igneus, -a, -um, adj., fiery
ignis, -is, m., fire
ignr (1), to be unaware of, not
to know
ilex, ilieis,j, holm-oak, ilex-
tree
ille, illa, illud, pron., he, she,
it; that
illic, adv., there, in that place
illfic, adv., to that place
imag, -inis,j, image, ghost
impell, -pellere, -puli,
-pulsum, to push, drive,
drive on
imperium, -I, n., command,
order, power
impetus, -fis, m., attack, impulse
imus, -a, -um, adj., lowest,
deepest
in, prep. + abi., in, on; in the
case of; + ace., into, onto,
towards, against, facing, for
inanis, -e, adj., empty, vain
inaratus, -a, -um, adj.,
unplowed
incendium, -ii, n., fire,
conflagration
incertus, -a, -um, adj.,
uncertain
incola, -ae, m. and j, inhabitant
inconsultus, -a, -um, adj.,
without advice, heedless
incumb, -ere, incubui, + in
+ ace., to settle on, lean on,
bear down on
incfis (1), to blame, complain
about
inde, adv., from there, from
that place, from that side;
from then, from that time
indignatus, -a, -um, adj.,
resentful, reluctant
indignor, indignari,
indignatus sum, to dis da in,
be resentful of
indomitus, -a, -um, adj.,
indomitable, untamed
indu, -ere, -ui, -fitum, to put
on, assume, take up
iners, -ertis, adj., sluggish,
inert, stagnant
infandus, -a, -um, adj.,
unspeakable, abominable,
inhuman
infelix, -ieis, adj., unhappy,
unlucky, unfortunate
infer, -ferre, intuli, inlatum,
to bring in or on
inferus, -a, -um, adj., lower, of
the Underworld
infestus, -a, -um, adj., hostile
infiei, -ere, infeci, infectum,
to stain, dye, taint
informis, -e, adj., shapeless,
ugly
infrem, -ere, -ui, to roar
ingem, -ere, -gemui, -, to
moan, groan, lament
ingens, ingentis, adj., vast, huge
inger, -ere, -gessi, -gestum,
to heap over, pour in, throw
upon, thrust in
inmanis, -e, adj., immense,
fierce, savage
inmemor, -oris, adj.,
unmindful of, forgetful of
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VOCABULARY 117
inmensus, -a, -um, adj., vast,
immeasurable, mighty
inmitt, -ere, inmisi, inmissum,
to send against, throw, direct
inmbilis, -e, adj., immobile,
motionless
inmodicus, -a, -um, adj.,
immoderate, excessive
inniib, -ere, -nupsi, -nuptum,
to marry into
innumerus, -a, -um, adj.,
countless
inpar, -aris, adj., + dat.
une qual, inferior (to)
inpastus, -a, -um, adj., unfed
inpatiens, -entis, adj., + gen.
intolerant (of), impatient
inpell, -ere, -puli, -pulsum, to
drive, drive against, shatter
inpend, -ere, -di, -sum, to
spend, devote
inpius, -a, -um, adj., wicked
inple, -ere, -pleui, -pletum, to
fill, fill up
inplic, -are, -aui, -atum or
-itum, to entwine, entangle
inprobus, -a, -um, adj.,
shameless, presumptuous
inpiirus, -a, -um, adj., unclean,
vile
inritus, -a, -um, adj., vain,
unfulfilled
inscius, -a, -um, adj., not
knowing, unwitting
inser, -ere, -ui, -ertum, to
insert, put into, sink into
insist, -ere, institi, to stand on
+ ace., settle on, perch on +
dat. or abi.
inspir (1), to breathe
instar, n., indecl., equal to, as
great as
inst, -are, -stiti, -statum, +
dat., to press upon, insist
upon
insum, inesse, infui, to be in,
to be on, to be present in
intactus, -a, -um, adj.,
untouched
intentus, -a, -um, adj., eager,
waiting
inter, prep. + ace., among,
between
intercipi, -ere, -cepi, -ceptum,
to intercept, snatch, cut off
interpn, -ere, -posui,
-positum, to interpose, put
between
intus, adv., within
inultus, -a, -um, adj.,
unavenged, unpunished
inuad, -ere, -uasi, -uasum, to
seize
inueh, -ere, -uexi, -uectum, to
carry in, convey
inueni, -uenire, -ueni,
-uentum, to find
inuide, -ere, -uidi, -uisum, to
refuse, begrudge
inuidia, -ae,f, envy, spite
inuidus, -a, -um, adj., envious
inuigil (1), to watch over, be
awake
inuisus, -a, -um, adj., hated
inuolu, -ere, -uolui,
-uoliitum, to wrap up, cover
up
inius, -a, -um, adj., Ionian
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118 A LUCAN READER
ipse, -a, -um, adj., himself,
herself, itself
ira, -ae,f, anger, rage
iratus, -a, -um, adj., angry
iste, ista, istud, pron., that
Isthmos, -I, m., the Isthmus of
Corinth
italia, -ae, f, Italy
iterum, adv., again, a second time
iuba, -ae,f, mane, crest
luba, -ae, m., Juba
iube, -ere, iussi, iussum, to
order
ifidex, -icis, m., judge,
adjudicator, referee
ifigul (1), to strangle, murder
iugulum, -I, n., throat
iugum, -I, n., yoke, mountain
ridge
Iwia, -ae,f, Julia
Iwius, -a, -um, adj., Julian, of
the Julian house
iung, -ere, ifinxi, ifinctum,
to join
luppiter, louis, m., Jupiter
ifis, ifiris, n., justice, law, right,
power, legality
iussus, -fis, m., order
iuste, adv., rightly, justly
iustum, -I, n., justice
iustus, -a, -um, adj., just
iuuenis, -is, m., young man
iuu, -are, ifiui, ifitum, to help,
assist, please, delight
labor, labi, lapsus sum, to slide,
slip
labor, -ris, m., work, toil,
struggle
labr (1), to work, strive
lacer, -era, -erum, adj.,
mangled, torn, lacerated
lacer (1), to lacerate, mangle,
mutilate
