Civil War

By Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, Medlar Lucan, tr.) Lucan (J.D. Duff, et al.

Book Overview

Written in the reign of Nero--the emperor against whom Lucan was implicated in a conspiracy and by whom he was compelled to commit suicide at the age of 25--the poet's dark, ambiguous, unfinished masterpiece focuses on the disintegration of the Roman body politic and the war between Julius Caesar and Pompey that ultimately lead to the end of the Roman republic.

While aiming for a poem both as rugged as Lucan's--with its mix of history and fantasy, of high and low registers, of common and uncommon turns of phrase, of narrative and declamation--and as reader-friendly as possible, Brian Walters owns that he has "nowhere tried to simplify the rhetorical excesses that are the essence of Lucan's poem, the real meat and bone of the Civil War."

A brilliant Introduction by W. R. Johnson discusses the poem's relationship to Nero and monarchy; its invocations of both the gods and chaos; the real hero of the Civil War; and the poem's end and narrative styles.

Synopses of individual books; suggestions for further reading; a glossary of names, places, and Roman institutions; and a map are also included.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1603849963
• ISBN13: 9781603849968
• Release Date: August 2015
• Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.8" x 5.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Underrated Historical Epic

An underrated work of the Silver Age. There are some excellent epsiodes that could stand on their own as mini-epics: the suicides of Vulteius and comrades, Appius 'rape' of the Pythia, Caesar's journey by sea, Scaeva's aristeia, Erictho's necromancy, and Cato's journey through Africa to name just a few. The historical insights into the lives of Caesar, Pompey, and Cato are also especially enlightening. Absolutely worth a first and second look!

"Gore, War, and Monumental Verse"

Lucan, the author of the full-throated but incomplete epic the "Civil War", certainly deserves a spot next to the great Latin poets Ovid, Horace, and Virgil, whose epic works mark the pinnacle eloquence and intelligence of Latin verse. The epic was written during the reign of Nero in the first century AD, and it is characterized by its vehement condemnation of civil war and imperialistic sentiments--this possibly caused Lucan's later fall out of Nero's favor. The primary characters in the epic are Julius Caesar, who is portrayed as a destructive warmonger, and Pompey (Magnus), who is described as ambitious and over his prime. The vivid descriptions of the wars in this work are exciting and at the same time sobering since Lucan's narrative never fails to reveal those attributes of civil war which invoke the most disturbing of feelings. For all this, Lucan's "Civil War" is recommended, and also because the Oxford World Classics always present reliable translations, and this particular edition retains Lucan's charming and long-winded verse that courses so smoothly through the hearts and minds reader's who are fortunate enough to come into contact with it.

Another version of Lucan

If I had known it was another translation of Lucan, I would not have ordered it, BUT I would have made a mistake. This work has a better translation for the modern reader, and lots of good supporting information. Some of the comparisons I made with other versions make me wish I had this ten years ago. The notes are worth the price of the book!