Cato’s Colonial Paradox and the Struggle over Libya’s Geography in Pharsalia 9

This paper explores how imperial expansion operates as a vehicle for environmental change in Lucan’s account of Cato’s Libyan desert march in Pharsalia 9. Lucan’s attempts to preserve Cato’s ethical standing in light of his opposition to Caesarian imperialism lead the march to inhabit a colonial paradox: the march has all the markers of a colonial expedition, except for extractable resources or habitable territory. This conditions Lucan’s ostensible presentation of Libya, which, I argue, constructs what Johannes Fabian labels an allochronic discourse to frame Libya as a timeless Golden Age impervious to the Roman army. But the Roman incursion into Libya disrupts this framing, inducting Libya into Roman time. Ultimately, Libya’s winds and snakes repel the army, disrupting Cato’s Stoic worldview and setting a limit to Roman epic imperium. The Libyan desert serves as a test case for the Roman imperial project. Lucan displays a critical awareness of Libya as a place beyond Roman control, while paradoxically attempting to represent that place in his Roman epic.