Audiobooks Single author Pharsalia; Dramatic Episodes of the Civil Wars
Pharsalia; Dramatic Episodes of the Civil Wars

Pharsalia; Dramatic Episodes of the Civil Wars

by LUCAN (39 - 65)

Lucan's only surviving work, De Bello Civili, more generally known as the Pharsalia, is an epic poem about the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. The title given by posterity to the poem refers to the Battle of Pharsalus, which took place in 48 BC near the city of Pharsalus, in Thessaly. The work is important as an example of Roman Historic Epic, since divine intervention plays little part in the narrative and very few supernatural occurrences happen in the story. Lucan's Civil War is considered a major expression of literature from the Neronian times, and has attracted renewed scholarly attention in the past decades. The work remains unfinished, due to the untimely death of its author. - Summary by Leni


Book I - The Crossing of the Rubicon, part 2

Book IV - Caesar in Spain. War in the Adriatic Sea. Death of Curio, part 2

Book V - The Oracle. The Mutiny. The Storm, part 2

Book VI - The Fight Near Dyrrhachium. Scaeva's Exploits. The Witch of Thessalia, part 2

Book I - The Crossing of the Rubicon, part 1

Book II - The Flight of Pompeius, part 1

Book II - The Flight of Pompeius, part 2

Book III - Massilia, part 1

Book III - Massilia, part 2

Book IV - Caesar in Spain. War in the Adriatic Sea. Death of Curio, part 1

Book IX - Cato, part 1

Book IX - Cato, part 2

Book V - The Oracle. The Mutiny. The Storm, part 1

Book VI - The Fight Near Dyrrhachium. Scaeva's Exploits. The Witch of Thessalia, part 1

Book VII - The Battle, part 1

Book VII - The Battle, part 2

Book VIII - Death of Pompeius, part 1

Book VIII - Death of Pompeius, part 2

Book X - Caesar in Egypt, part 1

Book X - Caesar in Egypt, part 2