{"product_id":"2026200015584-secondhand-pharsalia-dramatic-episodes-of-the-civil-wars","title":"Pharsalia: Dramatic Episodes Of The Civil Wars","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good\u003cbr\u003eJacket: No dust jacket\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good\u003cbr\u003eCondition remarks: Condition as shown in image\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the heart of one of antiquity's most ambitious epic poems lies a world convulsed by civil war — a Rome tearing itself apart as Caesar and Pompey clash for supremacy in a conflict that would define the fate of Western civilization. Pharsalia, written by the first-century Roman poet Lucan, chronicles the catastrophic struggle between these two titans of the late Republic, culminating in the decisive Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC. Rendered into vivid English by the poet Robert Graves, this Penguin Classics translation presents Lucan's dramatic episodes with a power and immediacy that speaks across two millennia, capturing the horror, grandeur, and tragic inevitability of Rome's descent into tyranny.\n\nLucan's masterwork stands apart from the Homeric tradition by its fierce, almost journalistic energy and its unflinching moral indignation — a voice that champions Pompey and the dying Republic against the relentless ambition of Caesar. The poem illustrates the Roman genius for rhetoric and dark psychological insight, and Graves's translation masterfully preserves its rhetorical fire for the modern reader. Celebrated for its grim beauty and its searing portraits of historical figures like Cato, Cleopatra, and the witch Erictho, Pharsalia remains a work of extraordinary literary daring that leaves one questioning whether history is shaped by fate, the gods, or the unbridled will of exceptional — and catastrophically flawed — men.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49203221496027,"sku":"2026200015584-SECONDHAND","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/d3ed3ac8-41ad-4930-b55e-d8a41e3f01c5.png?v=1788146027","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200015584-secondhand-pharsalia-dramatic-episodes-of-the-civil-wars","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}