Pharsalia, The Civil War (Forgotten Books) - Tapa blanda

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Pharsalia (also known as De Bello Civili or On the Civil War) is a Roman epic poem by the poet Lucan, telling of the civil war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the Roman Senate led by Pompey the Great. Pharsalia 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. Though incomplete, the poem is generally considered the second best epic written in Latin, after Virgil's Aeneid.

The poem was begun around 61 AD and several books were in circulation before Nero and Lucan had a bitter falling out. Lucan continued to work on the epic--despite Nero's prohibition against any publication of Lucan's poetry--and it was left unfinished when Lucan was compelled to suicide as part of the Pisonian conspiracy in 65 AD. A total of ten books were written and all survive; the tenth book breaks off abruptly with Caesar in Egypt. (Quote from wikipedia.org)

About the Author

Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (39 AD - 65 AD)
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 Cordoba), 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.

Two brief ancient biographies by Vacca and Suetonius, along with references in Tacitus's Annals and one of Statius's Silvae, allow for the reconstruction of a modest biography. Lucan was the grandson of Seneca the Elder and grew up under the tutelage of his uncle Seneca the Younger. Born into a wealthy family, he studied rhetoric at Athens (with Annaeus Cornutus