07-02-2010, 12:59 PM
What role did Curio have in Caesar’s choice to cross the Rubicon?
I ask because Lucan in his Pharsalia says that Curio convinced Caesar to cross the river:
Now I’ve never taken Lucan’s Pharsalia as any sort of historical document, but instead just viewed it as poetry of sorts, perhaps of the nationalistic type like the Aeneid.
However, apparently some people at least have taken this as a historic event. I’ve been reading Dante’s Divine Comedy, and good old Virgil and Dante run across Curio in Hell. The commentator explains that Curio is in Hell because he was the one that directly caused the Civil War. He did this by convincing Caesar to cross the Rubicon.
(For those interested, the lines in the Divine Comedy that spurred the commentary are these
If anything, I’ve always thought of Curio as an attempted peace-maker prior to the outbreak of war. After all, he was the one who suggested both Caesar and Pompey lay down their commands.
So what exactly was Curio doing when Caesar crossed the Rubicon?
I ask because Lucan in his Pharsalia says that Curio convinced Caesar to cross the river:
Quote: The hostile Senate, in contempt of right,
Drove out the Tribunes. They to Caesar's camp
With Curio hasten, who of venal tongue,
Bold, prompt, persuasive, had been wont to preach
Of Freedom to the people, and to call
Upon the chiefs to lay their weapons down.
And when he saw how deeply Caesar mused...
... he said... “Strike; for no strength as yet the foe hath gained.
Occasion calls, delay shall mar it”...
So then was Caesar eager for the fight,
Stirred by the words of Curio.
Lucan, Pharsalia, 304-337
Now I’ve never taken Lucan’s Pharsalia as any sort of historical document, but instead just viewed it as poetry of sorts, perhaps of the nationalistic type like the Aeneid.
However, apparently some people at least have taken this as a historic event. I’ve been reading Dante’s Divine Comedy, and good old Virgil and Dante run across Curio in Hell. The commentator explains that Curio is in Hell because he was the one that directly caused the Civil War. He did this by convincing Caesar to cross the Rubicon.
(For those interested, the lines in the Divine Comedy that spurred the commentary are these
Quote:This outcast quenched the doubt in Caesar’s heart:
‘To men prepared delays are dangerous’;
Thus he gave sign for civil strife to start.”
O how deject to me, how dolorous
Seemed Curio, with his tongue hacked from his throat,
He that of speech was so adventurous!
Dante, Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto XXXVIII 97-102
If anything, I’ve always thought of Curio as an attempted peace-maker prior to the outbreak of war. After all, he was the one who suggested both Caesar and Pompey lay down their commands.
So what exactly was Curio doing when Caesar crossed the Rubicon?
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com
www.davidcord.com
