Lucretius

From Epicurus Wiki

Titus Lucretius Carus (~99 BCE - ~55 BCE) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the epic philosophical poem De Rerum Natura, "On the Nature of Things."

Very little is known about his life. The only contemporaneous reference to him is the praise of Cicero where he says "poemata, ut scribis, ita sunt: multis luminibus ingeni, multae tamen artis" that is, "[his] the poetry is, as you say in your letter, rich in brilliant genius, yet highly artistic" (Cic. ad Qu. fr. 2,9,3).

Aelius Donatus, constructing a biography of Virgil in the late 4th century AD, references Lucretius, "Initia aetatis cremonae egit usque ad uirilem togam, quam xuii anno natali suo accepit isdem illis consulibus iterum, quibus erat natus, euenitque ut eo ipso die Lucretius poeta decederet" that is “he [Virgil] spent the first years of his life at Cremona, until he assumed the toga of a man, which re received fifteen years after his birth, at which time those same two men were consuls; as it happented, the poet Lucretius passes away that same day.” (Aelius Donatus, Life of Virgil, XX).

A student of Aelius Donatus, St. Jerome, who attempted to record roman history around 382 CE, elaborates saying "Titus Lucretius poeta nascitur, posted amatorio poculo in furorem uersus cum aliquot libros per interualla insaniae conscripsisset quos postea cicero emendauit, propria se manu interfecit anno aetatis XLIIII" meaning, "The poet Titus Lucretius was born. He was driven mad by a love potion and, having composed – in the intervals of his insanity – several books which Cicero afterwards corrected, committed suicide in his forty-fourth year." (St. Jerome, Chronological Tables, CLXXI. iii)

All else we can know must be inferred from the poem itself, e.g., he was evidentially well-educated and possessed broad knowledge of both Greek and Roman literature; he was apparently familiar with both city and country life.