The description of the battle of Pharsalia in book vii of Lucan's Pharsalia presents glaring differences and alterations that have been usually interpreted as mistakes or a lack of rigorousness or historical competence. We believe that Lucan willingly sets himself apart from his sources due to aesthetic reasons and that Pharsalia 7 is, indeed, a poetical representation of history where the author reformulates his material to suit his poetic needs. Lucan does not doubt to alter, compress or invent different episodes of the battle if these poetical operations help him to achieve his aesthetical purposes. ; Fil: Vizzotti, Martín Miguel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación. Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (UNLP-CONICET); Argentina.