Lucretius: De Rerum Natura V 0856688843, 9780856688843

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ARIS

& PHILLIPS

CLASSICAL TEXTS

LUCRETIUS

De Rerum NaturaV

Edited with a Translation, Introduction and Commentary

by

Monica R. Gale

AR.Is& PHILLIPS

CLASSICAL TEXTS

LUCRETIUS: DE RERUM NATURA V

Edited with translation and commentary by

Monica R. Gale

Aris & Phillips Classical Texts are published by Oxbow Books, Oxford

© M. R. Gale, 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying without the prior permission of the publishers in writing.

ISBN 978-0-85668-884-3 cloth ISBN 978-0-85668-889-8 paper

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

Excerpts (] 115 words) from "De Rerum Natura" edited by Bailey C (1922) By permission of Oxford University Press

Printed and bound by Athenaeum Press, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

1v

Preface

v

Abbreviations

vn

Introduction I Lucretius and the Late Republic II Epicurus and his Philosophy ill The Didactic Epic IV De Rerum Natura V:Cosmology and Auman Prehistory V Language and Style VI The Transmission of the Text

12 13

Note on references to the Presocratic Philosophers

15

De Rerum Natura V

17

1 4 8

10

Commentary

109

Bibliography

217

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 The changing angle of the earth in relation to the sun in summer and winter, due to the tilt of the earth's axis (diagram by J. Hamwey, reprinted from J. Cornell, The First Stargazers: An Introduction to the Origins of Astronomy (London, 1981)) Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

152

The annual path of the sun through the zodiac (reprinted from J. Evans, The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy,© Oxford University Press, 1998)

152

Shifting positions of sunrise and sunset in summer and winter (diagram by J. Hamwey, reprinted from J. Cornell, The First Stargazers: An Introduction to the Origins of Astronomy (London, 1981))

153

The phases of the moon (reprinted from J. Evans, The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy, © Oxford University Press, 1998)

160

PREFACE For a work written more than two thousand years ago, in a society in many ways quite alien to our own, Lucretius' De Rerum Natura contains much of striking - even startling - contemporary relevance. This is true, above all, of the fifth book, which begins by putting a strong case against what it has recently become fashionable to call 'intelligent design', and ends with an account of human evolution and the development of society in which the limitations of technological progress form a strong and occasionally explicit subtext. Along the way, the poet touches on many themes which may strike a chord with the twenty-first century reader: the fragility of our ecosystem, the corruption of political life, the futility of consumerism and the desirability of limiting our acquisitive instincts are all highly topical issues for us, as for the poem's original audience. Though the underlying reasons for our interest in such matters may be rather different from those of the ancient Epicurean and his readers, De Rerum Natura 5 has interesting side-lights to shine on contemporary debate, as well as offering a fascinating introduction to the worldview of the upper-class Roman of the first century BC. It is my hope that the present edition (which complements existing Aris and Phillips commentaries on books 3, 4 and 6) will help to make Lucretius' urgent and impassioned argument, and something of his remarkable poetic style, accessible to a wider audience, including those with little or no knowledge of Latin. My aim in both translation and commentary has been two-fold: to explain the scientific argument of the book (particularly in its more technical sections) as clearly as possible; and to convey at least some impression of the poetic texture of Lucretius' Latin. In many places, these goals have unavoidably conflicted with each other; I have attempted, however, to follow the syntactical structures and densely metaphorical style of the original Latin as closely as possible in the translation; the notes will serve, it is hoped, to clarify the logical and rhetorical progression of the argument, while also offering comment of a more broadly literary, ideological and philosophical nature. Neither the introduction nor the commentary presupposes any knowledge of Latin; a few notes of a linguistic nature have been included, however, for the benefit of readers tackling the work in the original language. My debt to earlier scholars - particularly in textual matters - is immeasurable; I have profited particularly from the editions and commentaries

VI

Preface

of Cyril Bailey, C. D. N. Costa and M. F. Smith. It is ·a pleasure, too, to acknowledge the generous help of friends and colleagues. The late Malcolm Wilcock offered kindly advice and encouragement in the early phases of the project, as well as incisive comments on a sample of translation and commentary submitted to Aris and Phillips for approval. George Huxley brought his expertise in the field of ancient astronomy to bear on the central section of the commentary, and gave invaluable assistance on a number of technical points. I am grateful too to James Cornell for his immediate and positive response to a request for permission to reprint two illustrations from his book The First Stargazers; and to David Scourfield for scrutinizing the translation with his customary care and acumen, for discussion of many points of detail in the commentary, and for his constant support and encouragement throughout the book's long gestation.

MR.G Dublin, May 2007

ABBREVIATIONS DK KRS

MGLP

NLS OCIY OLD

H. Diels and W. Kranz, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (10th edn., Berlin, 1961) G. S. Kirk, J.E. Raven and M. Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers (2nd edn., Cambridge, 1983) J. W. Halpom, M. Ostwald and T. G. Rosenmeyer, The Metres of Greek and Latin Poetry (2nd edn., Norman, OK, 1980) E. C. Woodcock, A New Latin Syntax (London, 1959) S. Hornblower andA. Spawforth (eds), The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd edn., Oxford, 1996) The Oxford Latin Dictionary (Oxford, 1968)

INTRODUCTION I LUCRETIUSAND THE LATE REPUBLIC Vutually nothing is known for certain about the poet of the De Rerum Natura (DRN). His life was roughly coextensive with the first half of the first century BC, though even here there is some room for doubt (Lucretius' death is usually placed around the year 55, but Hutchinson has recently put forward arguments for a significantly later date). The early Christian writer Jerome recounts in his Chronicle (c. AD 380) a sensational story of madness and suicide, which has the poet composing the DRN during the lucid intervals between bouts of insanity brought on by the consumption of a love-potion; but Jerome is very far from being an impartial witness, and his biographical sketch almost certainly had its origin in attempts by hostile critics to mine the poem itself for anti-Epicurean ammunition. Writers closer to Lucretius' own day tell us little, though it is clear from the admiring tones in which the DRN is explicitly mentioned or implicitly invoked as a model that it remained for some time an influential text. So far as we know, it was Lucretius' only published work. Much more can be said, however, about the cultural milieu in which. the poem was composed, and the readership towards which it was probably directed. Many passages of the poem suggest that its intended audience, and probably the poet too, were members of the cultivated, aristocratic elite. Such passages as the proem to book 2, or the attack on political ambition at 5.1120-35, imply a readership fully involved in, or at least (like Lucretius' contemporary Catullus) on the fringes of, the fiercely competitive struggle for social and political status that dominated upper-class Roman society in the closing decades of the Republic, and was to erupt, soon after the probable date of Lucretius' death, into full-blown civil war. Again, the extended satirical attacks on the fear of death (at the end of book 3) and on romantic love (at the end of 4) both include suggestive sketches of the luxurious yetin Lucretius' eyes - ultimately unsatisfying life-style enjoyed by the jeunesse doree of the period: at 3.1053-75 the poet gives a memorable vignette of the bored aristocrat, who shuttles back and forth between his city mansion and his rural villa, dashing from one to the other as though his house were on fire, yet can find no cure for the ennui that perpetually burdens him; while at 4.1121-40, Lucretius catalogues the luxurious gifts that young men in

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love shower on their mistresses. The denunciation of contemporary society as decadent and morally bankrupt in such passages as these can be readily paralleled from the writings of Cicero, Sallust and others. The finales to books 3 and 4 are notable too for their densely allusive literary texture: Lucretius' extensive and thorough familiarity with Greek as well as Roman literature (demonstrated most clearly in E. J. Kenney's classic article of 1970) again suggests that the poem is directed towards a highly cultivated audience, capable of recognising and appreciating subtle allusions not only to the national epic of Ennius (the central school text for generations, until it was supplanted Virgil's Aeneid), but to the Homeric poems, to Greek and Roman tragedy, Greek lyric and epigram, and the work of the highly influential Hellenistic poet Callimachus. It seems probable, then, that Lucretius moved in much the same circles, and wrote for much the same audience, as his contemporaries Cicero and Catullus (indeed, we know that Cicero read the poem, or perhaps prepublication extracts from it: in a letter to his brother Quintus, 2.10.3, he praises Lucretius for his combination of ars and ingenium, 'literary artistry' and 'natural talent' or 'inspiration', and it has been suggested that he used the poem as a source, though without acknowledgement, for the arguments of the Epicurean speakers in his philosophical dialogues). It is particularly interesting to compare Lucretius' response to contemporary social and political problems with that of Catullus: both portray public life as corrupt and corrupting, and advocate a retreat into the private sphere. But whereas Catullus constructs an ideal world of personal relationships of love and friendship as an alternative to public life, Lucretius admonishes us, with the fervour of a preacher, to save our souls by turning to philosophy, specifically the philosophy of Epicurus. Lucretius' choice of subject-matter for his poem sets him on a collision course with the inherited values of his society. While the overt subjectmatter of the poem is 'the nature of the universe', that is, in modem terms, physics, human physiology, cosmology and meteorology, the poet makes it clear at many points in his work that the understanding of the physical world with which he seeks to endow his reader is only a means to an (ethical) end. As we shall see, this 'end', for Epicurus, is a supremely private and personal one: the ultimate 'good' is mental serenity and freedom from physical pain or disturbance. In order to achieve this ideal state, Lucretius makes it clear that his reader must abandon many of the most cherished goals of the Roman upper-classes: political success means nothing, and

Introduction

3

indeed the political arena is best avoided (5.1129-35); achievement in the military sphere is equally delusive (5.122€r-35). Again, Lucretius does not scruple to attack the complex apparatus of religious ceremony, whereby the Roman aristocracy sought both to maintain social cohesion and to secure the goodwill of the gods, the pax deorum, to which Rome's dominance of the Mediterranean world was traditionally attributed: at 5.1198-1203, as elsewhere in the poem, he insists that traditional religious beliefs and practices serve only to perpetuate anxieties and futile behaviour, from which we need to free ourselves. If Lucretius' poem seems at times deliberately provocative, however, its philosophical message can be seen in other ways as tailored to suit the preoccupations of a contemporary audience. This is particularly clear in book 5, where the somewhat abstruse cosmological subject-matter of the first part of the book is complemented by the extended history of civilization, with its overt and implicit ethical subtexts, that occupies the last 500 lines. Like other parts of the poem, the history of civilization has distinctly dark undertones, as Lucretius shows how, time and again, human beings have failed to use technological discoveries wisely, turning them instead to destructive ends, or allowing themselves to become caught up in the endless cycle of desire for novelty and unnecessary luxury. There was at one time a widespread tendency amongst scholars of Latin literature to see these motifs as signs of pessimism and neurosis on the poet's part; but it is striking how strongly the themes of historical decline and human perversity resonate with similar preoccupations in other writers of the first century. Rather than expressing personal anxieties or an innate pessimism, then, Lucretius may be seen as responding to the anxieties of his age. For Lucretius' philosophical mentor Epicurus, the two greatest threats to human happiness are fear of divine intervention in the world, and fear of death, and Lucretius duly makes these fears the twin targets of his poem's argument. But the fear of death, in particular, is also linked with desire for wealth and power (see esp. 3.41-86 and 5.1120-2) in a way that will have had strong contemporary resonance for Lucretius' original audience, who had lived through one of the most turbulent half-centuries in Roman history. The fifty years proceeding the poem's probable date of publication had been racked by a series of bloody conflicts, played out not in the far-flung reaches of the empire but on Italian soil, from the Social War of 91-88 BC, through the proscriptions of Marius and Sulla, the slave-revolt of Spartacus and the Catilinarian Conspiracy, to the political violence which characterized the

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period of the First Triumvirate (during which the DRN is likely to have been completed). What Lucretius offers, then, is an escape from the bloody rivalries, the competition for status and power, that had dominated the history of his era. When the poet describes how early kings were overthrown and their crowns 'trampled in blood beneath the feet of the mob'; when he depicts the self-defeating attempts of primitive humans to harness wild animals to military ends; or condemns the insatiable desire for luxury goods that 'launched life further into the deep sea and stirred up a great swell of war from the depths' (5.1434-5), his imaginative reconstructions of early life will surely have seemed all too familiar to a readership that had lived through decades of civil strife. But Lucretius suggests to his reader that there is a way out: Epicurus, he proclaims at the beginning of the book, has 'rescued om life' from the darkness of ambition, anxiety and frustrated desire, and 'settled it amid calm, clear light'. The DRN invites its reader to abandon the inherited system of values, which has proved itself so futile, and turn instead to the saving philosophy of Epicurus. II EPICURUS AND HIS PHILOSOPHY

Leaving aside the contemporary Roman colouring discussed in the previous section, the subject-matter of Lucretius' poem is closely based on the philosophical system developed by Epicurus in the early third century BC. Epicurus himself was a prolific author, but the bulk of his writings have not survived. We have fragments of his magnum opus, the On Nature: papyrus rolls containing several of the original 37 books of this work were found in the library of a villa - apparently belonging to a wealthy Roman Epicurean -in Herculaneum, known the Villa of the Papyri. Unfortunately, the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, which preserved the library for posterity, also damaged the papyri so badly that only small sections of the text can be reconstructed. The fragments of the On Nature can, fortunately, be supplemented by the texts of four short works, which are preserved intact in the tenth book of Diogenes Laertius' Lives of Eminent Philosophers (Diogenes also provides a summary of the essential elements of Epicurus' philosophical system, together with a list of his writings). Three letters, to Herodotus, Pythocles and Menoeceus, contain epitomes of Epicurus' theories in the areas of, respectively, physics, cosmology/meteorology and ethics (the authenticity of the Letter to Pythocles is disputed, but there is no good reason to doubt that it offers an accurate summary of the philosopher's views, whether or not

Introduction

5

he wrote it himself (so Sedley, 119, n. 65)). Diogenes' biography concludes with a set of maxims, known as the Kuriai Doxai or Principal Doctrines, a collection of forty pithy quotations, presumably culled at an early date from various parts of Epicurus' oeuvre. In addition, we have a second set of maxims, known as the 'Vatican Sayings', owing to their preservation in a manuscript lodged in the Vatican library. These original works can be supplemented, finally, by quotations in later authors (cited in the commentary from the comprehensive collection of Hermann Usener), by summaries of Epicurean doctrine found - for instance - in the philosophical writings of Cicero, and from the works of later Epicurean writers, notably Diogenes of Oenoanda, a second-century AD (?) worthy of Lycia in Asia Minor, whose enthusiasm for Epicurus' philosophy was so great that he had selected extracts of the master's writings inscribed on the walls of a colonnade, for the edification of his fellow-citizens (Diogenes' inscription has not survived intact, but quite substantial fragments have been recovered). On the basis of these sources, we can form a fairly clear idea of the detail, as well as the broad outlines, of Epicurus' philosophy. Following ancient practice, Epicurus' ideas may be divided under three headings: ethics, physics, and what Epicurus himself called 'the canon' or 'measuring-rule' - that is, the principles on which the validity of a hypothesis are to be judged (in practice, this means something approximating to epistemology). (i) Ethics The central principle of Epicurean ethics - which, as we shall see, links it closely to the physical aspect of the system - is that the goal of human life is to seek pleasure. Pleasure, however, is defined not in terms of sensual enjoyment, but as the satisfaction of a desire or lack. Thus, the ultimate pleasure is to have all one's needs satisfied - to be in a state, that is, of basic physical comfort or freedom from bodily pain (aponia) and mental tranquillity or freedom from the psychological pain caused by anxiety and unsatisfied desire (ataraxia). The former goal is relatively straightforward, since - as Epicurus insists - the essential needs of our bodies are few and easily satisfied (cf. DRN 5 .1119, 'there is never any shortage of a little', and 1425-33). In order to achieve ataraxia, however, we must free ourselves from religious fears and anxieties about the fate of the soul after death for Epicurus, the two deadliest threats to our mental serenity - as well as limiting our desires to those which are actually capable of satisfaction.

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura Y

The need to allay anxieties about death and the gods is the main reason, in Epicurus' view, for studying the natural world. Physics, which can show that death is simply non-existence (and thus not to be feared), and that the gods have no interest in and never intervene in the human world, is offered as a 'cure' for these ills. The problem of desire, conversely, is tackled by classifying its objects into three categories: those that are both natural and necessary (such as food, without which we could not stay alive), those that are natural but not necessary (such as sex, or particular kinds of food - which keep us alive, but not more effectively than simpler alternatives would do), and those that are both unnatural and unnecessary (such as fame and riches, which are illusory, in so far as they do not satisfy a real, physical lack, and can therefore never be fully and finally attained). Desiresin the first class must necessarily be pursued; those in the second class may be indulged in moderation, but we need to realise that we get no more pleasure from eating our fill of chocolate or caviare than we do from eating our fill of plain bread. Desires in the third class are incompatible with ataraxia, and are to be excluded entirely. This entails, inter alia, the rejection' of public service and political involvement discussed above: a famous motto of Epicurus' was 'live in obscurity'.

(ii) Physics

In physics, as in ethics, the central axiom ofEpicurus' system is the materiality of the world, which - like the human body and psyche - consists exclusively of matter moving in empty space. Just as true pleasure is equated with the satisfaction of bodily needs and - at the psychological level - the reduction of disturbance in what we would call the brain, so events in the world around us can be explained on a purely physical level. There is no supernatural or spiritual plane: the gods, while they exist, are material entities, and dwell in a remote realm of their own, having no interaction with the human world (except in so far as they can be perceived by us: on the mechanisms of perception, see below); the soul too is material, as Lucretius explains at length in book 3 of his poem, being conceived as a kind of internal organ, dispersed throughout and interacting with the body; its presence is what keeps us alive and allows us to perceive the world around us, but it cannot survive apart from the body, and simply breaks down or disperses when we die. Epicurus borrowed from the earlier thinkers Democritus and Leucippus the notion that matter consists at the most fundamental level of indivisible

Introduction

7

particles or 'atoms' (the word literally means 'the indivisible'); Lucretius refers to these as 'seeds' (semina), 'first beginnings' (primordia) or 'primary bodies' (corpora prima). The interaction of these fundamental particles accounts in a quite mechanistic way for everything that happens throughout the universe (which is infinite in extent), as well as within our own bodies, though Epicurus preserved the possibility of 'free will' by postulating a minute displacement or 'swerve' of the atoms, which allows the chain of causality to be broken. We do not fully understand how the swerve was supposed to operate, or how Epicurus connected it with the human capacity to make choices and decisions, but it was clearly important to him to maintain the idea we are at liberty to do so. Sense-perception(thesubjectofDRN4)wasalsoexplainedinmechanical terms, as the reception into the sense organs of 'effluences' or 'images' (simulacra), thin films of atoms perpetually given off by all objects. This theory also enabled Epicurus to explain how humans could become aware or the existence of the gods, despite their non-intervention in our world: like everything else, the gods are constantly giving off simulacra, which travel through space and impinge on the human mind in such a way as to allow us toform an idea of the divine nature (cf. DRN 5.1169-93, with nn.).

(iii) Epistemology

The theory of sense-perception outlined at the end of the previous section enables Epicurus to claim that all sensations are, in the last analysis, reliable or 'true'. Because we experience the world around us directly, through the impact of effluences emitted by the objects of sensation, the reliability of the senses is not open to question. Evidently, however, the senses do not always give us an accurate impression of the world around us, and Epicurus accounted for optical and other illusions with the theory that the simulacra can become damaged en route to the sense-organs. We can compensate for this possibility, however, by means of the principle of 'confirmation and non-contradiction'. If, that is, a sense-impression (or, by extension, an idea based on empirical evidence) is contradicted or not confirmed by other sense impressions, we should assume that it is not (necessarily) trustworthy; further examination of the object will be necessary in order to establish the truth (thus, optical illusions caused by - for example - refraction in water can be corrected through the use of touch, or by withdrawing the object from the water).

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Similar principles also apply to thought and reasoning. Concept formation is the result, according to Epicurean theory, of repeated impacts of simulacra on the senses, or directly on the mind (the latter process being the mechanism of thought): these simu/acra literally impress or imprint themselves on the brain, forming a 'preconception' or pro/epsis. Argument or reasoning, too, should be based ultimately on empirical evidence, from which deductions can be made by analogy (so long as these do not conflict with principles derived from sensory evidence). In some cases, however, certainty will be impossible, because the objects under investigation are too remote in either time or space for empirical inspection. In such cases, any theory which does not violate the principle of non-contradiction must be entertained: thus, in the second half of book 5, Lucretius repeatedly advances alternative explanations for astronomical phenomena and for events in prehistory, without attempting to choose between them. The key point here is to exclude the possibility that the gods have any part to play either in controlling the movements of the heavenly bodies, or in the evolution of human society: such a view would violate the principle of non-contradiction, since, as Epicurus argues, the government of our world would be incompatible with the absolute happiness which he regards as an axiomatic attribute ( or part of our pro/epsis) of a deity.

III THE DIDACTIC EPIC Lucretius' poem, then, undertakes to explain this philosophical system, and to convince the reader of its validity, through the medium of hexameter verse. The idea of embodying Epicurean philosophy in poetry is both more and less peculiar than it might initially seem to a modem audience. On the one hand, Epicurus himself seems to have regarded poetry with disfavour, so that the very notion of making a poem of his philosophy is inherently paradoxical. Epicurus' hostility appears to have been based primarily on the dangerously seductive nature of literary language, as well as the important place allotted to poetry in the ancient education system: the poets, with their myths of divine intervention in the world, and their celebrations of love and heroism, might well be regarded as inculcating false values in the young, and so making the philosopher's task all the harder. But Lucretius suggests, in a famous programmatic passage (1.925-50, repeated as the proem to book 4) that it is possible to make a virtue of the seductiveness of verse: poetry is the honey on the medicine-cup of philosophy, which fools the child-like,

Introduction

9

uninitiated reader into taking the healing remedy (that is, the charms of poetry induce us to swallow the Epicurean truth embodied in it - poetry, for Lucretius, is inherently rhetorical). In another sense, however, Lucretius' project was nothing new: didactic or 'teaching' poetry on technical subjects (including philosophy) was one of the longest established genres of ancient literature, going right back to Hesiod in the early seventh century BC. An important model for Lucretius was the philosophical poet Empedocles (c. 494--434 BC), who is singled out for praise at 1.716-33; our poet appears to address his theories directly at several points in book 5 (see below). Didactic poetry engaged from the outset in a kind of dialogue with the closely-related tradition of heroic or narrative epic: both were composed in the same metre, and didactic appears highly self-conscious about its status vis-a-vis its grandersibling. Empedocles is, again, a key figure here: still more than his predecessors, he appropriated the language and style of Homer to his own ends, and his adaptation of the extended epic simile to serve as a vehicle for philosophical argument was particularly influential on Lucretius. The latter is, if anything, still more concerned to locate himself within the tradition of Homer and Ennius, as well as that of his didactic predecessors: book 5, for example, begins with a near-quotation from Eonius' Annales, and several Homeric echoes can be identified later in the book. At the same time, our poet is keen to disavow the false ideas propagated by heroic epic, with its glory-seeking warriors, interfering deities, and descents to the underworld: his own subject-matter - the metaphorical battles of atoms clashing in the void, or the 'skirmishes' between Epicurus and his philosophical rivals - is pointedly substituted for the literal battles celebrated by his predecessors. In presenting Epicurus' philosophy in the form of a didactic epic, then, Lucretius seeks to exploit the 'honey' of poetry to seduce us into acceptance of his arguments; at the same time, the authority of epic poetry- traditionally regarded with reverence in the ancient world as the most elevated and most serious form of literature - is filched from propagators of dangerous myths, and used instead to confer gravitas as well as charm on the whole enterprise.

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V

IV DE RERUM NATURA V: COSMOLOGY AND HUMAN PREIDSTORY Lucretius' poem as a whole can be divided into three blocks of two books: the first two cover the basic principles of atomic physics; books 3 and 4 deal with human physiology (the soul and sensation, culminating in an attack on the delusion of romantic love); while 5 and 6 turn from the micro- to the macro-level, examining the nature of our world as a whole. This third section of the poem begins with an account of how our world came into existence, prefaced by an extended attack on the idea that it was created by the gods, or indeed that it is itself a deity, together with a series of proofs that it is not eternal, having come into being at a certain point in the past, and being destined to come to an end some time in the future. Lucretius goes on to deal with the movements of the sun, moon and stars, and their relationship to the earth. The last part of the book comprises a detailed account of the origins of human life, and the rise of civilization. The subject-matter of book 5 can thus be related to a very ancient tradition of cosmological speculation, reaching back beyond the first 'scientific' thinkers to Hesiod and other early poets. Hesiod's cosmological epic, the Theogony, tells how the world came into being from primordial Chaos, when the goddess Earth ( Gaia) brought forth Heaven (Ouranos ), with whom she subsequently mated, producing various features of the physical world (Hills, Ocean, Sea etc.), as well as the Titan gods who preceded the Olympians as divine rulers. The notion that the world is in some sense divine had a long after-life, and was propounded in less anthropomorphic forms by Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics; at the same time, however, theories of what we might be inclined to regard as a more 'scientific' kind began to be developed. The Presocratic philosophers of the sixth and fifth centuries BC were concerned above all with the questions of how the world came into being, and what its fundamental constituents are; the origins of human life and human society were also a focus of attention. Epicurus apparently had little interest in innovation in these areas, so long as Presocratic theory could be regarded as compatible with his own views on the atomic make-up of the world and the non-involvement of the gods. Thus, many parallels can be found between the fragmentary remains of Presocratic philosophy and the theories advanced by Lucretius in DRN 5; the history of civilization in the last part of the book has some similarities with fragments ofDemocritus, who, like Epicurus and his disciple, suggested that the arts of civilization arose primarily through the imitation of nature.

