1671 PHARSALIA Roman epic poem by LUCAN antique
img{max-width:100%} Lucanus, M.A. Pharsalia, sive De bello civili Caesaris et Pompeii Lib. X. Ed. H. Grotius. Amsterdam, D. Elzevier, 1671 (12),273p.Size 2 1/2 by 4 3/4" engraved title, original calf,Text in Latin=======================================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 Great. The poem's title is a reference to the Battle of Pharsalus, which occurred in 48 BC, near Pharsalus, Thessaly, in northern Greece. Caesar decisively defeated Pompey in this battle, which occupies all of the epic's seventh book. In the early twentieth century, translator J. D. Duff, while arguing that "no reasonable judgment can rank Lucan among the world's great epic poets", notes that the work is notable for Lucan's decision to eschew divine intervention and downplay supernatural occurrences in the events