The Pharos of Alexandria: A Man-Made “Mountain” in Lucan’s Bellum Ciuile

Abstract

At Bellum Ciuile 8.463, Lucan describes the lighthouse of Alexandria as a mountain (mons). The Pharos is “mountainous” in height and of monumental significance as a man-made structure. Comparison with the Pyramids and its fiery illumination (Phariis … flammis, 9.1005) give the Pharos a funerary context and, due to its “mountainous” form and flames, also evoke the image of a volcano. Lucan’s Pharos “mountain” locates and characterizes Pompey and Caesar in Bellum Ciuile 8–10, corresponding both to Pompey’s doom and Caesar’s metaphorically elemental power. The lighthouse contributes to the narrative of civil war with the ambiguity of its threat.