Introduction

11

Epicurus was less willing, however, to adopt more recent innovations, particularly in the area of astronomy, which had developed by the early Hellenistic period into a highly sophisticated science. Epicurus was scornful of the mathematical models developed by astronomers in the Platonic tradition, who attempted to account for the apparently irregular movements of the stars and planets in strictly geometrical terms. The abstract, theoretical nature of this kind of astronomy (which begins by assuming that the movements of the stars are susceptible of description in terms of regular three-dimensional geometry) was, for Epicurus, simply too far from the observ~ble realities of celestial and planetary motion. As we saw above, empirical observation is the primary criterion of truth in Epicurus' system; to assume that the movements of the stars can be described mathematically is, in his eyes, simply arbitrary, and, moreover, tells us nothing about what actually causes those movements. More controversial is the question of whether Lucretius responds in any way to late- and post-Hellenistic developments in science and philosophy. David Sedley makes a strong case for the view that the poet was a 'philosophical fundamentalist', who relied solely on the works of Epicurus in composing his poem. Certainly, he appears to have had little interest in the - often abstruse - debates of contemporary philosophy, or the refinements introduced into Epicurus' system by his successors; on the other hand, it is possible to argue that the poet implicitly redirects arguments derived from Epicurus' own writings against new targets - notably Stoicism. It is hard to imagine a contemporary reader encountering the arguments against teleology and divine providence at the beginning of book 5, for example, and not supposing them to be aimed at the Stoics (for whom god's providential government of the world was a central dogma). An elaborate theory of prehistory developed by the Stoic Posidonius (summarized by Seneca, in his long Letter 90) also has apparent resonances in the last part of book 5. There is, finally, some evidence in book 5 that Lucretius responds directly to the work of non-Epicurean thinkers - notably, the philosophical epic of Empedocles, and the rationalist prehistory of the Peripatetic Dicaearchus ofMessene (for specific echoes, see notes on lines 101-3, 432-5, 788, 792, 839-44; 925-1010, 988, 1007-10, 1419-22).

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V

V LANGUAGE AND STYLE Lucretius' poem suggests an ambivalent attitude towards the contemporary 'battle of the books' so prominent in the poetry of Catullus, who, with his fellow 'neoterics' or 'new poets', championed an ultra-sophisticated, highlypolished modernist style, self-consciously indebted to the literary ideals of Callimachus. The other side of the debate is represented, for us, primarily by Cicero, who prefers the grander, old style and themes ofEnnius and the Roman tragedians, and dismisses the 'devotees of Euphorion' ( Tusculan Disputations 3.45) as arrogant upstarts. In several passages of the DRN, Lucretius expresses himself in language which suggests a partial adherence to the Callimachean ideals of literary innovation, careful artistry and poetic polish: in 1.925-50 (= 4.1-25) for example, he depicts himself as breaking new poetic ground, using metaphors strongly reminiscent of the famous and much-imitated proem to Callimachus' Aetia; similarly, a short programmatic passage that occurs twice in book 4 (180-2 = 909-11) suggests loyalty to the central Callimachean dogma 'quality not quantity', echoing an epigram in praise ofErinna by the later Hellenistic poet Antipater of Sidon (Palatine Anthology 7. 713). Generally speaking, however, Lucretius' style seems distinctly rugged and archaic in comparison to that of Catullus and his Augustan successors. His characteristic and pervasive use of alliteration and word-play, in particular, are strongly reminiscent of Ennius, and his metrical technique, too, appears far less polished than that ofVrrgil a generation later (particularly striking in this connexion is his free use of the monosyllabic line-ending, a feature generally reserved by the Augustan poets for the creation of occasional special effects). In combination with the linguistic archaisms which figure so prominently throughout the DRN, these stylistic features combine to strengthen the affinity with Ennian epic discussed in section III above: while the poet is, indubitably, concerned to show his awareness of the neoteric/Callimachean concern for high artistic polish, this qualified acceptance of the 'new' poetics does not prevent him from exploiting the resonance of the grand, Ennian manner as a means to confer dignity and authority on his philosophical message. Many features of Lucretius' Latin will, thus, be unfamiliar to readers coming to the DRN from Augustan and later writers; for convenience, some of the most prominent examples of archaism are therefore listed here: (a) First declension genitive singular in -ai: Lucretius regularly employs this archaic form (scanned as a spondee) alongside the more familiar spelling -ae, particularly at line-ends.

Introduction

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(b) Passive infinitive in -ier: again, Lucretius frequently uses this archaic form as an alternative to the regular ending in -i; instances are noted in the commentary. (c) Other archaic word-forms include indu for in (preposition and prefix), e.g. iacere indu, 5.102; indupedita = impedita, 876; qui for quibus (dat. and abl.), e.g. 5.233; ol/i(s) for il/i(s), e.g. 5.382; siet for sit (conjectural at 5.531, but also found elsewhere in the poem); a/id for a/iud, e.g. 5.1305. Other examples are noted in the commentary. Many of these forms have the advantage of offering metrical flexibility, as well as contributing to the general atmosphere of archaic grandeur, as discussed above. ( d) Suppression of final -s: the practice of disregarding a final -s after a short vowel when followed by a word beginning with a consonant was in regular use amongst writers of the second century BC, and no doubt reflected the pronunciation of such words in everyday speech. Though this usage had come to be regarded by the later first century as provincial and unsophisticated (subrusticum; so Cicero, Orator 161), Lucretius employs it from time to time as a metrical convenience. See e.g. immorta/ibu'dedivis, 5.53; dulcedini'fructum, 1410. (e) Postponement of prepositions: not strictly-speaking an archaism, but much more common in Lucretius than in later poets, is the practice of placing prepositions after the noun they govern, e.g. Jsmara propter, 5.31; /oca ... per, 770. (f) Prodelision of es(t): when the verbs es and est follow a vowel, the first syllable is elided, and the resulting combination is written as a single word, e.g. purgatum (e)st becomes purgatumst (5.43). Again, this is not strictly an archaic feature (cf. MGLP §11.2for prodelision or aphaeresis as a standard feature of Latin prosody), but the orthographical convention whereby the elided combination is written as one word is generally confined to earlier poets.

VI THE TRANSMISSION OF THE TEXT The most important surviving manuscripts of Lucretius, known as the Oblongus (0) and Quadratus (Q) on account of their shape, are both in the library of the University of Leiden. Both were written in the ninth century, in Carolingian minuscules. We have, in addition, sections of a further manuscript (or possibly two manuscripts) of the same century, referred to by

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the letters G, V and U (G, the Schedae Gottorpienses, is in Copenhagen, V and U, the Schedae Vindobonenses priores and posteriores, in Vienna).All three (or four) manuscripts derive ultimately from a single archetype, written in rustic capitals in the fourth or fifth century. All the other manuscripts - known collectively as the ltali, and approximately fifty in number - are of much later date; they all derive indirectly from a manuscript (P) found by the humanist scholar Poggio Bracciolini in 1417. P itself, and Poggio's own copy, were subsequently lost, but a copy of the copy made by Poggio's friend Niccolo Niccoli survives, and is now in Florence ( Codex Laurentianus 35 .30, known as L). Most scholars now believe that the manuscript discovered by Poggio was itself a corrected copy of 0: if so, the Itali have no independent authority, though they are a valuable source of humanist conjectures, many of which have been accepted by modem editors. Along with L, F (Codex Laurentianus 35.31, Bailey's / 31), which is particularly rich in judicious conjectures, is amongst the most important of these fifteenth- and sixteenthcentury manuscripts; also cited in the apparatus criticus are A ( Codex Vaticanus 3276), C (Codex Cantabrigiensis) and M (Codex Monacensis). The abbreviations 0 1 and Q 1 indicate corrections made in MSS O and Q. The text printed in this edition is based on that of Bailey (Oxford Classical Text, 2nd edition, 1922). In a few places, however, I have interpreted the Latin in a slightly different way from Bailey, whose punctuation I have altered accordingly. In addition, I have in the following places preferred a different reading from that adopted by Bailey (who, in some cases, changed his own mind between 1922 and the publication of his three-volume edition with commentary in 1947):

61 201 412 437 [440] 587 736 948 1082 1203 1225

OCT incolumis avide vitas omne genus de est possint vag1 praedaque pacata adultum

This edition incolumem avidam multos ommgen1s e et videas vag1s praedaeque placata adactum

Introduction

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Note on references to the Presocratic philosophers No written work by any ancient philosopher before Plato has come down to us intact; Presocratic thought is thus largely available to us only through the indirect tradition (Empedocles is a partial exception, since in his case the relatively numerous quotations can be supplemented from recentlydeciphered papyrus fragments of his poem or poems, on which see B. Inwood, The Poem o/Empedocles (2nd edn., Toronto, 2001), 19-21, 75-9). Quotations - usually brief - are in many cases preserved in the works of later writers; but the bulk of what we know about the ideas of these thinkers is derived from descriptions or summaries of their doctrines. An important but somewhat nebulous figure in this connexion is the doxographer known as Aetius, who probably compiled a kind of catalogue of 'opinions of the philosophers' under various headings some time in the late first or second century AD. Aetius' work itself has not survived, but the nineteenth-century scholar Hermann Diels proposed to reconstruct it from two later sources - the Pseudo-Plutarchan work Opinions of the Philosophers (Moralia 8740-911 C) and the Anthology of Johannes Stobaeus. Diels' reconstruction - published as Doxographi Graeci (Berlin, 1879) - is not uncontroversial, but is nevertheless commonly cited, for the sake of convenience, as Aetius, Placita (Opinions). Fragments of the Presocratics and testimonia to their views are cited in the commentary from the edition of H. Diels and W. Kranz, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (10th edn., Berlin, 1961), where the prefix 'A' indicates a testimonium as opposed to a direct quotation. Where possible, I have added a reference to the widely accessible handbook of G. S. Kirk, J.E. Raven and M. Schofield (The Presocratic Philosophers (2nd edn., Cambridge, 1983) = KRS), which includes English translation of all fragments and testimonia quoted; citation is by item number. For Empedocles, the revised edition of Inwood's The Poem of Empedoc/es (see above), which includes a translation and incorporates recently-published papyrus fragments, is recommended.

LUCRETIUS:

DE RERUM NATURA V

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V Quis potis est dignum pollenti pectore carmen condere pro rerum maiestate bisque repertis? quisve valet verbis tantum qui fingere laudes pro meritis eius possit qui talia nobis pectore parta suo quaesitaque praemia liquit? nemo, ut opinor, erit mortali corpore cretus. nam si, ut ipsa petit maiestas cognita rerum, dicendum est, deus ille fuit, deus, inclute Memmi, qui princeps vitae rationem invenit earn quae nunc appellatur sapientia, quique per artem fluctibus et tantis vitarn tantisque tenebris in tarn tranquillo et tarn clara luce locavit. confer enim divina aliorum antiqua reperta. namque Ceres fertur fruges Liberque liquoris vitigeni laticem mortalibus instituisse; cum tarnen his posset sine rebus vita manere, ut fama est aliquas etiam nunc vivere gentis. at bene non poterat sine puro pectore vivi; quo magis hie merito nobis deus esse videtur, ex quo nunc etiam per magnas didita gentis dulcia permulcent animos solacia vitae. Herculis antistare autem si facta putabis, longius a vera multo ratione ferere. quid Nemeaeus enim nobis nunc magnus hiatus ille leonis obesset et horrens Arcadius sus? denique quid Cretae taurus Lemaeaque pestis hydra venenatis posset vallata colubris? quidve tripectora tergemini vis Geryonai

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*** tanto opere officerent nobis Stymphala colentes, et Diomedis equi spirantes naribus ignem Thracis Bistoniasque plagas atque lsmara propter? aureaque Hesperidum servans fulgentia mala,

2 maiestate bisque Lambinus: maiestatis atque OQ: maiestatisque P 30 ante 29 co/locovit et locunom post 28 indicovit Munro 31 Thracis Munro: Thracia OQ: Thracem Lochmonn

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(30] (29]

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Who is there capable of composing with mighty mind a poem worthy of the majesty of the universe and these discoveries? Or who has power enough with words to shape praises in proportion to the merits of that man who bequeathed to us such s gifts, born of his own mind and discovered by him? There will, I think, be no one sprung of mortal stock. For ifwe are to speak as the very majesty of his discoveries demands, he was a god, a god, glorious Memmius, who first found that way of life that is 10 now called wisdom, and who by his skill rescued our life from such great billows and such darkness and settled it amid such calm, clear light. Compare, if you will, the divine discoveries of others, made in ancient times. For Ceres is said to have inaugurated the cultivation of crops for mortals, and Liber 15 the juice of vine-born liquor - though life could still go on without these things, as certain tribes are said to live even today. But without a pure heart, it was impossible to live well; so all the more he seems to us, deservedly, to be a god, 20 from whom even today sweet comforts of life, distributed amongst mighty nations, soothe the mind. But if you think that the exploits of Hercules rank higher, you will be carried much further astray from true reasoning. For what harm could that. famous Nemean lion's mighty maw 25 do us now, or the bristling Arcadian boar? What harm, in short, could the Cretan bull do, or the hydra, the monster of Lema, fenced around with poisonous snakes? How could the triple-bodied might of threefold Geryon [hurt us? How could] the [birds] that dwell around Lake Stymphalus so greatly injure us, 30 or Thracian Diomedes' :fire-breathing horses, near the Bistonian territories and Mount Ismarus? Finally, what harm could there be from the fierce, balefully-glaring serpent that guards the gleaming golden apples of the Hesperides, coiling its

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura Y asper, acerba tuens, immani corpore serpens arboris amplexus stirpem quid denique obesset propter Atlanteum litus pelagique severa, quo neque noster adit quisquam nee barbarus audet? cetera de genere hoe quae sunt portenta perempta, si non victa forent, quid tandem viva nocerent? nil, ut opinor: ita ad satiatem terra ferarum nunc etiam scatit et trepido terrore repleta est per nemora ac montis magnos silvasque profundas; quae loca vitandi plerumque est nostra potestas. at nisi purgatumst pectus, quae proelia nobis atque pericula tumst ingratis insinuandum! quantae tum scindunt hominem cuppedinis acres sollicitum curae quantique perinde timores! quidve superbia spurcitia ac petulantia? quantas efficiunt clades! quid luxus desidiaeque? haec igitur qui cuncta subegerit ex animoque expulerit dictis, non armis, nonne deeebit hunc hominem numero divum dignarier esse? cum bene praesertim multa ac divinitus ipsis immortalibu' de divis dare dicta suerit atque omnem rerum naturam pandere dictis. Cuius ego ingressus vestigia dum rationes persequor ac doceo dictis, quo quaeque creata · foedere sint, in eo quam sit durare necessum nee validas valeant aevi rescindere leges, quo genere in primis animi natura reperta est nativo primum consistere corpore creta nee posse incolumem magnum durare per aevum, sed simulacra solere in somnis fallere mentem, cemere cum videamur eum quern vita reliquit,

35 Atlanteum Gifanius: Atianeum 0: Atianeam Q 44 tumst Lachmann: sunt OQ: tune Lambinus 53 de Lambinus: e OQ 61 incolumem P: incolumen O; vinculum est Q: incolumis Marul/us

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monstrous body round the tree-trunk, 35 by the Atlantic shore and the grim reaches of the sea-where no one of our race ever goes, nor even the barbarian ventures? And as for other prodigies of this kind, that have perished: even if they had not been vanquished and still lived, what injury could they do us, after all? None, I think: so crammed full of wild beasts is the earth 40 even · now, so abundant in dreadful horror throughwoods and high mountains and deep forests - places which for the most part it is within our power to avoid. But unless the heart be purified, what battles and dangers must we then become involved in whether we will or no! 45 How great then are the fierce longings of desire that rend a restless man, how great, too, his fears! And what of arrogance, depravity and aggression? How great the calamities they inflict! What of self-indulgence and sloth? So will it not seem right that the man who subdued all these passions and drove them out of the mind, sowith words, not weapons, should be thought worthy to be numbered amongst the gods? Particularly as he used to make so many pronouncements, in good and godlike fashion, about the immortal gods themselves, and to reveal the whole nature of the universe through his words. ss His are the footsteps I have begun to follow, as I closely pursue his reasoning and explain how all things must endure according to the contract under which they were created, and cannot break the strong laws of time (amongst these things, in particular, we found that the nature of the soul 60 is made up, first, of mortal substance, and cannot remain intact through long ages, whereas images often deceive our minds as we sleep, when we seem to see one from whom life has departed); for the rest, the orderly plan of my

22

Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V quod superest, nunc hue rationis detulit onto, ut mihi mortali consistere corpore mundum natiwmque simul ratio reddunda sit esse; et quibus ille modis congressus materiai fundarit terram caelum mare sidera solem lunaique globum; tum quae tellure animantes exstiterint, et quae nullo sint tempore natae; quove modo genus humanum variante loquela coeperit inter se vesci per nomina rerum; et quibus ille modis diwm metus insinuarit pectora, terrarum qui in orbi sancta tuetur fana lacus lucos aras simulacraque diwm. praeterea solis cursus lunaeque meatus expediam qua vi flectat natura gubernans; ne forte haec inter caelum terramque reamur libera sponte sua cursus lustrare perennis, morigera ad fruges augendas atque animantis, neve aliqua diwm volvi ratione putemus. nam bene qui didicere deos securum agere aewm, si tamen interea mirantur qua ratione quaeque geri possint, praesertim rebus in illis quae supera caput aetheriis cernuntur in oris, rursus in antiquas referuntur religiones et dominos acris adsciscunt, omnia posse quos miseri credunt, ignari quid queat esse, quid nequeat, :finita potestas denique cuique quanam sit ratione atque alte terminus haerens. Quod superest, ne te in promissis plura moremur, principio maria ac terras caelumque tuere; quorum naturam triplicem, tria corpora, Memmi, tris species tam dissimilis, tria talia texta, una dies dabit exitio, multosque per annos sustentata ruet moles et machina mundi. nee me animi fallit quam res nova miraque menti accidat exitium caeli terraeque futurum, et quam difficile id mihi sit pervincere dictis; ut fit ubi insolitam rem apportes auribus ante nee tamen bane possis oculorum subdere visu

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work bas now brought me to the point 65 where I must give an account of how the world ill made up of substance that is both perishable and came into being; how that conglomeration of matter laid the foundations of earth, sky, sea, stars, sun and the sphere of the moon; and also of the living things that 70 sprang from the earth, and those that never existed at all; how the human race began to employ varied speech amongst themselves and use names for things; and how the fear of the gods that watches over holy 75 shrines, lakes, groves, altars and images of the gods all over the world, wormed its way into human hearts. I will explain, too, by what power guiding nature controls the course of the sun and the moon's wandering path; in case perhaps we should think that these bodies range freely and of their own accord on their perpetual course between earth and sky 80 in order to accommodate the growth of crops and animals, or suppose that they are made to revolve by some plan of the gods. For if those who have thoroughly learned the lesson that the gods lead a life free from care still wonder in the meantime how everything can be effected - particularly in the case of those phenomena 85 which we observe above our heads in the regions of the sky - they are apt to fall back again into their old superstitions and adopt cruel masters, whom (poor wretches) they believe to be omnipotent, ignorant as they are of what can exist, what cannot, 90 how, in short, each thing bas limited powers and a deep-set boundary-stone. For the rest - not to put you off with promises any longer - first look at the seas, lands and sky: their three-fold substance, these three bodies, Memmius, these three elements so dissimilar in appearance, these three great fabrics, 95 a single day will bring to destruction, and the massive machinery of the world, maintained for so many years, will fall in ruin. Nor does it escape my attention how novel and astonishing an idea the future destruction of heaven and earth appears to the mind, and how difficult it is for me to win you over to it with my words; 100 as happens when one reports an idea unheard of previously, something that cannot be subjected to the gaze of

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Lucretius: De Rervm Natura V

nee iacere indu manus, via qua munita fidei proxima fert humanum in pectus templaque mentis. sed tamen effabor. dictis dabit ipsa fidem res forsitan et graviter terrarum motibus ortis omnia conquassari in parvo tempore cemes. quod procul a nobis fleetat fortuna gubemans, et ratio potius quam res persuadeat ipsa succidere horrisono posse omnia victa fragore. Qua prius aggrediar quam de re fundere fata sanctius et multo certa ratione magis quam Pythia quae tripode a Phoebi lauroque profatur, multa tibi expediam doctis solacia dictis; religione refrenatus ne forte rearis terras et solem et caelum, mare sidera lunam, corpore divino debere aetema manere, proptereaque putes ritu par esse Gigantum pendere eos poenas jmmani pro scelere omnis qui ratione sua disturbent moenia mundi praeelarumque velint caeli restinguere solem immortalia mortali sermone notantes; quae procul usque adeo divino a numine distent, inque deum numero quae sint indigna videri, notitiam potius praebere ut posse putentur quid sit vitali motu sensuque remotum. quippe etenim non est, cum quovis corpore ut esse posse animi natura putetur consiliumque; sicut in aethere non arbor, non aequore salso nubes esse queunt neque pisces vivere in arvis nee cruor in lignis neque saxis sucus inesse. certum ac dispositumst ubi quicquid crescat et insit. sic animi natura nequit sine corpore oriri sola neque a nervis et sanguine longius esse.

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manereed Juntina: meare OQ par Marul/us; pars 0Q a numine distent F: animinbistent OQ crescat (cf 3.787): crescet OQ a nervis (cf 3.789): aruis OQ

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the eyes nor touched with the bands - the means by which the high road of belief leads most directly into the human heart and the precincts of the mind Nevertheless I will speak out. Perhaps the event itself will lend conviction to my words, 105 and you will witness terrible earthquakes arising and see everything shaken to pieces in a moment of time. May guiding Fortune avert that from us, and may reason rather than the event itself persuade you that it is possible for the whole world to be overpowered and collapse in a thunderous cataclysm. 110 Before I undertake to utter prophetic words about this matter, with more sanctity and much more reliable reasoning than the Pythia who speaks from the tripod and the laurel of Phoebus, I will set out many consoling doctrines for you in learned words; in case, reined in by supetstition, you should perhaps believe 115 that the earth, the sun and sky, the sea, stars and moon, are of divine substance and must last for ever, and think that all those who undermine the walls of the world with their reasoning 120 and want to extinguish the glorious sun in the sky, demeaning immortal things with their mortal speech, deserve for that reason to pay a penalty like the Giants' for their monstrous wickedness; though these things are so far removed from divine power and so unworthy to be numbered amongst the gods that they should rather be thought to be able to exemplify 125 that which is devoid of animate movement and sensation. For there is certainly no way that the substance of soul and the mind should be thoughtto be able to exist in any body whatsoever; just as a tree cannot grow in the sky, nor clouds in the briny sea, nor fish live in plough-land, 130 nor blood exist in timber nor sap in stones. Everything has a fixed and determined place in which to grow and reside. In the same way, the substance of the mind cannot come to be on its own, apart from the body, nor be too far away from tendons and blood.

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V quod si posset enirn, multo prius ipsa anirni vis in capite aut umeris aut irnis calcibus esse posset et innasci quavis in parte soleret, tandem in eodem homine atque in eodem vase manere. quod quoniam nostro quoque constat corpore certum dispositumque videtur ubi esse et crescere possit sorsum anima atque animus, tanto magis infitiandum totum posse extra corpus formamque anirnalem putribus in glebis terrarum aut solis in igni aut in aqua durare aut altis aetheris oris. baud igitur constant divino praedita sensu, quandoquidem nequeunt vitaliter esse animata. Illud item non est ut possis credere, sedis esse deum sanctas in mundi partibus ullis. tenvis enirn natura deum longeque remota sensibus ah nostris anirni vix mente videtur; quae quoniam manuum tactum suffugit et ictum, tactile nil nobis quod sit contingere debet. tangere enim non quit quod tangi non licet ipsum. quare etiam sedes quoque nostris sedibus esse dissimiles debent, tenues de corpore eorum; quae tibi posterius largo sermone probabo. dicere porro hominum causa voluisse parare praeclaram mundi naturam proptereaque allaudabile opus divum laudare decere aetemumque putare atque immortale futurum nee fas esse, deum quod sit ratione vetusta gentibus humanis fundatum perpetuo aevo, sollicitare suis ulla vi ex sedibus umquam nee verbis vexare et ab imo evertere summa, cetera de genere hoe adfingere et addere, Memmi, desiperest. quid enim immortalibus atque beatis gratia nostra queat largirier emolumenti, ut nostra quicquam causa gerere aggrediantur?

