Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2017 Si Tantus Amor Belli Tibi, Roma, Nefandi. Love and Strife in Lucan's Bellum Civile Giulio Celotto Follow this and additional works at the DigiNole: FSU's Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES SI TANTUS AMOR BELLI TIBI, ROMA, NEFANDI. LOVE AND STRIFE IN LUCAN’S BELLUM CIVILE By GIULIO CELOTTO A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Classics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Giulio Celotto defended this dissertation on February 28, 2017. The members of the supervisory committee were: Tim Stover Professor Directing Dissertation David Levenson University Representative Laurel Fulkerson Committee Member Francis Cairns Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above5na ed co ittee e bers, and certifies that the dissertation has been appro0ed in accordance 1ith uni0ersity require ents. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The co pletion of this dissertation could not ha0e been possible 1ithout the help and the participation of a nu ber of people. It is a great pleasure to be able to ac3no1ledge the here. I a ost grateful to y super0isor, Professor Ti Sto0er, for his guidance and dedication throughout the entire ti e of y research. I 1ish to e6tend y than3s to the other Co ittee e bers, Professors Laurel Ful3erson, Francis Cairns, and Da0id Le0enson, for their ad0ice at e0ery stage of y research. I 1ould li3e to e6press y deepest gratitude to Professor Andre1 7issos, 1ho read the entire anuscript at a later stage, and offered any helpful suggestions and criticis s. I a also than3ful to Professors Antonella Borgo and Giancarlo Abba onte for their 3een interest in y 1or3. Lastly, special than3s go to y fa ily and friends for their constant support and encourage ent. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... 0 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 1. LOVE AND STRIFE IN GREE8 AND RO4AN T9OUG9T ............................................ 7 1.1 Philosophical Bac3ground2 Lo0e and Strife in Didactic Poetry ...................................... 1.2 Literary Bac3ground2 Lo0e and Strife in Epic Poetry.................................................... 15 1.3 Lo0e and Strife in Vergil ................................................................................................ 24 2. T9E DIALECTIC OF LOVE AND STRIFE IN LUCAN ................................................... 45 2.1 The Proe ...................................................................................................................... 47 2.2 Venus and 4ars .............................................................................................................. 54 2.3 Ilerda .............................................................................................................................. 67 2.4 Erictho ............................................................................................................................ 69 3. LOVE IN LUCAN ............................................................................................................... 7. 3.1 Po pey, Julia, and Cornelia ........................................................................................... 79 3.2 Caesar and Cleopatra ...................................................................................................... 96 3.3 Cato and 4arcia ........................................................................................................... 109 3.4 Ale6ander the Great ..................................................................................................... 115 4. STRIFE IN LUCAN ........................................................................................................... 120 4.1 Cos os and Chaos ....................................................................................................... 122 4.2 Virtus and Aristeiai ...................................................................................................... 139 4.3 Ga es ........................................................................................................................... 154 4.4 Cle ency ...................................................................................................................... 162 5. T9E INTERACTION OF LOVE AND STRIFE IN LUCAN ........................................... 171 5.1 Lo0e for Strife .............................................................................................................. 172 5.2 Strife as Lo0e Ri0alry .................................................................................................. 1.2 5.3 Strife as Lo0e Suicide .................................................................................................. 19. 5.4 Strife as Rape ............................................................................................................... 202 6. LOVE AND STRIFE IN FLAVIAN EPIC ........................................................................ 209 6.1 Valerius Flaccus ........................................................................................................... 211 6.2 Statius ........................................................................................................................... 222 6.3 Silius Italicus ................................................................................................................ 250 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 264 References ............................................................................................................................... 266 Biographical S3etch ................................................................................................................ 303 i0 ABSTRACT This dissertation pro0ides an o0erall interpretation of the Bellum Civile based on the e6a ination of an aspect co pletely neglected by pre0ious scholarship2 Lucan’s literary adaptation of the cos ological dialectic of Lo0e and Strife. According to a reading that has found fa0or o0er the last three decades, the poe is an uncon0entional epic that does not confor to Aristotelian nor s2 in order to portray his 0ision of cos ic dissolution, Lucan co poses a poe characterized by frag entation and disorder, lac3ing a con0entional teleology, and 1hose narrati0e flo1 is constantly delayed. This study challenges such interpretation by illustrating that although Lucan in0o3es i agery of cos ic dissolution, he does so 1ithout altogether obliterating epic nor sA rather, the Bellum Civile transfor s the fro 1ithin in order to acco plish its purpose2 na ely, conde nation of the establish ent of the Principate and the Julio5Claudian dynasty. Gree3 and Ro an thought traditionally construes Lo0e and Strife as t1o contrasting forces that go0ern the uni0erse2 Lo0e is constructi0e in its creati0e function, 1hereas Strife is deadly and, therefore, destructi0eA ho1e0er, there is also a destructi0e for of Lo0e, 1hich causes distress and grief, and a constructi0e for of Strife, 1hich urges indi0iduals to i pro0e the condition of hu an3ind. In Gree3 and Latin epic these four forces are nor ally in balance2 although 1ar is the ain the e of the genre, lo0e is placed side by side 1ith it, so as to hint at a regeneration after the destructionA and fa ous e6a ples of destructi0e ro ances are counterbalanced by equally reno1ned cases of constructi0e conflicts. Vergil places hi self 1ithin this tradition by 1riting an epic in 1hich Lo0e and StrifeBin both their positi0e and 0 negati0e instantiationsBare perfectly balanced. In particular, in the Aeneid the action of destructi0e forces is usually follo1ed by that of constructi0e forces. This suits the political purpose of the poe , 1hich celebrates the founding of Ro e, and its re5founding than3s to Augustus. Lucan re0erses this structure. 9e strategically re o0es constructi0e Lo0e and Strife fro the Bellum Civile, and increases the role of their destructi0e counterparts, in order to stage the irre0ersible annihilation and Cde5foundingD of Ro e that follo1s the 0ictory of Caesar and the consequent fall of the Republic. The ain characters of the poe , in fact, are in0ol0ed in ruinous ro ancesA and all the ele ents that could itigate the destructi0e force of Strife, such as virtus and clementia, are deliberately neglected or per0erted. Parado6ically, the only for of Lo0e that finds space in the poe is the utterly destructi0e Lo0e for Strife. Lucan, in fact, re0erses the elegiac notion of militia amoris, and turns it into the ore threatening amor militiae2 instead of fighting for lo0e, as the elegiac characters do, the epic characters of the Bellum Civile lo0e fightingA and if elegy describes lo0e affairs as 1arfare, and lo0ers as soldiers, Lucan describes 1arfare as lo0e affairs, and soldiers as lo0ers. This sche e is so groundbrea3ing that Lucan’s epic successors ine0itably ha0e to deal 1ith it, either to accept it, as Statius does, or to reEect it and restore a ore traditionalBand Vergilian, so to spea3Bnarrati0e structure, as Valerius Flaccus and Silius Italicus do. 0i INTRODUCTION Lucan’s Bellum