In his De Bello Civili Lucan tells the story of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, dealing in Book VIII with the defeat and death of the latter. Dr Mayer has prepared a literary commentary to accompany the Latin text and revised the translation of J.D. Duff. The introduction covers the life of Lucan and the literary revival of Nero’s time, the meaning of Lucan’s choice of theme, a sketch of the form of the whole poem and the eighth book’s place within it, the rhetorical style and the transmission of the text. A glossary of proper names, a select bibliography and index complete this work which will be useful to students of Latin literature and of the literary epic in particular.