142 in add /ta/.: om. OQ 152 quod Maru//us: quod si OQ

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Indeed, if it could, the force of the mind itself could much sooner exist 135 in the head or shoulders or the soles of the feet and would tend to be born in any part of the body, but would at least stay in the same person and the same vessel. But since in our bodies too there is a settled disposition, and it seems to be fixed and determined 140 where the soul and the mind can each exist and grow, we must deny a fortiori that they can endure right outside the body and animal form, in crumbling clods of earth or in the sun's fire or in water or the lofty realms of aether. So these things are not endowed with divine sensation, 145 since indeed they cannot be alive and animate. This, too, is incredible: that the holy dwellings of the gods are in any part of this world. For the insubstantial nature of the gods is far removed from our senses and scarcely perceptible even to the mind; 150 and since it escapes the touch and impact of our hands, it ought not to come into contact with anything that we can touch. For that which may not itself be touched is not able to touch. Therefore, their dwellings must also be very different from our dwellings, and insubstantial in accordance with their bodies; 155 I will demonstrate this to you later with abundant argument. Furthermore, to say that they wished to bring this glorious world into being for the sake of us humans, and that it is therefore right to praise the laudable work of the gods; to believe that it will be everlasting and immortal 160 and that it is not lawful ever, by means of any force whatsoever, to shake from its foundations that which was established for the human race, for all time, by the gods' primeval plan, nor to disturb or overturn it with words; and to invent and add other arguments of this kind, 165 is utterly absurd, Memmius. For what advantage could our gratitude bestow on blessed immortals, that they should undertake anything for our sake? Or what novelty could tempt

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quidve novi potuit tanto post ante quietos inlicere ut cuperent vitam mutare priorem? nam gaudere novis rebus debere videtur cui veteres obsunt; sed cui nihil accid.it aegri tempore in anteacto, cum pulchre degeret aevum, quid potuit novitatis amorem accendere tali? quidve mali fuerat nobis non esse creatis? an, credo, in tenebris vita ac maerore iacebat, donec d.iluxit rerum genitalis origo? natus enim debet quicumque est velle manere in vita, donec retinebit blanda voluptas. qui numquam vero vitae gustavit amorem nee fuit in numero, quid obest non esse creatum? exemplum porro gignund.is rebus et ipsa notities d.ivis hominum unde est insita primum, quid vellent facere ut scirent animoque viderent, quove modost umquam vis cognita principiorum quidque inter sese permutato ordine possent, si non ipsa dedit specimen natura creand.i? namque ita multa mod.is multis primord.ia rerum e:,ciofioito iam tempore percita plagis ponderibusque suis consuerunt concita ferri omnimod.isque coire atque omnia pertemptare, quaecumque inter se possent congressa creare, ut non sit mirum si in talis d.isposituras deciderunt quoque et in talis venere meatus, qualibus haec rerum geritur nunc summa novando. Quod si iam rerum ignorem primord.ia quae sint, hoe tamen ex ipsis caeli rationibus ausim confirmare aliisque ex rebus reddere multis,

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those who had enjoyed peace for so long to wish to alter their old way of life? 170 For it seems appropriate for those whose former situation displeases them to rejoice in a change of circumstances; but as for one to whom nothing unpleasant has happened in time past, while he has been living a happy life, whatever could kindle love for something new in such a one? Or what harm would it have done us not to be created? 175 I suppose that life languished in gloom and misery until the creation of the world shed light upon it! For it is reasonable for anyone, once born, to want to remain alive so long as delightful pleasure holds him. But as for one who has never tasted the love of life, 180 nor been enrolled amongst the living, what misfortune is it to him not to have been created? Where, besides, did the gods find a model for the creation of the world, and whence was knowledge of the human race first implanted in them, so that they could know and see in their minds' eye what they wanted to create? Or however did they come to know the power of the primary particles, 1115and what those particles can achieve by recombining amongst themselves, if nature herself did not give them a template for creation? For, from time immemorial, many particles of things have been accustomed to be carried along in many ways, stirred into motion by collisions and given impetus by their own weight, 190 and to come together in all kinds of configurations and try everything - whatever they could create by assembling together - so that it is hardly surprising if they also fell into place in such a way and adopted such movements as those by which this world of ours is maintained and renewed. 195 But even if I did not know what the primary constituents of matter are, I would nevertheless be so bold as to assert, from the very workings of the sky, and to argue from much other evidence, that the nature of this world was

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nequaquam nobis d.ivinitus esseparatam naturam rerum:tantastatpraed.itaculpa. principio quantum caeli tegit impetus ingens, inde avidam partem montes silvaeque ferarum possedere, tenent rupes vastaeque paludes et mare quod late terrarum d.istinet oras. inde duas porro prope partis fervidus ardor assiduusque geli casus mortalibus aufert. quod superest arvi, tamen id natura sua vi sentibus obducat, ni vis humana resistat vitai causa valido consueta bidenti ingemere et terram pressis proscindere aratris. si non fecundas vertentes vomere glebas terraique solum subigentes cimus ad ortus, sponte sua nequeant liquidas exsistere in auras; et tamen interdum magno quaesita labore cum iam per terras frondent atque omnia florent, aut nimiis torret fervoribus aetherius sol aut subiti perimunt imbres gelidaeque pruinae flabraque ventorum violento turbine vexant. praeterea genus horriferum natura ferarum humanae genti infestum terraque marique cur alit atque auget? cur anni tempora morbos apportant? quare mors immatura vagatur? tum porro puer, ut saevis proiectus ab undis navita, nudus humi iacet, infans, ind.igus omni vitali auxilio, cum primum in lumiois oras nixibus ex alvo matris natura profudit, vagituque locum lugubri complet, ut aequumst cui tantum in vita restet transire malorum. at variae crescunt pecudes armenta feraeque nee crepitacillis opus est nee cuiquam adhibendast almae nutricis blanda atque infracta loquela nee varias quaerunt vestis pro tempore caeli, denique non armis opus est, non moenibus altis, 201 227

auidam OQ: avide Bernays: a/ii alia rcstet transire L: re et transirest O (transire est Q)

200

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in no way procured for us by divine agency: it is so full of imperfections. 200 In the first place: of all that is covered by the huge expanse of the sky, a greedy share is occupied by mountains and forests full of wild beasts, dominated by crags and desolate marshes and the sea that holds the shores of the land far apart. Then blazing heat 205 and perpetual snowfalls remove almost twothirds of it from human use. As for the remaining lands, even these would be covered with brambles by the force of nature if human strength did not resist her, well used as we are to groaning over the sturdy mattock for our livelihood and furrowing the earth by pressure of the plough. 210 If we did not encourage plants to grow by turning over the fertile clods with the ploughshare and working the surface of the earth, they would be unable to spring up of their own accord into the clear air; and even so, when the crops tended with so much labour are already in leaf and all in bloom throughout the land, 215 the fiery sun sometimes scorches them with too much heat, or sudden rain and icy frost destroy them, and gusts of wind whip them with violent blasts. Besides, why does nature 220 nurse and sustain by land and sea the fearsome race of wild beasts, enemies to humankind? Why do the seasons of the year bring diseases? Why does premature death roam the world? Then too the infant, like a sailor cast ashore by the cruel sea, lies naked on the ground, without speech, in want of everything that is needed to sustain life, as soon as 225 nature has thrust it out, through labour, from its mother's womb onto the shores of daylight; it fills the place with mournful wailing, as is only reasonable for one destined to pass through so many evils in life. But the various flocks and herds and wild animals grow up, and have no need of rattles, nor must 230 the motherly nurse's lisping and broken speech be used on any of them; they do not change their clothing according to the season of the year; and, finally, they have no need of arms or high

32

Lucretius:De Rerum Nahlra Y qui sua tutentur, quando omnibus omnia large tellus ipsa parit naturaque daedala rerum. Principio quoniam terrai corpus et umor aurarumque leves animae calidique vapores, e quibus haec rerum consistere summa videtur, omnia nativo ac mortali corpore constant, debet eodem omnis mundi natura putari. quippe etenim quorum partis et membra videmus corpore nativo ac mortalibus esse figuris, haec eadem ferme mortalia cernimus esse et nativa simul. quapropter maxima mundi cum videam membra ac partis consumpta regigni, scire licet caeli quoque item terraeque fuisse principiale aliquod tempus clademque futuram. Illud in his rebus ne corripuisse rearis me mihi, quod terram atque ignem mortalia sumpsi esse neque umorem dubitavi aurasque perire atque eadem gigni rursusque augescere dixi, principio pars terrai nonnulla, perusta solibus assiduis, multa pulsata pedum vi, pulveris exhalat nebulam nubisque volantis quas validi toto dispergunt aere venti. pars etiam glebarum ad diluviem revocatur imbribus et ripas radentia flumina rodunt. praeterea pro parte sua, quodcumque alit auget, redditur; et quoniam dubio procul esse videtur omniparens eadem rerum commune sepulcrum, ergo terra tibi libatur et aucta recrescit. Quod superest, umore novo mare flumina fontis semper abundare et latices manare perennis nil opus est verbis: magnus decursus aquarum undique declarat. sed primum quicquid aquai tollitur in summaque fit ut nil umor abundet, partim quod validi verrentes aequora venti

239 eodem Pius: eadem 0: edem Q 241 nativo ac Lachmann:natiuom 0: natiuum Q 245

item Bentley. idem OQ

235

240

245

250

255

260

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walls to protect their property, since the earth itself and nature, artful maker of things, bring forth everything in abundance for them all. 235 In the first place: since the substance of earth and water and the light breath of winds and warm heat, of which this world appears to be made up, all consist of substance that comes into being and passes away, we must believe that the nature of the whole world is the same; 240 inasmuch as, when we observe that something has parts and limbs made up of substance that comes into being and of perishable particles, we perceive that it is invariably subject both to death and to birth. Therefore, when I see the great limbs of the world and its parts perishing and being reborn, 245 I can conclude that there was likewise a time of first-beginning for sky and earth, and that they will one day meet their doom. In case you should think that I have made an illegitimate assumption as regards this matter, in that I have taken it for granted that earth and fire are mortal nor doubted that moisture and breezes perish, 250 and have said that these same things are born and grow again: in the first place, no small portion of the earth, scorched by continual sunshine and pounded by the pressure of many feet, breathes out a mist and floating clouds of dust, which strong winds disperse completely into the air. 255 A part of the soil, too, is dissolved into water by the rain, and rivers scrape and gnaw away their banks. Moreover, the earth, for its own part, receives back whatever it nourishes and causes to grow; and since, without a doubt, it seems to be at once the universal mother and the common tomb of all, 260 the earth, you see, is thu.~diminii;hed and grows again. For the rest, there is no need to tell how the sea, rivers and springs are always full of new moisture, and waters run perpetually: the great downward flow of watercourses proclaims it all around us. But the foremost portion of the water 265 is constantly carried away, and so it comes about that the liquid does not increase at all in its total volume: partly because it is reduced by

34

Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V diminuunt radiisque retexens aetherius sol, partim quod subter per terras diditur omnis. percolatur enim virus retroque remanat materies umoris et ad caput amnibus omnis convenit, inde super terras fluit agmine dulci qua via secta semel liquido pede detulit undas. Aera nunc igitur dicam qui corpore toto innumerabiliter privas mutatur in horas. semper enim, quodcumque fluit de rebus, id omne aeris in magnum fertur mare; qui nisi contra corpora retribuat rebus recreetque fluentis, omnia iam resoluta forent et in aera versa. baud igitur cessat gigni de rebus et in res reccidere, assidue quoniam fluere omnia constat. Largus item liquidi fons luminis, aetherius sol, irrigat assidue caelum candore recenti suppeditatque novo confestim lumine lumen. nam primum quicquid fulgoris disperit ei, quocumque accidit. id licet hinc cognoscere possis, quod simul ac primum nubes succedere soli coepere et radios inter quasi rumpere lucis, extemplo inferior pars horum disperit omnis terraque inumbratur qua nimbi cumque feruntur; ut noscas splendore novo res semper egere et primum iactum fulgoris quemque perire nee ratione alia res posse in sole videri, perpetuo ni suppeditet lucis caput ipsum. quin etiam nocturna tibi, terrestria quae sunt, lumina, pendentes lychni claraeque coruscis fulguribus pingues multa caligine taedae consimili properant ratione, ardore ministro, suppeditare novum lumen, tremere ignibus instant, instant, nee loca lux inter quasi rupta relinquit. usque adeo properanter ab omnibus ignibus ei

291 297

et Marul/us: ut OQ properant Marul/us: proferant OQ

270

275

280

285

290

295

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strong winds, sweeping over the surface of the sea, and by the ethereal sun that unweaves the water with its rays; and partly because it is distributed through all the earth from beneath. For the brine is filtered out, 270 and all the substance of the water seeps back and collects again at the streams' source, and then flows above ground on its sweet course, where the path once cut by its liquid step has led its current down. Now, then, I will tell how air changes its whole substance from hour to hour, in countless ways. 275 For whatever is given off by objects, all this is borne continually into the great sea of air; if this substance were not given back to things in tum, and what flowed from them were not restored, everything would by now have dissolved and turned into air. So air never ceases to be produced from things, and to tum back into things again, 280 since it is established that there is a constant flow of particles from everything. So, too, the abundant spring of liquid light, the ethereal sun, waters the sky constantly with fresh brightness and instantaneously replaces light with new light. For the foremost part of each sunbeam perishes, 285 wherever it falls. You can tell that this is the case from the fact that, as soon as clouds have begun to pass in front of the sun, and, so to speak, to interrupt the rays of light, all at once the lower part of the rays perishes, and the earth is in shadow wherever the clouds are carried; 290 in this way, you can tell that things always need new illumination and that the first touch of the sunbeam keeps on perishing, nor could things appear in sunlight otherwise, if the fount of light itself did not keep up a constant supply. For indeed, the lights you see at night here on the earth - 295 hanging lamps and torches bright with flashing flame and thick with resinous smoke - hasten in the same way to supply new light with their ministering heat, and are quick to set fires flickering - so quick, that their light admits, so to speak, no interruption. 300 So rapidly is its extinction concealed by the swift creation of flame from

36

Lucretius:De RerumNatura V exitium celeri celatur origine flammae. sic igitur solem Jnnam stellasque putandumst ex alio atque alio lucem iactare subortu et primum quicquid flammarum perdere semper; inviolabilia haec ne credas forte vigere. Denique non lapides quoque vinci cernis ab aevo, non altas turris ruere et putrescere saxa, non delubra deum simulacraque fessa fatisci nee sanctum numen fati protollere finis posse neque adversus naturae foedera niti? denique non monumenta virum dilapsa videmus, tquaerere proporro, sibi cumque senescere credas, t non ruere avulsos silices a mootibus altis nee validas aevi viris perferre patique finiti? neque enim cadereot avulsa repente, ex iofinito quae tempore pertolerassent omnia tormenta aetatis, privata fragore. Denique iam tuere hoe, circum supraque quod omnem continet amplexu terram: si procreat ex se omnia, quod quidam memorant, recipitque perempta, totum nativo ac mortali corpore constat. nam quodcumque alias ex se res auget alitque, deminui debet, recreari, cum recipit res. Praeterea si nulla fuit genitalis origo terrarum et caeli semperque aetema fuere, cur supera bellum Thebanum et funera Troise non alias alii quoque res ceeinere poetae? quo tot facta virum totiens cecidere neque usquam aetemis famae monumentis insita florent? verum, ut opinor, habet novitatem summa recensque naturast mundi neque pridem exordia cepit.

305

310

315

320

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330

301 celatur Marullus:celeratur OQ 302 putandumst Lochmann: putandum OQ 312 quaerere proporro, sibi cumque senescere credas OQ: quaerere proporro, sibi sene senescere credas Munro: a/ii alia 318 omnem Marullus: omne OQ 321 nativo ac Bernays:natiuum OQ

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every fire. In the same way, then, you must suppose that the sun, moon and stars pour out light in fresh supply moment by moment, and continually lose the foremost part of their flames - 305 in case you should believe that perhaps these bodies live and thrive imperishably. Moreover, don't you see how stone too is overcome by age, how tall towers fall and masonry crumbles, how shrines of the gods andtheir images decay and crack, nor can their holy sanctity postpone the end of their allotted span 310 or rebel against the pacts of nature? Do we not, finaUy, see the monuments of men collapse . . . and boulders come tumbling down, torn from high mountains, nor can they hold out and resist the strong power 315 even of a limited time? For rocks would not suddenly be torn away and fall had they endured through infinite time all the assaults of age without cracking. Moreover, consider the sky that holds the whole earth, around and above, in its embrace: if it brings forth all things from itself, 320 as some say, and receives them back again when they die, it consists as a whole of substance that comes to be and perishes. For whatever nourishes other things from itself and makes them grow must be diminished, and replenished again when it receives things back. Besides, if there was no original beginning 325 of the earth and sky, and they have always existed through all eternity, why have other poets not sung other stories from before the Theban War and the deaths at Troy? Why have so many of men's deeds so often perished and not kept flowering somewhere, engrafted into the everlasting monuments of fame? 330 Rather, I think, this earth is young and the birth of our world was recent, nor were its foundations laid so very long ago. That is why some arts are even now

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quare etiam quaedam nunc artes expoliuntur, nunc etiam augescunt; nunc addita navigiis sunt multa, modo organici melicos peperere sonores. denique natura haec rerum ratioque repertast nuper, et bane primus cum primis ipse repertus nunc ego sum in patrias qui possim vertere voces. quod si forte fuisse antehac eadem omnia credis, sed periisse hominum torrenti saecla vapore, aut cecidisse urbis magno vexamine mundi, aut ex imbribus assiduis exisse rapaces per terras amnis atque oppida coperuisse, tanto quique magis victus fateare necessest exitium quoque terrarum caelique futurum. nam cum res tantis morbis tantisque periclis temptarentur, ibi si tristior incubuisset causa, darent late cladem magnasque n1inas. nee ratione alia mortales esse videmur, inter nos nisi quod morbis aegrescimus isdem atque illi quos a vita natura removit. Praeterea quaecumque manent aetema necessust aut, quia sunt solido cum corpore, respuere ictus nee penetrare pati sibi quicquam quod queat artas dissociare intus partis, ut materiai corpora sunt quorum naturam ostendimus ante, aut ideo durare aetatem posse per omnem, plagarum quia sunt expertia, sicut inane est quod manet intactum neque ab ictu fungitur hilum, aut etiam quia nu.Ila loci fit copia circum, quo quasi res possint discedere dissoluique, sicut summarum summa est aetema, neque extra qui locus est quo dissiliant neque corpora sunt quae possint incidere et valida dissolvere plaga. at neque, uti docui, solido cum corpore mundi naturast, quoniam admixtumst in rebus inane,

342 atque F: at OQ 349 isdem Pius: idem OQ 359 fit Lachmann: sit OQ

335

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still being perfected, and even now developing: many new refinements are still being made to ships, and only recently have musicians brought forth tuneful sounds. 335 Finally, the nature of things and this very doctrine was only recently discovered, and I myself am now the very first who has been found to render it into our native tongue. But if perhaps you believe that all these things existed in the same way before, and that the races of men perished in blazing fire, 340 or that the cities fell in a great upheaval of the world, or that, fed by constant rain, devouring rivers spread all over the earth and drowned the towns, so much the more must you be conquered and adroit that destruction awaitsthe earth and sky too. 345 For when things were subject to such severe diseases and dangers, if then some more serious case had afflicted them, they would have suffered utter destruction and complete collapse. In just this way our own mortality can be perceived, because we fall sick amongst ourselves of the same diseases 350 as those whom nature has removed from life. Moreover, everything that lasts forever must necessarily either repel collisions, because it consists of solid substance, and not allow anything to penetrate it which might be able to disconnect its tight-knit parts within (such are 355 the particles of matter whose nature I expounded earlier); or be able to endure through all time because it is exempt from blows (such is the void, which remains untouched and is not affected at all by collisions); or again, because there is around it no available space 360 into which anything could, so to speak, depart and be dissolved (thus is the universe as a whole eternal, nor is there any place outside it into which its elements might spring apart, or any particles which might fall upon it and break it up with strong blows). But, as I have explained, the nature of our world is not such that it consists of solid substance, 365 since void is mingled in things; nor yet is it

40

Lucretius:De Ren1mNatura V nee tarn.en est ut inane, neque autem corpora desunt, ex infinit.o quae possint forte coorta corruere bane rerum violento turbine snmmam aut aliam quamvis cladem importare pericli, nee porro natura loci spatiumque profundi deficit, exspergi quo possint moenia mundi, aut alia quavis possunt vi pulsa perire. baud igitur leti praeclusa est ianua caelo nee soli terraeque neque altis aequoris undis, sed patet immani et vasto respectat hiatu. quare etiam nativa neeessumst confiteare baec eadem; neque enim, mortali corpore quae sunt, ex infinit.o iam tempore adhuc potuissent immensi validas aevi contemnere viris. Denique tantopere inter se cum maxima mundi pugnent membra, pio nequaquam concita hello, nonne vides aliquam longi certaminis ollis posse dari finem? vel cum sol et vapor omnis omnibus epotis umoribus exsuperarint; quod facere intendunt, neque adhuc conata patrarunt: tantum suppeditant amnes ultraque minantur omnia diluviare ex alto gurgite ponti, nequiquam, quoniam verrentes aequora venti deminuunt radiisque retexens aetherius sol, et siccare prius confidunt omnia posse quam liquor incepti possit contingere finem. tantum spirantes aequo certamine bellum magnis inter se de rebus cemere certant, cum semel interea fuerit superantior ignis et semel, ut fama est, umor regnarit in arvis. ignis enim superat et lambens multa perussit, avia cum Pbaethonta rapax vis solis equorum

coorta Marullus:coperta 0Q pattanmt Goebel:patrantur OQ inter se hie addidit Lachmann, post de rebus L 396 lambens Q1:ambens OQ: ambiensL: superat Lachmann:superavit OQ 397 pentontanarapax0-. petonta rapax Q

367 385 393

370

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like the void; nor, again, is there any lack of particles which might happen to arise from infinite space and overthrow this world of ours with their furious whirlwind or inflict some other perilous disaster upon it; 370 nor, moreover, is there any lack of room or infinite space into which the walls of the world might be dispersed, or they may be struck down by some other force and so perish. The doorway of death, then, is never closed for the sky nor the sun nor the earth nor the deep waters of the sea, 375 but stands open and awaits them with its huge and monstrous chasm So once again it is incumbent on you to admit that these things also came into being; for thinglilthat are of perishable substance could not have scorned the strong force of immeasurable age from time immemorial until now. 380 Finally, when the great limbs of the world fight so fiercely against each other, engaged in a most unholy war, don't you see that their longfought conflict may be brought to an end? When, say, the sun and all its heat have dried up all the waters and gained the victory - 385 which they strive to do, though they have not yet accomplished it for all their efforts, so plentiful are the rivers and, what is more, they threaten to submerge the world from the deep surge of the ocean - in vain, since the winds, sweeping over the surface of the sea, and the ethereal sun, unweaving the water with its rays, dimini!i!h it, 390 and are confident that they can dry it all up before the water can bring its enterprise to completion. Breathing war so mightily, they contest great prizes, contending with each other in an evenly-matched contest, though once in the meantime fire had the upper hand, 395 and once, as the story goes, water reigned over the land. For fire gained the ascendancy and, licking at the world, burnt much of it up when the rapid might of the sun's horses ran away with Phaethon and bore him off his course all over the

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aethere raptavit toto terrasque per omnis. at pater omnipotens ira tum percitus acri magnanimum Phaethonta repenti fnlminis ictu deturbavit equis in terram, solque cadenti obvius aetemam succepit lampada mundi disiectosque redegit equos iunxitque trementis, inde suum per iter recreavit cuncta gubernans, scilicet ut veteres Graium cecinere poetae. quod procul a vera nimis est ratione repulsum. ignis enim superare potest ubi materiai ex iofioito sunt corpora plura coorta; inde cadunt vires aliqua ratione revictae, aut pereunt res exustae torrentibus auris. umor item quondam coepit superare coortus, ut fama est, hominum multos quando obruit undis; inde ubi vis aliqua ratione aversa recessit, ex infinito fuerat quaecumque coorta, constiterunt imbres et flnmina vim minuerunt. Sed quibus ille modis coniectus materiai fundarit terram et caelum pontique profunda, solis lunai cursus, ex ordine ponam. nam certe neque consilio primordia rerum ordine se suo quaeque sagaci mente locarunt nee quos quaeque darent motus pepigere profecto, sed quia multa modis multis primordia rerum ex infinito iam tempore percita plagis ponderibusque suis consuerunt concita ferri omnimodisque coire atque omnia pertemptare, quaecumque inter se possent congressa creare, propterea fit uti magnum vulgata per aevum omne genus coetus et motus experiundo tandem conveniant ea quae convecta repente

405 Graium F: gratum OQ 412 multos L: multas OQ: vitas Purmann:undis OQ: urbis Pontanus 428 omne genus Lachmann:omnigenus OQ 429 convecta Lachmann:conuenta OQ

400

405

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sky and across the whole earth. But then the almighty Father was stirred by fierce wrath 400 and dislodged bold Phaethon from his horses to earth with a sudden blow of his thunderbolt, and as he fell Sun stepped in and caught up the everlasting light of the world; he rounded up his scattered horses and brought them back, trembling, under the yoke, then, guiding them on their proper course, restored order to all - 405 that, at least is what the old Greek poets sang. But this is very far removed from true reason. In fact, fire can gain the ascendancy when more particles of its matter have come together from infinite space; then its strength dies down, overcome in some way, 410 or else things perish, burned up by fiery blasts. In the same way, water once rose and began to gain the ascendancy, as the story goes, when it overwhelmed much of the human race with its flood. When its strength - all that had come together from infinite space - was diverted in some way and retreated, 415 then the rain stopped and the rivers lessened their force. Now, in what way that conglomeration of matter laid the foundations of earth, sky and the depths of the sea, the courses of the sun and the moon, I shall explain in due order. For certainly the primary particles of things did not astutely 420 arrange themselves, each in its own place, by a preconceived plan, nor indeed did they agree upon the movements they each should make; but because, from time immemorial, many particles of things have been accustomed to be carried along in many ways, stirred into motion by collisions and given impetusby their own weight, 425 and to come together in all kinds of configurations and try everything, whatever they could create by assembling together - that is how it happens that those particles, scattered about through long ages, in trying out gatherings and movements of every

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magnarum rerum fiunt exordia saepe, terrai marls et caeli generisque animantum. Hie neque tum solis rota cerni lumine largo altivolans poterat nee magni sidera mundi nee mare nee caelum nee denique terra neque aer nee similis nostris rebus res ulla videri, sed nova tempestas quaedam molesque coorta. omnigenis e principiis, discordia quorum intervalla vias conexus pondera plagas concursus motus turbabat proelia miscens, propter dissimilis formas variasque figuras, quod non omnia sic poterant coniuncta manere nee motus inter sese dare convenientis. diffugere inde loci partes coepere paresque cum paribus iungi res et discludere mundum membraque dividere et magnas disponere partis, hoe est, a terris altum secernere caelum, et sorsum mare, uti secreto umore pateret, sorsus item puri secretique aetheris ignes. Quippe etenim primum terrai corpora quaeque, propterea quod erant gravia et perplexa, coibant in medio atque imas capiebant omnia sedis; quae quanto magis inter se perplexa coibant, tarn magis expressere ea quae mare sidera solem lunamque efficerent et magni moenia mundi. omnia enim magis haec e levibus atque rotundis seminibus multoque minoribu' sunt elementis quam tellus. ideo per rara foramina terrae partibus erumpens primus se sustulit aether ignifer et multos seeum levis abstulit ignis, non alia longe ratione ac saepe videmus, aurea cum primum gemmantis rore per herbas

430 fiunt F: tluunt OQ 433 altivolans Pontanus:alte uolans 0Q 437 [440) omnigenis e 0: omnigenus e Q: omne genus de Lachmann 443-5 [437-9) hue transtulit Reisaclcer 458 se L: et OQ

430

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(440] (441] (442] (443] (444] (445] (437] (438] (439]

