LUCAN. Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, A.D. 39-65, was born in Cordova, Spain. He was grandson of Seneca the Elder and a nephew of Seneca the philosopher. His most famous poem, Pharsalia, deals with the civil wars of Julius Caesar and Pompey and has been called the greatest Latin epic after the Aeneid.
The Man of Law compares the procession that conveys Custance to her house with the triumph of Julius, of which Lucan boasts, MLT 401. Lucan says that Caesar had no triumph, Pharsalia III.71-79. Robinson (694) suggests that Chaucer may have used Li Hystoire de Julius Cesar, by Jehan de Tuim, for this detail. The Monk recommends Lucan's Pharsalia for the story of Julius Caesar, MkT 2719-2720. Lucan stands on a pillar of iron, the metal of Mars, HF III.1499, bearing up the fame of Julius and Pompey. Lady Philosophy quotes Pharsalia I.128, Bo IV, Prosa 6.231-233. Chaucer sends his poem to kiss the steps of Virgil, Omer, Ovide, Lucan, and Stace, Tr V.1786-1792, in a stanza influenced perhaps by Boccaccio's Envoy, Il Filostrato II.376-378. [Catoun2: Omer: Ovide: Stace: Swetonius: Virgil]
Lucan appears once initially, MkT 2719; twice in medial positions, MLT 401, Tr V.1792; and once in final rhyming position, HF III.1499.