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 version that 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

卢克莱修(Lucretius，Carus约前99～前55)古罗马诗人、哲学家。他继承古代原子学说，特别是阐述并发展了伊壁鸠鲁的哲学观点。认为物质的存在是永恒的，提出了“无物能由无中生，无物能归于无”的唯物主义观点。反对神创论，认为宇宙是无限的，有其自然发展的过程，人们只要懂得了自然现象发生的真正原因，宗教偏见便可消失。承认世界的可知性，认为感觉是事物流射出来的影像作用于人的感官的结果，是一切认识的基础和来源，驳斥了怀疑论。认为幸福在于摆脱对神和死亡的恐惧，得到精神的安宁和心情的恬静。著有哲学长诗《物性论》。