lacertus, -I, m., arm, upper arm
lacrima, -ae,f, tear
laetus, -a, -um, adj., happy,
prosperous
lampas, -adis,f, torch
lancea, -ae,f, lance, spear
langue, -ere, -, -, to droop,
be faint
languidus, -a, -um, adj., faint,
weak, weary
languor, -ris, m., weakness,
exhaustion
lapsus, -fis, m., fall, collapse
laqueus, -I, m., noose, rope
lar, laris, m., household god
lassus, -a, -um, adj., tired,
weary
late, adv., far and wide,
extensively
latebra, -ae,f, hiding-place
late, -ere, -ui, -, to be
concealed, lie hidden
Latiaris, -e, adj., Latian, of
Latium
Latium, -I, n., Latium
Latius, -a, -um, adj., Latian, of
Latium
latus, -a, -um, adj., wide, broad
laurea, -ae,f, crown oflaurel,
bay-wreath
laus, laudis,f, praise
Lauinius, -a, -um, adj., of
Lavinium
lax (1), to open, widen
Digitized by Google
VOCABULARY 119
leg, -ere, legi, lectum, to read
le, -nis, m., lion
Lesbos, -i,f, Lesbos
Lethaeus, -a, -um, adj., of
Lethe
letifer, -a, -um, adj., deadly,
fatal
letum, -I, n., death
Leueas, -adis,f, Leucas
leuis, -e, adj., light, swift,
nimble, light-armed
leu (1), to lift, support
lex, legis, f, law
libertas, -atis,f, liberty,
freedom
libr (1), to hold suspended,
balance, poise
Libyeus, -a, -um, adj., Libyan
Libye, -es,f, Libya, Africa
lieentia, -ae, adj., freedom,
liberty, lack of restraint
lieet, lieuit, impers., it is
allowed
limes, -itis, m., boundary, limit
litus, -oris, n., shore
loe (1), to place
loeus, -I, m., place, position
longe, adv., far
longus, -a, -um, adj., long
loquor, loqui, loeutus sum, to
speak, talk, say
luee, -ere, luxi, -, to shine
luctus, -us, m., grief, sorrow
lueus, -I, m., grove, sacred
grove
luge, -ere, luxi, luctum, to
grieve, mourn
lumen, -inis, n., light, eye
lupus, -I, m., wolf
lustra, -orum, n.pl., haunts of
wild beasts, impenetrable
country
lustr (1), to purify, sanctify;
scan, consider, survey
lux, lucis,f, light, day; life
luxus, -us, m., luxury
lymphatus, -a, -um, adj.,
frantic, crazy
maehina, -ae,f, device,
mechanism
maeul (1), to stain, pollute
made, -ere, -ui, -, to be wet,
drip
madidus, -a, -um, adj., wet,
moist
maestus, -a, -um, adj., unhappy,
grieving, gloomy, dismal
magis, adv., more
magister, -tri, m., master, ship's
captain
magnus, -a, -um, adj., great, big
Magnus, -I, m., Magnus,
Pompey
maiestas, -atis,f, dignity
maiores, -um, m.pl., ancestors
mala, -rum, n.pl., troubles,
hardships
male, adv., badly, evilly
malignus, -a, -um, adj., evil,
hostile
malus, -a, -um, adj., bad, evil
malus, -I, m., mast
mand (1), to entrust, assign
mane, -ere, mansi, mansum,
to stay, remain
manes, -ium, m.pl., spirits of
the dead, ghosts, shades
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120 A LUCAN READER
manus, -fis,f, hand; band of
men
maree, -ere, -, -, to droop,
be languid, wither
mare, -is, n., sea
maritus, -I, m., husband
Marius, -I, m., Marius
Mars, Martis, m., Mars, god of
War
mteria, -ae,f, material,
substance, solid matter
mtfirus, -a, -um, adj., ripe,
early
Maurus, -I, m., Moor
medium, -ii, n., the middle
part, the midst, the common
stock
medius, -a, -um, adj., middle,
middle of, in the middle
medulla, -ae,f, marrow,
innards
membrum, -I, n., limb,
member
memini, -isse, -, defective
verb, to remember
memorbilis, -e, adj.,
memorable
Memphis, -idis,f, Memphis
mens, mentis,f, mind, thought
mere, -ere, -ui, -itum, to
deserve, earn
merg, -ere, mersi, mersum, to
plunge, sink
meritus, -a, -um, adj.,
deserved, fit
merx, mercis,f, goods,
merchandise, reward
metallum, -I, n., metal
metu, -ere, -ui, -, to fear
meus, -a, -um, poss. pron., my,
mine
miles, -itis, m., soldier
minor, minari, mintus sum,
to threaten
mirtor, -ris, m., admirer
miror, mirri, miratus sum, to
admire, be amazed at, hold
inawe
misee, -ere, miseui, mixtum,
to mix, mingle, combine
miser, -era, -erum, adj.,
wretched, poor
miserandus, -a, -um, adj.,
pitiable, lamentable
mitis, -e, adj., soft, kind, gentle
mitt, mittere, misi, missum,
to send, throw
modicus, -a, -um, adj.,
moderate, modest, small
modo, adv., only
modus, -I, m., way; limit
moenia, -ium, n.pl., walls, city
walls
mollis, -e, adj., soft, easy,
yielding, effeminate
mons, montis, m., hill,
mountain
monstrtor, -ris, m., guide
monstr (1), to show
monstrum, -I, n., portent,
omen, abomination
mora, -ae,f, delay, stay,
impediment, obstacle
morior, mori, mortuus sum,
to die
mors, -tis,f, death
mortlis, -e, adj., mortal
ms, mris, m., custom, habit
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VOCABULARY 121
motus, -fis, m., movement,
upheaval
moue, -ere, mui, mtum, to
move, sway, set in motion
mox, adv., soon
mficr, -nis, m., sword-point
mfigi, -ire, mfigiui, mfigitum,
to roar, rumble, bellow
multum, adv., much, very
multus, -a, -um, adj., much,
many
Munda, -ae,f, Munda [a city in
Spain]
mundus, -I, m., sky, world,
universe
murmur, -ris, n., murmur, roar,
growling
mfirus, -I, m., wall
Mfisae, -arum,fpl., the Muses
