{"id":41,"date":"2026-06-11T17:29:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T16:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/chapter\/oer-module-lucretius-de-rerum-natura-book-ii-lines-842-1174\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:34:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:34:28","slug":"oer-module-lucretius-de-rerum-natura-book-ii-lines-842-1174","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/chapter\/oer-module-lucretius-de-rerum-natura-book-ii-lines-842-1174\/","title":{"raw":"Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, Book II (Lines 842\u20131174)","rendered":"Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, Book II (Lines 842\u20131174)"},"content":{"raw":"

1. Module Introduction: The Enduring Magic of Lucretius<\/h2>\nThis module examines the concluding movements of Book II of Lucretius\u2019s De Rerum Natura<\/i>, a text that stands as a testament to the power of independent reason and scientific speculation. In his 1924 foreword to the Diels edition, Albert Einstein characterized Lucretius as an \"independent man\" who, despite lacking the empirical data of modern science, possessed a profound \"scientific and speculative curiosity.\" Lucretius\u2019s genius lies in his ability to imagine a world governed not by the caprice of gods, but by the \"causal connectedness of everything.\"\n\nThe physical transmission of this philosophy is equally remarkable. Naturalist David Attenborough identifies the 1515 Aldine edition, printed in Venice by Aldus Manutius, as a vital milestone. This edition was the Renaissance equivalent of a \"Penguin paperback\"\u2014a portable, elegant volume set in italic script that allowed classical wisdom to travel in the pockets of scholars. Attenborough describes such books as \"memes\" in the Dawkinsian sense: vessels of human experience and wisdom embedded and handed down outside the biological body across generations.\n\n\"The work of Lucretius will work its magic on anyone who does not completely wrap himself in the spirit of our time and, in particular, occasionally feels like a spectator of the intellectual attitude of his contemporaries. One sees here how an independent man equipped with lively senses and reasoning, endowed with scientific and speculative curiosity... imagines the world.\" \u2014 Albert Einstein, 1924\n\n\"One of my most precious books is Lucretius. It was published in Venice in 1515 by Aldus Manutius, who was a Venice printer who published the equivalent of Penguin in paperbacks. All great classical authors, or most of them, were published by Aldus Manutius in a small book in a wonderfully elegant italic script typeface... they are things in which the human experience is embedded and handed down from generation to generation, outside the body.\" \u2014 David Attenborough, 2014\n

2. Part I: The Colorless Atom (Lines 842\u2013864)<\/h2>\n

ATOMOS NEC COLOREM NEC ODOREM NEC SVCVM NEC FRIGVS NEC CALOREM HABERE (841a)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Diels Latin Critical Text<\/td>\nEnglish Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nunc ea quae dico non esse imbuta colore<\/td>\nNow learn that those things which I say are not imbued with color<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
scire licet nihilum nequeunt priuata colore.<\/td>\nyou may know can exist even if they are deprived of color.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
845 \u00a0\u00a0 Omnis enim color omnino mutatur in omnis,<\/td>\n845 \u00a0\u00a0 For every color changes completely into all others,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
quod facere haud ulla debent primordia rerum;<\/td>\nwhich the first-beginnings of things must by no means do;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
immutabile enim quiddam superare necessest,<\/td>\nfor something immutable must remain over,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ne res ad nihilum redigantur funditus omnes.<\/td>\nlest all things be reduced utterly to nothing.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
850 \u00a0\u00a0 Quapropter quoniam nil est in eo quod uocamus<\/td>\n850 \u00a0\u00a0 Therefore, since there is nothing in that which we call<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
quoad in quicquid, itidem nil esse colore.<\/td>\neven if it be in anything, likewise there is no color.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Praeterea si nulla coloris reddita naturast<\/td>\nMoreover, if no nature of color has been granted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
corporibus primis et sunt uariis elementa<\/td>\nto the primary bodies, and the elements possess<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
855 \u00a0\u00a0 formis, e quibus omne genus uariantque uolantque,<\/td>\n855 \u00a0\u00a0 various shapes, from which they produce and fly through every kind,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
propterea quod magni refert quibus quaeque cum inane<\/td>\nbecause it matters greatly with what others and in what position<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
et quo quaeque modo dentur mixturaque dentur,<\/td>\neach is placed and in what way they give and receive mixtures,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iam prono possis rationem reddere dictu<\/td>\nnow with ready speech you can render a reason<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
860 \u00a0\u00a0 cur ea quae paulo fuerint nigrantia, possint<\/td>\n860 \u00a0\u00a0 why those things which a moment ago were black, can<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
candida de subito fieri ceu marmorei fluctus.<\/td>\nsuddenly become white like the marble waves.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
...<\/td>\n...<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

