Marcus Annaeus Lucanus

Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (November 3, 39 – April 30, 65) was a Roman epic poet, whose meteoric career at the court of Nero ended with his suicide at the age of 25. His only surviving work, the Pharsalia, deals with the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey. His name is often given in the anglicized form Lucan.

Sourced

Pharsalia

› English quotations are taken from the translation by J. D. Duff, Lucan (London: Heinemann, 1962)
› some of 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.
  • Book I, line 135.
  • Of Pompey the Great.

•                                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 could 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 — translated by Sir Edward Ridley
  • Book I, line 277

• 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 — translated by Sir Edward Ridley
  • Book II, line 383

•                                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. — translated by Sir Edward Ridley
  • Book IV, line 579.

• 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 — translated by Sir Edward Ridley
  • Book VII, line 252

• 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 — translated by Sir Edward Ridley
  • Book VII, line 278

•                                      Coniunx
  est mihi, sunt nati; dedimus tot pignora fatis.
  • I have a wife, I have sons; all these hostages have I given to fortune.
  • Book VII, line 661.

External links

• Works by Lucan at Project Gutenberg
• Variation(?) of first quote listed above in this article