=Pharsa´lia= (_The_), a Latin epic in ten books, by Lucan, the subject being the fall and death of Pompey. It opens with the passage of Cæsar across the Rubĭcon. This river formed the boundary of his province, and his crossing it was virtually a declaration of war (bk. i.). Pompey is appointed by the senate general of the army to oppose him (bk. v.). Cæsar retreats to Thessaly; Pompey follows (bk. vi.), and both prepare for war. Pompey, being routed in the battle of Pharsalia, flees (bk. vii.), and seeking protection in Egypt, is met by Achillas, the Egyptian general, who murders him, cuts off his head, and casts his body into the sea (bk. viii.). Cato leads the residue of Pompey’s army to Cyrēnê, in Africa (bk. ix.); and Cæsar, in pursuit of Pompey, landing at Alexandria, is hospitably entertained by Cleopatra (bk. x.). While here, he tarries in luxurious dalliance, the palace is besieged by Egyptians, and Cæsar with difficulty escapes to Pharos. He is closely pursued, hemmed in on all sides, and leaps into the sea. With his imperial robe held between his teeth, his commentaries in his left hand, and his sword in his right, he buffets the waves. A thousand javelins are hurled at him, but touch him not. He swims for empire, he swims for life; ’tis Cæsar and his fortunes that the waves bear on. He reaches his fleet; is received by his soldiers with thundering applause. The stars in their courses fought for Cæsar. The sea-gods were with him, and Egypt with her host was a by-word and a scorn. ⁂ Bk. ix. contains the account of the African serpents, by far the most celebrated passage of the whole poem. The following is a pretty close translation of the passage in question. It would have occupied too much room to give their onslaught also:-- Here all the serpent deadly brood appears; First the dull Asp its swelling neck uprears; The huge Hemor´rhoïs, vampire of the blood; Chersy´ders, that pollute both field and flood; The Water-serpent, tyrant of the lake; The hooded Cobra; and the Plantain snake; Here with distended jaws the Prester strays; And Seps, whose bite both flesh and bone decays; The Amphisbæna with its double head, One on the neck, and one of tail instead; The horned Cerastês; and the Hammodyte, Whose sandy hue might balk the keenest sight; A feverish thirst betrays the Dipsas’ sting; The Scytăla, its slough that casts in spring; The Natrix here the crystal streams pollutes; Swift thro’ the air the venomed Javelin shoots; Here the Parēas, moving on its tail, Marks in the sand its progress by its trail; The speckled Cenchris darts its devious way, Its skin with spots as Theban marble gay; The hissing Sibīla; and Basilisk, With whom no living thing its life would risk, Where’er it moves none else would dare remain, Tyrant alike and terror of the plain. E. C. B.