Cato and libertas in Lucan's Bellum Civile
In the 60s CE, a young Roman named Lucan composed an epic poem about a civil war fought between Caesar and Pompey, an event that signaled the end of the Roman Republic. Aside from Caesar and Pompey, the poem draws attention to another major figure in Roman politics at the time, Cato the Younger; of particular note is the frequent occurrence of the word libertas (freedom) in the poem. This thesis f