Cleopatra ululavit? Appunti sul ‘nuovo’ Carmen de bello Aegyptiaco (P.Herc. inv. 817 fr. 8 = Kol. -16 Essler-Piano = fr. 12b Garuti

This paper offers an in-depth analysis of ca. ten Latin hexameters from the anonymous Carmen de bello Aegyptiaco, uniquely preserved on a charred roll from Herculaneum, namely P.Herc. inv. 817 fr. 8, of which a new and more reliable edition has just been published in CErc 2020. The reconstruction of the crucial verb ul[ulavit] (l. 9), properly implying a female figure as subject, prompts fresh thoughts on the possible historical context in which these lines were produced and especially on the characters (Cleopatra and Octavian?) animating the dialogue in these lines, a dialogue which seems to have taken place before the storming of Pelusium by Octavian.