The family moved to Rome shortly after his birth where Marco dedicated himself to the study of poetry. Within a few years he became famous and entered the circle of the poets of Emperor Nero.
It will be his luck and also his end.
In 65 he participates in the conspiracy against Nero and, discovered, is forced to die at the age of 26.
After this brief biographical note, I speak a moment of his work: "The Civil War or Farsaglia".
The poetic work, organized in ten books (the last one incomplete) tells the story of the civil war between Pompey and Caesar, which the first century had bloodied the entire Roman empire.
The first book describes the causes of the civil war. Caesar and Pompey are represented as men to the drunken of power. Caesar crosses the Rubicon in arms and heads to Rome.
The second book sees Pompey escape from Rome and take refuge in Brindisi (remember someone who did the same thing two thousand years later!) And then, chased by Caesar, leaves Italy.
In the third book, Caesar attacks Pompeian troops in Marseilles and in Spain. The ghost of Giulia, Pompey's first wife, predicts the results of the war.
The fourth book describes the siege of the city of Ilerda, in Spain and the operations of Caesar in Illyria and in Africa.
The fifth describes the events of Caesar, appointed dictator in Rome and Pompey who, having assembled the Senate in Epirus, receives the official position of Supreme Commander in the operations against Caesar. Pompey sends his wife to Lesvos to stay safe.
In the sixth book, Pompey in Durazzo manages to defeat Caesar and pursues him in Thessaly. The sorceress Erictho restores life to a dead person to question him about the future of Pompey and prophesies his future misfortunes.
In the seventh book the Pompeians and Cicero incite Pompey to go to meet Caesar. The armies clash in Farsalo. Here we read the descriptions of bloody death in battle. Pompeo comes out defeated and flees to Larissa.
In the eighth book Pompey goes to Lesbos, from his wife, then leaves for Egypt in search of alliances but, on the orders of King Ptolemy XIII is cruelly murdered just before landing.
The ninth book sees Cato take the place of Pompey in the leadership of the republican armies. With the wife and the son of Pompey the funeral takes place, without the corpse. In the meantime, Caesar reaches Egypt and receives the head of his son-in-law as a gift.
The tenth book introduces us to Cleopatra, who first seduces Caesar and then marries his brother Tolomeo to become queen. The book is interrupted during the fights that occurred during Cleopatra's wedding ...
The book is very special for the strong, admirably described images of the fighting and the bloody deaths, an example for all: the death of Pompey, which is reported below:
"As soon as he saw the sword upon him, he covered his face and head, disdaining to offer it covered to Fortune, closed his eyes and held his breath for fear of shouting or staining eternal fame with a single lament. left Anchilla pierced his side, went along with the blow without uttering a groan; he despised the crime, kept his body motionless and in dying he proved who he was and turned these words into his heart: The Romans observe me, the future contemplates the loyalty and the ship of Faro: now think of glory. You have spent a long life amidst prosperous events; the peoples do not know, unless you feel it in dying, that you know how to endure adversity. 'doer of fate: whatever hand strikes you, it is the hand of the father-in-law. Let them tear my limbs, disperse them, however I am lucky, O Celestials, and no one will be able to deprive me of this. [..] Pompey, between the resounding blows of the sword on the back and on the breast, it kept the venerable decoration of The august beauty and the frowning face with the gods, keeping intact the face and attitude in the instant of death: this is attested by those who saw the severed head. The ferocious Septimius, while committing the crime, invented another more atrocious one: torn the veil that covered the august head of the dying Great, he grabs his head still animated by his breath and rests his languishing neck across a bench. nerves and veins and breaks the vertebrae for a long time; they still did not know how to cut off their heads with a single blow of the sword. But when the head fell torn from the bust, a brown henchman claimed to carry it with his own hand. a hand; and while his face was still alive and sobs made his lips stammer, and his wide-open eyes stiffened, they stuck a stick in his head which, when he ordered war, chased peace from the world; that leader who animated the laws, the Campus Martius and the beaks: you were pleased with this semblant, O Roman Fortuna. It is not enough for the infamous tyrant to have seen it, he wants it to remain testimony of the crime. With nefarious art, they cleansed the clots of blood from the head, removed the brain, dried the skin, squeezed out the corrupted humors and solidified the face with sprinkling of a juice. "
The war, cruel, always, in all its forms, admirably described by Lucan who, in turn, was a victim at a young age!
Here, so I leave you. The rest to you read it ...
Alessandro Rugolo
