In Lucan’s poem on the civil war with Pompey, Ceasar’s centurion, Laelius, utters a chilling oath of loyalty. Hear the extract in Latin and follow in English here.

See the blog post with David’s “Oath of the Horatii” here.

To Laelius, brother, parent, wife and child mean less than his loyalty to Caesar his commander. Hear his chilling speech in Lucan’s Latin and follow in English here.

The illustration is David’s “Oath of the Horatii”.

This is a short selection about the poet Lucan, destined to die young by Nero’s orders, and his epic poem about the civil war, “De Bello Civile”.

You can read about Lucan’s life and modern and ancient critical views of his work here.

Lucan sums up the contestants, Caesar and Pompey.

Lucan describes Caesar crossing the Rubicon.

In no uncertain terms, Caesar’s troops pledge their loyalty.