In 1640 Thomas May publishes his Supplementum Lucani in hexameters. His Continuation of Lucan's Historicall Poem till the Death of Iulius Caesar in blank verse has already appeared in 1630 and - in a second version - in 1633. As republican the author is fond of M. Porcius Cato Uticensis, depicting Caesar's opponent as a stoic and wise man and a timeless symbol of liberty. May's Supplementum was read as integral part of Lucan's Bellum Civile up to the 18th century, when Joseph Addison and Johann Christoph Gottsched wrote their Cato-plays.