On the Nature of Things: De rerum natura

With the passion of a true poet, Titus Lucretius Carus (ca. 99-ca. 55 B.C.E.) expounds the most coherent and eloquent system of materialism surviving from the ancient world. Lucretius discusses the motion of atoms, natural phenomena, sensation, free will, and the soul's relation to the body. As he believes death is final, Lucretius sees his teaching as a bulwark against religious fears and prejudices. 310 pp.