On the Nature of Things

Lucretius' dazzling poetic work, On the Nature of Things, composed during the late Roman Republic, has captivated imaginations for twenty-one centuries. This epic promises to lift the reader above common fears, ambitions, and misery; as well as the terror of living in a universe controlled by little-understood forces. Lucretius uses the framework of Epicurus' teachings to create an ethics based on free will, the value of friendship, and the serenity of intellectual reflection.