Mutina, -ae,f, Mutina
mfit (1), to change
Nais, -,f defective noun,
Naiad, water-nymph
nam, conj., for, because
nascor, nasci, natus sum, to be
born
nat (1), to swim, be drenched
Natfira, -ae,f, Nature
natus, -I, m., son
naufragium, -ii, n., shipwreck
nauita, -ae, m., sailor
ne, conj., lest, so that not
-ne, particle, indicating a
question
nec, neque, conj., nor, and not;
nec ... nec, neither ... nor
nefandus, -a, -um, adj.,
unspeakable, abominable
nefas, n., indecl., impious deed,
crime, guilt, abomination
neg (1), to deny, say ... not
nemus, -oris, n., grove, wood,
forest
neps, -tis, m., grandson,
descendant
nequiquam, adv., in vain
nequis = ne, conj., + quis,
pron., adj., lest anyone, any
Ner, -nis, m., Nero
neruus, -I, m., sinew, tendon,
muscle
nesci, -ire, -iui, -, not to
know
nescius, -a, -um, adj., unaware,
not knowing how to
niger, nigra, nigrum, adj.,
dark, black
nihil, n., indecl., nothing
nil, n., indecl. See nihil
Nilus, -I, m., the river Nile
nimius, -a, -um, adj., too much,
too great, excessive
nisi, conj., unless, except, if not
nbilis, -e, adj., noble,
renowned
nocens, -entis, adj., harmful,
wicked, guilty
nocturnus, -a, -um, adj.,
nocturnal, nighttime
ndsus, -a, -um, adj., knotty
nl, nlle, nlui, -, to be
unwilling, not to want
nmen, -inis, n., name
nn, adv., not
nndum, adv., not yet
nosc, -ere, nui, ntum, to
know, recognize
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122 A LUCAN READER
noster, -stra, -strum, poss.
pron., our, Roman
ntus, -a, -um, adj., well-
known, familiar
nouus, -a, -um, adj., new,
recent
nox, noctis, f, night
noxius, -a, -um, adj., harmful,
guilty
niibes, -is,f, cloud
niibila, -rum, n.pl., clouds,
rain clouds
niid (1), to strip bare, uncover,
expose
niidus, -a, -um, adj., naked, bare
nullus, -a, -um, adj., no, none
niimen, -inis, n., (divine) power
numer (1), to count
numquam, adv., never
nunc, adv., now
niit (1), to nod, totter
Nympha, -ae,f, nymph, semi-
divine spirit of nature
l interj., oh!
obe, -ire, -iui, -itum, to die
obliquus, -a, -um, adj., slanting
obliuia, -rum, n.pl.,
forgetfulness, oblivion
obru, -ere, obrui, obrutum, to
overwhelm, crush
obsciir (1), to obscure,
overshadow
obsciirus, -a, -um, adj., dark,
shady, murky, obscure
obsequor, -sequi, -seciitus
sum, to comply, obey
obst, -are, -steti, -, to
obstruct, stand in the way
obuius, -a, -um, adj., meeting,
facing, opposing
occup (1), to seize, grab
Oetaeus, -a, -um, adj., of Mt.
Oeta
offer, -ferre, obtuli, oblatum,
to offer, bring to
Hm, adv., once, long ago
men, -inis, n., omen, sign,
portent
omnis, -e, adj., every, all
opac (1), to make shady, shade
opera, -ae, f, work, effort,
support
opes, opum,fpl., riches,
wealth
oppn, -ere, -posui, -positum,
to set before, draw up
opus, -eris, n., work, task
ra, rae,f, region, border
orbis, -is, m., circle, ring, orbit,
world
ord, -dinis, m., rank, order
Orestes, -is, m., Orestes
ornus, -i,f, ash-tree
r (1), to beg, pray
s, ris, n., face, mouth
os, ossis, n., bone
paelex, -icis,f, mistress,
paramour
Pallas, -adis,f, Pallas, Athene
pallens, -entis, adj., faint, pale
pallidus, -a, -um, adj., pale,
colorless
pallor, pallris, m., paleness,
pallor
palma, -ae, f, palm, hand
Pan, Panos, m., Pan, pI. Piines
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VOCABULARY 123
par, paris, adj. or noun, equal,
like, a match
Pareae, -arum,fpl., the Fates
pare, -ere, peperci, parsum,
+ dat. or infinitive, to spare,
refrain from
parens, -entis, m. and f, parent
pare, -ere, -ui, -, + dat., to
obey
par (1), to prepare, obtain, get,
win
pars, partis,f, part, role,
element
Parthicus, -a, -um, adj.,
Parthian
parum, adv., too little
paruus, -a, -um, adj., small,
little
pate, -ere, -ui, -, to lie open,
be open
pater, -tris, m., father; senator
patiens, -ientis, adj., patient,
enduring
patior, pati, passus sum, to
suff er, endure, allow
patria, -ae,f, fatherland, native
land
patricius, -a, -um, adj., patrician
patrius, -a, -um, adj., ancestral
paue, -ere, paui, -, to fear,
tremble at, quake with fear
pauor, -ris, m., fear, panic
pax, -acis,f, peace
pectus, -oris, n., breast, chest,
heart
pelagus, -I, m., sea
Pellaeus, -a, -um, adj., ofPella
pell, -ere, pepuli, pulsum, to
drive away, dispel
Pelopeus, -a, -um, adj., of
Pelops, son/descendant of
Pelops
Peliisiaeus, -a, -um, adj., of
Pelusium
penates, -ium, m.pl., household
gods
pendeo, -ere, pependi, -, to
hang, hang in the balance,
totter
penitus, adv., deeply
Pentheus, -ei, m., Pentheus
per, prep. + ace., through,
along, during, by means of,
for, by
pereell, -ere, -culi, -eulsum,
to strike, hit, upset
pereuti, -ere, -cussi, -eussum,
to strike, affect
perd, -ere, -didi, -ditum, to
lose, destroy
peremptus. See perimo
pere, -ire, -ii, -itum, to die,
perish, be ruined
pererr (1), to wander
perfodi, -ere, -fdi, -fossum,
to pierce, stab
Pergama, -rum, n.pl.,
