War Liberty And Caesar

In War, Liberty, and Caesar, Edward Paleit discusses how readers and writers of the English Renaissance read and understood Lucan's epic poem on the Roman civil wars. Looking at engagements with Lucan across a wide variety of literary forms, Paleit questions what made this Latin author so relevant during this period.

The Great Roman Civil War (49-45 BC), also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire. It began as a series of political and military confrontations, between Julius Caesar (100-44 BC), his political supporters (broadly known as Populares), and his legions, against the Optimates (or Boni), the politically conservative and socially traditionalist faction of the Roman Senate, who were supported by Pompey (106-48 BC) and his legions

The Landmark Julius Caesar is the definitive edition of the five works that chronicle the mil­itary campaigns of Julius Caesar. Together, these five narratives present a comprehensive picture of military and political developments leading to the collapse of the Roman republic and the advent of the Roman Empire. The Gallic War is Caesar’s own account of his two invasions of Britain and of conquering most of what is today France, Belgium, and Switzerland. The Civil War describes the conflict in the following year which, after the death of his chief rival, Pompey, and the defeat of Pompey’s heirs and supporters, resulted in Caesar’s emergence as the sole power in Rome. Accompanying Caesar’s own commentaries are three short but essential additional works, known to us as the Alexandrian War, the African War, and the Spanish War. These were written by three unknown authors who were clearly eyewitnesses and probably Roman officers. Caesar’s clear and direct prose provides a riveting depiction of ancient warfare and, not incidentally, a persuasive portrait for the Roman people (and for us) of Caesar himself as a brilliant, moderate, and effec­tive leader—an image that was key to his final success. Kurt A. Raaflaub’s masterful translation skillfully brings out the clarity and elegance of Caesar’s style, and this, together with such Landmark features as maps, detailed annotations, appendices, and illustrations, will provide every reader from lay person to scholar with a rewarding and enjoyable experience. (With 2-color text, maps, and illustrations throughout; web essays available at http://www.thelandmarkcaesar.com/)

Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great were two of the greatest generals Rome had ever produced. Together they had brought vast stretches of territory under Roman dominion. In 49 BC they turned against each other and plunged Rome into civil war. Legion was pitched against legion in a vicious battle for political domination of the vast Roman world. Based on original sources, Adrian Goldsworthy provides a gripping account of this desperate power struggle. The armies were evenly matched but in the end Caesar's genius as a commander and his great good luck brought him victory in 45 BC.

Born in 39 C.E., the Roman poet Lucan lived during the turbulent reign of the emperor Nero. Prior to his death in 65 C.E., Lucan wrote prolifically, yet beyond some fragments, only his epic poem, the Civil War, has survived. Acclaimed by critics as one of the greatest literary achievements of the Roman Empire, the Civil War is a stirring account of the war between Julius Caesar and the forces of the republican senate led by Pompey the Great. Reading Lucan’s Civil War is the first comprehensive guide to this important poem. Accessible to all readers, it is especially well suited for students encountering the work for the first time. As the editor, Paul Roche, explains in his introduction, the Civil War (alternatively known in Latin as Bellum Civile, De Bello Civili, or Pharsalia) is most likely an unfinished work. Roche places the poem in historical and literary contexts that will be helpful to first-time readers. The volume presents, chapter-by-chapter, essays that cover each of the Civil War’s ten extant books. Five further chapters address topics and issues pertaining to the entire work, including religion and ritual, philosophy, gender dynamics, and Lucan’s relationships to Vergil and Julius Caesar. The contributors to this volume are all expert scholars who have published widely on Lucan’s work and Roman imperial literature. Their essays provide readers with a detailed understanding of and appreciation for the poem’s unique features. The contributors take special care to include translations of all original Latin passages and explain unfamiliar Latin and Greek terms. The volume is enhanced by a map of Lucan’s Roman world and a glossary of key terms.

Caesar's limpid prose, often seen as straightforward and soldierly, is analysed in essays as the work of a self-conscious and consummate stylist, rhetor and politician, seeking to advance a political career.

Lauded after his death as ‘champion of the English Commonwealth’, but also derided as a ‘most servile wit, and mercenary pen’, the poet, dramatist and historian Thomas May (c.1595–1650) produced the first full translation into English of Lucan’s Bellum Ciuile shortly before a ruinous civil war engulfed his own country. Lucan, whose epic had lamented the Roman Republic’s doomed struggle to preserve liberty and inevitable enslavement to the Caesars, and who was forced to commit suicide at the behest of the emperor Nero, was a figure of fascination in early modern Europe. May’s accomplished rendition of his challenging poem marked an important moment in the history of its English reception. This is a modernized edition of the first complete (1627) edition of the translation. It includes prefatory materials, dedications and May’s own historical notes on the text. Besides an introduction contextualising May’s life and work and the key features of his translation, it offers a full commentary to the text highlighting how May responded to contemporary editions and commentaries on Lucan, and explaining points of literary, political, philosophical interest. There is also a detailed glossary and bibliography, and a set of textual notes enumerating the chief differences between the 1627 edition and the others produced in May’s lifetime. This volume aims not just to provide an accessible path into the dense, sometimes provocative poem May shapes from Lucan, but also a broader appreciation of the translator’s literary merits and the role his work plays in the history of the English reception of Roman literature and culture.