3. Part II: The Emergence of Sensation (Lines 865\u20131057)<\/h2>\n

DE INSENSILI SENSILE GIGNI (864a)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Diels Latin Critical Text<\/td>\nEnglish Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nunc ea quae sentire uidemus cumque esse animata,<\/td>\nNow, those things which we perceive to be sentient and alive,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ex insensilibus tamen omnia confiteare<\/td>\nyou must nevertheless confess that they are all created<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
principiis constare. neque id manifesta refutant<\/td>\nfrom non-sentient principles. Nor do manifest facts refute this<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
870 \u00a0\u00a0 nec pugnant, sed magis ipsa manu ducunt<\/td>\n870 \u00a0\u00a0 or fight it, but rather they lead us by the hand<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
et credere cogunt ex insensilibus, quod dico, animalia gigni.<\/td>\nand force us to believe that, as I say, living things are born from the non-sentient.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
...<\/td>\n...<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
900 \u00a0\u00a0 praeterea quoniam nequeunt sine corpore sensus<\/td>\n900 \u00a0\u00a0 Moreover, since senses cannot exist without a body<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
esse neque extra res ulla quae constet inanem,<\/td>\nnor outside of those things which consist of the void,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
...<\/td>\n...<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1055 \u00a0\u00a0 iam magis in rebus uerear ne tempore iniquo<\/td>\n1055 \u00a0\u00a0 Now I should fear even more that in an unfavorable time<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ex insensilibus animalia gigni.<\/td>\nanimals are born from non-sentient things.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nPhilological Note<\/b> Albert Einstein observed that Lucretius ascribes only \"geometric-mechanical\" qualities to atoms. According to this worldview, qualities such as \"warmth, coldness, color, odor, [and] taste\" are not inherent in the atoms themselves but are instead the results of the specific movements and configurations of these atoms. Sensation is thus an emergent property of matter in motion.\n

4. Part III: The Infinity of Worlds (Lines 1058\u20131104)<\/h2>\n

APIROS MVNDOS (1057a)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Diels Latin Critical Text<\/td>\nEnglish Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quapropter quoniam nihil est ab omne parte<\/td>\nWherefore, since there is nothing on any side<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
quod constet, neque finis est inane uacansque,<\/td>\nthat stands firm, and there is no limit to the empty void,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1060 \u00a0\u00a0 unde haec innumerae uolitare per omne<\/td>\n1060 \u00a0\u00a0 whence these innumerable atoms must fly through the whole<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
undique uersum primordia rerum cogunt,<\/td>\nin every direction, driven by the first-beginnings of things,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
...<\/td>\n...<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1075 \u00a0\u00a0 haec eadem ratio est, ut innumerae quoque res sint<\/td>\n1075 \u00a0\u00a0 this same reason holds, that there are also innumerable things<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
et quales hic sunt alias aliis regionibus esse.<\/td>\nand such as are here, exist elsewhere in other regions.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nLucretius places a \"firm confidence\" in the \"regular motion of immutable atoms\" as the foundational proof for the existence of infinite world-systems. He argues that since matter and space are infinite, the accidental collisions of atoms must necessarily produce other worlds beyond our own.\n

