Lucan De Bello Civili, Book 10

This is the first full-scale English edition of the final surviving book of Lucan's De Bello Civili to be published. Book 10 recounts Julius Caesar's stay in Alexandria in Egypt from October 48 to January 47 BCE. It narrates Caesar's visit to the tomb of Alexander the Great, his love affair with Cleopatra and his stay at the decadent court of Ptolemy XIII. This book includes a magnificent speech on the origin of the Nile flood and shows Caesar under attack and fighting desperately for his own survival. Book 10 is remarkable for its characterization of Caesar, who is often shown as unswervingly dynamic, destructive and victorious through the poem; here we see a more complex portrait of the hero, indulging in intellectual interests, marvelling at the luxurious spectacle of the court, vulnerable to attack and often reactive rather than pre-emptive. This edition includes a full introduction which discusses the most important aspects and contexts of book 10 and its place within the poem. It introduces the reader to the influence of Lucan's sources and models; the relevant generic contexts of epic poetry; philosophy, religion and human psychology; it includes a detailed analysis of Lucan's poetic style and introduces the reader to the transmission of the text. The commentary introduces each section of the narrative and provides a full bibliography of modern discussions; it discusses each significant sentence, line, phrase and word; it draws attention to the most important aspects of the text and their contribution to the meaning of the poem. The commentary discusses the most important textual problems in book 10 and prints a composite Latin text, based upon a re-evaluation of all textual options; the text is accompanied by a faithful English prose translation.