Pharsalia; Dramatic Episodes of the Civil Wars

This is a magnificent new translation of the enduring epic about the sundering of the Roman Republic. Lucan lived from 39-65 AD at a time of great turbulence in Rome. His "Civil War" portrays two of the most colourful and powerful figures of the age - Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, enemies in a vicious struggle for power that severed bloodlines and began the transformation of Roman civilization. With Right locked in combat with Might, law and order broke down and the anarchic violence that resulted left its mark on the Roman people forever, paving the way for the imperial monarchy. Accessible and modern yet loyal to the rhetorical brilliance of the original, this will be the definitive Civil War of our times.