5. Part IV: The Birth and Multiplicity of Worlds (Lines 1105\u20131143)<\/h2>\n

MVNDVM NATVM ET MVLTOS SIMILIS (1104a)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Diels Latin Critical Text<\/td>\nEnglish Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Multaque post mundi nouitatem et prima diei<\/td>\nAnd many things after the world's novelty and the first day<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
natali et maris ortum esse addita corpora circum,<\/td>\nof birth and the sea's rising, were added as bodies around it,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1110 \u00a0\u00a0 undique quae adportant uis multa et semina rerum,<\/td>\n1110 \u00a0\u00a0 which from all sides great forces and seeds of things bring,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
unde mare et terrae possent augescere et unde<\/td>\nwhence the sea and the lands might grow and whence<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
appareret caeli domus et tecta fuisse.<\/td>\nthe house of heaven might appear and its roofs be raised.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Mechanical Worldview<\/h3>\nEinstein notes that Lucretius, as a \"faithful disciple of Democritus and Epicurus,\" was guided by the need to persuade his readers of the atomistic-mechanical worldview. While his stated goal was the liberation of humanity from religious fear, the text's underlying focus remains the intelligibility of the world through the causal connectedness of atoms.\n

6. Part V: The Aging Universe (Lines 1144\u20131174)<\/h2>\n

IAM SENEM MVNDVM ET OMNIA PVSILLA NASCI (1143a)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Diels Latin Critical Text<\/td>\nEnglish Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Omnia debet enim, quae sunt, mortali corpore<\/td>\nFor all things that exist, being of mortal body,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1145 \u00a0\u00a0 conficere et senio fieri tabescere morbo.<\/td>\n1145 \u00a0\u00a0 must finish and waste away by age and the disease of decay.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iamque adeo fractast aetas effetaque tellus<\/td>\nAnd even now the age is broken and the earth is exhausted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
vix animalia parua creat, quae cuncta creauit<\/td>\nand scarcely creates small animals, she who once created<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
saecla deditque feras ingentia corpora partu.<\/td>\nall generations and gave birth to the huge bodies of wild beasts.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1150 \u00a0\u00a0 haud, ut opinor, enim mortalia saecla superne<\/td>\n1150 \u00a0\u00a0 For not, I think, did the mortal generations from above<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
aurea de caelo demisit funis in arua<\/td>\ndescend into the fields by a golden rope from heaven<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
...<\/td>\n...<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1170 \u00a0\u00a0 omnia paulatim tabescere et ire ad capulum<\/td>\n1170 \u00a0\u00a0 everything gradually wastes away and goes to the grave<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
spatio aetatis defessa uetusto.<\/td>\nexhausted by the ancient span of age.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nThe poet concludes by dismantling the myth of a \"golden age,\" arguing instead that the \"flaming walls of the universe\" (flammantia moenia mundi<\/i>) and the earth itself are subject to the same mechanical laws of addition and eventual loss that govern all matter.\n

Critical Apparatus for Book II<\/h2>\n

Testimonia<\/h3>\n
    \n \t
  • Cicero (Ad Quintum fr. II 9,3):<\/b> Notes that the poems of Lucretius have \"many flashes of genius, yet much art.\"<\/li>\n \t
  • Cornelius Nepos (Attic. 12,4):<\/b> Groups Lucretius with Catullus as the most elegant poets of the age.<\/li>\n \t
  • Vitruvius (IX Praef. 16):<\/b> Describes Lucretius as one who disputes \"of the nature of things\" (de rerum natura<\/i>).<\/li>\n \t
  • Ovid (Amor. I 15, 22):<\/b> Predicts the \"sublime\" verses of Lucretius will only perish when the world itself ends.<\/li>\n \t
  • Seneca (Ep. ad Luc. 110,6):<\/b> Cites Lucretius on the confusion of the mind (animi confusio<\/i>).<\/li>\n \t
  • Quintilian (X 1,87):<\/b> Describes Lucretius as \"elegant in his own matter, but difficult.\"<\/li>\n \t
  • Jerome (Chron.):<\/b> Records the tradition that Lucretius composed his books during \"intervals of insanity\" and that Cicero corrected them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Conspectus Siglorum<\/h3>\n
      \n \t
    • O (Oblongus):<\/b> Codex Leidensis Vossianus Lat. Fol. 30 (9th Century).<\/li>\n \t
    • Q (Quadratus):<\/b> Codex Leidensis Vossianus Quadratus 94 (9th Century).<\/li>\n \t
    • G (Gottorpienses):<\/b> Schedae Haunienses (8 fragments from the 9th Century).<\/li>\n \t
    • V (Vindobonenses):<\/b> Schedae Vindobonenses priores, folios 9\u201314.<\/li>\n \t
    • U (Vindobonenses):<\/b> Schedae Vindobonenses posteriores, folios 15\u201318.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Note on Schedae Vindobonenses (V and U)<\/h3>\nThese fragments are of primary importance for the lines covered in this module. The manuscript evidence for Book II, lines 642\u20131174, relies heavily on the Vindobonenses<\/i> (V), specifically Folios 9 through 11. Folio 9v contains the transition to the discussion of the colorless atom (841a), while Folios 11r and 11v preserve the concluding imagery of the aging world and the exhausted earth.\n\nTechnical Metadata for Pressbooks<\/b>\n
        \n \t
      • Latin Text:<\/b> Hermann Diels, T. Lucreti Cari De Rerum Natura<\/i>, 1923 (Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung).<\/li>\n \t
      • Foreword Context:<\/b> Albert Einstein, 1924.<\/li>\n \t
      • Digital Catalog Reference:<\/b> SFU Library Aldine Collection (1515 Venice Edition by Aldus Manutius).<\/li>\n<\/ul>","rendered":"