Pergamum, the citadel of
Troy
perim, -ere, -emi, -emptum,
to destroy, kill, murder
permane, -ere, -mansi,
-mansum, to endure, last
permisee, -ere, -miseui,
-mixtum, to mix up, throw
into confusion, mingle
permitt, -ere, -misi, -missum,
to let, permit, grant, allow
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124 A LUCAN READER
perrump, -ere, -rupi, -ruptum,
to break through, split
persequor, -sequi, -secutus
sum, to pursue, follow after
Perusinus, -a, -um, adj.,
belonging to Perusia
[modern Perugial
peruius, -a, -um, adj., passable
petitor, -ris, m., seeker
pet, -ere, -iui, -itum, to seek,
ask, make for, aim at
Pharius, -a, -um, adj., ofPharos
Pharsalia, -ae, f, Pharsalia
Pharsalicus, -a, -um, adj., of
Pharsalia
Phoebe, -es,f, the goddess
Diana, sister of Phoebus
Apollo
Phoebeus, -a, -um, adj., of
Phoebus, of Apollo
Phoebus, -I, m., Phoebus,
Apollo, the sun(-god)
Phrygius, -a, -um, adj.,
Phrygian, Trojan
Phryx, -ygis, adj., Phrygian
pietas, -atis,f, dutiful behavior,
devotion
pignus, -oris, n., pledge, bond
pilum, -I, n., javelin
Pindus, -I, m., Mt. Pindus
piraticus, -a, -um, adj., ofthe
pirates
pius, -a, -um, adj., good, holy
place (2) + dat., to pie ase
placidus, -a, -um, adj., kindly,
calm, tranquil
plac (1), + dat., to be favorably
disposed, reconciled (with)
plausus, -us, m., applause
plebeius, -a, -um, adj., of the
common people, common,
ordinary
plebes, plebei,f, the plebs, the
people, the masses
plenus, -a, -um, adj., full
plurimus, -a, -um, adj., most
numerous, very many
plus, pluris, adj., more
pluuialis, -e, adj., rainy
poena, -ae, f, punishment
Poenus, -a, -um, adj.,
Carthaginian
Pompeius, -I, m., Pompey
pondus, -eris, n., weight, mass
pn, -ere, posui, positum,
to put, put down, put aside,
place
Ponticus, -a, -um, adj., Pontic
pontus, -I, m., sea
Pontus, -I, m., the Black Sea
popularis, -e, adj., popular, of
the people
populus, -I, m., people, race
portitor, -ris, m., ferryman
posc, -ere, poposci, -, to
demand
posside, -ere, -sedi, -sessum,
to own, possess
possum, posse, potui, - , to
be able
post, prep. + ace., after
posteritas, -atis,f, posterity
postquam, conj., after
potens, -entis, adj. + gen., able,
powerful (over)
potestas, -atis,f, power
praebe (2), to offer, show,
provide
Digitized by Google
VOCABULARY 125
praeced, -ere, -ces si, -cessum,
to precede, outs trip
praeceps, adv., headlong
praeceps, -cipitis, adj.,
headlong, in haste
praeceps, -cipitis, n., a sheer
drop, a precipitous des cent
praeda, -ae,f, loot, plunder
praefer, -ferre, -tuli, -latum,
to put before, prefer
praepar (1), to prepare
praesagium, -I, n.,
presentiment, foreboding
praest, -are, -iti, -itum, to
show, present
praestring, -ere, -strinxi,
-strictum, to dazzle, confuse
precor, precari, precatus sum,
to pray, beg
prem, premere, pressi,
pressum, to press upon,
overwhelm, confine
pretium, -I, n., price, prize
primum, adv., first
primus, -a, -um, adj., first,
uttermost, extreme, the first
part of, earliest, best
prior, -ris, adj., former, prior,
previous, ahead
priuatus, -I, m., someone who
holds no public office
pro, interj., oh!
prb (1), to approve, prove,
test
procul, adv., far from
prcumb, -ere, -cubui,
-cubitum, to fall forward,
down
proelium, -ii, n., battle, fight
profanus, -a, -um, adj.,
profane, unclean
prici, -ere, -ieci, -iectum, to
cast out, throw out
prmitt, -ere, -misi, -missum,
to promise
prnus, -a, -um, adj., leaning
forward, drooping
prpell, -ere, -puli, -pulsum,
to push over, drive on
propere, adv., fast, swiftly
proper (1), to hurry, hasten
propior, -ius, adj., closer, nearer
prrump, -ere, -riipi,
-ruptum, to break out, rush
forth
proscind, -ere, proscindi,
proscissum, to cut the
surface of, gash
prosperus, -a, -um, adj.,
fortunate, successful
prospici, -ere, -spexi,
-spectum, to look at, survey
prostern, -ere, -straui,
-stratum, to lay low,
overthrow
prosum, prodesse, profui, -,
+ dat. to benefit, profit
prtinus, adv., at once
proximus, -a, -um, adj., the
nearest, next
Ptolemaeus, -I, m., Ptolemy
pudet, puduit, impers., it
shames, I am ashamed
pudor, -ris, m., shame
puer, -I, m., boy
pugna, -ae,f, fight, battle
pugn (1), to fight
pulm, -nis, m., lung
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126 A LUCAN READER
puls (1), to strike, impel
puluis, -eris, n., dust
puniceus, -a, -um, adj., red,
ruddy
puppis, -is,f, ship, stern
purg (1), to purify
purus, -a, -um, adj., pure
puter, -tris, -tre, adj., rotten,
decaying
put (1), to think
Pyrrhus, -I, m., Pyrrhus
qua, adv., where
quaer, -ere, -siui, -situm, to
seek, ask, question
qualis, -e, adj., ofwhat kind; of
such a kind, like, as
qualiter, adv., as, just as
quam, adv., how; than
quamuis, conj., although
quantum, adv., as much as, to
as great an extent
quantus, -a, -um, adj., how
great
quati, -ere, -, quassum, to
shake
-que, conj., and
-que ... -que, conj., both ...
and
quercus, -us,f, oak tree
querella, -ae, f, lament
queror, queri, questus sum, to
complain, lament
qUi, quae, quod, pron., who,
what, which?; adj., any
qUicumque, quaecumque,
quodcumque, pron.
whoever, whatever
quies, -etis,f, quiet, rest
quippe, conj., the fact is, indeed
Quirinus, -I, m., Quirinus,
name given to the deified
Romulus
quid? adv., why?
quis, quid? pron., adj., who,
what?
quisquam, quicquam, indef
pron., anyone, anybody
quisque, quaeque, quidque,
indef pron., each, each one,
each person
quisquis, quidquid, indef
pron., whoever, whatever
qu, adv. and conj., where,
to what place, to the place
where
quod, conj., because; the fact
that
quod si, conj., but if
ququam, adv., to anywhere
quoque, conj., also, too
radix, -ieis,f, root
ramus, -I, m., branch
rapi, -ere, rapui, raptum, to
snatch, seize, grab
rarus, -a, -um, adj., rare,
scattered, occasional
ratis, -is,f, ship, boat
reced, -cedere, -cessi,
-cessum, to go back, recede,
be separated from
recept (1), to take back,
receive, admit
reeid, -ere, -eidi, -eisum, to
cut off
reeipi, -ere, -cepi, -ceptum, to
receive, admit
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VOCABULARY 127
recollig, -ere, -legi, -lectum,
to gather again, collect
rector, -ris, m., ruler
recumbo, -ere, recubui, to lie,
lie at rest
redd, -ere, reddidi, redditum,
to give back, res tore
rede, -ire, redii, reditum, to
go back, return, recur, recoil
upon
refert, referre, rettulit, impers.
verb, it makes a difference, it
is important
refugi, -ere, -ffigi, -, to shun,
flee away from
regia, -ae, f, palace
regius, -a, -um, adj., royal,
belonging to the king
regn (1), to rule
regnum, -I, n., kingdom,
tyranny, rule, power
relinqu, -ere, reliqui,
relictum, to leave, abandon
remane, -ere, -mansi, -, to
stay behind, remain
remitto, -ere, -misi, -missum,
to send back, ease, let up
remoue, -ere, -mui,
-mtum, to remove
remus, -I, m., oar
reor, reri, ratus sum, to think
repar (1), to restore, repair
repeU, -ere, -pulsi, -pulsum,
to drive back
repet, -petere, -petiui,
-petitum, to seek again,
revert to
res, rei,f, thing, matter, event,
affair; pi. situation
reside, -ere, -sedi, -, to
reside, be seated
resolu, -ere, -solui, -solfitum,
to unfasten, melt
respici, -ere, -spexi,
-spectum, to look back at,
heed, have respect for
restitu, -ere, -stitui,
-stitfitum, to res tore
reteg, -ere, -texi, -tectum, to
uncover, reveal
retine, -ere, -tinui, -tentum,
to keep back, restrain
reueU, -ere, -ueUi, -uolsum or
-uulsum, to pull away, tear
out
reuerentia, -ae,f, respect
reuertor, reuerti, reuersus
sum, to turn back, return
reuoc (1), to recall, call back,
summon back
rex, regis, m., king
Rhoeteum, -I, n., Rhoeteum
rigens, -entis, adj., stiff, frozen
rigesc, -ere, -gui, to grow stiff
rigidus, -a, -um, adj., stiff, hard
ripa, -ae, f, river bank
rite, adv., solemnly, with due
observance
ritus, -fis, m., rite, ritual, custom
riuus, -I, m., stream
rbur, -oris, n., oak tree, tree-
trunk, hard timber; strength
rogus, -I, m., funeral pyre
Rma, -ae,f,Rome
Rmnus, -a, -um, adj., Roman
rostra, -rum, n.pl., the platform
from which speakers addressed
the Roman people
Digitized by Google
128 A LUCAN READER
rt (1), to whirl about, send
rolling
Rubic, -nis, m., the river
Rubicon
ruina, -ae,f, ruin, collapse,
destruction
rump, -ere, riipi, ruptum, to
break
ru, -ere, rui, rutum, to rush,
fall in ruin, collapse
riipes, -is,f, rock, cliff
riiricoIa, -ae, m., f, country-
dweller, rustic
riis, riiris, n., fieIds,
countryside
Sabinus, -a, -um, adj., Sabine
sacer, -cra, -crum, adj.,
sacred; n.pl., sacred rites,
ceremonies
sacerds, -tis, m., priest
sacr (1), to dedicate, consecrate
saecuIum, -I, n., age,
generation, century
saepe, adv., often
saeuus, -a, -um, adj., savage,
wild
saIiit (1), to greet
saIuus, -a, -um, adj.,
unharmed, preserved,
maintained
sanguis, -guinis, m., blood
satelles, -itis, m., attendant,
minion
sati (1), to satiate, glut
satis, adv., enough, sufficiently
satur (1), to fill, glut
saxum, -I, n., rock, stone
sceieratus, -a, -um, adj., wicked
sceIus, -eris, n., crime, evil deed
sceptrum, -I, n., scepter
seind, -ere, seidi, seissum, to
rip, te ar
sei, -ire, -iui, -itum, to know,
knowhowto
scopuIus, -I, m., rock, cliff
scriitor, scriitari, scriitatus
sum, to search, examine
Scythicus, -a, -um, adj.,
Scythian
se, reflex. pron., himself, herself,
itself, themselves
sec, -are, -ui, -ctum, to cut,
cut off
secretum, -I, n., secret, mystery
secundus, -a, -um, adj.,
following, favorable
seeiiris, -is,f, axe
seciirus, -a, -um, adj.,
untroubled, ignoring;
+ gen., oblivious (of),
