Cicerone a Farsàlo - Cicero at Pharsalus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13135/2532-5353/2823Abstract
There is little doubt that Cicero’s suasoria in book 7 of Lucan’s Bellum Civile, performed to encourage Pompey to attack, is a fiction. Historical sources tell us that Cicero was not in Thessaly on the eve of the battle for health reasons; these sources also indicate a certain ambivalence felt by Cicero towards Pompey. This feeling was underscored by Cicero’s refusal to take command of the remnants of the army after defeat, construed by some contemporaries as an insult to the Pompeian faction. The paper explores the fictional speech that Lucan scripted for Cicero, presenting him, not without a veil of irony, as Romani maximus auctor / [...] eloquii (7, 62-63; cf. Catull. 49).
È senza dubbio un “falso storico” quello commesso da Lucano nel VII libro del Bellum Civile, in cui fa pronunciare a Cicerone una suasoria per convincere Pompeo ad attaccare battaglia. Da un esame delle fonti storiche risulta certa l’assenza dell’Arpinate dalla Tessaglia, per addotte motivazioni di salute, così come appare ambiguo il comportamento tenuto dall’oratore nei confronti di Pompeo, a tacere dell’affronto verso la fazione pompeiana compiuto da Cicerone che, dopo Farsàlo, avrebbe rifiutato di prendere il comando delle forze repubblicane. Lucano, dunque, avrebbe volutamente messo in bocca a Cicerone, presentandolo come Romani maximus auctor / [...] eloquii (7, 62-63) – espressione probabilmente ironica se confrontata con Catull. 49 – un discorso palesemente falso, in quanto vi si esorta il Grande ad affrettare l’attacco in virtù di una presunta protezione della Fortuna e degli dèi, laddove è lo stesso Pompeo a mostrarsi consapevole dell’esatto contrario (Lucan. 7, 85-86).
C’est sans aucun doute un « faux historique » celui commis par Lucain dans le livre VII du Bellum Civile, dans lequel il donne à Cicéron un discours pour convaincre Pompée d’engager le combat. À partir d’un examen des sources historiques, il résulte que l’absence de l’Arpinate de Thessalie est certaine, pour des raisons présumées de santé, tout comme le comportement tenu par l’orateur à l’égard de Pompée semble ambigu, au silence de la confrontation avec la faction pompéienne menée par Cicéron qui, après Pharsale, aurait refusé de prendre le commandement des forces républicaines. Lucain aurait donc délibérément mis cela dans la bouche de Cicéron, en le présentant comme Romani maximus auctor / [...] eloquii (7, 62-63) – expression probablement ironique par rapport à Catulle 49 – un discours qui est manifestement faux, dans la mesure où le Grand est pressé d’accélérer l’attaque en vertu d’une prétendue protection de la Fortune et des dieux, alors que le même Pompée de se montrer conscient du contraire (Lucain, 7, 85-86).
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