Pharsalia by Lucan
"Pharsalia" is an epic poem by the Roman poet Lucan, composed during the 1st century CE. The work centers on the tumultuous events of the Roman Civil War, particularly the conflict between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great following the dissolution of the First Triumvirate. As Caesar marches toward Rome, the poem explores themes of political corruption, moral decay, and the struggle for power in a society fraught with violence and betrayal. Lucan portrays both Caesar and Pompey as complex figures embroiled in a battle that symbolizes the clash between tyranny and liberty.
The narrative progresses through key military engagements, culminating in the decisive battle at Pharsalus, where Caesar ultimately defeats Pompey. Despite his victory, the aftermath reveals the fragility of power, as Pompey's subsequent flight to Egypt leads to his assassination. The poem further delves into the philosophical implications of the conflict, reflecting Lucan's Stoic beliefs and his perspective on the nature of heroism and tyranny. As such, "Pharsalia" stands not only as a historical account of civil strife but also as a commentary on the moral dilemmas faced by individuals in positions of power.
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Pharsalia by Lucan
First transcribed:Bellum civile, 60-65 c.e. (English translation, 1614)
Type of work: Poetry
Type of plot: Epic
Time of plot: 70-47 b.c.e.
Locale: Rome, Spain, Northern Africa, Greece, and Asia Minor
Principal characters
Caesar , emperor of RomePompey , an enemy of CaesarCrassus , a triumvirJulia , a daughter of Pompey, wife of CaesarGaius Trebonius , one of Caesar’s generalsKing Juba , the Libyan rulerScaeva , a hero in Caesar’s armyCato , an enemy of CaesarBrutus , an enemy of Caesar
The Poem:
The First Triumvirate dissolves after the deaths of Crassus and Julia, who was Caesar’s wife and the daughter of Pompey. After his conquest of Gaul, Caesar advances to the Rubicon, then stops to consider his next move. Public morality in Rome is being corrupted by the wealth acquired from plundering its conquests, and public officials are dishonest. When Caesar decides to march on Rome, news of his decision terrifies the Romans. The senate flees, and Pompey hurries to the Adriatic port of Brindisi. Realizing he has lost the allegiance of Rome, and that crossing the Alps to reach his allies in Spain is impractical, Pompey sends for help from Eastern cities. Although Rome is ready to fall, Caesar decides to seize the area under Pompey and block the seaport controlling the Adriatic, but Pompey abandons Brindisi to Caesar.
Pompey decides to seek help from Sicily and Sardinia, while Caesar marches on Rome. In Rome, Caesar is greeted with silence except from a defiant Metellus, and he loots the treasury. Meanwhile, Pompey finds support from Greece and Asia Minor, so Caesar hurries back to Gaul. There he finds Marseilles pleading neutrality, and Caesar prepares an assault against it. Leaving Gaius Trebonius in charge, Caesar moves on to Spain, where he attacks the Pompeians. At first they successfully resist him, but they finally surrender.
Caesar has less success elsewhere. At Curicta, the Pompeians string underwater cables across the straits and wreck Caesar’s ships. Curio, Caesar’s lieutenant in Sicily, sails to Libya, where in a battle with King Juba, he and his men are massacred. There is now a stalemate. The Roman senators, in exile, meet in Epirus and appoint Pompey dictator.
Caesar hurries to Rome to declare himself dictator before joining his fleet at Brindisi and sailing across the Adriatic to Illyria, where Pompey is encamped. The two armies face each other. Pompey tries to breach Caesar’s defenses under cover of a wood. Pompey would have won a victory had not one of Caesar’s men, Scaeva, rallied his comrades and slaughtered the Pompeians. Scaeva is killed, and Pompey traps Caesar, but Pompey restrains his troops, having scruples against killing his son-in-law.