indifferent (to)
sed, conj., but
sede, -ere, sedi, sessum, to sit,
sink, settle
sedes, -is, m., seat, abode, home
semianimis, -e, adj., half-alive
semirutus, -a, -um, adj., half-
destroyed
semiuir, -uiri, m., half-man,
eunuch
semper, adv., always
senatus, -iis, m., Senate
senex, senis, m., old man
senium, -I, n., old age
senti, -ire, sensi, sensum, to
feel, realize
separ (1), to divide, separate
Digitized by Google
VOCABULARY 129
Septimius, -I, m., Septimius
sepulchrum, -I, n., tomb, grave
sequor, sequi, seefitus sum, to
follow, pursue, chase
Seres, -um, m.pl., Seres [a
people, living in what
today is China]
series,f defective noun, series,
chain
serp, -ere, serpsi, serptum, to
creep, crawl, snake
seruilis, -e, adj., servile, of a
slave
serui (4) + dat., to serve
seru (1), to keep, keep safe,
preserve
set. See sed
si, conj., if
sibila, -rum, n.pl., hissing
sie, adv., thus, in this way, so
sieut, adv., just as
sid, -ere, -, -, to sink, settle
sidus, -eris, n., star
Sigeus, -a, -um, adj., ofSigeum
signum, -I, n., sign, standard;
constellation
silens, -tis, adj., silent, pi. the
dead
silua, -ae,f, wood, forest, pi.
trees
Siluanus, -I, m., Silvanus, a
Romangod
Simois, -entis, m., Simois
simul, adv., at the same time
simulaerum, -I, n., likeness,
image, statue
sine, prep. + abi., without
singuli, -ae, -a, adj., single,
individual
singultus, -fis, m., sob
sinus, -fis, m., fold, hollow,
embrace, breast
siquis = si, conj., + quis, pron.,
if any, if anyone
situs, -fis, m., neglect, decay
soeer, -eri, m., father-in-law
socius, -ii, m., companion, ally,
associate
sl, slis, m., the sun, pi.
sunlight
slacium, -I, n., consolation
slum, adv., only
solum, -I, n., soil, ground
slus, -a, -um, adj., only, sole,
lonely
solu, -ere, solui, solfitum, to
loosen, free, unleash, break,
disintegrate
somnus, -I, m., sleep
sonipes, -pedis, m., horse,
charger, steed
sonitus, -fis, m., sound, noise
son, -are, sonui, sonitum,
to make a noise, resound,
crash
sopor, -ris, m., sleep, slumber
soprifer, -era, -erum, adj.,
sleepy, drowsy
sors, sortis,f, lot
sparg, -ere, sparsi, sparsum,
to sprinkle, scatter, break up
spectaeulum, -I, n., show, sight
spect (1), to look at
speeulor, speeulari, speeulatus
sum, to consider, observe
spes, -ei,f, hope
spir (1), to breathe
spoli (1), to plunder, strip
Digitized by Google
130 A LUCAN READER
sponte, abi. s. ofspns,f,
willingly, freely, of one's
ownaccord
squale, -ere, -ui, -, to be
rough, barren, murky
stamen, -inis, n., thread
statu, -ere, -ui, -utum, to
decide
sterilis, -e, adj., barren,
unfruitful
stern, -ere, straui, stratum, to
spread, lay low, prostrate
stimul (1), to goad, spur on
stimulus, -I, m., goad, spur,
incentive
st, stare, steti, statum, to stand
strages, -is,f, ruin, destruction,
slaughter
string, -ere, strinxi, strictum,
to draw, unsheathe a sword
stru, -ere, struxi, structum,
to arrange, furnish, build,
devise
Stygius, -a, -um, adj., Stygian
Styx, Stygis,f, the river Styx
sub, prep. + ace. or abi., under
subduc, -ere, -duxi, -ductum,
to take away
sube, -ire, -ii, -itum, to go
under, enter, pierce
subig, -ere, -egi, -actum, to
conquer, overcome
subitus, -a, -um, adj., sudden
sublatus, -a, -um. See to11
sublimis, -e, adj., high, tall, lofty
submissus, -a, -um, adj., low,
humble, groveling
subsid, -ere, -sedi, -sessum, to
sink down, settle, crouch
subuert, -ere, subuerti,
subuersum, to overturn,
destroy, ruin
succed, -ere, -ces si, -cessum,
to go up, move into
succend, -ere, -cendi,
-censum, to light, set on fire
successus, -us, m., success
suffici, -ere, suffeci,
suffectum, + dat., to have
the strength for, to have the
capacity for
suffig, -ere, suffixi, suffixum,
to fasten, attach
Su11a, -ae, m., Sulla
sum, esse, fUi, -, to be
summoue, -mouere, -mui,
-mtum, to remove, keep
away
summus, -a, -um, adj., very
high, highest, greatest, last
sum, -ere, sumpsi, sumptum,
to take, take up
supera, -rum, n.pl., the world
above
superbus, -a, -um, adj., proud
superi, -rum, m.pl., the gods
super (1), to go over, rise above,
surmount, defeat, cross
superstes, -itis, adj., surviving
supersum, -esse, -fui, -, to
remain
supra, prep.+ ace., above, over
supremus, -a, -um, adj.,
highest, last, final
surdus, -a, -um, adj., deaf
surg, -ere, surrexi, -, to rise
suspici, -ere, -spexi,
-spectum, to look up at
Digitized by Google
VOCABULARY 131
sustine, -ere, -tinui, -tentum,
to support, sustain, persist
suus, -a, -um, poss. pron., his,
her, its, their [own]
Syrtes, -ium,fpl., the Syrtes,
sandbanks off the coast of
Africa
tabes, -is,f, decay, putrefaction
tace (2), to be silent
taeda, -ae,f, torch, marriage
torch
Taenarius, -a, -um, adj., of
Taenarus
talis, -e, adj., such, of such a
kind
tam, adv., so, so much
tamen, adv., however,
nevertheless
tandem, adv., finally, at last
tang, -ere, tetigi, tactum, to
touch
tantum, adv., only, to such an
extent, so much
tantus, -a, -um, adj., so great,
somuch
Tarpeius, -a, -um, adj., Tarpeian
Tartara, -rum, n.pl., Tartarus
Tartareus, -a, -um, adj., of
Tartarus
taxus, -i,f, yew tree
tectum, -I, n., roof, house
teg, -ere, texi, tectum, to
cover
te11us, -uris,f, land, ground
telum, -I, n., weapon, spear
temerarius, -a, -um, adj., rash,
reckless
temer (1), to violate, profane,
defile, desecrate
templum, -I, n., temple,
precinct
tempt (1), to try, attempt
tempus, -oris, n., time
tend, -ere, tetendi, tentum, to
stretch, head to, march to
tenebrae, -arum,fpl., darkness
tene, tenere, tenui, -, to hold,
keep, occupy
tentrium, -I, n., tent
tepidus, -a, -um, adj., warm
ter, adv., three times
tergum, -I, n., back
terminus, -I, m., end, term,
limit
terra, -ae, f, land, ground,
country
terre (2), to terrify, frighten
terror, -ris, m., terror, alarm
tertius, -a, -um, adj., third
testor, -ari, testatus, to attest,
be a witness, give evidence
of
thalamus, -I, m., marriage-
chamber
theatrum, -I, n., theater
Thessalia, -ae,f, Thessaly
Thessalicus, -a, -um, adj.,
Thessalian
Thessalus or Thessalius -a,
-um, adj., Thessalian
time, -ere, -ui, -, to fear, be
afraid
timor, -ris, m., fear
Titan, -anos, m., Titan, the
sun-god
toga, -ae,f, toga, peacetime
to11, -ere, sustuli, sublatum,
to lift, raise, remove, destroy
Digitized by Google
132 A LUCAN READER
Tonans, -antis, m., the
Thunderer, Jupiter
ton, -re, -ui, -, to thunder,
roar
torpor, -ris, m., numbness,
paralysis
torque, -ere, torsi, tortum, to
twist, hurl
torrens, -entis, m., torrent
torus, -I, m., couch, bed,
marriage-bed
tot, adj., so many
totidem, adv., just as many, the
samenumber
ttus, -a, -um, adj., total,
whole, entire
trah, -ere, traxi, tractum, to
draw, drag
trici, -ere, -eci, -iectum, to
strike through, to throw
across
tranquillus, -a, -um, adj., calm,
tranquil
trnse, -ire, -ii, -itum, to go
across, change
trnsmitt, -ere, -misi,
-missum, to pass through,
pierce
transtrum, -I, n., cross-beam,
bench
trepid (1), to fear, tremble, be
in distress
trem, -ere, tremui, to tremble,
quake
trepidus, -a, -um, adj.,
trembling, fearful
tres, tria, adj., three
tristis, -e, adj., sorrowful, grim,
ghastly
triumphus, -I, m., triumph
tropaeum, -I, n., trophy
truneus, -I, trunk
tu, pron., you (s.)
tueor, -eri, tutus sum, to
regard, consider, protect
tum, adv., then, next
tumidus, -a, -um, adj., swelling,
swollen
tumultus, -us, m., tumult,
turmoil
tumulus, -I, m., burial mound,
grave
tune, adv., then, at that time
turba, -ae,f, crowd, multitude,
mob
turbidus, -a, -um, adj.,
stormy, turbulent, troubled,
confused, in confusion
turb (1), to disturb, disrupt
turicremus, -a, -um, adj.,
incense-burning
turriger, -a, -um, adj., turreted,
turret -crowned
tus, turis, n., incense
tutus, -a, -um, adj., safe
tuus, -a, -um, poss. pron., your
(s.)
tyrannus, -I, m., tyrant
uae (1), + abi. to be free or empty
of, + dat. have time for
uaeuus, -a, -um, adj., empty,
free
uadum, -I, n., shallow, ford
uaesnus, -a, -um, adj., mad,
crazed
ualidus, -a, -um, adj., strong
uallis, -is,f, valley
Digitized by Google
VOCABULARY 133
uallum, -I, n., rampart
uastus, -a, -um, adj., vast, huge,
massive
uates, -is, m. or f, prophet,
bard, poet
ubi, adv., where, when
ubicumque, adv., wherever
ubique, adv., everywhere
-ue, conj., or
ueh, -ere, uexi, uectum, to
carry, convey
uelamen, -inis, n., robe, covering
uelifer, -fera, -ferum, adj., sail-
bearing
uelum, -I, n., sail
uena, -ae,f, vein
uenabulum, -I, n., hunting-spear
uenerabilis, -e, adj., venerable,
majestic
ueneror, uenerari, ueneratus
sum, to revere
ueni, uenire, ueni, uentum,
to come
uentus, -I, m., wind
uer, ueris, n., spring
uerber, -eris, n., blow, stroke,
lash
uereor, uereri, ueritus sum, to
fear, respect
uerg, -ere, uersi, -, to turn,
decline
uers (1), to revolve, turn over
uertex, -icis, m., top, peak, head
uert, uertere, uerti, uersum,
to turn
uerus, -a, -um, adj., true,
genuine
uerutum, -I, n., spear, javelin
Vestalis, -e, adj., ofVesta
uester, -tra, -trum, poss. pron.,
your (pI.)
uestrum. See uos
uestigium, -I, n., track, trace,
footstep
uet, -are, -ui, -itum, to forbid,
prevent
uetus, -eris, adj., old, former
uetustas, -atis,f, age, antiquity
uia, -ae,f, way, path, road
uicinia, -ae,f, nearness,
approach
uicinus, -a, -um, adj.,
neighboring, situated
nearby, + dat.