        1. Module Introduction: The Enduring Magic of Lucretius<\/h2>\n

        This module examines the concluding movements of Book II of Lucretius\u2019s De Rerum Natura<\/i>, a text that stands as a testament to the power of independent reason and scientific speculation. In his 1924 foreword to the Diels edition, Albert Einstein characterized Lucretius as an “independent man” who, despite lacking the empirical data of modern science, possessed a profound “scientific and speculative curiosity.” Lucretius\u2019s genius lies in his ability to imagine a world governed not by the caprice of gods, but by the “causal connectedness of everything.”<\/p>\n

        The physical transmission of this philosophy is equally remarkable. Naturalist David Attenborough identifies the 1515 Aldine edition, printed in Venice by Aldus Manutius, as a vital milestone. This edition was the Renaissance equivalent of a “Penguin paperback”\u2014a portable, elegant volume set in italic script that allowed classical wisdom to travel in the pockets of scholars. Attenborough describes such books as “memes” in the Dawkinsian sense: vessels of human experience and wisdom embedded and handed down outside the biological body across generations.<\/p>\n

        “The work of Lucretius will work its magic on anyone who does not completely wrap himself in the spirit of our time and, in particular, occasionally feels like a spectator of the intellectual attitude of his contemporaries. One sees here how an independent man equipped with lively senses and reasoning, endowed with scientific and speculative curiosity… imagines the world.” \u2014 Albert Einstein, 1924<\/p>\n

        “One of my most precious books is Lucretius. It was published in Venice in 1515 by Aldus Manutius, who was a Venice printer who published the equivalent of Penguin in paperbacks. All great classical authors, or most of them, were published by Aldus Manutius in a small book in a wonderfully elegant italic script typeface… they are things in which the human experience is embedded and handed down from generation to generation, outside the body.” \u2014 David Attenborough, 2014<\/p>\n

