De bello civili.
By: Lucan ; edited by Elaine Fantham.
Contributors: Fantham, Elaine.
Series: Cambridge Greek and Latin classics
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1992
Place of publication: Cambridge [England]; New York
Language: eng; lat
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Pharsalus, Battle of, Farsala, Greece, 48 B.C. -- Poetry.; Epic poetry, Latin.; Rome -- History -- Civil War, 49-45 B.C. -- Poetry.
Genres: Poetry.
Description: "In this edition Professor Fantham offers the first full-scale commentary on the neglected second book of Lucan's epic poem on the war between Caesar and Pompey: De bello civili. Book II presents all three leading figures - Cato, Caesar and Pompey - in speech and action. It expresses the moral and political dilemma of civil war and portrays Pompey's loss of authority during his withdrawal from Italy in language designed to evoke and cancel Virgil's heroic presentation of the foundation myth of Aeneas. It is a book rich in the history and geography of Roman Italy, including the retrospective narrative of Marius' and Sulla's reigns of civil terror at Rome, an unusual wedding scene, a verbal map of Italy, and a swift-paced narrative of Caesar's blockade and Pompey's Dunkirk-like evacuation of the republican forces from Brundisium." "In her introduction Professor Fantham gives a general account of Lucan's life and work, and continues with a discussion of his narrative and interpretation of Caesar's military 'invasion' of Italy covering books I and II, a survey of language, style and metre, and a brief history of the text."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 236-239) and indexes.
Commentary in English, poem in Latin.