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kind, finally meet together and, suddenly colliding, 430 often become the first-beginnings of great things, of the earth, sea, sky and the species of living beings. In this state of affairs, at that time, the high-soaring disc of the sun with its abundant light was not to be seen, nor the stars of great heaven nor the sea nor sky nor, lastly, earth or air, 435 nor could anything be perceived like the things that we have now, but only a strange kind of tempestuous mass formed of primary particles of every kind; the conflict of these particles as they clashed in battle threw into confusion the gaps between them, their courses, connexions, weights, impacts, collisions and movements, 440 because, on account of their dissimilar shapes and varying forms, they could not all stay joined together as they were nor make movements that would harmonize with each other. From there, the parts began to detach themselves and like matter to join with like and to divide up the world, 445 differentiate its limbs and dispose its great parts, that is, to separate the lofty sky from the earth, and the sea in its own place, so that it might spread out with its moisture kept separate, and in their own place, likewise, the fires of aether, unmixed and separate. For all the particles of earth, to begin with - 450 because they were heavy and entangled - contracted in the centre and occupied the lowest places; and the more they became entangled amongst themselves and contracted, the more they squeezed out those particles which would go to make the sea, the stars, the sun and moon, and the walls of the great world. 455 For all these are made up of smoother and rounder seeds and much smaller particles than the earth. Thus, the fiery aether, bursting out from the regions of the earth through scattered pores, first raised itself aloft, and, being light, took many fires with it, 460 in much the same way as we can often observe, when the golden morning light of the sun's rays sends its first blush over grass bejewelled

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matutina rubent radiati lumina solis exhalantque lacus nebulam fluviique perennes, ipsaque ut interdum tellus fumare videtur; omnia quae sursum cum conciliantur, in alto corpore concreto subtexunt nubila caelum. sic igitur tum se levis ac diffusilis aether corpore concreto circumdatus undique flexit et late diffusus in omnis undique partis omnia sic avido complexu cetera saepsit. hunc exordia sunt solis lunaeque secuta, interutrasque globi quorum vertuntur in auris; quae neque terra sibi adscivit nee maximus aether, quod neque tarn fuerunt gravia ut depressa sederent, nee levia ut possent per ~ummas labier oras, et tarnen interutrasque ita sunt, ut corpora viva versent et partes ut mundi totius exstent; quod genus in nobis quaedam licet in statione membra manere, tarnen cum sint ea quae moveantur. his igitur rebus retractis terra repente, maxima qua nunc se ponti plaga caerula tendit, succidit et salso suffudit gurgite fossas. inque dies quanto circum magis aetheris aestus et radii solis cogebant undique terram verberibus crebris extrema ad limina in artu.m, in medio ut propulsa suo condensa coiret, tarn magis expressus salsus de corpore sudor augebat mare manando camposque natantis, et tanto magis ilia foras elapsa volabant corpora multa vaporis et aeris altaque caeli densabant procul a terris fulgentia templa. sidebant campi, crescebant montibus altis ascensus; neque enim poterant subsidere saxa nee pariter tantundem omnes succumbere partes. Sic igitur terrae concreto corpore pondus constitit atque omnis mundi quasi limus in imum 468 485

flexit Lachmann: saepsit OQ (ex 470) in artum Munro: partem OQ: raptim Bentley

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with dew, and lakes and never-failing rivers breatheout a mist, and when at times the very earth seems to smoke; 465 when all this mist gathers together up above, clouds on high weave their web from its condensed substance beneath the sky. In the same way, then, at that time the light and fluid aether curved around and encircled the world with its condensed substance, and flowing in every direction right round it on all sides, 470 in this way it fenced in all the rest in its eager embrace. The foundations of sun and moon came next - their globes revolve in the air between the two; neither the earth nor the mighty aether adopted them, because they were neither so heavy as to sink and slide down, 475 nor light enough to be able to glide around the highest margins, yet they remain in between the two in such a way that they revolve like living beings, and exist as parts of the world as a whole; just as in our case, some parts of the body may remain stationary, although there are others that move. 480 So, after these substances had been withdrawn, the earth suddenly sank down, where the mighty blue reaches of the ocean now stretch, and flooded the depressions with swirling brine. And, day by day, the more the tide of aether round about and the rays of the sun compressed the earth on all sides into a dense mass, 485 with many blows at its outer edges, so that it was pounded down and compacted around its own centre, the more the salty sweat squeezed out from its body added to the sea and the watery plains by oozing into them, and the more those 490 many particles of heat and air glided and flew out, and added to the high, glittering precincts of the sky, far from earth. The plains subsided, and the slopes of high mountains grew up; for the rocky places were not able to sink down, nor could all parts settle equally to the same depth. 495 So it was, then, that the mass of the earth with its solid body was still, and all the mud of the world, so to speak, slid heavily down to the bottom

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V confluxit gravis et subsedit funditus ut faex; inde mare, inde aer, inde aether ignifer ipse corporibus liquidis sunt omnia pura relicta, et leviora aliis alia, et liquidissimus aether atque levissimus aerias super influit auras, nee liquidum corpus turbantibus aeris auris commiscet; sinit haec violentis omnia verti turbinibus, sinit incertis turbare procellis, ipse suos ignis certo fert impete labens. nam modice fluere atque uno posse aethera nisu significat Pontos, mare certo quod fluit aestu unum labendi conservans usque tenorem. Motibus astrorum nunc quae sit causa canamus. principio magnus caeli si vertitur orbis, ex utraque polum parti premere aera nobis dicendum est extraque tenere et claudere utrimque; inde alium supra fluere atque intendere eodem quo volvenda micant aeterni sidera mundi; aut alium subter, contra qui subvehat orbem, ut ftuvios versare rotas atque haustra videmus. est etiam quoque uti possit caelum omne manere in statione, tamen cum lucida signa ferantur; sive quod inclusi rapidi sunt aetheris aestus quaerentesque viam circum versantur et ignes passim per caeli volvunt Summania templa; sive aliunde fluens alicunde extrinsecus aer versat agens ignis; sive ipsi serpere possunt quo cuiusque cibus vocat atque invitat euntis, flammea per caelum pascentis corpora passim. nam quid in hoe mundo sit eorum ponere certum difficile est; sed quid possit fiatque per omne in variis mundis varia ratione creatis, id doceo plurisque sequor disponere causas,

500 leviora ltali: leuior OQ 503 commiscet Naugerius: commisci OQ 507 Pontos Lachmann: ponto OQ: Ponti Pontanus 516 fluvios Nonius: fluuius OQ 528 creatis (c/ 1345): creati OQ

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and settled right down like wine-lees; then the sea, then the air, then the fiery aether itself were all left with their liquid substance unmixed, 500 and each lighter than the one below; and the aether, being the most fluid and lightest of all, flows above the airy breezes, nor does it mingle its liquid body with the turbulent breezes of air; it leaves all these to be tossed about in violent whirls, it leaves them to the turbulence of their fitful storm-winds, sosas it glides along, carrying its own fires in its steady progress. For the Black Sea shows that it is possible for the aetherto flow gently in one direction, the sea that flows with steady current, always preserving a single direction in its gliding motion. Now let us sing of what causes the movements of the stars. 510 In the first place: if the great sphere of heaven revolves, we must assert that air presses in on its axis at either end and holds it in place from without and encloses it on both sides; then another current of air flows above and propels it in the same direction as the circling stars of eternal heaven move on their sparkling course; 515 or yet another flows beneath, to carry the sphere in the opposite direction, just like the streams that we see turning the scoops of water-wheels. There is another possibility, too: that the whole sky may remain stationary, although the bright constellations are in motion; either because rushing currents of aether are shut in 520 and whirl around seeking a way out, and roll their fires all around through the heavenly precincts of Summanus; or air flowing from some other place outside the world drives their fires along and makes them revolve; or they may creep along of their own accord, wherever their food summons and invites them as they go 525 seeking fodder for their fiery bodies all over the sky. For it is difficult to lay down with certainty which of these explanations holds true for this world of ours; but what is possible and happens in all the different worlds made in different ways throughout the universe - this I teach, and proceed to

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motibus astrorum quae possint esse per omne; e quibus una tamen siet hie quoque causa neeessest quae vegeat motum signis; sed quae sit earum praecipere haudquaquamst pedetemptim progredientis. Terraque ut in media mundi regione quiescat, evanescere paulatim et decrescere pondus convenit, atque aliam naturam subter habere ex ineunte aevo coniunctam atque uniter aptam partibus aeriis mundi quibus insita vivit. propterea non est oneri neque deprimit auras; ut sua cuique homini nullo sunt pondere membra nee caput est oneri collo nee denique totum corporis in pedibus pondus sentimus inesse; at quaecumque foris veniunt impostaque nobis pondera sunt laedunt, permulto saepe minora. usque adeo magni refert quid quaeque queat res. sic igitur tellus non est aliena repente allata atque auris aliunde obieeta alienis, sed pariter prima concepta ab origine mundi certaque pars eius, quasi nobis membra videntur. praeterea grandi tonitru concussa repente terra supra quae se sunt concutit omnia motu; quod facere baud ulla posset ratione, nisi esset partibus aeriis mundi caeloque revincta. nam communibus inter se radicibus haerent ex ineunte aevo coniuncta atque uniter apta. nonne vides etiam quam magno pondere nobis sustineat corpus tenuissima vis animai propterea quia tarn coniuncta atque uniter apta est? denique iam saltu pernici tollere corpus quid potis est nisi vis animae quae membra gubemat?

530 531 532 545 555 560

omne Marullus: omnem OQ

siet hie Bernays: sit et hae 0: sit et haec Q: sit et hie Nencini vegeat Gifanius: uigeat OQ queat ed. Veronensis:quaeat OQ: aveat Lachmann: alii alia apta Pontanus: aucta OQ quid Lambinus: quis OQ

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expound a variety of causes 530 that there might be for the motions of the stars somewhere in the universe. Yet it must be that one of these causes gives motion to the constellations here in our world too; but it is scarcely possible for us, advancing as we do step by step, to lay down the law as to which of them it is. And, so that the earth might remain at rest in the central part of the world, 535 it is right and proper that its mass gradually dies away and diminishes, and has another substance beneath it, linked and joined into one from its birth with the airy regions of the world in which it is implanted and has its being. That is why it does not burden or press down on the air; 5-40just as a man's own limbs do not weigh him down, nor is our head a burden to our neck, nor in short are we aware of the whole weight of our body pressing on our feet; but any heavy objects that come from outside the body and are placed upon it do cause us pain, though their weight is often very much less. 54s So significant is the difference between the capacities of individual things. In the same way, the earth was not a foreign body suddenly imported from elsewhere and imposed on air unconnected with it, but rather came into being together with the air from the very beginning of the world, as an essential part of it, just as our limbs are seen to be for us. ssoBesides, when the earth is suddenly shaken by a huge thunderclap, it makes everything above its surface shake with its motion; in no way could it do this, were it not bound to the airy regions of the world and to the sky. For they are attached to each other by common roots, sss linked and joined into one from their birth. Don't you see, too, how the force of the soul - quite insubstantial though it is - supports our body for all its great weight, because it is so closely linked and joined into one? What, in short, can lift the body in a nimble leap 560 but

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iamne vides quantum tenuis natura valere possit, ubi est coniuncta gravi cum corpore, ut aer coniunctus terris et nobis est animi vis? Nee nimio solis maior rota nee minor ardor esse potest, nostris quam sensibus esse videtur. nam quibus e spatiis cumque ignes lumina possunt adicere et calidum membris adfiare vaporem, nil ilia his intervallis de corpore libant flammarum, nil ad speciem est contractior ignis. proinde, calor quoniam solis lumenque profusum perveniunt nostros ad sensus et loca mulcent, forma quoque hinc solis debet filumque videri, nil adeo ut possis plus aut minus addere vere. lunaque sive notho fertur loca lumine lustrans sive suam proprio iactat de corpore lucem, quidquid id est, nilo fertur maiore figura quam, nostris oculis qua cernimus, esse videtur. nam prius omnia, quae longe semota tuemur aera per multum, specie confusa videntur quam minui filum. quapropter luna necesse est, quandoquidem claram speciem certamque figuram praebet, ut est oris extremis cumque notata, quantaque quantast, hinc nobis videatur in alto. postremo quoscumque vides hinc aetheris ignis; quandoquidem quoscumque in terris cernimus ignis, dum tremor et clarus dum cernitur ardor eorum, perparvum quiddam interdum mutare videntur

567 adiicere Lambinus: adlicere OQ 568 nil ilia his Bernays: nihil nisi OQ libant Marullus: librant OQ 570 [573] hue transtulit Marul/us 571 [570] mulcentLachmann: fulgent OQ 572 [571] filumque Tumebus: illumque 0: ilumque Q 574 = 571 [570] sec/. editors 581 minui Bentley: mi OQ 584 quantaque Eichstadt: quanto quoque OQ 586 ignes add. Marul/us: om. OQ 587 et add.Diets: est F: om. OQ 589 absunt Lachmann: absit OQ

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(573] [570] [571] (572] 575

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the force of the mind that governs our limbs? Now do you see how powerful an insubstantial substance can be, when it is linked to a heavy body, as the air is linked to the earthand the force of the mind to us? Nor can the disc of the sun and its heat 565 be much greater or smaller than it appears to our senses to be. For at whatever distance fires can still shed their light on us and breathe warm heat upon our limbs, over such a space they lose nothing from the substance of their flames, and their blaze is not at all dimini11bedto the sight 57 Consequently, since the heat of the sun and its cascading light make contact with our senses and brighten our surroundings, the shape and size of the sun must also be accurately seen from here, in such a way that you can add nothing at all to it and take nothing away. 575 As for the moon, whether it illuminates the earthas it goes by with borrowed light, or whether it shoots out light of its own, from its own body - however that may be, its size is no greater as it goes by than it appears to our watching eyes to be. For anything we view at a great distance, 580 through a wide expanse of air, seems blurred in its appearance before it diminishes in size. Therefore, since the moon presents us with a sharply-defined appearance and a clear shape, it must be that it appears to us in the sky, from here on earth, just in the way it is defined by its outermost edges, and as big as it really is. 585 Lastly, all the celestial fires that you can see from here - since indeed all the fires that we observe on earth seem to alter their size with

°

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V alteram utram in partem filum, quo longius absunt: scire licet perquam pauxillo posse minores esse vel exigua maioris parte brevique. Illud item non est mirandum, qua ratione tantulus ille queat tantum sol mittere lumen, quod maria ac terras omnis caelumque rigando compleat et calido perfundat cuncta vapore. nam licet hinc mundi patefactum totius unum largifluum fontem scatere atque erumpere lumen, ex omni mundo quia sic elementa vaporis undique conveniunt et sic coniectus eorum confluit, ex uno capite hie ut profluat ardor. nonne vides etiam quam late parvus aquai prata riget fons interdum campisque redundet? est etiam quoque uti non magno solis ab igni aera percipiat calidis fervoribus ardor, opportunus ita est si forte et idoneus aer, ut queat accendi parvis ardoribus ictus; quod genus interdum segetes stipulamque videmus accidere ex una scintilla incendia passim. forsitan et rosea sol alte lampade lucens possideat multum caecis fervoribus ignem circum se, nullo qui sit fulgore notatus, aestifer ut tantum radiorum exaugeat ictum. Nee ratio solis simplex et recta patescit, quo pacto aestivis e partibus aegocerotis brumalis adeat flexus atque inde revertens cancri se ut vertat metas ad solstitialis, lunaque mensibus id spatium videatur obire, annua sol in quo consumit tempora cursu. non, inquam, simplex his rebus reddita causast.

590, 591 (594, 595] hue trtmstulit Marullus 596 = 584 sec/. editors 599 vaporis Lambinus: uapore OQ 605 percipiat Naugerius:percipitat OQ 614 et add Marul/us:om. OQ 617 cancri se Lachmann: canceris OQ

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[594] [595] [590] [591] [592] [593] 597

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distance very little either way, so long as their flickering and their glowing heat can be perceived - 590 one can tell that these fires can be only the tiniest bit smaller, or greater by a minute and infinitesimal amount. Again, there is nothing wonderful about the way that the sun, though so small, can send out so much light, enough to fill the seas and all the lands and the sky with its flood 595 and to drench everything in warm heat. For it is possible that from here one single, abundantly flowing spring for the whole world opens and gushes forth, shooting out a jet of light, because particles of warmth 600 gather from all sides, from all over the world, and their convergence brings them together in such a way that their heat flows out here from this one fountain-head. Don't you see, too, how a small spring of water sometimes drenches meadows far and wide and floods the fields? There is another possibility, too: that warmth from the sun's small fire 605 ignites the air with its burning heat, if the air happens to be in an apt and suitable condition to catch fire under the impetus of small amounts of heat; just as we sometimes see fire from a single spark take hold of corn-stubble far and wide. 610 Perhaps too the sun, as it shines its rosy lamp on high, has an abundance of fire around it in the form of hidden heat-particles, which is not made visible by any radiance; so that, laden with heat, it increases the impact of its rays to so great a degree. Nor is a single, straightforward explanation available 615 for the way the sun approaches its midwinter turning-point in Capricorn from the summer sky; for how, coming back from there, it turns towards the tropic of Cancer and the solstice; and how the moon appears to travel each month the length of the circuit which takes the sun a whole year. 620 No single explanation, as

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nam fieri vel cum primis id posse videtur, Democriti quod sancta viri sententia ponit, quanto quaeque magis sint terram sidera propter, tanto posse minus cum caeli turbine ferri. evanescere enim rapidas illius et acris imminui subter viris, ideoque relinqui paulatim solem cum posterioribu' signis, inferior multo quod sit quam fervida signa. et magis hoe Junam: quanto demissior eius cursus abest procul a caelo terrisque propinquat, tanto posse minus cum signis tendere cursum. flaccidiore etiam quanto iam turbine fertur inferior quam sol, tanto magis omnia sign.a bane adipiscuntur circum praeterque feruntur. propterea fit ut haec ad sign.um quodque reverti mobilius videatur, ad bane quia signa revisunt. fit quoque ut e mundi transversis partibus aer alternis certo fluere alter tempore possit, qui queat aestivis solem detrudere signis brumalis usque ad flexus gelidumque rigorem, et qui reiciat gelidis a frigoris umbris aestiferas usque in partis et fervida sign.a. et ratione pari lunam stellasque putandumst, quae volvunt magnos in magnis orbibus annos, aeribus posse alternis e partibus ire. nonne vides etiam diversis nubila ventis diversas ire in partis infema supernis? qui minus illa queant per magnos aetheris orbis aestibus inter se diversis sidera ferri? At nox obruit ingenti caligine terras, aut ubi de longo cursu sol ultima caeli impulit atque suos efflavit languidus ignis concussos itere et labefactos aere multo, aut quia sub terras cursum convertere cogit vis eadem, supra quae terras pertulit orbem. Tempore item certo roseam Matuta per oras 651 656

sol ultima C: soluet ima OQ MatutaPontanus: matura OQ: natura Bockemiil/er

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I say, may be given for these phenomena. For this, it seems, may be among the most likely causes, as the holy opinion of that great man Democritus has it: the nearer each of the heavenly bodies is to the earth, the less it is able to be carried along by the whirling of the sky. 625 For its swift, strong impetus gradually dies away and decreases lower down, and so the sun is gradually left behind with the stars further to the rear, because it is much lower than the blazing constellations. And the moon still more so: the greater the distance between its more lowly 630 course and the sky, and the nearer it is to earth, the less it is able to run along with the constellations. And so the weaker the whirling by which it is carried along, on a lower course than the sun, the more all the constellations catch it up and are borne past it on their circuit. 635 That is how it happens that the moon seems to revisit each constellation more quickly, because the constellations are actually revisiting it. It is possible too that air-currents may flow alternately at fixed times, at an angle to the sun's course across the sky, one able to drive it away from the summer constellations 640 as far as its midwinter turning-point and the icy cold, and one to send it back again from the icy dark of winter as far as the sultry regions and the constellations of the heat. We must suppose, too, that in a similar fashion the moon and the stars, which rotate in their great cycles through long years, 645 may be carried in different directions by aircurrents. Don't you see, in fact, how clouds are blown in contrary directions by contrary winds, those lower down going one way and those higher up another? Why should those heavenly bodies be any less liable to be carried along by contrary currents in their great cycles through the aether? 650 Now, night covers the earth with its vast blackness either when the sun has reached the edge of the sky, at the end of his long journey, and wearily breathed out his fires, exhausted from the journey and weakened by passing through so much air, or because 655 the same force that carried his globe over the earth compels it to make the return journey below the earth. So, too, Matuta spreads the rosy dawn over the shores of heaven and

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aetheris auroram differt et lumina pandit, aut quia sol idem, sub terras ille revertens, anticipat caelum radiis accendere temptans, aut quia conveniunt ignes et semina multa confluere ardoris consuerunt tempore certo, quae faciunt solis nova seniper lumina gigni; quod genus Idaeis fama est e montibus altis dispersos ignis orienti lumine cemi, inde coire globum quasi in unum et conficere orbem. nee tamen illud in his rebus mirabile debet esse, quod haec ignis tarn certo tempore possunt semina confluere et solis reparare nitorem. multa videmus enim, certo quae tempore fiunt omnibus in rebus. florescunt tempore certo arbusta et certo dimittunt tempore florem. nee minus in certo dentis cadere imperat aetas tempore et impubem molli pubescere veste et pariter mollem malis demittere barbam. fulmina postremo nix imbres nubila venti non nimis incertis fiunt in partibus anni. namque ubi sic fuerunt causarum exordia prima atque ita res mundi cecidere ah origine prima, conseque quoque iam redeunt ex ordine certo. Crescere itemque dies licet et tabescere noctes, et minui luces, cum sumant augmina noctes, aut quia sol idem sub terras atque supeme imparibus currens anfractibus aetheris oras partit et in partis non aequas dividit orbem, et quod ah alterutra detraxit parte, reponit eius in adversa tanto plus parte relatus, donec ad id signum caeli pervenit, ubi anni nodus noctumas exaequat lucibus umbras. nam medio cursu flatus aquilonis et austri

667 675 679

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possunt Lachmann: possit OQ fulmina Maru/lus: flumina OQ conseque . . . redeunt Lachmann: consequiae . . . rerum OQ: consequitur . . . rem res So/msen

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shows her light at a fixed time either because the same sun, coming back beneath the earth, sends his rays on before him and strives to set the sky alight, 660 or else because at a fixed time fires gather and many seeds of beat are accustomed to flow together, which perpetually cause new sunlight to come into being; just as, they say, from the heights of Mount Ida the flames of the rising dawn can be seen scattered 665 and then coming together, as it were, into one globe and forming a sphere. Nor yet should it be a matter for wonder in this connexion that these seeds of fire are able to flow together at such a fixed time and restore the sun's brightness. For we see many things happening at fixed times 670 in all areas of our experience. Trees come into bloom at a fixed time and drop their flowers at a fixed time. Equally, age bids our milk-teeth fall out at a fixed time, and the child to reach puberty with its soft down, and equally to put out a soft beard from his jaw. 675 Finally, the times of year when lightning, snow, rain, clouds and wind occur are not completely unpredictable. As the first-beginnings of the causes of things were established in this way, and the workings of the world fell into place in this way from the very start, they continue even now to come around regularly according to a fixed pattern. 680 The days may grow longer and the nights wane, and the daylight decrease when the nights are adding to their length, either because the same sun, as it runs beneath the earth and above it, divides the shores of heaven into unequal arcs and splits its orbit into uneven parts, 685 and what it has taken from one part, it gives back that much more to the other side as it comes round, until it reaches that constellation of heaven where the knot of the year makes the darkness of night equal to the daylight. For at the midpoint of its course, halfway between the blasts of the north wind and the

60

Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V distinct aequato caelum discrimine metas propter signiferi posituram totius orbis, annua sol in quo concludit tempora serpens, obliquo terras et caelum lumine lustrans, ut ratio declarat eorum qui loca caeli omnia dispositis signis ornata notarunt aut quia crassior est certis in partibus aer, sub terris ideo tremulum iubar haesitat ignis nee penetrare potest facile atque emergere ad ortus. propterea noctes hibemo tempore longae cessant, dum veniat radiatum insigne diei. aut etiam, quia sic altemis partibus anni tardius et citius consuerunt coofluere ignes qui faciunt solem certa de surgere parte, propterea fit uti videantur dicere verum

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••• Luna potest solis radiis percussa nitere inque dies magis id lumen convertere nobis ad speciem, quantum solis secedit ab orbi, donec eum contra pleno bene lumine fulsit atque oriens obitus eius super edita vidit; inde minutatim retro quasi condere lumen debet item, quanto propius iam solis ad ignem labitur ex alia signorum parte per orbem; ut faciunt, lunam qui fingunt esse pilai consimilem cursusque viam sub sole tenere. est etiam quare proprio cum lumine possit volvier et varias splendoris reddere formas. corpus enim licet esse aliud quod fertur et una labitur omnimodis occursans officiensque nee potis est cerni, quia cassum lumine fertur.

