De bello civili, Book II

Resource Information

The work De bello civili, Book II represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Boston University Libraries. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

De bello civili, Book II

Title number

Book II

Statement of responsibility

Lucan ; edited by Elaine Fantham

Creator

• Lucan, 39-65

Contributor

• Fantham, Elaine

Subject

• 49 - 45 B.C
• Civil War (Rome : 49-45 B.C.)
• Epic poetry, Latin
• Epic poetry, Latin
• Greece -- Farsala
• Historiografia -- Roma antiga
• History
• Pharsalus, Battle of (Farsala, Greece : 48 B.C.)
• Pharsalus, Battle of, Farsala, Greece, 48 B.C. -- Poetry
• Poetry
• Rome (Empire)
• Rome -- History -- Civil War, 49-45 B.C. -- Poetry

Genre

• History
• Poetry

Language

• englat
• eng

Summary

"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

Member of

• Cambridge Greek and Latin classics
• Pharsalia, Book 2

Cataloging source

DLC

Illustrations

maps

Index

index present

Language note

Commentary in English, poem in Latin

LC call number

PA6478

LC item number

.A2 1992

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography