Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (3 November 39 AD – 30 April 65 AD), better known in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
as Lucan (), was a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
, born in Corduba (modern-day
Córdoba), in
Hispania Baetica
Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic di ...
. He is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the
Imperial Latin period, known in particular for his epic ''
Pharsalia
''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'', is a Roman epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Gr ...
''. His youth and speed of composition set him apart from other poets.
Life
Three brief ancient accounts allow for the reconstruction of a modest biography – the earliest attributed to
Suetonius, another to an otherwise unknown
Vacca, and the third anonymous and undated – along with references in
Martial,
Cassius Dio
Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
,
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
's ''Annals'', and one of
Statius
Publius Papinius Statius ( Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ; ) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the ''Thebaid''; a collection of occasional poetry, ...
's ''Silvae''. Lucan was the son of
Marcus Annaeus Mela and grandson of
Seneca the Elder; he grew up under the tutelage of his uncle
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.
Seneca was born in ...
. Born into a wealthy family, he studied rhetoric at Athens and was probably provided with a philosophical and
Stoic
Stoic may refer to:
* An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy
* STOIC, a programming language
* ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll
* ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain
* ...
education by his uncle.
![LucanPharsaliaFrenchEd1657](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/LucanPharsaliaFrenchEd1657.jpg)
His wife was Polla Argentaria, who is said to have assisted him with his ''Pharsalia''.
He found success under
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...
, became one of the emperor's close friends and was rewarded with a quaestorship in advance of the legal age. In 60 AD, he won a prize for extemporizing ''Orpheus'' and ''Laudes Neronis'' at the
quinquennial Neronia, and was again rewarded when the emperor appointed him to the augurate. During this time he circulated the first three books of his epic poem ''
Pharsalia
''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'', is a Roman epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Gr ...
'' (labelled ''De Bello civili'' in the manuscripts), which told the story of the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
between
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
and
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
.
At some point, a feud began between Nero and Lucan. Two very different accounts of the events have survived that both trivialize the feud. According to Tacitus, Nero became jealous of Lucan and forbade him to publish his poems. According to Suetonius, Nero disrupted a public reading by Lucan, by leaving and calling a meeting of the senate, and Lucan responded by writing insulting poems about Nero.
Other works, though, point to a more serious basis to the feud. Works by the grammarian Vacca and the poet Statius may support the claim that Lucan wrote insulting poems about Nero. Vacca mentions that one of Lucan's works was entitled ''De Incendio Urbis'' (On the Burning of the City). Statius's ode to Lucan mentions that Lucan described how the "unspeakable flames of the criminal tyrant roamed the heights of Remus." Additionally, the later books of ''Pharsalia'' are anti-Imperial and pro-Republic. This criticism of Nero and office of the Emperor may have been the true cause of the ban.
Lucan later joined the 65 AD conspiracy of
Gaius Calpurnius Piso against Nero. The conspiracy was discovered and he was obliged, at the age of 25, to commit
suicide by opening a vein, but not before incriminating his mother, among others, in the hopes of a
pardon. According to Tacitus, as Lucan bled to death, "(he) recalled some poetry he had composed in which he had told the story of a wounded soldier dying a similar kind of death and he recited the very lines. These were his last words."
[Tacitus, ''Annals'' XV.70.1. Scholars have vainly tried to locate Lucan's last words in his work but no passage in Lucan's extant poem exactly matches Tacitus's description at "Annals" 15.70.1. See, e.g., P. Asso, "A Commentary on Lucan 'De Bello Civili IV.'" Berlin: De Gruyter, 2010, p. 9n38.]
His father was involved in the
proscription but his mother escaped. Statius's poem about Lucan was addressed to his widow, Polla Argentaria, upon the occasion of his birthday during the reign of
Domitian
Domitian (; la, Domitianus; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Fl ...
(''Silvae'', ii.7, the ''Genethliacon Lucani'').
Works
According to Vacca and Statius, Lucan's works included:
Surviving work:
* ''
Pharsalia
''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'', is a Roman epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Gr ...
'' or ''De Bello Civili'' (On the Civil War), on the wars between
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
and
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
Often attributed to him (but to others as well):
* ''
Laus Pisonis
Laus may refer to:
* Laüs, an ancient city on the west coast of Lucania
* Laus River, a river of southern Italy
* Paul Laus (born 1970), former professional ice hockey player
* Beatrice Kristi Laus (born 2000), Filipino-British singer-songwrite ...