Caesar now quits this region and leads his army into Thessaly. Pompey is urged by councillors to reoccupy Rome but decides he should pursue Caesar until he has a peace and can disband his army. Despite a witch’s predictions of disaster and ominous portents, Pompey’s men are eager for battle, and Pompey reluctantly assents. The armies clash at Pharsalus with great enthusiasm: one to establish tyranny, the other to resist it. The slaughter is great, and Pompey is defeated.
Caesar surveys the scene and gloats. Pompey rides off without waiting for the final scene. He rides from city to city, greeted by weeping citizens, his fame undimmed by the defeat. He now looks to his former allies among the Eastern princes, focusing on Parthia. His associates insist that he approach Ptolemy, the boy king of Egypt, and Libya instead, so Pompey sails to Egypt. Ptolemy is persuaded by his councillors to murder Pompey and keep the Romans out of their country. Pompey is decoyed ashore, stabbed to death, and decapitated. His trunk is rescued from the ocean by one of his servants, cremated on a pyre, and buried in a mound.
Pompey’s ghost now swoops down for vengeance, first in Cato’s heart and then in the heart of the noble Brutus. Cato assumes the role of protector of Rome, rearming the partisans of liberty and rescuing the survivors of Pharsalia. The dead Pompey sends his son, Sextus, back to Egypt to take orders from Cato. Gnaeus, his other son, in Libya, sets out to rescue his father’s body and ravage Egypt’s sacred pyramids, but he is dissuaded by Cato. The Pompeians are inspired again by Cato to fight tyranny and renew the war. They cross the desert sands of Africa and reach the Oracle of Jupiter Ammon. There they meet emissaries from the Eastern powers who want to consult the Oracle, but Cato proceeds.
In the meantime, Caesar pursues the Pompeian survivors of Pharsalia as far as the Hellespont, where he stops to identify himself as a descendant of Aeneas. He then goes to Alexandria and takes Ptolemy hostage. Ptolemy’s sister, Cleopatra, seduces Caesar. Pothinus, who had engineered the assassination of Pompey, now conspires the death of Caesar but postpones the deed to keep from endangering Ptolemy. The attack on Caesar fails, and Caesar sets fire to the ships and the city and seizes the Pharos, capturing Pothinus and putting him to death. Cleopatra’s younger sister now takes command of the Egyptian army. She orders the execution of Ptolemy as a sacrifice and the assassination of Caesar, but Caesar successfully beats off the attack.
Bibliography
Bartsch, Shadi. “Lucan.” In A Companion to Ancient Epic, edited by John Miles Foley. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2005. An analysis of Pharsalia, including discussion of its contents, language, narrator’s voice, reception, stoicism, and depiction of Vergil.
Clark, John. “The Later Roman Epic.” In A History of Epic Poetry: Post-Virgilian. New York: Haskell House, 1964. Summarizes the epic, book by book, and finds its strength in its exalted style and earnest dedication. Considers Lucan the foremost writer of the Latin literature of decadence.
D’Alessandro Behr, Francesca. Feeling History: Lucan, Stoicism, and the Poetics of Passion. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2007. Examination of Pharsalia focusing on Lucan’s use of apostrophe—the rhetorical device in which the narrator talks directly to his or her characters. Describes the ethical and moral stance that the poet-narrator takes toward his characters and his audience.
Graves, Robert. Introduction to Lucan, “Pharsalia”: Dramatic Episodes of the Civil Wars. London: Cassell, 1961. Argues that this epic is a historical phenomenon anticipating many twentieth century literary genres.
O’Hara, James J. “Postscript: Lucan’s Bellum civile and the Inconsistent Roman Epic.” In Inconsistency in Roman Epic: Studies in Catullus, Lucretius, Vergil, Ovid, and Lucan. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Examines contradictory passages in Pharsalia, describing how these inconsistencies shed light on the major problems in Lucan’s epic.
Sullivan, J. P. “The Stoic Opposition? Seneca and Lucan.” In Literature and Politics in the Age of Nero. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1985. Argues that this epic is written from the standpoint of an emotional republican who believes that Caesar and the later heads of the Roman state held power illegally and that power must be restored to the senate.