        2. Part I: The Colorless Atom (Lines 842\u2013864)<\/h2>\n

        ATOMOS NEC COLOREM NEC ODOREM NEC SVCVM NEC FRIGVS NEC CALOREM HABERE (841a)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
        Diels Latin Critical Text<\/td>\nEnglish Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Nunc ea quae dico non esse imbuta colore<\/td>\nNow learn that those things which I say are not imbued with color<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        scire licet nihilum nequeunt priuata colore.<\/td>\nyou may know can exist even if they are deprived of color.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        845 \u00a0\u00a0 Omnis enim color omnino mutatur in omnis,<\/td>\n845 \u00a0\u00a0 For every color changes completely into all others,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        quod facere haud ulla debent primordia rerum;<\/td>\nwhich the first-beginnings of things must by no means do;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        immutabile enim quiddam superare necessest,<\/td>\nfor something immutable must remain over,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        ne res ad nihilum redigantur funditus omnes.<\/td>\nlest all things be reduced utterly to nothing.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        850 \u00a0\u00a0 Quapropter quoniam nil est in eo quod uocamus<\/td>\n850 \u00a0\u00a0 Therefore, since there is nothing in that which we call<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        quoad in quicquid, itidem nil esse colore.<\/td>\neven if it be in anything, likewise there is no color.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Praeterea si nulla coloris reddita naturast<\/td>\nMoreover, if no nature of color has been granted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        corporibus primis et sunt uariis elementa<\/td>\nto the primary bodies, and the elements possess<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        855 \u00a0\u00a0 formis, e quibus omne genus uariantque uolantque,<\/td>\n855 \u00a0\u00a0 various shapes, from which they produce and fly through every kind,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        propterea quod magni refert quibus quaeque cum inane<\/td>\nbecause it matters greatly with what others and in what position<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        et quo quaeque modo dentur mixturaque dentur,<\/td>\neach is placed and in what way they give and receive mixtures,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        iam prono possis rationem reddere dictu<\/td>\nnow with ready speech you can render a reason<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        860 \u00a0\u00a0 cur ea quae paulo fuerint nigrantia, possint<\/td>\n860 \u00a0\u00a0 why those things which a moment ago were black, can<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        candida de subito fieri ceu marmorei fluctus.<\/td>\nsuddenly become white like the marble waves.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        …<\/td>\n…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

        3. Part II: The Emergence of Sensation (Lines 865\u20131057)<\/h2>\n

        DE INSENSILI SENSILE GIGNI (864a)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
        Diels Latin Critical Text<\/td>\nEnglish Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Nunc ea quae sentire uidemus cumque esse animata,<\/td>\nNow, those things which we perceive to be sentient and alive,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        ex insensilibus tamen omnia confiteare<\/td>\nyou must nevertheless confess that they are all created<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        principiis constare. neque id manifesta refutant<\/td>\nfrom non-sentient principles. Nor do manifest facts refute this<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        870 \u00a0\u00a0 nec pugnant, sed magis ipsa manu ducunt<\/td>\n870 \u00a0\u00a0 or fight it, but rather they lead us by the hand<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        et credere cogunt ex insensilibus, quod dico, animalia gigni.<\/td>\nand force us to believe that, as I say, living things are born from the non-sentient.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        …<\/td>\n…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        900 \u00a0\u00a0 praeterea quoniam nequeunt sine corpore sensus<\/td>\n900 \u00a0\u00a0 Moreover, since senses cannot exist without a body<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        esse neque extra res ulla quae constet inanem,<\/td>\nnor outside of those things which consist of the void,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        …<\/td>\n…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        1055 \u00a0\u00a0 iam magis in rebus uerear ne tempore iniquo<\/td>\n1055 \u00a0\u00a0 Now I should fear even more that in an unfavorable time<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        ex insensilibus animalia gigni.<\/td>\nanimals are born from non-sentient things.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

        Philological Note<\/b> Albert Einstein observed that Lucretius ascribes only “geometric-mechanical” qualities to atoms. According to this worldview, qualities such as “warmth, coldness, color, odor, [and] taste” are not inherent in the atoms themselves but are instead the results of the specific movements and configurations of these atoms. Sensation is thus an emergent property of matter in motion.<\/p>\n

        4. Part III: The Infinity of Worlds (Lines 1058\u20131104)<\/h2>\n

        APIROS MVNDOS (1057a)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
        Diels Latin Critical Text<\/td>\nEnglish Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Quapropter quoniam nihil est ab omne parte<\/td>\nWherefore, since there is nothing on any side<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        quod constet, neque finis est inane uacansque,<\/td>\nthat stands firm, and there is no limit to the empty void,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        1060 \u00a0\u00a0 unde haec innumerae uolitare per omne<\/td>\n1060 \u00a0\u00a0 whence these innumerable atoms must fly through the whole<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        undique uersum primordia rerum cogunt,<\/td>\nin every direction, driven by the first-beginnings of things,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        …<\/td>\n…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        1075 \u00a0\u00a0 haec eadem ratio est, ut innumerae quoque res sint<\/td>\n1075 \u00a0\u00a0 this same reason holds, that there are also innumerable things<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        et quales hic sunt alias aliis regionibus esse.<\/td>\nand such as are here, exist elsewhere in other regions.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

