Discussion post: 3.2.1

[genarti]

And now, we're to 3.2.1! (Or... 3.1.1, depending on your version, but we're still going with the French edition's numbering.) "Plusquam civilia bella," another Latin title, which means all the versions keep it the same, plus or minus some capitalization and sticking a space into "plusquam." Discuss away!

Comments

[genarti]

Does anyone know if the title's a reference to anything in specific? It's Hugo, so I put nothing past him. But as a Latin phrase, as far as I can see it's pretty straightforwardly "Beyond civil war."

Fitting chapter title to land on June 6, geez.

[primeideal]

I Googled, and it looks like it's from the "Pharsalia" or "Bellum civile," by Lucan. "The struggle between Caesar and Pompey was an even greater nefas than civil war (plus quam civilia) because the opposing generals were related by marriage (Pompey was Caesar's son-in-law by his earlier marriage to the latter's daughter Julia)." http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~silver/Lucan/lucan-poem.html

So, of course, when our stranger hears that Lantenac and Gauvain are fighting, his reaction is "Yes, it is more than civil war, it is domestic war." And he can speak Latin, because he's talented like that! ;)