Hispania Baetica, Roman Empire
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Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
Corduba, Hispania Baetica, Roman Empire
Archival Overview
Brilliant Roman epic poet and nephew of Seneca, whose anti-imperial epic Pharsalia (De Bello Civili) dramatized the civil war between Caesar and Pompey.
Biographical Record
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (39–65 CE), known as Lucan, was an imperial Roman poet born in Corduba (Córdoba, Spain) into the illustrious Annaei family; his uncle was the philosopher and imperial tutor Seneca the Younger. A prodigious literary talent, Lucan initially gained the patronage of Emperor Nero, who appointed him quaestor and augur.
As Nero grew jealous of his poetic genius and tyrannical in rule, Lucan turned against the princeps, joining the Pisonian conspiracy to restore the Republic. Before being forced to commit suicide at just twenty-five, Lucan composed his epic masterpiece Pharsalia (De Bello Civili), an unflinching, anti-mythological portrayal of Rome's civil war that exalted Cato the Younger and condemned Caesar's despotism.
Key Life Milestones
Neronia Victory
Won first prize at the Neronia games with his praise of Nero before political disillusionment drove him toward republican revolt.
Pharsalia Completed
Left behind ten books of Pharsalia, dying reciting his own verses as he opened his veins on Nero's orders.
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialRome, Italy