Pharsalia

Meanings

1. An epic poem by the Roman poet Lucan describing Caesar's Civil War.
2. The Battle of Pharsalus of 48 B.C.E.
3. The region around Pharsalus (modern Farsala), a Greek town.

Etymology

From Latin Pharsālia (“the region of Pharsalus”), borrowed as a title for Lucan's poem from a line in the work itself: “Pharsālia nostra / vīvet” (“Our Pharsalia / will live”, book 9, lines 985–6). The original Latin title was Dē Bellō Cīvīlī (“On the Civil War”).