Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, better known as Lucan, was a prominent Roman poet born in Corduba, Hispania Baetica. He was a member of a wealthy and influential family, being the nephew of the philosopher Seneca the Younger. His most famous and only surviving work is the epic poem 'Pharsalia,' which chronicles the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. Lucan's promising career was cut short when he was implicated in the Pisonian conspiracy against Emperor Nero and was forced to commit suicide at the age of 25.