Information about Lucan (poet)

Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (November 3, 39 AD – April 30, 65 AD), better known in English as Lucan, was a Roman poet, born in Corduba (modern-day Córdoba), in the Hispania Baetica. Despite his short life, he is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Silver Latin period. His youth and speed of composition set him apart from other poets.

He found success under Nero, and won a prize for poetry in 60 for extemporizing Orpheus and Laudes Neronis at the quinquennial Neronia. His epic poem, Pharsalia (but labelled Bellum civile in the manuscripts), which told the story of the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey, was also much acclaimed.

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.^[1] According to Suetonius, Nero lost interest in Lucan and Lucan responded by writing insulting poems about Nero that Nero continued to ignore.^[2]

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).^[3] Statius' ode to Lucan mentions that Lucan described the "unspeakable flames of the criminal tyrant roamed the heights of Remus."^[4] Additionally, the later books of Pharsalia, namely Book IX, are anti-Imperial and pro-Republic. This criticism of Nero and office of the Emperor may have been the true cause of the ban.

In 65, Lucan joined the conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso against Nero. His alleged treason having been discovered, he was obliged to commit suicide by opening a vein at the age of 25, but not before incriminating his mother (among others) in hopes of a pardon.

His father was involved in the proscription, his mother escaped, and his widow Polla Argentaria survived to receive the homage of Statius under Domitian. The birthday of Lucan was kept as a festival after his death, and a poem addressed to his widow upon one of these occasions and containing information on the poet's work and career is still extant (Statius's Silvae, ii.7, entitled Genethliacon Lucani).

Lucan's epic poem was unfinished at the time of his death, and its untidy condition is reflected in its 400 complete and partial copies. As A.E. Housman stated in the preface to his edition of 1926, "the manuscripts group themselves not in families but in factions; their dissidences and agreements are temporary and transient ... and the true line of division is between the variants themselves, not between the manuscripts which offer them."

Pharsalia was celebrated during the Middle Ages; Dante mentions him twice:

• De vulgari eloquentia mentions him, along with Ovid, Virgil and Statius as one of the four regulati poetae (ii, vi, 7)
• Inferno ranks him side by side with Homer, Horace, Ovid and Virgil (Inferno, IV,88).

His work had tremendous influence in the poetry and drama of the 17th century. Shelley, Southey and Macaulay all praised his work.

Works

According to Vacca and Statius, Lucan's works included:

Surviving work:

• Pharsalia (Civil War), on the war between Julius Caesar and Pompey

Often attributed to him (but to others as well):

• Laus Pisonis (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

External links

• Works by Lucan at Project Gutenberg
• Marcus Annaeus Lucanus: text, concordances and frequency list

Notes

References