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710

715

692 concludit Lachmann; contudit OQ: consumit Diels 104 /acunam post hunc versum indicavit Munro, post 714 col/ocavit Naugerius, post 702 Diels 706 id add Lachmann, hinc Merrill; om. OQ 711 iam Marullus: tam OQ

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61

south wind, 690 the sky holds its turning-points at equal distance, owing to the position of the whole belt of constellations within which the sun confines its annual course as it glides along, illuminating earth and sky with slanting light, as the theory proclaims of those who 695 have marked out all areas of the sky, embellished with their constellations in due order. Or, because the air is denser in certain places, the flickering beam of fire is held back for that reason beneath the earth and cannot easily get through and reach the point of its rising. Thus in wintertime the long nights 700 linger until the radiant emblem of the day should arrive. Or again, because for the same reason the fires that make the sun rise in a fixed place are accustomed to flow together more slowly or more quickly at alternate times of year, it therefore comes about that [those theorists] seem to speak the truth [who argue that] ... 705 The moon may shine by reflecting the rays of the sun, and turn this light towards our sight more from day to day, the further it moves from the sun's globe; until, coming right opposite, it shines out quite fully illuminated and, as it rises high, sees the sunset; 710 then it must gradually hide its light again, so to speak, in the same way, the nearer it glides to the sun's fire from the opposite side, through the belt of constellations; as those people explain, who imagine·that the moon is like a ball and follows the route of its course below the sun. 715 There is also a theory according to which it may cast its own light as it revolves, and show its brightness in different phases. For there may be another body which is carried and glides along with it, blocking and obstructing it in all kinds of ways, and yet cannot be

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versarique potest, globus ut, si forte, pilai dimidia ex parti candenti lumine tinctus, versandoque globum variantis edere formas, donec earn partem, quaecumque est ignibus aucta, ad speciem vertit nobis oculosque patentis; inde minutatim retro contorquet et aufert luciferam partem glomeraminis atque pilai; ut Babylonica Chaldaeum doctrina refutans astrologorum artem contra convincere tendit, proinde quasi id fieri nequeat quod pugnat uterque aut minus hoe illo sit cur amplectier ausis. denique cur nequeat semper nova luna creari ordine formarum certo certisque figuris inque dies privos aborisci quaeque creata atque alia illius reparari in parte locoque, difficilest ratione docere et vincere verbis, ordine cum videas tarn certo multa creari. it Ver et Venus, et Veneris praenuntius ante pennatus graditur, Zephyri vestigia propter Flora quibus mater praespargens ante viai cuncta coloribus egregiis et odoribus opplet. inde loci sequitur Calor aridus et comes una pulverulenta Ceres et etesia flabra Aquilonum. inde Autumnus adit, graditur simul Euhius Euan. inde aliae tempestates ventique sequuntur, altitonans Volturnus et Auster fulmine pollens. tandem Bruma nives adfert pigrumque rigorem reddit Hiemps, sequitur crepitans bane dentibus Algor. quo minus est mirum si certo tempore luna gignitur et certo deletur tempore rursus, cum fieri possint tarn certo tempore multa. Solis item quoque defectus lunaeque latebras pluribus e causis fieri tibi posse putandumst.

736 742 747 750

videas Q1 ; om. OQ: possintLachmann pulverulenta Pontanus: poluerunta O (pul- Q): et add. Marul/us reddit ... crepitans F: redit ... creditans OQ: algor Gifanius: algi OQ: algu Voss fieri Marul/us: fleri OQ

720

725

730

735

740

745

750

Lucretius:De RerumNatura V

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seen because it is carried along without any illumination. 720 It may also revolve like the sphere of a ball, perhaps, tinted on one side with shining light, and, in revolving its sphere, show its different phases, until it turns the side enriched with fire to our view and wide-open eyes; 725 then it gradually whirls back and turns away the light side of its round ball; as the Babylonian doctrine of the Chaldeans holds, opposing and striving to win out against the learning of the astronomers - as though the theory that either side fights for were impossible, 730 and there were any reason that might embolden us to embrace one rather than the other! Finally, 735 it is hard to explain rationally or demonstrate persuasively why it should not be possible for new moons to come into being perpetually, according to a fixed succession of phases and in fixed shapes, for each one to come into being and pass away day by day and for another to be supplied in its stead and in its place, when you can see so many things come into being in a fixed succession. Spring comes, and Venus, and Venus' winged harbinger goes before them, while mother Flora, close by the footsteps of Zephyr, strews all the path before them 740 and fills it with wonderful colours and scents. Next follows parching Heat along with his companion, dusty Ceres, and the seasonal gusts of the North Wind. Then comes Autumn, and Bacchus accompanies him. Then follow other times of year and other winds, 745 high-thundering Volturnus and the South Wind, mightily armed with lightning. Finally, Solstice brings snow and Winter renews her sluggish chill; tooth-chattering Cold follows her. So it is less surprising if the moon comes into being at a fixed time and is destroyed again at a fixed time, 750 when many things can happen at so fixed a time. Again, you must suppose that eclipses of the sun and disappearances of the moon may be brought about by a variety of possible causes. For why

,

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nam cur tuna queat terram secludere solis lumine et a terris altum caput obstruere ei, obiciens caecum radiis ardentibus orbem; tempore eodem aliud facere id non posse putetur corpus quod cassum labatur lumine semper? solque suos etiam dimittere languidus ignis tempore cur certo nequeat recreareque lumen, cum loca praeteriit flammis infesta per auras, quae faciunt ignis interstingui atque perire? et cur terra queat lunam spoliare vicissim lumine et oppressum solem super ipsa tenere, menstrua dum rigidas coni perlabitur umbras; tempore eodem aliud nequeat succurrere lunae corpus vel supra solis perlabier orbem, quod radios interrumpat lumenque profusum? et tamen ipsa suo si fulget tuna Ditore, cur nequeat certa mundi languescere parte, dum loca luminibus propriis inimica per exit? Quod superest, quoniam magni per caerula mundi qua fieri quicquid posset ratione resolvi, solis uti varios cursus lunaeque meatus noscere possemus quae vis et causa cieret, quove modo possent offecto lumine obire et neque opinantis tenebris obducere terras, cum quasi conivent et aperto lumine rursum omnia convisunt clara loca candida luce, nunc redeo ad mundi novitatem et mollia terrae arva, novo fetu quid primum in luminis oras tollere et incertis crerint committere ventis. Principio genus herbarum viridemque nitorem terra dedit circum collis camposque per omnis, florida fulserunt viridanti prata colore, 753 solis Lambinus: possis OQ 756 eodem (cf 765): eadem OQ 761 perire Marul/us: periri OQ 771 = 764 secl. Lambinus 776 possent add. ed Brixiensis; om. OQ 782 tollere et Pontanus: tolleret OQ: crerint Ore/Ii: credunt OQ

755

760

765

770 772

775

780

785

Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V

65

should the moon be able to block off the earth from the light of the sun and thrust her high head in front of him from the perspective of the earth, 755 obtruding her dark sphere in front of the blazing rays, whereas another body, which glides along forever deprived of illumination, is supposed at one and the same time not to be able to do this? And why should it not be possible, too, for the weary sun to let his fires go out at a fixed time, and then rekindle his light, 760 when he has passed through parts of the air inimical to his flames, which cause the fire to be temporarily extinguished and go out? And why should the earth be able in tum to deprive the moon of light and to keep the sun hidden beneath itself, while the moon glides on its monthly course through the unyielding conical shadow, 765 whereas another body at the same time would be unable to run below the moon or glide over the sun's sphere so as to cut off its rays and its flood of light? And again, if the moon itself shines with its own brightness, why should it not be possible for it to become weak in a certain part of the sky, 770 until it emerges from regions hostile to its own light? For the rest - since I have explained how each of these things may come about through the blue expanse of great heaven, so that 775 we may understand what force and what cause bring about the changing course of the sun and the wanderings of the moon, and how they can disappear, with their light obstructed, and cover the unsuspecting earth in darkness, when they seem to blink and then, open-eyed once more, to survey the whole earth, bright with their clear radiance - 7111I now return to the beginning of the world, and what new offspring the earth's tender lands first determined to bring forth onto the shores of daylight and entrust to the uncertain winds. First of all the earth put forth grasses with their green lustre about the hills and all over the plains, 715 and the flowering meadows were bright with

66

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arboribusque datumst variis exinde per auras crescendi magnum immissis certamen habenis. ut pluma atque pili primum saetaeque creantur quadrupedum membris et corpore pennipotentum, sic nova tum tellus herbas virgultaque primum sustulit, inde loci mortalia saecla creavit multa modis multis varia ratione coorta. nam neque de caelo cecidisse animalia possunt nee terrestria de salsis exisse lacunis. linquitur ut merito maternum nomen adepta terra sit, e terra quoniam sunt cuncta creata. multaque nunc etiam exsistunt animalia terris imbribus et calido solis concreta vapore; quo minus est mirum, si tum sunt plura coorta et maiora, nova tellure atque aethere adulta. principio genus alituum variaeque volucres ova relinquebant exclusae tempore vemo; folliculos ut nunc teretes aestate cicadae linquunt sponte sua victum vitamque petentes, tum tibi terra dedit primum mortalia saecla: multus enim calor atque umor superabat in arvis. hoe ubi quaeque loci regio opportuna dabatur, crescebant uteri terram radicibus apti; quos ubi tempore maturo patefecerat aetas infantum fugiens umorem aurasque petessens, convertebat ibi natura foramina terrae et sucum venis cogebat fundere apertis consimilem lactis, sicut nunc femina quaeque cum peperit, dulci repletur lacte, quod omnis impetus in mammas convertitur ille alimenti. terra cibum pueris, vestem vapor, herba cubile praebebat multa et molli lanugine abundans. at novitas mundi nee frigora dura ciebat nee nimios aestus nee magnis viribus auras. omnia enim pariter crescunt et robora sumunt. 800 809

maiora Pontanus: maiore OQ aetas Marullus: aestas OQ: aestus Lachmann: auctus Me"il/

790

795

800

805

810

815

820

Lucretius:De R~

Natura V

67

verdant colour; then the reins were loosed for the various kinds of trees, and they began to vie mightily in growing up through the air. Just as feathers, hair and bristles first begin to grow on the limbs of four-footed animals and the bodies of birds, 790 so at that time the new earth first put forth grasses and saplings, then begot the generations of animals, which came forth in different ways, in great numbers and many different kinds. For animals cannot have fallen from the sky, nor can creatures of the land have emerged from the salty pools. 795 The only remaining possibility is that the earth has rightly been given the name of mother, since from the earth all things were brought forth. Even now many animals come into being from the earth, formed by rain and the warm heat of the sun; so it is less surprising if at that time they came forth in greater numbers 800 and larger size, having developed when the earth and sky were young. In the first place, the species of winged things and the various birds left their eggs, hatched out by the spring-like climate. Just as nowadays cicadas spontaneously leave their smooth cocoons in summer, in search of their food and livelihood, 805 at that time, you see, the earth first brought forth animals: for much heat and moisture still remained in the soil. Thus, wherever a suitable site presented itself, wombs began to grow, attached to the earth by roots; when in the fullness of time the age 810 of the infants, shimning moisture and seeking air, had caused these to open up, then nature directed the pores of the earth that way and compelled them to pour out a milk-like sap from open veins, just as nowadays every woman is filled with sweet milk after she has given birth, because all 815 the flow of her nourishment is directed into her nipples. The earth provided food for her children, the warm climate clothed them, and the plentiful grass, thick with downy softness, offered them a bed. Yet the youthful world summoned up neither harsh cold nor excessive heat nor winds of great strength. 82°For everything grows and gains in strength together.

68

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Quare etiam atque etiam maternum nomen adepta terra tenet merito, quoniam genus ipsa creavit hurnanum atque animal prope certo tempore fudit omne quod in magnis baccbatur montibu' passim, aeriasque simul volucris variantibu' formis. sed quia finem aliquam pariendi debet babere, destitit, ut mulier spatio defessa vetusto. mutat enim mundi naturam totius aetas ex alioque alius status excipere omnia debet, nee manet ulla sui similis res: omnia migrant, omnia commutat natura et vertere cogit. namque aliud putrescit et aevo debile languet, porro aliud succrescit et e contemptibus exit. sic igitur mundi naturam totius aetas mutat et ex alio terram status excipit alter, quod tulit ut nequeat, possit quod non tulit ante. Multaque tum tellus etiam portenta creare conatast mira facie membrisque coorta, androgynum, interutrasque nee utrum, utrimque remotum, orba pedum partirn, manuum viduata vicissim, muta sine ore etiam, sine vultu caeca reperta, vinctaque membrorurn per totum corpus adhaesu, nee facere ut possent quicquam nee cedere quoquam nee vitare malum nee sumere quod foret usus. cetera de genere hoe monstra ac portenta creabat, nequiquam, quoniam natura absterruit auctum nee potuere cupitum aetatis tangere florem nee reperire cibum nee iungi per Veneris res.

823 825 833 836 838 839 841 844

825

830

835

840

845

animal Marullus: anima ()Q'. ani1JW1 O' aeriasque Marullus: aeriaeque OQ succrescit Lachmann (in commentario): crescit OQ: cJarescit Lachmann: e add. Marullus: om. OQ tuJit ut Bentley: potuit OQ: pote uti Lachmann facie F: facit OQ androgynum interutraque nee utrum, utrimque Lachmann (interutrasque Munro): androgynem inter utras nee utramque utrumque Q (ut utrunque 0) muta Naugerius:muJta OQ foret Lambinus: uoJet OQ

Lucretius:De Rennn Natura V

69

Therefore I say again and again that the earth has been given and possesses the name of mother rightly, since she alone created the human race and poured forth almost at a fixed time every kind of animal that now nms wild everywhere in the high mountains, 825 and at the same time the birds of the air in all their varied forms. But because there was bound to be some limit on her child-bearing, she ceased, like a woman exhausted by old age. For time changes the nature of the entire world, and everything must pass from one state of being to another, 830 nor does anything stay the same: everything is transformed, nature alters everything and compels it to change. For one thing wastes away and grows weak and feeble with age, but another grows up in its place and emerges from obscurity. Thus, time changes the nature of the entire world, 835 and the earth passes from one state of being to another, so that it cannot bearwhat it once bore, but it can bearthings that it did not before. At that time, the earth tried also to produce many monsters, and beings of amazing appearance with amazing bodies came forth: the hermaphrodite, intersexual and not belonging to either sex, but separate from both; 840 some bereft of feet, or again widowed of hands; some too were found to be dumb, having no mouth, or blind, having no face, or bound fast by limbs stuck to their whole body, so that they could not do anything nor go anywhere, nor avoid what was harmful nor obtain what they needed. 845 She produced other monsters and portentous beings of this kind, in vain, since nature prevented their growth, nor could they attain the longed-for flower of youth, nor find food, nor be joined with each other in the work of Venus. For we see that

70

Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V multa videmus enim rebus concurrere debere, ut propagando possint procudere saecla: pabula primum ut sint, genitalia deinde per artus semina qua possint membris manare remissis, feminaque ut maribus coniungi possit, habere, mutua qui mutent inter se gaudia uterque. Multaque tum interiisse animantum saecla necessest nee potuisse propagando procudere prolem. nam quaecumque vides vesci vitalibus auris, aut dolus aut virtus aut denique mobilitas est ex ineunte aevo genus id tutata reservans. multaque sunt, nobis ex utilitate sua quae commendata manent, tutelae tradita nostrae. principio genus acre leonum saevaque saecla tutatast virtus, vulpis dolus et fuga cervos. at levisomna canum fido cum pectore corda et genus omne quod est veterino semine partum lanigeraeque simul pecudes et bucera saecla omnia sunt hominum tutelae tradita, Memmi. nam cupide fugere feras pacemque secuta sunt et larga suo sine pabula parta labore, quae damus utilitatis eorum praemia causa. at quis nil horum tribuit natura, nee ipsa sponte sua possent ut vivere nee dare nobis utilitatem aliquam quare pateremur eorum praesidio nostro pasci genus esseque tutum, scilicet haec aliis praedae lucroque iacebant indupedita suis fatalibus omnia vinclis, donec ad interitum genus id natura redegit. Sed neque Centauri fuerunt, nee tempore in ullo esse queunt duplici natura et corpore bino ex alienigenis membris compacta, potestas

850 853 854 859 865 868 871

procudere /ta/.: procludere OQ maribus /ta/.: marius OQ mutent Bemays: metuent OQ tutata ed. Brixiensis: tuta OQ veterino Nonius: ueteri non OQ secuta Lambinus: secutae OQ nil Pontanus: ni 0: in Q

850

855

860

865

870

875

880

Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V

71

many conditions must be fulfilled at once 850 in order for living things to be able to propagate their kind through reproduction: first, there must be nourishment; then they must have a way for the generative seed to trickle through the body when the limbs are relaxed; and - so that the female may be joined to the male - they must each have a means whereby they may take their mutual pleasure of each other. 855 Many kinds of animals must have become extinct at that time, and not been able to produce offspring through reproduction. AB for all the species you can see today sustained by the life-giving air: either cunning or courage or, finally, swiftness has saved and preserved their kind from birth. 860 There are many, too, that survive because they have been recommended to us by their usefulness, and entrusted to our protection. In the first place, courage has preserved the fierce race and savage species of lions, cunning has preserved the fox and swiftness the deer. But dogs, with their light-sleeping minds and loyal hearts, 865 and every kind that is born of burden-bearing seed, woolly sheep, too, and the homed race of cattle - all these, Memmius, have been entrusted to the protection of humankind. For they fled eagerly from wild beasts, and came in pursuit of peace and the plentiful fodder, obtained without any effort on their part, 870 which we give them as a reward in return for their usefulness. But as for those to which nature gave none of these characteristics, so that they could neither survive on their own nor offer us some useful quality on account of which we might allow their race to be fed and kept safe under our protection, 875 these no doubt lay exposed as prey and profit for others, all ensnared as they were in the trap of their own fatal flaws, until nature reduced their kind to extinction. But there were no Centaurs, nor is it ever possible for creatures 880 composed of alien limbs, of double nature and bipartite body, to exist, in

72

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hinc illinc par, vis ut sat par esse potissit. id licet hinc quamvis hebeti cognoscere corde. principio circum tribus actis impiger annis floret equus, puer haudquaquam; nam saepe etiam nunc ubera mammarum in somnis lactantia quaeret. post ubi equum validae vires aetate seneeta membraque deficiunt fugienti languida vita, tum demum puerili aevo ftorente iuventas occipit et molli vestit lanugine malas. ne forte ex homine et veterino semine equorum confieri credas Centauros posse neque esse, aut rabidis canibus succinctas semimarinis corporibus Scyllas et cetera de genere horum, inter se quorum discordia membra videmus; quae neque ftorescunt pariter nee robora sumunt corporibus neque proiciunt aetate seneeta nee simili Venere ardescunt nee moribus unis conveniunt, neque sunt eadem iucunda per artus. quippe videre licet pinguescere saepe cicuta barbigeras pecudes, homini quae est acre venenum. ftamma quidem vero cum corpora fulva leonum tarn soleat torrere atque urere quam genus omne visceris in terris quodcumque et sanguinis exstet, qui fieri potuit, triplici cum corpore ut una, prima leo, postrema draco, media ipsa, Chimaera ore foras acrem ftaret de corpore ftammam? quare etiam tellure nova caeloque reeenti talia qui fingit potuisse animalia gigni, nixus in hoe uno novitatis nomine inani, multa licet simili ratione effutiat ore, aurea tum dicat per terras ftumina vulgo 881 885 889 892 896

par, vis ut sat par Giussani: par vis ut non sit pars O (sat Q): a/ii a/ia lactantia F: laetantia OQ occipit Marullus: officit OQ rabidis Heinsius: rapidis OQ proiciunt Thrnebus:proficiunt OQ 901 vero add ed. Juntina: denique ante flamma Lachmann, fervida Ore/Ii 904 una ed Brixiensis: unam OQ 906 foras Naugerius: feras OQ

885

890

895

900

905

910

Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V

73

such a way that the power and force of each part could be sufficiently equal. Even a person of very dull mind could understand this, for the following reasons. First of all, by the time that three years have come around, a spirited horse is in the prime of life, a human child not at all; for even now, 885 in sleep it will often seek the milky teats of its mother's breasts. Afterwards, when a horse's sturdy strength is failing in old age, and its limbs are growing weak as life flees away, then young manhood is at last beginning for the boy in the flower of his age, and his cheeks are clothed in soft down 890 - in case you should believe that Centaurs can come into being and exist from the seed of humans and burden-bearing horses, or Scyllas with amphibious bodies girdled by raging hounds, or other creatures of this kind, whose limbs, we can see, are ill-matched with each other; 895 for they neither mature and take on bodily strength at the same rate, nor lay it aside in old age, nor are they fired by Venus in the same way, nor do they adhere to a single pattern of behaviour, nor are the same foodstuffs agreeable to their bodies. For indeed, one can see that bearded goats often grow fat on hemlock, 900 which is bitter poison to humans. And again, given that fire is accustomed to scorch and bum the tawny bodies of lions just as much as those of every species of flesh and blood that exists on earth, how could it be that the Chimaera - one creature with a triple body, 905 the foreparts of a lion, the hindquarters of a snake and the middle parts of the she-goat after which it is named - could breathe out through its mouth a fierce flame from its body? So anyone who imagines that such animals could come into being even when the earth was young and the sky was new, relying on this one empty word 'novelty', 910 might as well blather in the same way about many other things, and say that at that time rivers of gold commonly flowed over the earth and trees

74

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fluxisse et gemmis florere arbusta suesse aut hominem tanto membrorum esse impete natum, trans maria alta pedum nisus ut ponere posset et manibus totum circum se vertere caelum. nam quod multa fuere in terris semina rerum tempore quo primum tellus animalia fudit, nil tamen est signi mixtas potuisse creari inter se pecudes compactaque membra animantum, propterea quia quae de terris nunc quoque abundant herbarum genera ac fruges arbustaque laeta non tamen inter se possunt complexa creari, sed res quaeque suo ritu procedit et omnes foedere naturae certo discrimina servant. At genus humanum multo fuit illud in arvis durius, ut decuit, tellus quod dura creasset, et maioribus et solid.is magis ossibus intus fundatum, valid.is aptum per viscera nervis, nee facile ex aestu nee frigore quod caperetur nee novitate cibi nee labi corporis ulla. multaque per caelum solis volventia lustra vulgivago vitam tractabant more ferarum. nee robustus erat curvi moderator aratri quisquam, nee scibat ferro molirier arva nee nova defodere in terram virgulta neque altis arboribus veteres decidere falcibu' ramos. quod sol atque imbres dederant, quod terra crearat sponte sua, satis id placabat pectora donum. glandiferas inter eurabant corpora quercus plerumque; et quae nunc hibemo tempore cemis arbuta puniceo :fierimatura colore, plurima tum tellus etiam maiora ferebat. multaque praeterea novitas tum florida mundi pabula dura tulit, miseris mortalibus ampla. 914 923 925 934 944

ponere Q1:pondere OQ res Munro: si OQ: vis Lachmann: sibi Me"il/ at Lachmann: et OQ molirier ed. Brixiensis: mollerier OQ: mollirier 0 1 dura A: dira OQ

915

920

925

930

935

940

Lucretius:De Renun Nahlra Y

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were accustomed to put forth gems, or that a man was born with limbs of such a size that he could plant his footsteps in the depths of the sea 915 and tum the whole sky around him with his hands. For, just because there were many seeds of things in the ground at the time when the earth first poured forth animals, that is nevertheless no indication that hybrid creatures combining the limbs of different animals could come into being; 920 for the species of plants which even now spring abundantly from the earth, and the cereal crops and fruitful trees, cannot even so be crossed with each other, but each kind goes on in its own way and all maintain their distinctions by a fixed pact of nature. 925 But the human race on the land at that time was much hardier, as befitted that which the hard earthhad made, and was built within upon bigger and more robust bones, and fitted with strong sinews through the flesh, so that it could not easily be harmed by heat or cold, 930 nor by unfamiliar food nor any physical ailment. And, for many revolutions of the sun through the sky, they led their life in the wide-roaming way of wild beasts. There was no sturdy steersman of the curved plough, nor did anyone know how to break up fields with iron, 935 nor dig new saplings into the ground, nor cut down old branches from the tall trees with sickles. What the sun and rain had given, what the earthhad brought forth of its own accord - this gift was enough to satisfy their hearts. For the most part, they looked after their bodily needs amongst acorn-bearing oak-trees; 940 and as for those arbutus-berries which you still see today, ripening to a scarlet hue in wintertime - at that time the earth bore even larger ones, in great abundance.And the flourishing youth of the world brought forth much other food besides - hard food, sufficient for

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at sedare sitim fluvii fontesque vocabant, ut nunc montibus e magnis decursus aquai claru' citat late sitientia saecla ferarum. denique nota vagis silvestria templa tenebant nympharum, quibus e scibant umori' fluenta lubrica proluvie larga lavere umida saxa, umida saxa, super viridi stillantia·musco, et partim plano scatere atque erumpere campo. necdum res igni scibant tractare neque uti pellibus et spoliis corpus vestire ferarum, sed nemora atque cavos montis silvasque colebant et frutices inter condebant squalida membra verbera ventorum vitare imbrisque coacti. nee commune bonum poterant spectare neque ullis moribus inter se scibant nee legibus uti. quod cuique obtulerat praedae fortuna, ferebat sponte sua sibi quisque valere et vivere doctus. et Venus in silvis iungebat corpora amantum; conciliabat enim vel mutua quamque cupido vel violenta viri vis atque impensa libido vel pretium, glandes atque arbuta vel pira lecta. et manuum mira freti virtute pedumque consectabantur silvestria saecla ferarum missilibus saxis et magno pondere clavae; multaque vincebant, vitabant pauca latebris; saetigerisque pares subus silvestria membra nuda dabant terrae nocturno tempore capti, circum se foliis ac frondibus involventes. nee plangore diem magno solemque per agros quaerebant pavidi palantes noctis in umbris, sed taciti respectabant somnoque sepulti, 947 claru' citat Forbiger late Bosius: claricitati ate OQ: a/ii alia 948 vagis OQ: vagi Lachmann 949 umori' Bentley: umore OQ 962 iungebat L: lugebat 0: lucebat Q 968 [975] hue transposuit Naugerius 971 [970] nuda dabant Lambinus:nudabant OQ

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[975) [968) [969) [970) [971) [972] [973) [974)

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wretched mortals. 945 Now the rivers and springs called them to quench their thirst, just as now the flow of water down from the high mountains loudly summons the thirsty races of wild beasts from far and wide. Moreover, they would make camp in the wooded precincts of the nymphs, familiar to them in their wanderings, from which, they knew, streams of water 950 came gliding out and bathed the wet rocks, the rocks wet with an abundant flood, dripping onto green moss, and in some places bubbled up and gushed forth from the level plain. Nor did they know, as yet, how to work things with fire, nor how to make use of skins and clothe their bodies in the pelts of wild beasts, 955 but they dwel~ in groves and mountain caves and woods, and buried their filthy limbs amongst the bushes when driven to escape the buffeting of wind and rain. They were unable to look to the common good, nor did they know how to observe any customs or laws amongst themselves. 960 Whatever booty chance had brought each one, each one carried off, having learnt for himself instinctively how to thrive and live. And Venus joined lovers' bodies in the woods: for each woman was won over either by mutual desire, or by the man's violent strength and urgent lust, 965 or by a fee of acorns, arbutusberries and choice pears. And, relying on the wonderful strength of their hands and feet, they pursued the woodland races of wild beasts with rocks for throwing and clubs of great weight; many they overcame, a few they avoided by hiding; 970 and, just like bristly boars, they laid their naked limbs on the ground in the woods when night overtook them, wrapping themselves in leaves and foliage. Nor did they wander fearfully through the countryside in the darkness of night, seeking for the daylight and the sun with loud wailing, 975 but waited quietly, buried in sleep, for the sun with its rosy torch to bring light into the sky. For because they had always been accustomed

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V dum rosea face sol inferret lumina caelo. a parvis quod enim consuerant cemere semper altemo teoebras et lucem tempore gigni, non erat ut fieri posset mirarier umquam nee diffidere oe terras aetema teneret oox in perpetuum detracto lumine solis. sed magis illud erat curae, quod saecla ferarum infestam miseris faciebaot saepe quietem. eieetique domo fugiebant saxea tecta spumigeri suis adventu validique leonis atque intempesta cedebaot oocte paventes hospitibus saevis instrata cubilia froode. Nee nimio tum plus quam nunc mortalia saecla dulcia linquebaot lamentis lumina vitae. unus enim tum quisque magis deprensus eorum pabula viva feris praebebat, dentibus haustus, et nemora ac mootis gemitu silvasque replebat viva videos vivo sepeliri viscera busto. at quos effugium servarat corpore adeso, posterius tremulas super ulcera taetra tenentes palmas horriferis accibaot vocibus Orcum, donee eos vita privarant vermina saeva expertis opis, ignaros quid vulnera vellent at non multa virum sub signis milia ducta una dies dabat exitio nee turbida ponti aequora lidebaot navis ad saxa virosque. hie temere incassum frustra mare saepe coortum saevibat leviterque mioas ponebat inanis, nee poterat quemquam placidi pellacia ponti subdola pellicere in fraudem ridentibus undis. improba navigii ratio tum caeca iacebat. tum penuria deinde cibi laoguentia leto membra dabat, contra nunc rerum copia mersat.

