Overview
Titus Lucretius Carus (c. 99–c. 55 BCE) was the Roman poet of De rerum natura, the fullest surviving exposition of Epicurean physics and ethics. Little secure biography remains; Jerome’s tales of love potion and suicide are doubtful. Handbook dates are approximate for the mid-first century BCE. Hexameter science made philosophy sublime for Latin readers.
Main ideas
Atoms and void explain everything from cosmos to mind; nothing comes from nothing. Fear of gods and death is cured by understanding natural causes. Swerve (clinamen) allows freedom and new combinations. Love’s furor and social ambition disturb quiet; modest pleasures suffice. Culture and language arise by utility and convention over time. Poetry’s honey on the cup helps bitter truth heal.
Major works
- De rerum natura
- Books on atoms and void
- Books on mind and mortality
- Books on cosmology and society
Legacy
Lucretius transmitted Epicurus to Rome and to Renaissance freethinkers after rediscovery. Scientists and poets still cite his cosmic sublime. He is classical materialism’s greatest poem.
Themes in this archive
Nature (1) · Death (1) · Desire (1)