Plenus litteris Lucanus

Lucan's reception of Horace escaped scholarly notice, since it transcended the literature genres of lyrics and epics. Not only Virgil's Aeneid, but also Horace's lyrics were potent intertexts of Lucan's epic. Apart from the congruent themes of Bellum Civile and the civil war poems by Horace there are also Horatian phrasings, themes, and thoughts throughout the entire epic. The predominant issues of Augustan literature such as civil war, the conflict of duty and love, Romulus and Remus, Troy, and the dichotomy city vs. country are treated with reference to the models of Virgil, Ovid, Livy, and Horace. This provides Lucan's recipients with a clue as to the interpretation of his rather inaccessible work. The references are used for the destruction of Augustan myths and interpretation of history as well as the establishment of Lucan's new Roman founding myth.