(uicis) abi. uice,f, change,
succession
uictor, -ris, m., conqueror,
victor; as adj., victorious
uictria, -ae,f, victory
uictrix, -tricis,f adj.,
victorious, conquering
uide, -ere, uidi, uisum, to see
uideor, -eri, uisus, to seem
uilis, -e, adj., cheap, worthless
uinco, -ere, uici, uictum, to
conquer, defeat
uindex, -icis, m., defender,
champion
uindic (1), to claim the right
uiol (1), to violate, profane,
pollute
uiolentus, -a, -um, adj., violent
uir, -I, m., man, husband,
warrior
uires, uirium,fpl., strength
uirtus, -tutis,f, bravery,
courage, excellence,
masculinity
Digitized by Google
134 A LUCAN READER
uis,f, defeetive noun, force,
power
uiscera, -um, n.pl., entrails,
guts
uisus, -fis, m., sight, gaze
uita, -ae,f, life
uitalis, -e, adj., vital, of life
uiu, -ere, uixi, uictum, to
live
uix, adv., scarcely, with
difficulty, reluctantly
unus, -a, -um, adj., any
ultimus, -a, -um, adj., furthest,
last, final
ultra, adv., further, beyond
ultrix, -ieis, adj., avenging
umbra, -ae,f, shade, shadow;
ghost
umquam, adv., ever
uncus, -I, m., hook
unda, -ae, f, wave
unde, adv., whence, from where
unguis, -is, m., nail, claw, talon
finicus, -a, -um, adj., only, sole,
single
finus, -a, -um, adj., one
uoc (1), to call, summon
uolgatus, -a, -um. See uulgatus
uolgus. See uulgus
uolnus. See uulnus
uol, ueUe, uolui, -, to want,
wish, be willing
uolt = uult
uoltus. See uultus
uolucris, -is,f, bird
uolu, -ere, uolui, uolfitum, to
roll, revolve, turn over
us, pron., you (pI.)
utum, -I, n., prayer, vow
uoue, -ere, uui, utum, to
pledge, wish for
uox, ueis,f, voice, sound,
word
urbs, urbis,f, city
Vrbs, Vrbis,f, Rome
urgue, -ere, ursi, -, to press
upon, follow up
fir, -ere, ussi, ustum, to burn
usque, adv. right up to,
continuously
fisus, -fis, m., experience, use
ut, eonj., + in die., as, when; +
subj., so that, with the result
that
fitilis, -e, adj., useful, valuable
fitor, fiti, fisus sum, + abi., to
use
uulgatus, -a, -um, adj.,
common, ordinary
uulgus, -I, n., crowd, people,
multitude, mob
uulnus, -neris n., wound
uultus, -fis, m., face, expression,
look
Xanthus, -I, m., the river
Xanthus
Zmyrnaeus, -a, -um, adj., of
Smyrna
Digitized by Google
Mldi"ln Language Study/Latin
A Lucan Reader
Lucan's epic poem, Civil War, portrays the stark, dark horror of the years 49 through 48
the grim reality of Romans fighting Romans, ofJulius Caesar vs. Pompey the Great. Latin
sages selected for this edition include Lucan's analysis of the causes of the civil war,
of his protagonists Caesar and Pompey at key moments-Caesar's crossing of the L'oULJ'YLJ"',J.
the assassination of Pompey as he arrives in Egypt seeking refuge, Cato's funeral
Pompey, Caesar's visit to the site ofTroy-as weil as highly atmospheric passages: Pompey's vi
sion ofhis dead wife, Julia; and the necromancy performed by the witch Erichtho far Pompey'
son. Notes illuminate Lucan's attitude towards his material-his reluctance to tackle the topi
of civil war, his complicated relationship with Virgil's Aeneid, and his passionate involvement
in the events through the rhetorical device of apostrophe, when he seems to enter the poem a
a character hirnself.
Features of this edition:
Introduction that situates Lucan in his literary, historical, and ideological context
620 lines ofLatin text from Lucan's Civil War: 1.1-45,67-157, 183-227,486-504;
3.8-35; 399-445 6.624-53; 7.617-37; 7.647-82, 728-46, 760-811; 8.542-636, 663-88;
9.190-217; 9.961-99
Notes at the back
Map of the eastern Mediterranean in Caesar's day
Bibliography
Vocabulary
Susanna Morton Braund was appointed to a Canada Research Chair in Latin P6etry
Reception at the University ofBritish Columbia in 2007. Her BA and PhD are fron'!
sity of Cambridge; she has taught at the Universities of Exeter, Bristol, and
and at Yale University and Stanford University in the USA.
Prof. Braund has published extensivelyon Roman satire and Latin epic
monograph on the Satires ofJuvenal (1988), a commentary on Juvenal
a translation ofJuvenal and Persius for the Loeb Classical Library (2004).
(Oxford World's Classics series) ofLucan's poem has sold marethan
umes she has edited or coedited include one on the passions in Roman """ .. _ ..
and another on anger in antiquity (1993) . Her introductory book, La ...... ...
by Routledge in 2002.
Bolchazy-CarduCCi
Publishers,