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eiectique F: et lectique 0: electique Q vivo F: uino 0Q ulcera F: uicera 0: uicerat Q donec Marullus: denique OQ hie Lachmann: nee 0Q: sed Lambinus: tum Smith ponebat Marullus: potebas 0Q

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from infancy to see darkness and daylight alternate with each other, there was no way that they could ever feel wonder 9111or be anxious that the light of the sun might be taken away and eternal night possess the earth forever. But this, on the contrary, was a source of anxiety to them: that the races of wild beasts ofteJ:,made rest unsafe for the poor wretches. Driven out of their homes, they fled their rocky shelters 915 at the coming of a foaming boar or a mighty lion, and, in the dead of night, they fearfully yielded up their beds spread with foliage to these savage guests. Yet the human race did not quit the sweet light of life amidst lamentations much more then thannow. 990 For at that time, more thannowadays, some one of them would be captured and provide living food for wild beasts, devoured by their teeth, and fill the groves and mountains and woods with screams as he saw his living flesh buried in a living tomb. And even those who had saved themselves by escaping with mangled bodies 995 would afterwards call upon Death with dreadful cries, holding their trembling hands over gruesome wounds, until cruel agony took away their lives, unable to help themselves in their ignorance of what their injuries required. On the other hand, many thousands of men were not led beneath the standards 1000 and given over to destruction in a single day, nor did the stormy waters of the sea crush ships and men on the rocks. At this time, the raging sea often rose up to no purpose, all for nothing and in vain, and lightly laid aside its empty threats, nor could the deceitful seductiveness of the calm sea 1005 with its laughing waves seduce anyone to his doom. For the iniquitous art of navigation then lay undiscovered. Then, too, at that time scarcity of food used to deliver up their fainting bodies to death, whereas nowadays we drown in excess.

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Lucretius:De Rerom Natura V illi imprudentes ipsi sibi saepe venenum vergebant, nunc dant aliis sollertius ipsi. lnde casas postquam ac pellis ignemque para.runt, et mulier coniuncta viro concessit in unum

1010

*** cognita sunt, prolemque ex se videre creatam, tum genus humanum primum mollescere coepit. ignis enim curavit ut alsia corpora frigus non ita iam possent caeli sub tegmine ferre, et Venus imminuit viris puerique parentum blanditiis facile ingenium fregere superbum. tune et amicitiem coeperunt iungere aventes finitimi inter se nee laedere nee violari, et pueros commendarunt muliebreque saeclum, vocibus et gestu cum balbe significarent . imbeeillorum esse aequum misererier omnis. nee tamen omnimodis poterat concordia gigni, sed bona magnaque pars servabat foedera caste; aut genus humanum iam tum foret omne peremptum nee potuisset adhuc perducere saecla propago. At varios linguae sonitus natura subegit mittere et utilitas expressit nomina rerum, non alia longe ratione atque ipsa videtur protrahere ad gestum pueros infantia linguae, cum facit ut digito quae sint praesentia monstrent. sentit enim vis quisque suas quoad possit abuti. comua nata prius vitulo quam frontibus exstent, illis iratus petit atque infestus inurget. at catuli pantherarum scymnique leonum 1009 1010 1012 1013 1023 1025 1032 1033

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imprudentes Marul/us: prudentes OQ nunc dant aliis ed. Juntina: nudant OQ: a/ii alia lacunam post hunc versum indicavit Marullus cognita sunt OQ: conubium Lachmann: coniugium Bernays omnis Marullus: omni OQ caste F: casti 0Q monstrent Marul/us: monstret OQ vis OQ: vim ed. Brixinesis: suas Muller: suam OQ: quoad Lambinus: quod OQ

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They often used to tum poison, unawares, upon themselves; 1010 now, more astutely, people administer it to others. Next, after they had possessed themselves of huts and skins and fire, and woman, joined with man, had settled in one [home; after the custom of cohabitation] had become known, and they saw their own offspring born to them; then the human race first began to grow softer. 1015 For fire saw to it that their chilly bodies could no longer bear the cold so well under the open sky, and Venus diminishtd their strength; and children easily broke their parents' proud spirits with their winning ways. Then too neighbours, 1020 desiring neither to do harm nor be injured, began to join with each other in friendship, and they sought protection for their children and for the race of women, while, stammering, they indicated with sounds and gestures that it was right for all to take pity on those who were weaker. Even so, harmony could not be established entirely; 1025 but the better part of them observed their agreements honourably; or else the whole human race would have died out there and then, nor would reproduction have sufficed to maintain the generations until now. But it was nature that compelled them to produce the various sounds of speech, and utility shaped the names of things, 1030 in much the same way as infants' very inability to speak seems to elicit gestures from them, when it makes them point with a finger to objects around them. For every species is aware of its own powers, and how it can use them. Before the nascent horns stand out from the brow of a calf, 1035 it already attacks with them when angry and butts aggressively. As for the cubs of panthers and the whelps of lions,

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unguibus ac pedibus iam tum morsuque repugnant, vix etiam cum sunt dentes unguesque creati. alituum porro genus alis omne videmus fidere et a pinnis tremulum petere auxiliatum. proinde putare aliquem tum nomina distribuisse rebus et inde homines didicisse vocabula prima, desiperest. nam cur hie posset cuncta notare vocibus et varios sonitus emittere linguae, tempore eodem alii facere id non quisse putentur? praeterea si non alii quoque vocibus usi inter se fuerant, unde insita notities est utilitatis et unde data est huic prima potestas, quid vellet facere ut sciret animoque videret? cogere item pluris unus victosque domare non poterat, rerum ut perdiscere nomina vellent. nee ratione docere ulla suadereque surdis, quid sit opus facto, facilest; neque enim paterentur nee ratione ulla sibi ferrent amplius auris vocis inauditos sonitus obtundere frustra. postremo quid in hac mirabile tantoperest re, si genus humanum, cui vox et lingua vigeret, pro vario sensu varia res voce notaret? cum pecudes mutae, cum denique saecla ferarum dissimilis so leant voces variasque ciere, cum metus aut dolor est et cum iam gaudia gliscunt. quippe etenim licet id rebus cognoscere apertis. irritata canum cum primum magna Molossum mollia ricta fremunt duros nudantia dentis, longe alio sonitu rabie restricta minantur, et cum iam latrant et vocibus omnia complent. I 038 I 039 1048 I 053 I 058 I 062 l 064 I 065

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etiam Marullus: iam 0: tiam Q porro ed. Juntina: proporro OQ utilitatis Marullus: utilitas OQ facilest Lachmann: facile si OQ varia Bentley: uarias OQ id Gifanius: in OQ fremunt Marullus: premunt OQ alio F: alia OQ: restricta Lachmann: stricta OQ: minantur Pontanus: minatur OQ

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they are already fighting back with claws and paws and bites even when teeth and claws are scarcely grown. Moreover, we can see how every kind of bird 1040 trusts to its wings and seeks tremulous assistance from its feathers. Thus, to imagine that someone at that time allocated names to things, and that that is bow people learned their first words, is utterly absurd. For why should this man have been able to designate everything with words and produce the various sounds of speech, 11145but others be thought at the same time to have been unable to do so? Besides, if others too bad not alreadyused words amongst themselves, whence was knowledge of their usefulness implanted in him, and whence was the initial ability granted him to know and see in his mind's eye what he wanted to do? 1050 Again, one man could not coerce many or overpower and subdue them, so as to make them willing to learn all the names of things. Nor is it easy, by any means, to teach and persuade the deaf what needs to be done; for they would not have endured or suffered in any way 1055 the unknown sounds of his voice to assail their ears fruitlessly for long. Finally, what is so remarkable about this course of events, if the human race, being equipped with a vigorous voice and tongue, designated things with different sounds in accordance with different sensations - when dumb aoimaJs, when moreover the races of wild beasts 1060 are accustomed to io;ummonup different and varying sounds when they feel fear or pain, or when pleasure is now growing strong? You can indeed see that this is so by observation. When the great soft jaws of Molossian hounds first begin to growl in anger, baring bard teeth, 11165the menacing sound they make with jaws drawn back in rage is very different from when they are already barking and filling the whole place with their clamour. But when they make

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at catulos blande cum lingua lambere temptant aut ubi eos iactant pedibus morsuque petentes suspensis teneros imitantur dentibus haustus, longe alio pacto gannitu vocis adulant, et cum deserti baubantur in aedibus aut cum plorantes fugiunt summisso corpore plagas. denique non hinnitus item differre videtur, inter equas ubi equus florenti aetate iuvencus pinnigeri saevit calcaribus ictus amoris et fremitum patulis sub naribus edit ad arma, et cum sic alias concussis artubus hinnit? postremo genus alituum variaeque volucres, accipitres atque ossifragae mergique marinis fluctibus in salso victum vitamque petentes, longe alias alio iaciunt in tempore voces, et cum de victu certant praedaeque repugnant. et partini mutant cum tempestatibus una raucisonos cantus, cornicum ut saecla vetusta corvorumque greges ubi aquam dicuntur et imbris poscere et interdum ventos aurasque vocare. ergo si varii sensus animalia cogunt, muta tamen cum sint, varias emittere voces, quanto mortalis magis aequumst tum potuisse dissimilis alia atque alia res voce notare! Illud in his rebus tacitus ne forte requiras, fulmen detulit in terram mortalibus ignem primitus, inde omnis flammarum diditur ardor. multa videmus enim caelestibus incita flammis fulgere, cum caeli donavit plaga vapore. et ramosa tamen cum ventis pulsa vacillans 1068 1071 1082 1084 1090 1094 1095 1096

iactant Naugerius: lactant OQ: petentes F: potentes OQ desertibaubantur L: desertis aubantur OQ praedaeque Avancius: praedata OQ: praedaque 0 1L ut Naugerius: et OQ res L: re OQ incita Marullus: insita OQ: inlita Lachmann vapore Lachmann: uaporis OQ et Marullus: ut OQ

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to lick their pups affectionately with their tongue, or when they toss them in their paws and, attacking them with nips, make a show of gentle bites, holding back their teeth, 1070 they fondle them with yelping cries of a very different kind from when, left alone in the house, they howl, or when they shrink away from a blow, whining andcrouching down low. Finally, doesn't neighing too seem to differ, when, amongst the mares, a young stallion in the prime of life 1075 is spurred into a frenzy by the goads of winged love and gives out a snort for the combat from flaring nostrils, and when, as happens at other times, he whinnies with trembling limbs? Lastly, the race of winged things and the various birds, hawks and lammergeyers and gulls 1080 that seek their food and livelihood in the waves of the salt sea, give very different cries at other times than they do when they are fighting over their food and their prey is struggling against them. Some, too, change their raucous song with the weather, as the aged race of crows 1085 and flocks of ravens do when they are said to summon water and rain, andsometimes to call for winds and breezes. If, then, different sensations compel animals to produce different sounds, although they are dumb, how much more plausible is it that humans could at that time 1090 designate different things with one sound or another! Should you perhaps be silently asking yourself something, in this connexion: it was a thunderbolt that first brought fire down to earth for mortals, and from there all the heat of flame was distributed. For we can see that many things are struck by the heavenly fire 1095 and set ablaze, when a blow from heaven has bestowed heat upon them. Yet also, when a branching

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V aestuat in ramos incumbens arboris arbor, exprimitur validis extritus viribus ignis, emicat interdum flammai fervidus ardor, mutua dum inter se rami stirpesque teruntur. quorum utrumque dedisse potest mortalibus ignem. inde cibum coquere ac flammae mollire vapore sol docuit, quoniam mitescere multa videbant verberibus radiorum atque aestu victa per agros. Inque dies magis hi victum vitamque priorem commutare novis monstrabant rebus et igni ingenio qui praestabant et corde vigebant. condere coeperunt urbis arcemque locare praesidium reges ipsi sibi perfugiumque, et pecus et agros divisere atque dedere pro facie cuiusque et viribus ingenioque; nam facies multum valuit viresque vigebant. posterius res inventast aurumque repertum, quod facile et validis et pulchris dempsit honorem; divitioris enim sectam plerumque sequuntur quamlibet et fortes et pulchro corpore creti. quod siquis vera vitam ratione gubemet, divitiae grandes homini sunt vivere parce aequo animo; neque enim est umquam penuria parvi. at claros homines voluerunt se atque potentis, ut fundamento stabili fortuna maneret et placidam possent opulenti degere vitam, nequiquam, quoniam ad summum succedere honorem certantes iter infestum fecere viai, et tamen e summo, quasi fulmen, deicit ictos invidia interdum contemptim in Tartara taetra; invidia quoniam ceu fulmine summa vaporant

1105 hi victum Naugerius: inuictum OQ 1106 rebus et igni OQ: rebu' benigni Lachmann:rebus et ipsi Me"i/1 1110 pecus Lachmann:pecudes OQ: pecua atque Ernout 1116 creti F: certi OQ 1122 placidam possent /ta/.: placida possunt OQ 1124 certantes iter Marullus:certantesque inter O (inter om. Q) 1127-32 hunc versuum ordinem restituit Munro

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tree, buffeted by the wind, is tossed about and leans, swaying, against the branches of another tree, fire is squeezed and forced out by the powerful force of friction, and sometimes the blazing heat of flame flashes out, 1100 as the branches and trunks rub against each other. Either of these phenomena may have given fire to mortals. Then the sun taught them how to cook their food and soften it with the heat of flame, since they saw many things growing tender all over the countryside, overcome by the blows and heat of its rays. 1105 And now those who were superior in intelligence and quick-witted began to show the others how to make more changes in their former habits and way of life from day to day, with the aid of fire and other new discoveries. Kings began to found cities and to establish citadels as a defence and refuge for themselves, 1110and they divided up flocks and land and distributed them in accordance with each man's beauty, strength and intelligence; for beauty was highly valued and strength was esteemed. Afterwards, wealth was invented and gold discovered, which easily deprived both the strong and the beautiful of honour; 1115 for people for the most part follow the party of the wealthy, however strong they may be, and however beautiful their bodies. But if one were to steer the course of his life according to true reasoning, it is great wealth for a person to live a simple life with tranquil mind; for there is never any shortage of a little. 1120 But people wanted to be famous and powerful, so that their fortune would stand firm on a strong foundation and so that they could live a peaceful life in affluence - in vain, since, as they struggled to reach the highest rank, they made their pathway perilous, 1125 and sometimes envy struck them nonetheless, like a bolt of lightning, and hurled them down contemptuously from the heights into vile Tartarus; for envy, like lightning, usually scorches the highest peaks and whatever is

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plerumque et quae sunt aliis magis edita cumque; ut satius multo iam sit parere quietum quam regere imperio res velle et regna tenere. proinde sine incassum defessi sanguine sudent, angustum per iter luctantes ambitionis; quandoquidem sapiunt alieno ex ore petuntque res ex auditis potius quam sensibus ipsis, nee magis id nunc est neque erit mox quam fuit ante. Ergo regibus occisis subversa iacebat pristina maiestas soliorum et sceptra superba, et capitis summi praeclarum insigne cruentum sub pedibus vulgi magnum lugebat honorem; nam cupide conculcatur nimis ante metutum. res itaque ad summam faecem turbasque redibat, imperium sibi cum ac summatum quisque petebat. inde magistratum partim docuere creare iuraque constituere, ut vellent legibus uti. nam genus humanum, defessum vi colere aevum, ex inimicitiis languebat; quo magis ipsum sponte sua cecidit sub leges artaque iura. acrius ex ira quod enim se quisque parabat ulcisci quam nunc concessumst legibus aequis, bane oh rem est homines pertaesum vi colere aevum. inde metus maculat poenarum praemia vitae. circumretit enim vis atque iniuria quemque atque, unde exortast, ad eum plerumque revertit, nee facilest placidam ac pacatam degere vitam qui violat factis communia foedera pacis. etsi fallit enim divum genus humanumque, perpetuo tamen id fore clam diffidere debet; quippe ubi se multi per somnia saepe loquentes

1128 [1132] aliis lambinus: altis OQ 1141 redibat F: recidat Q: recidit 0 1145 vi colere F: uicere 0: uigere Q 1152 vis C: ius OQ

[1132] [1127] 1130 [1128] [1129] [1130]

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elevated above other things; so that peaceful subjection is much better 1130 than the desire to hold sway over nations and rule kingdoms. So leave them to sweat blood. worn out for nothing as they struggle along the narrow path of ambition; since their wisdom comes from another's lips, and they strive for things on the basis of report rather than what their own senses tell them, 1135 and this is ofno more avail now, nor will it be in future, than it was in the past. Therefore the kings were killed and the former majesty of their thrones and proud sceptres lay overthrown, and the glorious emblem of the highest head mourned for its great honour, trampled in blood beneath the feet of the mob; 1140 for that which was formerly too greatly feared is eagerly trodden down. And so the situation declined to the uttermost dregs of disorder, as each person sought power and supremacy for himself. Then some taught them how to elect magistrates and establish a legal code, so that they might be willing to observe the rule of law. 1145 For the human race was weary of living life by violence, and exhausted by its hostilities; so that it submitted all the more willingly to laws and restrictive rules. For because everyone used to be prepared to avenge himself in anger, more harshly than is now permitted by just laws, 1150 for this reason people were tired of living life by violence. From then on, fear of punishment stained the prizes of life. For violence and wrong ensnare the doer, and for the most part recoil on the one from whom they came, nor is it easy 1155 for one who by his deeds transgresses against the common bonds of peace to lead a tranquil and peaceful life. For even ifhe keeps his secret from the races of gods and men, he must yet lack confidence that it will remain concealed forever; inasmuch

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aut morbo delirantes protraxe ferantur et celata diu in medium peccata dedisse. Nunc quae causa deum per magnas numina gentis pervulgarit et ararum compleverit urbis suscipiendaque curarit sollemnia sacra, quae nunc in magnis florent sacra rebu' locisque, unde etiam nunc est mortalibus insitus horror qui delubra deum nova toto suscitat orbi terrarum et festis cogit celebrare diebus, non ita difficilest rationem reddere verbis. quippe etenim iam tum divum mortalia saecla egregias animo facies vigilante videbant et magis in somnis mirando corporis auctu. his igitur sensum tribuebant propterea quod membra movere videbantur vocesque superbas mittere pro facie praeclara et viribus amplis. aetemamque dabant vitam, quia semper eorum suppeditabatur facies et forma manebat, et tamen omnino quod tantis viribus auctos non temere ulla vi convinci posse putabant. fortunisque ideo longe praestare putabant, quod mortis timor baud quemquam vexaret eorum, et simul in somnis quia multa et mira videbant efficere et nullum capere ipsos inde laborem. praeterea caeli rationes ordine certo et varia annorum cemebant tempora verti nee poterant quibus id fieret cognoscere causis. ergo perfugium sibi habebant omnia divis tradere et illorum nutu facere omnia flecti. in caeloque deum sedis et templa locarunt, per caelum volvi quia nox et luna videtur, luna dies et nox et noctis signa severa noctivagaeque faces caeli flammaeque volantes, nubila sol imbres nix venti fulmina grando et rapidi fremitus et murmura magna minarum. 1160 diu add Marullus, mala Lachmann, tot Merrill, alte Smith: om. OQ 1178 ulla ed. Brixiensis: illa OQ

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as many people are said often to have betrayed themselves 1160 and revealed long-hidden crimes by talking in their sleep or in the delirium of sickness. Now, as to what cause disseminated the divine power of the gods through great nations, filled the cities with altars and saw to the institution of established rituals - rituals now flourishing amidst great panoply in magnificent surroundings 1165 - whence, even now, is implanted in human hearts the fear that raises up new shrines to the gods the world over and compels people to flock there on festival days: it is not so very difficult to give an account of this in words. Even in those days, to be sure, human beings 1110 used to see the splendid forms of the gods, and their bodies of amazing stature, in their waking minds and even more in sleep. To these, then, they attributed sensation because they seemed to move their limbs and utter proud words befitting their noble appearance and abundant strength. 1175 They gave them everlasting life, because their form was ever renewed and their appearance remained unchanged, but also, above all, because they believed that beings endowed with such great strength could not easily be overcome by any force. They believed them to enjoy a supremely happy life, 1180 because the fear of death disturbed none of them, and also because, in sleep, they saw them performing many marvellous feats, and exerting no effort in doing so. Besides, they observed the regular movements of the heavenly bodies and the varied seasons of the year returning in fixed order, 1185 nor were they able to understand what caused this to happen. Therefore, they took refuge in handing everything over to the gods, and supposing that everything was controlled by their will. They located the dwellings and precincts of the gods in the sky, because the night and the moon can be seen to revolve through the sky, 1190 the moon, daylight and night, and night's solemn constellations, the night-wandering fires of heaven and flying flames, clouds, sun, rain, snow, winds, lightning, hail, rapid roars and huge threatening rumblings.

