What is known of the short life of Marcus Annaeus Lucanus comes primarily from four sources: Tacitus's Annals, Statius's Silvae 2.7 (called Genethliacon Lucani), Suetonius's life of Lucan in his De viris illustribus, and a life (Vita Lucani) by the sixth-century grammarian Vacca. Lucan was born in the Spanish city of Corduba (modern Córdoba) in A.D. 39. The history of his birthplace gives evidence of the young Lucan's formative interests. M. Claudius Marcellus had established a Roman colony there in 169 (or 152) B.C. as a means of opening Roman colonization of the province. The high birth of many of its inhabitants gave the town its first colonial name, Colonia Patricia (Patrician Colony), and there are reports of locals writing poetry as early as 62 B.C. During the Civil War, which was the subject of Lucan's great poem, Julius Caesar established Corduba as his headquarters in 49 B.C...