Roma, faue coeptis. Pompeo e i Parti nell’ottavo libro della Pharsalia di Lucano

Abstract

The paper focuses on the section of eighth book of Pharsalia, in which Pompeius discusses with the members of the senate in order to decide the place to find refuge. Particularly, the choice that will bring Pompeius to death in Egypt is determined by the speech of Lentulus: in order to reject proposals for an alliance with the Parthians, he adopts the perspective of the ancient ethnocentrism and his prejudices. Nevertheless, in the architecture of the episode, it is determinant the rhetorical culture of the Author.