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0 genus infelix humanum, talia divis cum tribuit facta atque iras adiunxit acerbas! quantos tum gemitus ipsi sibi, quantaque nobis vulnera, quas lacrimas peperere minoribu' nostris! nee pietas ullast velatum saepe videri vertier ad lapidem atque omnis accedere ad aras nee procumbere humi prostratum et pandere palmas ante deum delubra nee aras sanguine multo spargere quadrupedum nee votis neetere vota, sed mage placata posse omnia mente tueri. nam cum suspicimus magni caelestia mundi templa super stellisque micantibus aethera fix.um, et venit in mentem solis lunaeque viarum, tune aliis oppressa malis in pectora cura ilia quoque expergefactum caput erigere infit, nequae forte deum nobis immensa potestas sit, vario motu quae candida sidera verset. temptat enim dubiam mentem rationis egestas, ecquaenam fuerit mundi genitalis origo, et simul eequae sit finis, quoad moenia mundi solliciti motus hunc possint ferre laborem, an divinitus aetema donata salute perpetuo possint aevi labentia tractu immensi validas aevi contemnere viris. praeterea cui non animus formidine divum contrahitur, cui non correpunt membra pavore, fulroiDishorribili cum plaga torrida tellus contremit et magnum percurrunt murmura caelum? DODpopuli geDtesquetremunt, regesque superbi corripiunt divum percussi membra timore, nequid ob admissum foede dictumve superbe poenarum grave sit solvendi tempus adactum? 1198 1203 1214 1220 1224 1225

ullast velatwn Loctantius: ulla uelatumst OQ placata OQ: pacata ed Juntina solliciti Bentley: et taciti OQ fulminis Marullus: fulmini OQ nequid Lochmann: nequod OQ adactum Pontanus: adauctum OQ: adultum Lachmann

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0 unhappy hmnan race, 1195 when it attributed such actions to the gods, and saddled them with bitter anger! How great the misery they brought upon themselves, the wounds they bequeathed to us, the tears to our descendants! It is no piety to be seen often to veil one's bead and turn towards a stone, to approach all the altars 1200and lie prostrate on the ground, to stretch out one's hands before the shrines of the gods and spatter the altars with plentiful blood of four-footed creatures, nor to join vow to vow, but rather to be able to contemplate everything with a mind at peace. For when we look up at the celestial i:zosprecincts of great heaven above and the aether studded with glittering stars, and the thought comes into our mind of the courses of sun and moon, then in hearts oppressed by other anxieties, this fear too begins to wake and raise its head, that perhaps the gods have boundless power over us, 1210 that makes the brilliant stars revolve in their changing courses. For want of a rational explanation afflicts the doubtful mind: had the world any first beginning, and, again, is there any limit to how long the walls of the world can endure the strain of this restless motion? 1215 Or can they hold the strong force of immeasurable age in scorn, as, endowed by divine will with everlasting life, they glide through the endless expanse of time? Besides, whose heart does not shrink in fear of the gods, whose limbs do not crawl in panic, 1220 when the scorched earth trembles under the terrifying blow of a thunderbolt and rumbling runs through the great sky? Don't peoples and nations tremble, don't proud kings, transfixed by fear of the gods, huddle up their limbs, in case 1225 the dreaded time has come to pay the penalty for

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summa etiam cum vis violenti per mare venti induperatorem classis super aequora verrit cum validis pariter legionibus atque elephantis, non divum pacem votis adit ac prece quaesit ventorum pavidus paces animasque secundas, nequiquam, quoniam violento turbine saepe correptus nilo fertur minus ad vada leti? usque adeo res humanas vis abdita quaedam obterit et pulchros fascis saevasque securis proculcare ac ludibrio sibi habere videtur. denique sub pedibus tellus cum tota vacillat concussaeque cadunt urbes dubiaeque minantur, quid mirum si se temnunt mortalia saecla atque potestates magnas mirasque relinquunt in rebus viris divum, quae cuncta gubement? Quod superest, aes atque aurum ferrumque repertumst et simul argenti pondus plumbique potestas, ignis ubi ingentis silvas ardore cremarat montibus in magnis, seu caeli fulmine misso, sive quod inter se bellum silvestre gerentes hostibus intulerant ignem formidinis ergo, sive quod inducti terrae bonitate volebant pandere agros pinguis et pascua reddere rura, sive feras interficere et ditescere praeda. nam fovea atque igni prius est venarier ortum quam saepire plagis saltum canibusque ciere. quidquid id est, quacumque e causa fl.ammeus ardor horribili sonitu silvas exederat altis ah radicibus et terram percoxerat igni, manabat venis ferventibus in loca terrae concava conveniens argenti rivus et auri, aeris item et plumbi. quae cum concreta videbant 1226 1229 1241 1243 1244 1254

summa F: summe 0: summet Q adit ac prece F: adita prece O (praece Q) aes atque Marullus: aeque OQ ingentis /ta/.: gentis OQ caeli Q: caelo 0 ab ed Juntina: a OQ

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some shameful action or proud word? When, too, the supremely powerful force of a violent wind sweeps the admiral of a fleet over the sea's expanse, together with his strong legions and their elephants, does he not seek the gods' goodwill with vows and plead 1230 fearfully in prayer for peace amongst the winds and favouring breezes - in vain, since as often as not he is snatched up in a violent whirlwind and driven just the same onto the shoals of death? So surely does some hidden force crush human power, and 1235 seems to trample down and make a mockery of the fair rods and cruel axes. Finally, when the whole earth trembles beneath our feet and cities are shaken and fall, or waver and threaten to do so, what wonder if the human race holds itself in scorn, and leaves a place 1240 in the world for the mighty power and wonderful strength of gods to control everything? For the rest, copper and gold and iron were discovered, together with the weight of silver and the might of lead, when a fire with its heat had burned huge woods in the high mountains, either from a thunderbolt sent from the sky, 1245 or because people engaged in a woodland war had brought fire against the enemy in order to frighten them, or because, attracted by the fine quality of the soil, they wanted to open up rich fields and to create pasture-land, or to kill wild animals and enrich themselves with the spoils. 125 °For hunting with pits and fire began before the practice of closing off a clearing with nets and starting the game with dogs. However that may be, from whichever cause the fiery heat with its terrifying noise had devoured the woods right down to their deep roots, and baked the earth with its flame, 1255 there came dripping from molten veins, to collect in hollow places in the ground, a stream of silver and gold, and of copper and lead too. When they

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posterius claro in terra splendere colore, tollebant nitido capti levique lepore, et simili fonnata videbant esse figura atque lacunarum fuerant vestigia cuique. tum penetrabat eos posse haec liquefacta calore quamlibet in fonnam et faciem decurrere rerum et prorsum quamvis in acuta ac tenvia posse mucronum duci fastigia procudendo, ut sibi tela parent, silvasque ut caedere possint materiemque dolare et levia radere tigna et terebrare etiam ac pertundere perque forare. nee minus argento facere haec auroque parabant quam validi primum violentis viribus aeris, nequiquam, quoniam cedebat victa potestas, nee poterant pariter durum sufferre laborem. nam fuit in pretio magis aes aurumque iacebat propter inutilitatem hebeti mucrone retusum. nunc iacet aes, aurum in summum successit honorem. sic volvenda aetas commutat tempora rerum. quod fuit in pretio, fit nullo denique honore; porro aliud succedit et e contemptibus exit inque dies magis appetitur floretque repertum laudibus et miro est mortalis inter honore. Nunc tibi quo pacto ferri natura reperta sit facilest ipsi per te cognoscere, Memmi. anna antiqua manus ungues dentesque fuerunt et lapides et item silvarum fragmina rami, et flamma atque ignes, postquam sunt cognita primum. posterius ferri vis est aerisque reperta. et prior aeris erat quam ferri cognitus usus, quo facilis magis est natura et copia maior. 1258 1259 1266 1267 1273 1278

terra Lachmann: terras OQ: terris Lambinus capti F: capiti OQ utlachmann: et OQ dolare et levia Marullus: dolaret leuare ac OQ: a/ii alia aes add F: om. OQ e add ed. Brixiensis:om. OQ

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saw these later on, solidified and shining with bright colour on the ground, they picked them up, captivated by the brilliant, smooth sheen, 1260 and saw that they had been moulded into the same shape as the print of the hollow in each case. Then it struck them that these metals could be melted by heat and poured into the shape or form of any object, and moreover could be 1265 drawn out by hammering into the tips of points, however sharp and slender, so that they could make themselves tools to cut the woods and chop timber and plane heams smooth, and also drill and bore and pierce them. At first they made to do these things no less with silver and gold 1270 than with the violent force of strong brOl17.e- in vain, since their resistance was overcome and gave way, nor were they equally able to endure hard use. For bronze was more highly valued and gold lay neglected because of the uselessness of a dull and blunted point. 1275 Now bronze has been brought low, and gold has come up into the highest esteem. Thus the whirligig of time alters the status of things. What once was valued comes at last to be held in no esteem; but another thing comes up in its place and emerges from obscurity, and is more and more sought after day by day; when found, 1280 it is highly praised and amazingly esteemed amongst the human race. Now, in what way the nature of iron was discovered, it is easy for you to work out for yourself, Memmius. In ancient times, weapons were hands and nails and teeth, and also stones and branches broken from trees, 1285 and flames and fire too, once these first becamP. known. Later, the strength of iron and of bronze was discovered. And the working of bronze was known before that of iron, inasmuch as its nature is more yielding and supplies

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V aere solum terrae tractabant, aereque belli miscebant fluctus et vulnera vasta serebant et pecus atque agros adimebant. nam facile ollis omnia cedebant armatis nuda et inerma. inde minutatim processit ferreus ensis versaque in opprobrium species est falcis aenae, et ferro coepere solum proscindere terrae exaequataque sunt creperi certamina belli. et prius est armatum in equi conscendere costas et moderarier hunc frenis dextraque vigere quam biiugo curru belli temptare pericla. et biiugos prius est quam bis coniungere binos et quam falciferos armatum escendere currus. inde boves lucas turrito corpore, taetras, anguimanus, belli docuerunt vulnera Poeni sufferre et magnas Martis turbare catervas. sic alid ex alio peperit discordia tristis, horribile humanis quod gentibus esset in armis, inque dies belli terroribus addidit augmen. Temptarunt etiam tauros in moenere belli expertique sues saevos sunt mittere in hostis. et validos partim prae se misere leones cum doctoribus armatis saevisque magistris qui moderarier his possent vinclisque tenere, nequiquam, quoniam permixta caede calentes turbabant saevi nullo discrimine turmas, terrificas capitum quatientes undique cristas, nee poterant equites fremitu perterrita equorum pectora mulcere et frenis convertere in hostis. irritata leae iaciebant corpora saltu undique et adversum venientibus ora petebant et nee opinantis a tergo deripiebant deplexaeque dabant in terram vulnere victos,

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ahenae /ta/.: athenae 0: athene Q biiugos Faber: biiugo OQ lucas Q': cas OQ: taetras Lachmann: tetras OQ belli /ta/.: bellis OQ petebant Vat. 640: patebant OQ

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are more abundant. With bronze they worked the surface of the earth, with bronze 1290 they stirred up the storm of war and sowed devastating wounds and took away flocks and land. For all that was naked and unarmed yielded easily to them and their weaponry. Then the iron sword gradually advanced, and the appearance of the bronze sickle was turned to scorn; 1295 they began to cut the surface of the earth with iron, and the conflicts of wavering war were made even. And mounting on horseback in armour and guiding a mount with reins, wielding a weapon in the right hand, came before braving the perils of war in a two-horse chariot. 1300 And yoking a pair came before joining two pairs, and climbing in armour into a scythed chariot. Next the Carthaginians taught hideous, snake-handed elephants with turrets on their backs to endure the wounds of war and throw the mighty ranks of Mars into confusion. 1305 So grim strife brought forth one thing after another to terrify the human race in armed conflict, and added day by day to the horrors of war. They also tried out bulls in the service of war and made the experiment of sending fierce boars against the enemy. 1310 Some, too, sent ahead strong lions with armed trainers and fierce coaches to control them and keep them in bonds - in vain, since, growing heated amidst the confused slaughter, the savage beasts rampaged indiscriminately through the ranks, 1315 tossing the fearsome manes on their heads this way and that, nor could the cavalrymen calm their horses' hearts, terror-stricken by the roaring, nor turn them with the reins against the enemy. On all sides, lionesses launched their furious bodies in a leap and attacked the faces of any who approached them, 1320 or dragged down their unsuspecting victims from behind and, grasping

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Lucretius:De Rerum Natura V morsibus adfixae validis atque unguibus uncis. iactabantque suos tauri pedibusque terebant et latera ac ventris hauribant subter equorum comibus et terram minitanti mente ruebant. et validis socios caedebant dentibus apri tela infracta suo tingentes sanguine saevi, pennixtasque dabant equitum peditumque ruinas. nam transversa feros exibant dentis adactus iumenta aut pedibus ventos erecta petebant, nequiquam, quoniam ab nervis succisa videres concidere atque gravi terram constemere casu. siquos ante domi domitos satis esse putabant, effervescere cemebant in rebus agundis vulneribus clamore fuga terrore tumultu, nee poterant ullam partem redducere eorum; diffugiebat enim varium genus omne ferarum; ut nunc saepe boves lucae ferro male mactae diffugiunt, fera facta suis cum multa dedere. si fuit ut facerent. sed vix adducor ut, ante quam commune malum fieret foedumque, futurum non quierint animo praesentire atque videre; et magis id possis factum contendere in omni, in variis mundis varia ratione creatis, quam certo atque uno terrarum quolibet orbi. sed facere id non tarn vincendi spe voluerunt, quam dare quod gemerent hostes, ipsique perire, qui numero diffidebant armisque vacabant. Nexilis ante fuit vestis quam textile tegmen. textile post ferrumst, quia ferro tela paratur, nee ratione alia possunt tarn levia gigni insilia ac fusi radii scapique sonantes. et facere ante viros lanam natura coegit quam muliebre genus; nam longe praestat in arte et sollertius est multo genus omne virile;

1328 in se fracta suo tinguentes sanguine tela om. M, sec/. edd 1330 dentis adactus Marullus: dentis adauctus Q: dentibus adauctus 0 1343 ante 1342 posuit Lachmann

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them with strong jaws and hooked claws, overcame them with wounds and wrestled them to the ground. The bulls tossed their own men and trampled them underfoot, gored the flanks and bellies of the horses from below 1325 with their horns, and ploughed up the ground with menacing intent. And the boars slashed at their own allies with strong tusks, in their fury dyeing broken weapons with their own blood, and dealt havoc amongst infantry and cavalry alike. 1330 For the horses shied away sideways from the fierce thrust of the tusks or reared up and trod the air with their hooves - in vain, since you would see them fall, hamstrung, and come crashing to the ground. Any animals that they thought had been adequately broken in beforehand at home, 1335they now saw running wild in action, amidst the wounds, shouting, nmning about, fear and confusion, nor could they retrieve even a fraction of them; for every different kind of wild beast ran amok; just as now elephants often run amok when badly wounded with iron, ll«l and wreak many savage injuries on their own men. If it really happened that they did these things. But I can scarcely bring myself to believe that they could not anticipate and see in their minds' eye what would happen, before ghastly disaster struck all alike; and you could more easily assert that this happened somewhere in the universe, 1345 in all the different worlds made in different ways, than on any one particular planet. But they wanted to do it- those who had no confidence in numbers and lacked weaponry- not so much in the hope of winning, as to give the enemy cause to mourn before they themselves perished. 1350 Plaited clothing predated woven fabric. Woven fabrics followed the discovery of iron, because the loom is constructed using iron, nor can treadles, spindles, shuttles and clattering leash-rods be made so smooth in any other way. And nature compelled men to work wool, 1355 before the race of women - for the male race as a whole is far superior in skill and much

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agricolae donec vitio vertere severi, ut muliebribus id manibus concedere vellent atque ipsi pariter durum sufferre laborem atque opere in duro durarent membra manusque. At specimen sationis et insitionis origo ipsa fuit rerum primum natura creatrix, arboribus quoniam bacae glandesque caducae tempestiva dabant pullorum examina subter; unde etiam libitumst stirpis committere ramis et nova defodere in terram virgulta per agros. inde aliam atque aliam culturam dulcis agelli temptabant fructusque feros mansuescere terra cemebant indulgendo blandeque colendo. inque dies magis in montem succedere silvas cogebant infraque locum concedere cultis, prata lacus rivos segetes vinetaque laeta collibus et campis ut haberent, atque olearum caerula distinguens inter plaga currere posset per tumulos et convallis camposque profusa; ut nunc esse vides vario distincta lepore omnia, quae pomis intersita dulcibus omant arbustisque tenent felicibus obsita circum. At liquidas avium voces imitarier ore ante fuit multo quam levia carmina cantu concelebrare homines possent aurisque iuvare. et zephyri, cava per calamorum, sibila primum agrestis docuere cavas inflare cicutas. inde minutatim dulcis didicere querelas, tibia quas fundit digitis pulsata canentum, avia per nemora ac silvas saltusque reperta, per loca pastorum deserta atque otia dia. haec animos ollis mulcebant atque iuvabant cum satiate cibi; nam tum sunt omnia cordi. saepe itaque inter se prostrati in gramine molli propter aquae rivum sub ramis arboris altae non magnis opibus iucunde corpora habebant, 1388-9 = 1454-5

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more astute - until dour farmers turned it into a vice, so that they were willing to surrender it to women's hands and, equally, to undertake hard labour for their own part 1360 and to harden their limbs and hands through hard work. But the model for sowing and the origin of grafting was in the first place nature herself, the creator of all things, since berries and acorns, fallen from the trees, would in due time produce swarms of ~1ings below; 1365 hence, it was their pleasure too to entrust scions to branches and to dig new saplings into the ground all over their lands. After that they tried out one method after another of cultivating their beloved patch of land, and they saw the wild fruits grow tame in the earth with care and fond cultivation. 1370 Day by day they compelled the woods to retreat further up the mountainside and yield the space below to cultivated lands, so that they might have meadows, pools, streams, fields and rich vineyards on the hillsides and plains, and so that a grey-green belt of olives might run between and divide them, 1375 pouring over the hillocks and valleys and plains; just as nowadays you can see the whole landscape, with its varied charms, divided up and adorned with sweet fruit-trees planted amongst the other crops, and fertile vine-plantations round about. Now, mimicking the liquid song of birds with the lips 1380 came long before people were able to make a practice of pleasing the ears by singing melodious songs. And it was the whistling of the west wind through hollow reeds that taught rustics to blow on hollow hemlock-stalks. After that, they gradually learned the sweet laments 1385 that the pipe pours forth when tapped by the players' fingers, the pipe discovered in trackless groves and woods and glades, in the lonely haunts of shepherds and the places where they passed their leisurely days under the open sky. 1390 These things soothed and pleased their minds when they had eaten their fill; for then everything is agreeable. And so they often lay sprawled together on the soft grass by a stream of water beneath the branches of a tall tree, and at no great cost

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praesertim cum tempestas ridebat et anni tempora pingebant viridantis floribus herbas. tum ioca, tum sermo, tum du.lees esse cacbinni consuerant. agrestis enim tum musa vigebat; tum caput atque umeros plexis redimire coronis floribus et foliis lascivia laeta monebat, atque extra numerum procedere membra moventis duriter et duro terram pede pellere matrem; unde oriebantur risus du.lcesque cacbinni, omnia quod nova tum magis haec et mira vigebant. et vigilantibus hinc aderant solacia somno, ducere mu.ltimodis voces et flectere cantus et supera calamos unco percurrere labro; unde etiam vigiles nunc haec accepta tuentur et numerum servare genus didicere, neque hilo maiorem interea capiunt du.lcedini' fructum quam silvestre genus capiebat terrigenarum. nam quod adest praesto, nisi quid cognovimus ante suavius, in primis placet et pollere videtur, posteriorque fere melior res ilia reperta perdit et immutat sensus ad pristina quaeque. sic odium coepit glandis, sic ilia relicta strata cubilia sunt herbis et frondibus aucta. pellis item cecidit vestis contempta ferinae; quam reor invidia tali tune esse repertam, ut letum insidiis qui gessit primus obiret, et tamen inter eos distractam sanguine mu.Ito disperiisse neque in fructum convertere quisse. tune igitur pelles, nunc aurum et purpura curis exercent hominum vitam belloque fatigant; quo magis in nobis, ut opinor, culpa resedit. frigus enim nudos sine pellibus excruciabat terrigenas; at nos nil laedit veste carere 1397 ioca F: loca OQ monebat F: mouebat OQ 1410 maiorem F: maiore OQ: dulcedini' Lambinus: dulcedine OQ 1418 ferinae ed Juntina: ferina OQ 1419 tune ed. Brixiensis: nunc OQ

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pleasurably satisfied their bodily needs, 1395 especially when the weather smiled and the season of the year painted the green grass with flowers. Then joking, conversation and joyous laughter used to break out. For the rustic Muse was in high favour at that time; then 1400 their cheerful high spirits showed them how to entwine their heads and shoulders with garlands woven from flowers and foliage, and to dance unrhythmically, moving their limbs heavily and pounding mother earth with heavy foot; this would give rise to smiles and joyous laughter, because all these things, being at that time new and wonderful, were held in greater favour. 1405 And from here they took solace when wakeful for their lack of sleep, from drawing out notes in many different ways and modulating a tune, and nmning over the pipes with curved lip; whence even now watchmen preserve this tradition, and have learned to observe the different kinds of rhythm, yet do not derive a jot 1410 more enjoyment from doing so than did the woodland race of eartbbom people. For whatever is present and to hand pleases us most and seems to reign supreme, unless we have previously known something more pleasing; a later and better discovery 1415 tends to destroy and alter our feelings towards all those old-fashioned things. This was how distaste began to be felt for acorns, and how those beds spread with grass and piled-up leaves came to be abandoned. So too clothing of animal skins fell into scorn, though I imagine that, when it was first discovered, it aroused such envy 1420 that the person who first wore it met his death by treachery, and yet even so it was destroyed, tom apart between them with much bloodshed, and could not be turned to use. So at that time it was animal skins, now it is gold and purple that rack human life with anxiety and wear us out with war; 1425 so that, in my view, the greater fault lies with us. For without skins, the earthbom people in their nakedness were tortured by cold; but the lack of a purple robe, decorated

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purpurea atque auro signisque ingentibus apta, dum plebeia tamen sit quae defendere possit. ergo hominum genus incassum frustraque laborat semper et in curis consumit inanibus aevwn. nimirum quia non cognovit quae sit habendi finis et omnino quoad crescat vera voluptas. idque minutatim vitam provexit in altum et belli magnos commovit funditus aestus. At vigiles mundi magnum versatile templum sol et luna suo lustrantes lumine circum perdocuere homines annorum tempora verti et certa ratione geri rem atque ordine certo. lam validis saepti degebant turribus aevum, et divisa colebatur discretaque tellus; tum mare velivolis florebat tpropter odorest, auxilia ac socios iam pacto foedere habebant, carminibus cum res gestas coepere poetae tradere; nee multo priu' sunt elementa reperta. propterea quid sit prius actum respicere aetas nostra nequit, nisi qua ratio vestigia monstrat. Navigia atque agri culturas moenia leges arma vias vestis et cetera de genere horum praemia, delicias quoque vitae funditus omnis, carmina picturas, et daedala signa polire, usus et impigrae simul experientia mentis paulatim docuit pedetemptim progredientis. sic unumquicquid paulatim protrahit aetas in medium ratioque in luminis erigit oras. namque alid ex alio clarescere corde videbant, artibus ad summum donec venere cacumen.

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in add. F: om. OQ tum OQ: iam Lachmann: propter odores OQ: navibus ponti Gifanius: navibus altum Me"i/1: puppibus, et res Lachmann: a/ii a/ia et add F: om. OQ polireF: polito OQ

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with huge emblems worked in gold, does us no harm, so long as we have a common garment to protect us. 1430 Thus the human race toils ever in vain and for nothing and wears out its life with empty anxieties, because, to be sure, they do not know what limit there is to ownership and in general how far true pleasure can be increased. This, then, gradually launched life further into the deep sea 1435 and stirred up a great swell of war from the depths. Now, the sun and moon, watchmen of the world, as they swept around its great revolving precincts with their light, taught human beings that the seasons of the year revolve and that their affairs are managed according to a fixed pattern and in a fixed order. 1440 Now they led their lives fenced in by strong fortifications, and the earth had been parcelled out and divided up, and brought under cultivation; the sea was already blooming with wind-swept sails ... and they had made treaties and formed pacts and alliances, when the poets began to hand down stories·oftheir exploits in song; 1445 for writing had been invented not long before. That is why our age cannot look back to what happened earlier, unless reason somehow shows us traces. So navigation, agriculture, city walls, laws, weaponry, roads, clothing and other desirable things of this kind, 14so all the luxuries of life too - all of them: poetry, painting and the polishing of cunningly-made statues - were learnt gradually through experience and the inventiveness of the quick mind, as they advanced step by step. In this way time gradually brings each thing 1455 out into the open and reason lifts it onto the shores of daylight. For they saw one thing after another grow clear in their minds, until they reached the highest pinnacle of the arts.

COMMENTARY 1-90 INTRODUCTION 1-54 Praise of Epic11r11s Like books I (62-79), 3 and 6, book 5 opens with a eulogy of Epicurus, who is praised here specifically as a 'first inventor' ('discoveries', 2; 'who first found', 9). L.'s 'hymn' is a polemical response to a long tradition in Greek and Roman mythology and literature of attributing the discovery or gift of useful objects and activities to the gods (see e.g. the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Euripides, Bacchae 274-85; and the extensive catalogue of both human and divine culture-heroes compiled by Pliny the Elder, Natural History 1.56). The proem also looks forward to the culture-history at the end of the book, where L. shows that such discoveries were in fact the product of chance and human ingenuity. Here, the poet argues that Epicurus' discovery of philosophical Truth outweighs the technological discoveries conventionally associated with culture-heroes, human or divine. The idea is developed further in the opening lines of book 6 (see Godwin 1991, 93). 1-2 Who is there capable of composing ... ? The rhetorical question echoes Ennius, Annales fr. 164 Skutsch, quis potis ingentis oras evolvere be/Ii? ('who is able to unfold the great margins of war?'). This was probably the opening line of book 6, in which Ennius dealt with the war against Pyrrhus of Epirus. Like other Ennian allusions (cf. 1.117-26 and 3.832-42, with P. M. Brown 1984 and 1997, ad /oc.), the quotation here contributes to an ongoing 'dialogue' with the epic tradition: see further on 9-10 below. mind: literally, 'breast' or 'heart'; for the chest as the seat of the mind, see on line I 03 below. worthy: the word anticipates 19 merito ('deservedly') and 51 dignarier ('be thought worthy'), both used with reference to Epicurus' title to divine status. Epicurus himself deserves to be called a god, and is so far above other human beings that they are not worthy even to sing his praises. discoveries: for Epicurus as 'first inventor', see above on 1-54. 4 that man: Epicurus is named only once in the poem (3.1042); the honorific periphrases used elsewhere (1.66 'a man of Greece'; 3.3 'glory of the Greek race'; 6.6 'a man ... who poured out all his words from truth-speaking lips') serve to mark him out as a being of special status (cf. 8n. below). S born ... and discovered: more literally,'brought forth and sought out'. Technically the phrase is an example of the rhetorical figure hysteron proteron, whereby the logically prior of two ideas is placed second in the sentence. Combined with the strong alliteration in pectore parta ... praemia, the figure serves to create an atmosphere of vehement excitement: the rhetorical questions in 1-2 and 3-5 and the marked alliteration throughout the whole opening section of the proem add to the effect.