'' (Praise of Piso), a panegyric of a member of the Piso family
Lost works:
* ''Catachthonion''
* ''Iliacon'' from the Trojan cycle
* ''Epigrammata''
* ''
Adlocutio ad Pollam''
* ''Silvae''
* ''Saturnalia''
* ''Medea''
* ''Salticae Fabulae''
* ''Laudes Neronis'', a praise of Nero
* ''Orpheus''
* ''Prosa oratio in Octavium Sagittam''
* ''Epistulae ex Campania''
* ''De Incendio Urbis'', on the Roman fire of 64, perhaps accusing Nero of arson
Notes
References
*
Further reading
* Ahl, Frederick M. ''Lucan: An Introduction''. Cornell Studies in Classical Philology 39. Ithaca, New York: Cornell Univ. Pr., 1976.
* Bartsch, Shadi. ''Ideology in Cold Blood: A Reading of Lucan's Civil War''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Univ. Pr., 1997.
* Braund, Susanna M. (2008) ''Lucan: Civil War''. Oxford World's Classics. Oxford University Press.
* Braund, Susanna M. (2009) ''A Lucan Reader: Selections from Civil War. BC Latin Readers.'' Bolchazy-Carducci.
* Dewar, Michael. "Laying It On with a Trowel: The Proem to Lucan and Related Texts." ''Classical Quarterly'' 44 (1994), 199–211.
* Fantham, Elaine. "Caesar and the Mutiny: Lucan's Reshaping of the Historical Tradition in ''De Bello Civili'' 5.237–373." ''Classical Philology'' 80 (1985), 119–31.
* Fantham, Elaine (1992) ''De bello civili. Book II.'' Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics. Cambridge University Press.
* ———. "Lucan's Medusa Excursus: Its Design and Purpose." ''Materiali e discussioni'' 29 (1992), 95–119.
* Fratantuono, Lee. "Madness Triumphant: A Reading of Lucan's Pharsalia." Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2012.
* Henderson, John G. W. "Lucan: The Word at War." ''Ramus'' 16 (1987), 122–64.
* Johnson, Walter R. ''Momentary Monsters: Lucan and His Heroes''. Cornell Studies in Classical Philology 47. Ithaca, New York: Cornell Univ. Pr., 1987.
* Lapidge, M. "Lucan's Imagery of Cosmic Dissolution." ''Hermes'' 107 (1979), 344–70.
* Leigh, Matthew. ''Lucan: Spectacle and Engagement''. New York: Oxford Univ. Pr., 1997.
* Marti, Berthe. "The Meaning of the Pharsalia." ''American Journal of Philology'' 66 (1945), 352–76.
* Martindale, Charles A. "The Politician Lucan." ''Greece and Rome'' 31 (1984), 64–79.
* Masters, Jamie. ''Poetry and Civil War in Lucan's 'Bellum Civile. Cambridge Classical Studies. New York: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1992.
* ———. "Deceiving the Reader: The Political Mission of Lucan's Bellum Civile." ''Reflections of Nero: Culture, History, and Representation'', ed.
Jás Elsner and Jamie Masters. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Pr., 1994. 151–77.
* Matthews, Monica (2008) ''Caesar and the Storm: A Commentary on Lucan, De Bello Civili, Book 5, lines 476-721''. Peter Lang.
* Morford, M. P. O. ''The Poet Lucan''. New York: Oxford Univ. Pr., 1967.
* O'Gorman, Ellen. "Shifting Ground: Lucan, Tacitus, and the Landscape of Civil War." ''Hermathena'' 159 (1995), 117–31.
* Rossi, Andreola. "Remapping the Past: Caesar's Tale of Troy (Lucan ''BC'' 9.964–999)." ''Phoenix'' 55 (2001), 313–26.
* Sklenar, Robert John. ''The Taste for Nothingness: A Study of "Virtus" and Related Themes in Lucan's'' Bellum Civile. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Mich. Pr., 2003.
* Thomas, Richard F. "The Stoic Landscape of Lucan 9." ''Lands and Peoples in Roman Poetry: The Ethnographic Tradition''. New York: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1982. 108–23.
* Wick, Claudia (2004) ''Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, Bellum Civile, liber IX. I: Einleitung, Text und Übersetzung; II: Kommentar''. K.G. Saur.
* Wilson Joyce, Jane (1994) ''Lucan: Pharsalia''. Cornell University Press.
External links
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Marcus Annaeus Lucanus text, concordances and frequency list
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucanus, Marcus Annaeus
39 births
65 deaths
People from Córdoba, Spain
1st-century Romans
Silver Age Latin writers
Roman-era poets
Epic poets
Suicides by sharp instrument in Italy
Forced suicides
Romans from Hispania
Annaei
1st-century Roman poets
Members of the Pisonian conspiracy
Ancient Romans who committed suicide