Titus Lucretius Carus was probably born in the early first century
B.C., and died in the year 55. Little is known of his life,
although two tantalizing bits of gossip were passed on by St.
Jerome: that he was poisoned by a madness-inducing aphrodisiac
given him by his wife, and that his great poem On the Nature of
Things was posthumously edited by Cicero. For the latter assertion,
writes Anthony Esolen in his introduction to the present volume,
there is little evidence, and none whatsoever for the former.
What does survive is a masterful poetic work that stands as the
greatest exposition of Epicurean philosophy. Writing in the waning
days of the Roman Republic -- as Rome's politics grew
individualistic and treacherous, its high-life wanton, its piety
introspective and morbid -- Lucretius sets forth a rational and
materialistic view of the world which offers a retreat into a quiet
community of wisdom and friendship.
Even to modern readers, the sweep of Lucretius's observations is
remarkable. A careful observer of nature, he writes with an
innocent curiosity into how things are put together -- from the
oceans, lands, and stars to a mound of poppy seeds, from the
"applause" of a rooster's wings to the human mind and soul. Yet
Lucretius is no romantic. Nature is what it is -- fascinating,
purposeless, beautiful, deadly. Once we understand this, we free
ourselves of superstitious fears, becoming as human and as godlike
as we can be. The poem, then, is about the universe and how human
beings ought to live in it. Epicurean physics and morality
converge.
Until now, there has been no adequate English verse translation
of Lucretius's work. Anthony Esolen fills that gap with a
versionthat reproduces -- with remarkable faithfulness -- the
meaning, pace, and tone of the original Latin.
Here is a book that will introduce a new generation of readers
to a thinker whose powers of observation and depth of insight
remain fresh to the present day.
"Esolen has the rare gift of being both a fine poet and a lover
of languages. His diction is poetic and natural; he has a fine ear
for sound, and the translation benefits greatly from being read
aloud -- as Latin poetry was meant to be. This translation is clear
and forceful. It can, and will, be read." -- Kenneth J. Reckford,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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