The gods are not introduced as chief agents; cf. the censure of Petronius quoted below. Lucan prides himself on despising the gods, and substitutes for them his favourite divinity, Fortuna; i. 128,
‘Victrix causa deis placuit, sed victa Catoni’;
vii. 445,
‘Sunt nobis nulla profecto
numina; cum caeco rapiantur saecula casu,
mentimur regnare Iovem.’
Rhetorical treatment is seen in (1) the vast amount of hyperbole employed; cf. the account of the siege of Massilia, iii. 538-762; (2) the geographical and mythological learning introduced. This is sometimes inaccurate; the best known instance is his confusion of Pharsalus and Philippi; cf. i. 1 and 688.
Lucan’s models.—(1) For diction, chiefly Virgil.[77] Horace and Ovid are also imitated.
(2) For history Lucan is supposed to have used Livy mostly. How far he used other authorities is unknown. His history is sometimes inexact. In ii. 478 sqq. the character of L. Domitius Ahenobarbus is falsely portrayed. So the journey of Cato to the shrine of Hammon, ix. 511 sqq.
(3) Seneca is one of his authorities for science and philosophy. Thus in describing the Nile, x. 194-331, Lucan has used Seneca, Nat. Quaest. iv. 1-2. The biographer of the Codex Vossianus ii. attributes (probably wrongly) the first seven verses of Book i. to Seneca.
‘Seneca, qui fuit avonculus eius, quia ex abrupto incohabat, hos vii. versus addidit: “Bella per Emathios” usque “et pila minantia pilis.”’
Criticisms of Lucan.—Petronius, in introducing his parody of Lucan, says, § 118, ‘Ecce belli civilis ingens opus quisquis attigerit, nisi plenus litteris, sub onere labetur. Non enim res gestae versibus comprehendendae sunt, quod longe melius historici faciunt, sed per ambages deorumque ministeria et fabulosum sententiarum tormentum praecipitandus est liber spiritus.’ See [p. 275].