by Titus Lucretius Carus, W.H.D. Rouse, Martin F. Smith · Harvard University Press · tapa dura · ISBN 9780674992009
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«On the Nature of Things» is Lucretius's didactic poem, translated by W.H.D. Rouse, in hardcover from Harvard University Press (672 pp., Latin-English).
Didactic poem in six books expounding Epicurus's philosophy: the universe consists of atoms and void, the soul is mortal, and natural phenomena have physical causes. With solid arguments and great poetic richness, it seeks to free the reader from fear of the gods and death to attain serenity and happiness.
Volume no. 181 of the Loeb Classical Library, revised edition with Latin text and English translation by W.H.D. Rouse, revised by Martin F. Smith.
Intended for students and scholars of ancient philosophy and Latin literature who need to compare the original text with a reference translation.
Titus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem De rerum natura, a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, which usually is translated into English as On the Nature of Things—and somewhat less often as On the Nature of the Universe. Very little is known about Lucretius's life; the only certainty is that he was either a friend or client of Gaius Memmius, to whom the poem was addressed and dedicated. De rerum natura was a considerable influence on the Augustan poets, particularly Virgil and Horace. The work was almost lost during the Middle Ages, but was rediscovered in 1417 in a monastery in Germany by Poggio Bracciolini. It played an important role both in the development of atomism and the efforts of various figures of the Enlightenment era to construct a new Christian humanism.
