A NEW HEROISM: A STUDY OF THE BATTLE SCENES IN LUCAN’S BELLUM CIVILE _____________________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia ______________________________________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ______________________________________________________________________________ By MATTHEW CRUTCHFIELD Dr. Raymond Marks, Dissertation Supervisor MAY 2015 © Copyright by Matthew Crutchfield All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled A NEW HEROISM: A STUDY OF THE BATTLE SCENES IN LUCAN’S BELLUM CIVILE presented by Matthew Crutchfield, a candidate for the degree of doctor of philosophy, and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. Professor Raymond Marks Professor Daniel Hooley Professor Dennis Trout Professor David Schenker Professor Susan Langdon meae familiae ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are many people whose efforts and support have made this project possible. I would like to begin by thanking my students at Chaminade College Preparatory School. These students have had to endure my distracted teaching methods, particularly in these last few months, as I scrambled to finalize my dissertation. They provide a constant source or humor and perspective, more than they probably know. Secondly, I would like to think my employer for the last eight years. Chaminade College Preparatory School in St. Louis, MO has helped me develop my skills as an educator. They have challenged me to accept responsibilities I had never even considered before. Also, they have helped support my studies financially. Thirdly, I would like to think my committee at the University of Missouri-Columbia for their support throughout this process. I would like to especially thank my advisor, Dr. Raymond Marks, for his patience, eye for detail, and helpful comments. I would not have been able to complete this project without his support. Finally, I must thank my wife and children for their patience and support. I would not have been able to begin, work on, or complete this project with their ongoing and endless support. Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………..ii Chapter 1: Reading Lucan’s Epic ................................................................................................................... 1 Heroism and Epic ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Background to Lucan’s Bellum Ciuile ........................................................................................................ 7 Review of Scholarship ............................................................................................................................. 11 Method of Argumentation ...................................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 2: Massilia...................................................................................................................................... 30 Background to the Battle at Massilia ...................................................................................................... 30 Advance of the Armies BC 3.525-543: Confused Identities .................................................................... 32 The Collective Fight BC 3.460-579: Shared Identities ............................................................................. 39 The Melee BC 3.583-725: Anonymity ..................................................................................................... 46 The Rout BC 3.752-762: Lost Identity ..................................................................................................... 53 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 59 Chapter 3: Pharsalus ................................................................................................................................... 60 Background of the Battle of Pharsalus .................................................................................................... 60 Advance Scene BC 7.195-469: Combating Narratives ............................................................................ 62 Collective Fight BC 7.491-551: We are all Romans ................................................................................. 69 Melee BC 7.558-737: Shame of Narrative............................................................................................... 74 Rout BC 7.636-706: Pompey’s Imaginary Heroism ................................................................................. 82 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 4: Cato’s Desert March .................................................................................................................. 89 Background to Cato’s March ................................................................................................................... 89 Advance Scene BC 9.190-597: Into the Wild ........................................................................................... 93 The Collective Fight BC 9.604-733: The Ideological Fight ..................................................................... 104 The Melee BC 9.737-889: The Power of Fear ....................................................................................... 112 The Rout BC 9.890-914: Saved by the Psylii .......................................................................................... 118 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 120 Conclusion: Exemplarity, Heroism, and Philosopher. ............................................................................... 122 The Mutability of Heroism .................................................................................................................... 122 Lucan and the New Heroism ................................................................................................................. 125 Modes of Interpretation ....................................................................................................................... 128 Civil War and the Obstacles to Traditional Heroism ............................................................................. 131 Cato and Neronian Rome ...................................................................................................................... 136 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................................... 140 VITA ........................................................................................................................................................... 151 Chapter 1: Reading Lucan’s Epic Heroism and Epic Lucan’s epic on the Roman civil war, the Bellum Ciuile, has long posed a problem for readers. Lucan writes in the meter of epic poetry and includes many elements that are specific to that genre, such as similes, descriptions of battle, and elevated language, yet he also calls into question many aspects of that tradition. Lucan omits any real function of the gods and there seems to be no clearly defined hero. The readers’ frustrations in the epic may be due to the difficult task to which Lucan committed himself, for how does one talk about the civil war? Choosing to recall something as politically sensitive and controversial as the civil wars during the Principate could be dangerous. The future emperor Claudius as a young man was interested in writing Rome’s recent history, but on the suggestion of his mother and grandmother he skipped straight from Caesar’s death to the peace instituted by Augustus. He realized that he would not be able to speak openly and truly (neque libere neque vere) about the events of that time period. 1 Likewise, Seneca the Elder cites Labienus who declared that the best way to deal with civil wars in public discourse was to forget they even happened: optima ciuilis belli defensio obliuio est.2 Moreover, Valerius Maximus, in his exempla patientiae cites only two Roman examples before moving on lest he “be forced to proceed into the accursed memory of 1 Suetonius, Claud. 41. Cf. Osgood (2006:1ff) 2 Seneca Maior, Const. 10.3.5 1 civil wars.”3 Yet despite these fears and concerns for writing about the civil war, Lucan wrote an entire epic poem dedicated to a “forceful and emotional exploration” of this very subject that others had considered taboo.4 The Bellum Ciuile comes as a shock to the Roman system in that it consciously memorializes and calls on its audience to memorialize in epic poetry something that is painful and fearful.5 By writing this poem, Lucan pits memoria against oblivio, or rather, Lucan’s memory of the civil wars against a competing narrative that often chooses to forget.6 Throughout this study, I propose to read the Bellum Ciuile as a literary dialectic on the role and nature of heroism. Lucan presents the battle scenes in his epic as such a distortion of traditional heroism that his readers