The excerpt from the “Pharsalia” depicts Caesar’s arrival in a Roman city with the intent to initiate a civil war, highlighting his excessively ambitious personality. The narrator describes Caesar’s character explicitly prior to his arrival by stating that he sought everything to the fullest, “With sword unpitying: every victory won / Reaped to the full; the favor of the gods / Pressed to the utmost; all that stayed his course…” (Lucan 529). Caesar then exhibits his character upon his arrival, when he ignores the warning against entering the city limits, and states that he is on a great quest and means no harm other than that provoked by the guards before ordering his men to cross into the city. Though the excerpt is presented in cryptic poetic