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6 sprung of mortal stock: more than a mere line-filler, the phrase emphasizes the unbridgeable gap between the god-like Epicurus and ordinary mortals - an issue of considerable importance in this proem where the relationship between humans and gods and the nature of true divinity is very much at issue. See further on 8, 19 and 52-4 below. 7 The first three syllables scan as a dactyl, the monosyllable si being shortened in 'prosodic' hiatus (MGLP §11.2)before ut, a fairly common practice in Lucretius as in earlier Latin poetry. Cf. 74 qul ln orbT,and, for a full discussion, Bailey 1.128-9. 8 he was a god: Epicurus' status is gradually elevated as the poemproceeds: he is a man (homo) in l.66, a father-figure (pater) in 3.9, and now a god. But L. makes it clear elsewhere that divinity can only be ascribed to him in a strictly limited sense: he cannot be viewed as immortal, since his death is explicitly referred to at 3.1042 and 6.7 (and note the use of the past tense here). It seems in fact to have been conventional amongst Epicureans to regard the founder of the school as a godlike figure (Festugiere, 40-1; Clay 1986); but L. is also drawing here on the theories of Euhemerus of Messene (ft. c. 300 BC), who claimed that the Olympian gods were originally human benefactors, deified after their deaths. Lucretius' phrase is echoed by Virgil in Eclogue 5.64 (deus, deus ille, 'he is a god, a god'), where it is reapplied to the pastoral hero Daphnis (apparently an allegorical figure representing the recently deified Julius Caesar); cf. also Eel. l.1, erit ille mihi semper deus ('he will always be a god to me', with probable reference to Caesar's heir, Octavian). Memmius: L. 's dedicatee, addressed by name at irregular intervals throughout the poem. He is almost certainly to be identified with the C. Memmius, praetor in 58 BC, who is also mentioned - in distinctly unflattering terms - by L. 's fellowpoet Catullus (poems 10 and 28); there are references in Cicero's correspondence (Letters to Atticus 4.15-17; To his Brother Quintus 3.2.3, 3.8.3) to electoral scandals surrounding his candidacy for the consulship of 53, which eventually led to his exile in Athens. Cicero's pen-portrait at Brutus 241 suggests that he was a cultivated though somewhat idle man; a letter addressed to him while in exile (Letters to his Friends 13.1), concerning- ironically enough- an abortive project on Memmius' part to build on the ruins of Epicurus' house, suggest an unsympathetic or even hostile attitude towards Epicureanism. L. says at 1.141 that he hopes to win Memmius' friendship; but - given the elasticity of the Latin word amicitia, which could equally refer to the bond between a literary patron and his 'client' or to a friendship between social equals - this tells us little about the historical relationship between the two men. Within the context of the poem, Memmius plays the role of the disciple taking his first steps along the path to enlightenment (l.50-3, 80-2), and acts as a kind of intermediary between the speaker and the reader-in-general. (For Mernmius as interlocutor, see especially 1281-2 and n.) 9-10 who first found that way of life that is now called wisdom: a further allusion to the Annales of Ennius, reinforcing the echo in line 1 (see n.): cf. fr. 2ll Skutsch (from the proem to book 7), nee quisquam sophiam, sapientia quae

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perhibetur, I in somnis vidit prius quam sam discere coepit ('no one saw in his dreams the philosophy that is called wisdom before he began to study it'). For Ennius' philosophical dream, see 1.120--6, where L. relates how the ghost of Homer allegedly appeared to his Roman successor and 'began to expound the nature of the universe in speech'. The rivalry thus established between the Annales and L.'s own poem 'on the nature of the universe' (1.25) is continued in the present lines, where L. hints that Ennius' phrase 'the philosophy that is called wisdom' is more applicable to Epicurean rationalism than to the earlier poet's Pythagorean mysticism. Similarly, the opening quotation in line l substitutes Epicurus' godlike discoveries for the traditional epic theme of warfare. Both allusions form part of a broader strategy, whereby L. seeks to elevate the status of his own poem by disparaging the themes and subject-matter of his predecessors. 11-12 great billows and ... darkness ... calm, dear light: the dark and stormy life of the non-Epicurean is contrasted throughout the poem with the light of reason or salvation and the 'calming' influence of Epicurus' philosophy (cf. especially the proems to books 2 and 3; l.933f. = 4.8f.; 1.136--45; 1.146--8 = 2.59-61 = 6.39-41). The metaphor goes back to Epicurus himself, who speaks of the calming effect of philosophy (Letter to Herodotus 37 and 83). In the context of Lucretius' poem, however, the imagery also has epic resonances:_ the storm at sea is a common epic set piece from the Odyssey onwards. The vehement alliteration on the letter I creates a powerful sense of excitement, comparable to the 'thrill of divine pleasure' experienced by the poet at the beginning of book 3. 14-15 For Ceres ls said to have inaugurated ... : L. now introduces an extended comparison between the benefits of Epicurus' philosophy and the benefactions traditionally ascribed to Ceres, Liber (an Italian agricultural deity identified with the Greek Dionysus or Bacchus) and Hercules (22ff.). Note, however, that L. does not give his assent to the truth of the stories (Jertur,'is said', serves as an expression of scepticism); a 'scientific' explanation for the origins of agriculture is developed at the end of the book, in 1361-78. the juice of vine-born liquor: the elevated style of this elaborate periphrasis suggests a hymnic tone, but is immediately undermined by the almost bathetically dismissive lines that follow. Cf. 24-5 and n., and West 1969, 28. Harrison convincingly · detects a specific allusion to Euripides, Bacchae 274-80, where Tiresias pays tribute to Dionysus - in conjunction with a reference to Demeter- for his gift to mortals of 'the liquid draught of the grape-cluster' (p&t~ iYypov 1troµa,279). 17-18 certain tribes: bread and wine were generally regarded as the most fundamental constituents of civilized life; cf. the Homeric formula 'men who eat bread' (Od. 8.222, 9.89)- the monstrous Cyclops in Odyssey 9 drinks milk (9.297) and is unaccustomed to wine. But L. insists that such luxuries are not essential to the good life. The 'other races' mentioned here might include the Scythians and Germans, whose diet of milk and meat is described by Herodotus (4.2) and Caesar ( Gallic War6.22. l) respectively.

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to live ••• to live well: the opposition between (merely) living and living well is commonplace: cf., for example, Seneca, Epistle 90.1. Epicurus himself equates a pleasant life with the exercise of fairness and good sense (Principal Doctrines 5; Letter to Menoeceus 132). without a pure heart: the metaphor of philosophical study as a cleansing or purification of the heart and mind is developed more fully in the proem to book 6 (17-24). 19 deservedly: Epicurus, that is, had 'earned' his divinity - like the gods of Euhemerus (see 8n. above)-through the benefits he conferred on his fellow human beings. Cf. 51 'be thought worthy'. The phrase also looks forward to the first expository section of the book (110-45), where L. denies that the world and its component parts are divine: whereas Epicurus is 'deserving' of divinity, the earth and the stars are 'unworthy [indigna] to be mnnbered amongst the gods', 123. 22 the exploits of Hercules: Hercules' killing of monsters is portrayed here as a service selflessly performed by the hero for the benefit of his fellow human beings; L. argues that his victories were insignificant compared to Epicurus' defeat of the passions, depicted in lines 43-51 as metaphorical monsters. Thus, the poet seeks to outdo the Cynics and Stoics (who interpreted the myth allegorically: HOistad 33-73; Galinsky 101-7) at their own game. L. mentions eight of the canonical twelve labours, laying emphasis on (i) the monstrosity of Hercules' opponents and (ii) the remoteness of the geographical settings. These emphases prepare for the deflating argument of lines 36--42; the stress on monstrosity perhaps suggests some scepticism as to the historicity of the stories (cf. 878-924, where the possibility that mythical monsters might have existed in prehistoric times is explicitly rejected). 23 you will be carried much furtherastray: the metaphor of truth (or the poem) as a path which the pupil must follow under the speaker's guidance recurs throughout the DRN(cf. e.g. 1.8~2, 1.332, 1. 659, 1.1114-17; 2.229, 2.740; 5.55-6; 6.27-8, 6.67). Though the word-play is not explicit here, the image turns on the double meaning of the verb e"are ('stray' or 'wander', but also 'go wrong', like the English 'err'). It seems particularly appropriate in the present context, where the geographical remoteness of Hercules' opponents - and hence, implicitly, the wanderings involved in defeating them - are stressed. One who is impressed by Hercules' wanderings (errores)is committing an error, or 'wandering from the path of truth'. 2~36 The eight labours referred to are: (i) the killing of the monstrous lion of Nemea in the Argolid; (ii) capturing the Erymanthian (Arcadian) boar and (iii) the Cretan bull; (iv) killing the nine-headed Hydra of Lema in theArgolid; (v) capturing the cattle of the three-headed giant Geryon, in the far West; (vi) driving away a flock of man-eating birds from Lake Stymphalus in Arcadia; (vii) capturing the firebreathing mares of the Thracian king Diomedes; and (viii) taking the golden apples guarded by the Hesperides (with the aid of a monstrous serpent) in their garden by the Western Ocean. (For the full canonical list, see e.g. Apollodorus, Library of Greek Mythology 2.5-6.)

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24-5 that famous Nemean lion'• mighty maw: another grandiose, epic-style periphrasis (cf. 14-15 and n. above) launches the catalogue of labours in suitably high style; once again. the tone is abruptly deflated by the blunt 'none, I think' in 39 and the prosaic realism of 42. 27 fenced around with poisonous snakes: the metaphor tends to emphasize the hydra's formidable (and miraculous) powers; the 'snakes' are, of course, the hydra's snaky necks, which regenerated whenever one was severed. 28 the triple-bodied might of threefold Geryon: the phrasing ('might ofGeryon' for 'mighty Geryon') imitates a Homeric idiom. L. is fond of such phrases, and employs them frequently elsewhere in the poem, particularly in stylistically elevated passages (cf. rapax vis ... equorum, 'the rapid might of horses', 5.397, in the context of a mythological excursus); for the tone here, compare 24-5 and n. The effect is reinforced by the compound adjective 'triple-bodied' (tripectora), an epithet not found elsewhere in surviving Latin literature and probably coined by L. for the occasion. For the archaic form of the first declension genitive singular, in -ai, see introduction, §V(a). 29-30 There is a problem with the transmitted text of these two lines, which (wrongly) locates Diomedes' horses at Lake Stymphalus; most editors believe that the lines should be reversed, in which case one or more lines must have fallen out of the text after 28. 31 the Bistonian territories and Mount lamarus: the Bistones were a Thracian tribe; lsmarus or Ismara (n. pl.) is the name of a mountain on the Thracian coast. (For the postponement of the preposition propter, which governs lsmara, see introduction §V(e).) 33 the fierce, balefully-glaring serpent . . . coiling its monstrous body: an ascending tricolon (tricolon abundans), comprising three phrases each longer than the one that precedes: another technique characteristic of elevated, rhetorical style. 35 the grim reaches of the sea: literally, 'the grim things [severa, n. pl.] of sea', a typically Lucretian figure. 36-42 L. dismisses the idea (see 22n. above) that Hercules' labours might be regarded on a literal level as having benefited humanity: Hercules may have eliminated the odd monster, but fierce wild animals still abound in remote parts of the world; yet it is easy enough to avoid them, as it would no doubt have been to avoid the Hydra or the serpent of the Hesperides - even assuming that any such creatures ever existed. The natural abundance of wild animals and the threat posed by them to (primitive) human beings is a recurrent theme of the book: cf. 228-34, 823-4, 966-9, 982-98, 1308-49 (Feeney 1978, Segal 1990, 119-23, 187-227). The culture-history at the end of the book, in particular, implicitly offers a rationalist 'answer'tothe myth ofHercules (as to those of Ceres and Bacchus: 14-15n. above): the danger represented by predatory animals is gradually obviated (without the need for a heroic benefactor) as human beings band together and develop permanent dwellings, fortifications and weapons. Cf. Epicurus, Principal Doctrines 39: 'he

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who was best able to provide against external threats made all those he could into one kindred; and those whom he could not, he at least did not treat as aliens; and where even this proved impossible, he had no dealings with and kept at a distance those that could profitably be treated in this way'. 39 None, I think: see above on 24-5 for the deflating effect of the phrase; the blunt, monosyllabic wording (Latin nil, ut opinor) adds to the bathos. 42 which for the most part it is within our power to avoid: both sentiment and phrasing are distinctly prosaic: see 24-5n. above. 43-4 unless the heart be purified: the phrase picks up 18, 'a pure heart' (puro pectore). The metaphor of a 'battle' against the passions (proe/ia, 43) is developed further in the following lines, where the verbs scindunt ('rend', 45), subegerit ('subdued', 49) and expulerit ('drove out', 50) suggest an analogy between the 'monsters' of fear and desire and the opponents overcome by Hercules (Packman). L. draws again on the tradition of allegorical interpretation - associated especially with the Stoics - in these lines; the allegorizing Homeric critic Heraclitus, for example, interprets Hercules' labours as metaphors for the hero's victories over the passions (Homeric Questions 33.3-8 (quoted in Gale 1994, 35--6)). For purgatumst =purgatum est (prodelision), see introduction, §V(f); so also tumst = tum est, 44. must we then become involved in: or perhaps 'must then worm their way into us': the construction is ambiguous (for a full discussion, see Farrell 1988). insinuandum is the neuter gerundive used impersonally (NLS §204), an archaizing construction L. likes and often uses with transitive as well as intransitive verbs: the verb insinuare may be interpreted either way here. With the transitive sense ('insinuate [something] into', OLD§ l ),proe/ia ... atque pericula tumst ... insinuandum is equivalent to proelia atque pericula tum sunt insinuanda, 'battles and dangers must be insinuated ... '(as at l. 111, where poenas timendumst =poenae timendae sunt, 'punishment must be feared'), and nobis is the indirect object of the verb ('into us'; insinuo + dat. is found elsewhere in the poem, e.g. at 2.684). Despite the oddity of describing battles as 'worming their way into us', this interpretation gains support from the similar image of fear 'worming its way into the heart' (metus insinuarit Ipectora) at 73-4, and we should note that Epicurus' heroic combat with the passions is depicted as an internal affair, located in 'the mind', at 49-50. If, on the other hand, the verb is used intransitively ('worm one's way into', OLD §2c),proelia ... atque pericula will be the acc. of place entered (cf., again, 73-4, insinuarit Ipectora = 'wormed its way into the heart'), and nobis the dat. of agent with the gerundive ('we must worm our way into battles ... '). On this reading, the verb, which elsewhere suggests insidious or winding motion (e.g. 1.113, where L. speaks of souls 'worming their way' into new bodies, in a satirical attack on the theory of metempsychosis), perhaps connotes entanglement and inextricability. The translation offered here adopts this latter interpretation, which coheres better with the preceding lines (we can avoid places where wild beasts and 'monsters' reside, but we cannot help entering into or becoming entangled in conflict with the metaphorical monsters of the passions).

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45--6 desire ... fean: the list of metaphorical monsters is significantly headed by the two main targets of Epicurean ethical theory (and L.'s poem): excessive desire and groundless fear (especially fear of the gods and of death) were regarded by Epicurus as the only significant threats to human happiness. 47 s11pnbia sp11rciti11: the final syllable of the (nom.) superbia is scanned as a short, in spite of the double consonant at the beginning of the following word; L. regularly allows himself this licence in the case of words beginning with s + consonant, though it is generally avoided by later writers. Cf. 19 liberasponte. SO with words, not weapons: Epicurus' philosophical 'victory' is again implicitly compared to the literal battles of the conventional epic hero; cf. 9--lOn. St dignarkr: for the archaic form of the passive infinitive (= dignari), see introduction, §V(b). 52-4 Particularly u ... the immortal gods themselves: L. may be thinking of the lost works On the Gods and On Piety, though the gods are also discussed briefly in the Letter to Herodotus (76-7), the Letter to Menoeceus (123--4) and the first of the Principal Doctrines.Epicurus' main theological dogma is that divine tranquillity is incompatible with intervention in human affairs (cf. DRN 2.646-51=1.44-9; introduction, §II.iii). Thus, L. concludes bis proem with an ironic paradox: Epicurus was worthy to be called a god because of the benefits he bestowed on the human race - which include his refutation of the idea that the gods bestow benefits on human beings. (For the notion that Epicurean theology is more pious than traditional religious belief, cf. 5.111-12 and 1198-1203.) 53 im,nortalib11': for the dropping of the final -s (an archaizing feature), see introduction §V(d).

55-90 Syllabus for book 5 Following the proem proper, Lucretius continues with a brief review of topics covered up to this point (5~3) and a syllabus or 'table of contents' for the present book (64-77). The introductory section concludes (78-90) with an important programmatic statement, ostensibly justifying the inclusion of the digression on problems of astronomy at 509--770; the lines have an evident application beyond their immediate context, however, and amount to a kind of manifesto for the study of natural science in general. See further 82-90n.

SS the footsteps I have begun to follow: the poem is again (cf. 23n.) figured as a journey, on which poet and/or reader follow the tracks left by Epicurus; the image is worked out in more detail at 3.3--4 ('you I follow, glory of the Greek race, and in the tracks left by you I now plant my own footprints'). 56-63 The contents of books 1-2 (56-8), 3 (59-61) and4 (62-3) are summarized in such a way as to lead into the theme of book 5: the world, like the human individual, had an origin and will eventually pass away. The gradual disintegration

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of the world has already been discussed at the end of book 2 (1122--49) and- more obliquely- at the end of book 1 (1102-13), anticipating the fuller treatment in the first section of this book. 56- 7 according to the contract under which they were created: unlike its English equivalent, the recurrent expression 'contracts', 'treaties' or 'laws' of nature (foedera naturae) is not a 'dead' metaphor in L., but contributes to the personification of nature as a general or ruling power, directing the 'campaigns' of atomic matter. See on 77 and (for Lucretius' pervasive employment of military imagery) 380-1 below. Here, the 'contract' in question is the law of atomic aggregation and disaggregation detailed at 2.1122-32, where it is shown to apply both to the human body and- on the macroscopic level - to the world as a whole: all composite bodies continuously give off a stream of atomic particles (as explained in book 4, this is what makes perception possible); inevitably, there comes a point when the matter lost in this way can no longer be replenished, and thus all compounds are subject to eventual decay and destruction. 58 cannot break the strong laws of time: more literally, 'do not have the strength to abrogate' or 'rescind' the laws; rescindere is the technical term for the cancellation of a piece of legislation (OLD §3). The word-play validas valeant ('have the strength'/'strong') is an example offigura etymologica or juxtaposition of etymologically-related words, a device to which L. is particularly prone: see Snyder 1980, 75-90. In this instance, the word-play helps to hammer home the idea that natural processes are limited by unbreakable 'laws', a recurrent and important theme in this book and throughout the poem (see further 87n.). 59 amongst these things: literally, 'of which kind', a formulaic phrase used frequently used by L. in introducing examples or comparisons; cf. quod genus (literally, 'the kind of thing which') at 478,608 and 663. 60 mortal substance: more literally, 'substance that came to be', 'had an origin'; cf. 65--6n. below. 62 images: dream-visions of the dead are given comparable emphasis - as a potential source of superstition - in the proem to book 4 (37--45), and are explained in atomist terms at 4.757-76. Such visions should not be taken as evidence for the posthumous survival of the soul; like other dreams, they are the product of the atomic 'films' (simulacra), constantly given off by all objects, which are the mechanism - according to Epicurean epistemological theory - of both sensation and thought. These simulacra penetrate the mind of the sleeper, causing him or her to dream. They are apparently able to maintain their integrity for a considerable time, and may thus continue to be present even after the death of the person from whom they originally emanated (for a more detailed discussion of the problem, and a critique of the Epicurean theory, see Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods 1.106-8 and On Divination 2.136-9). 64- 77 Syllabus for the book: L. will deal first with the mortality of the world (65--6 ~ 91-109 + 235--415), then with cosmogony (67-9 ~ 416-508) and zoogony

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(69-70 ~ 772-924), andfinally with the development of human culture andsociety (71-5 ~ 925-1457, including the invention of language, 1028-90, and religion, 1161-1240). The reference of lines 76--7 must be to the astronomical digression of 509-770; the lines are presumably displaced from their logical position between 68 and 69 in order to lead into the justificatory peroration in 78-90. 65--6 substance that is both perishable and came into being: the phrasing, esp. nativum ('that came into being') at the beginning of line 66, echoes that of 5961, 'the nature of the soul is made up ... of mortal [nativo, same line position at the beginning of 60] substance and cannot remain intact ... '. The parallelism underlines the argument that microcosm (the human soul) and macrocosm(the world) are equally subject to the 'law' of growth and decay. 71-5 L. perhaps singles out these two discoveries (language and religion) as the most purely positive and negative items in his account of the history of civilization at the end of the book; on the question of how positively L. evaluates cultural developments in general, see on 925-1425 below. 74 For the scansion qul in orbi, see 7n. above. 77 guiding nature: nature, personified as 'governor' or 'pilot' of the natural world, takes over the role usually played by the gods (cf. especially 1.21 for Venus as 'governor', and 1.56--7 and 2.1116-- I 7 for nature as both creator and destroyer). 78--81 Three possibilities are envisaged: either the stars are regulated mechanically by natural forces (the view developed in 509-33); or they are self-motivated to help human beings (a notion refuted at 110--45;note the ironic tone suggested by morigera, 'in order to accommodate•, or, more literally, 'obligingly', 80); or they are under the control of the gods (the traditional view, combated at length in 146--234, and cf.2.1090-1104). Versions of the second theory were propounded by Plato and Aristotle (according to whom the heavenly bodies are themselves divine: Wright 176--80) and the Stoics (for whom the regular movements of the stars reflect the presence of an all-pervasive world-soul: Wright 180--2). Epicurus similarly attacks the theories that the stars are under divine guidance or are deities in their own right at Letter to Herodotus 16--1. 78 between earth and sky: i.e. between the earth and the outer sphere, composed of fiery aether, which separates our world from the infinite universe beyond; for L. 's conception of the relationship between the elements of earth and aether, and the location of the sun and moon in the intermediary zone of 'upper air' (or, as we would say, in the outer atmosphere), see 451 and 476nn. below. 79 freely and of their own accord: sec 87n. below for the political connotations of the Latin phrase. (For the scansion liberasponte, see on 47 above.) 82-90 An important passage, repeated verbatim at 6.58--66. 'Wonder' (mirari) is a key word in books 5 and 6, where one of L. 's explicit aims is to show that there is no need to marvel at natural phenomena (since everything in nature is subject to a rational explanation); for the idea that wonder is a sign of ignorance, and leads in turn to superstitious fear, cf. the account of the origins of religion in 1161-1240. For

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Lucretius (as for Epicurus: see Principal Doctrines 11, 'if we were never troubled by anxieties about celestial phenomena or about death ... we would have no need of natural science'), the need to dispel this fear is the only significant reason for studying astronomy and meteorology. 82 the gods lead a life free from care: the phrase is quoted as kind of Epicurean manifesto by Horace (Satires 1.5.101). It is one of Epicurus' most fundamental tenets that the gods must lead a life wholly free from anxiety, since disturbance of any kind would be incompatible with the supremely blessed state which he regards as an axiomatic property of divinity: see Principal Doctrines l: 'a blessed and immortal being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble to others'. Cf. Letter to Herodotus 77, andDRN2.646-51 {= 1.44-9 if genuine), 2.1090-1104, 3.18-24. 87 cruel masters: L. draws here on the language of late Republican political discourse, in which excessive ambition was conventionally denounced as a desire for regnum (one-man rule) and contrasted with libertas (see e.g. Cicero, Letters to Atticus 8.11.2, on Caesar and Pompey; Sallust, Catiline 5.6, on Catiline; Wirszubski 62-3). The gods are figured as tyrannical rulers whose alleged supremacy threatens the quasi-Republican autonomy of the atoms, which are in reality at liberty to form their figurative 'pacts' under the generalship of Nature (D. P. Fowler 1989, 145-50; cf. Cabisius, Schiesaro 2007). For more explicit (and still more emotive) uses of similarly political vocabulary, cf. 2.1090-2 (natura ... I libera continuo dominis privata superbis I ipsa sua per se sponte omnia ... agere, 'nature, free from tyrannical masters, does everything herself of her own acc.ord') and 6.545 (ignorantia causa,um conferre deo,um I cogit ad imperium res et concedere regnum, 'ignorance of the causes [ofmetereological phenomena] compels them to entrust everything to the authority of the gods and to yield power to them'); and note L. 's ironic emphasis on political authority-figures in his denunciation of religion at 1222-40 (see 1226-7 and 1228nn.). The picture is complicated, however, by L.'s denial at 79 that the sun and moon act 'freely [libera] and of their own accord': here, the political vocabulary draws attention to the dialectic between random chance and regularity helpfully discussed by Long (1977). Natural processes, that is, can be thought of either as free and unrestricted (because not determined by divine will or any other teleological force) or as regulated by the compelling power of 'natural law'. As Fowler points out (1989, 147-8), L.'s personalization of both nature and atomic matter entails a kind of slippage between these two models: in reality (according to the Epicurean conception), there is no external force governing the behaviour of the atoms, and 'nature' is merely a name given to the sum of all their interactions. 89-90 Repeated from 1.76- 7 (= 595-6). The notion that the operation of our world and its inhabitants is constrained in various ways by natural limits is crucial to L. 's system (De Lacy, Long 1977): contrast the erroneous belief in divine omnipotence rejected at 8_7-8('whom ... they believe to be omnipotent').

Commentary

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91-415 PROOFS THAT OUR WORLD IS DESTRUCTIBLE The first main division of the book is devoted to the proposition that our world is perishable and will one day come to an end; this argument is complemented by the extended accowit of the world's origins and the development of human culture in the second part of the book. Having introduced the topic in 91-109, L. immediately veers off into a digression devoted to refuting the beliefs that the earth and heavenly bodies are divine, and that the world was created by the gods; the argument for the destructibility of the world is somewhat abruptly resumed at 235.

91-109 L. 's insistence in these opening lines on the wifamiliarity and consequent difficulty of the idea that the world will eventually come to an end is somewhat disingenuous: the Epicureans were not the only philosophical school to hold such a belief (of which the most familiar example is perhaps the Stoic doctrine of ekpyrosis, the periodical destruction of the world by fire). The idea that the world will one day be destroyed has already been anticipated, moreover, by the vivid images of cosmic collapse at 1.1102-13 and 2.1144-74. L.'s exaggerated emphasis here on the novelty of the theory has rhetorical point, however: see further 97n. below. 93-5 three-fold ... three ... three ... three ... a single day: the repetition and contrast, reinforced by alliteration, create an atmosphere of awesome strangeness, preparing for the explicit statement in 97 (note that the tripartite division of earth, sea and sky here belongs essentially to the poetic tradition; contrast the more 'scientific' division into four elemental masses in 247-305). Line 95 is echoed by Ovid in praising L. 's 'immortal' verse at Amores 1.15.23-i: carminasublimistunesuntperituraLucreti, I exitio te"as cum dabit una dies ('the poemof sublime Lucretius is destined to perish [only] then, when a single day brings the earth to destruction'). three great fabrics: a notable instance of the weaving imagery prominent throughout the poem; within this book, cf. 331,430,466,471,677, and especially 267 and 389, where the swi's rays are said to 'wiweave' the sea in the process of evaporation. In these last two instances, in particular, the metaphor makes a subtly effective contribution to the argument: if the world is a 'fabric' woven of atoms, it should be possible for it to be picked apart again, just as a fabric can. Given that weaving was also a very common and traditional metaphor for poetic composition, L.'s language may also suggest that there is a direct, 'iconic' relationship between his poem and the world that it describes (Snyder 1983; Gale 2004). 97 how novel and astonishing an idea: as noted above (see on lines 82-90), L. generally insists that nothing in nature should cause wonder or surprise; at the same time, however, he often seeks to arouse a sense of awe in the face of natural phenomena. The cowiterpoint between these two strategies is rhetorically effective: L. can both capitalize on the impressiveness of the phenomenon wider discussion and still emphasize that it is subject to a rational explanation. -..e oni,ni ftdlit: literally, 'it escapes me in my mind'; animi is genitive of reference (NLS §73(6)).

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101-3 A close translation from Empedocles, fr. 133: OUK~