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Cato and libertas in Lucan's Bellum Civile

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Author

  • Eamon Hanley

Summary, in English

In the 60s CE, a young Roman named Lucan composed an epic poem about a civil war fought between Caesar and Pompey, an event that signaled the end of the Roman Republic. Aside from Caesar and Pompey, the poem draws attention to another major figure in Roman politics at the time, Cato the Younger; of particular note is the frequent occurrence of the word libertas (freedom) in the poem. This thesis focuses mainly on the particular interrelationship between Cato and libertas by analyzing a series of speeches made by Cato where he mentions the word in question; it will also focus on how other characters in the poem view libertas by analyzing speeches made by them to establish whether or not their views on libertas differ from that of Cato, as well as on how the author himself can have interpreted it.

Department/s

  • Latin
  • Master's Programme: Language and Linguistics

Publishing year

2021

Language

English

Document type

Student publication for Master's degree (one year)

Topic

  • Languages and Literatures

Supervisor

  • Cajsa Sjöberg (senior lecturer)