Quintus Lucanius, a centurion in Cæsar’s army, &c. Cæsar, Gallic War, bk. 5.
Lūcānus Marcus Annæus, a native of Corduba in Spain. He was early removed to Rome, where his rising talents, and more particularly his lavished praises and panegyrics, recommended him to the emperor Nero. This intimacy was soon productive of honour, and Lucan was raised to the dignity of an augur and questor before he had attained the proper age. The poet had the imprudence to enter the lists against his imperial patron; he chose for his subject Orpheus, and Nero took the tragical story of Niobe. Lucan obtained an easy victory, but Nero became jealous of his poetical reputation, and resolved upon revenge. The insults to which Lucan was daily exposed, provoked at last his resentment, and he joined Piso in a conspiracy against the emperor. The whole was discovered, and the poet had nothing left but to choose the manner of his execution. He had his veins opened in a warm bath, and as he expired he pronounced with great energy the lines which, in his Pharsalia, bk. 3, lis. 639–642, he had put into the mouth of a soldier, who died in the same manner as himself. Some have accused him of pusillanimity at the moment of his death, and say that, to free himself from the punishment which threatened him, he accused his own mother, and involved her in the crime of which he was guilty. This circumstance, which throws an indelible blot upon the character of Lucan, is not mentioned by some writers, who observe that he expired with all the firmness of a philosopher. He died in his 26th year, A.D. 65. Of all his compositions none but his Pharsalia remains. This poem, which is an account of the civil wars of Cæsar and Pompey, is unfinished. Opinions are various as to the merit of the poetry. It possesses neither the fire of Homer, nor the melodious numbers of Virgil. If Lucan had lived to a greater age, his judgment and genius would have matured, and he might have claimed a more exalted rank among the poets of the Augustan age. His expressions, however, are bold and animated, his poetry entertaining, though his irregularities are numerous, and, to use the words of Quintilian, he is more an orator than a poet. He wrote a poem upon the burning of Rome, now lost. It is said that his wife Polla Argentaria not only assisted him in the composition of his poem, but even corrected it after his death. Scaliger says that Lucan rather barks than sings. The best editions of Lucan are those of Oudendorp, 4to, Leiden, 1728; of Bentley, 4to, printed at Strawberry-hill, 1760; and of Barbou, 12mo, Paris, 1767. Quintilian, bk. 10.—Suetonius.—Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, &c.—Martial, bk. 7, ltr. 20.——Ocellus, or Ucellus, an ancient Pythagorean philosopher, whose age is unknown. He wrote, in the Attic dialect, a book on the nature of the universe, which he deemed eternal, and from it were drawn the systems adopted by Aristotle, Plato, and Philo Judæus. This work was first translated into Latin by Nogarola. Another book of Ocellus on laws, written in the Doric dialect, was greatly esteemed by Archytas and Plato, a fragment of which has been preserved by Stobæus, of which, however, Ocellus is disputed to be the author. There is an edition of Ocellus, with a learned commentary, by C. Emman. Vizzanius, Bononiæ, 1646, in 4to.
Lŭcăria, or Lŭcĕria, festivals at Rome, celebrated in a large grove between the Via Salaria and the Tiber, where the Romans hid themselves when besieged by the Gauls. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 77.
Lucius Lucceius, a celebrated historian, asked by Cicero to write a history of his consulship. He favoured the cause of Pompey, but was afterwards pardoned by Julius Cæsar. Cicero, Letters to his Friends, bk. 5, ltr. 12, &c.
Lucceius Albīnus, a governor of Mauritania after Galba’s death, &c. Tacitus, Histories, bk. 2, ch. 58.
Lucentum (or ia), a town of Spain, now Alicant.
Lŭcĕres, a body of horse, composed of Roman knights, first established by Romulus and Tatius. It received its name either from Lucumo, an Etrurian who assisted the Romans against the Sabines, or from lucus, a grove where Romulus had erected an asylum, or a place of refuge for all fugitives, slaves, homicides, &c., that he might people his city. The Luceres were some of these men, and they were incorporated with the legions. Propertius, bk. 4, poem 1, li. 31.
Lucĕria, a town of Apulia, famous for wool. Livy, bk. 9, chs. 2 & 12; bk. 10, ch. 35.—Horace, bk. 3, ode 15, li. 14.—Lucan, bk. 2, li. 473.
Lucerius, a surname of Jupiter, as the father of light.
Lucetius, a Rutulian killed by Ilioneus. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 9, li. 570.