Marcus Annaeus Lucanus

Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (November 3, 39 – April 30, 65), better known in English as Lucan, was a Roman epic poet. In A.D. 65, at the age of 25, he was charged with treason against Nero, and was commanded to commit suicide.

Despite his short life, Lucan is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Imperial Latin period. His youth and speed of composition set him apart from other poets. His epic poem Bellum Civile (or Pharsalia) deals with the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey.

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Quotes

Pharsalia

› English quotations are taken from the translation by J. D. Duff, Lucan (London: Heinemann, 1962)
› Some of the English quotations are taken from the translation by Sir Edward Ridley (Longmans, Green, and Co., London, 1896)

In se magna ruunt: laetis hunc numina rebus
crescendi posuere modum.
- Great things come crashing down upon themselves – such is the limit of growth ordained by heaven for success.
- Book I, line 81.

Stat magni nominis umbra.
- The mere shadow of a mighty name he stood.
- Of Pompey the Great.
- Variant translations:
  - There stands the shade of a great name.
  - There stands the ghost of a great name.
- Book I, line 135.

Sed non in Caesare tantum
nomen erat nec fama ducis, sed nescia virtus
stare loco, solusque pudor non vincere bello.
- But Caesar had more than a mere name and military reputation: his energy ould never rest, and his one disgrace was to conquer without war.
- Book I, line 143.

Leges bello siluere coactae.
- But silenced now
  Are laws in war.
- Book I, line 277 (translated by Sir Edward Ridley).

Nec sibi sed toti genitum se credere mundo.
- His all, as not for self
  Brought into being, but for all the world:
  Such was his creed.
- Book II, line 383 (translated by Sir Edward Ridley).

Sed Caesar in omnia praeceps,
nil actum credens, cum quid superesset agendum.
- But Caesar, headlong in all his designs,
  thought nothing done while anything remained to do.
- Book II, line 656.

...Datos, ne quisquam seruiat, enses.
- ...The sword
  Was given for this, that none need live a slave.
- Book IV, line 579 (translated by Sir Edward Ridley).

Quidquid multis peccatur inultum est.
- The sin of thousands always goes unpunished.
- Book V, line 260.

Multos in summa pericula misit
venturi timor ipse mali.
- But many are driven to utmost peril by the mere dread of coming danger.
- Book VII, line 104.

Nil opus est uotis, iam fatum accersite ferro.
in manibus uestris, quantus sit Caesar, habetis.
- Prayed for so oft, the dawn of fight is come.
  No more entreat the gods: with sword in hand
  Seize on our fates; and Caesar in your deeds.
- Book VII, line 252 (translated by Sir Edward Ridley).

Et primo ferri motu prosternite mundum;
sitque palam, quas tot duxit Pompeius in urbem
curribus, unius gentes non esse triumphi.
- One stroke of sword and all the world is yours.
  Make plain to all men that the crowds who decked
  Pompeius' hundred pageants scarce were fit
  For one poor triumph.
- Book VII, line 278 (translated by Sir Edward Ridley).

...Coniunx
est mihi, sunt nati; dedimus tot pignora fatis.
- I have a wife, I have sons; all these hostages have I given to fortune.
- Variant translation: I have a wife, I have sons: we have given so many hostages to the fates.
- Book VII, line 661.