        Lucretius places a “firm confidence” in the “regular motion of immutable atoms” as the foundational proof for the existence of infinite world-systems. He argues that since matter and space are infinite, the accidental collisions of atoms must necessarily produce other worlds beyond our own.<\/p>\n

        5. Part IV: The Birth and Multiplicity of Worlds (Lines 1105\u20131143)<\/h2>\n

        MVNDVM NATVM ET MVLTOS SIMILIS (1104a)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
        Diels Latin Critical Text<\/td>\nEnglish Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Multaque post mundi nouitatem et prima diei<\/td>\nAnd many things after the world’s novelty and the first day<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        natali et maris ortum esse addita corpora circum,<\/td>\nof birth and the sea’s rising, were added as bodies around it,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        1110 \u00a0\u00a0 undique quae adportant uis multa et semina rerum,<\/td>\n1110 \u00a0\u00a0 which from all sides great forces and seeds of things bring,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        unde mare et terrae possent augescere et unde<\/td>\nwhence the sea and the lands might grow and whence<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        appareret caeli domus et tecta fuisse.<\/td>\nthe house of heaven might appear and its roofs be raised.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

        The Mechanical Worldview<\/h3>\n

        Einstein notes that Lucretius, as a “faithful disciple of Democritus and Epicurus,” was guided by the need to persuade his readers of the atomistic-mechanical worldview. While his stated goal was the liberation of humanity from religious fear, the text’s underlying focus remains the intelligibility of the world through the causal connectedness of atoms.<\/p>\n

        6. Part V: The Aging Universe (Lines 1144\u20131174)<\/h2>\n

        IAM SENEM MVNDVM ET OMNIA PVSILLA NASCI (1143a)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
        Diels Latin Critical Text<\/td>\nEnglish Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Omnia debet enim, quae sunt, mortali corpore<\/td>\nFor all things that exist, being of mortal body,<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        1145 \u00a0\u00a0 conficere et senio fieri tabescere morbo.<\/td>\n1145 \u00a0\u00a0 must finish and waste away by age and the disease of decay.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Iamque adeo fractast aetas effetaque tellus<\/td>\nAnd even now the age is broken and the earth is exhausted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        vix animalia parua creat, quae cuncta creauit<\/td>\nand scarcely creates small animals, she who once created<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        saecla deditque feras ingentia corpora partu.<\/td>\nall generations and gave birth to the huge bodies of wild beasts.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        1150 \u00a0\u00a0 haud, ut opinor, enim mortalia saecla superne<\/td>\n1150 \u00a0\u00a0 For not, I think, did the mortal generations from above<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        aurea de caelo demisit funis in arua<\/td>\ndescend into the fields by a golden rope from heaven<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        …<\/td>\n…<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        1170 \u00a0\u00a0 omnia paulatim tabescere et ire ad capulum<\/td>\n1170 \u00a0\u00a0 everything gradually wastes away and goes to the grave<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        spatio aetatis defessa uetusto.<\/td>\nexhausted by the ancient span of age.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

        The poet concludes by dismantling the myth of a “golden age,” arguing instead that the “flaming walls of the universe” (flammantia moenia mundi<\/i>) and the earth itself are subject to the same mechanical laws of addition and eventual loss that govern all matter.<\/p>\n

        Critical Apparatus for Book II<\/h2>\n

        Testimonia<\/h3>\n
          \n
        • Cicero (Ad Quintum fr. II 9,3):<\/b> Notes that the poems of Lucretius have “many flashes of genius, yet much art.”<\/li>\n
        • Cornelius Nepos (Attic. 12,4):<\/b> Groups Lucretius with Catullus as the most elegant poets of the age.<\/li>\n
        • Vitruvius (IX Praef. 16):<\/b> Describes Lucretius as one who disputes “of the nature of things” (de rerum natura<\/i>).<\/li>\n
        • Ovid (Amor. I 15, 22):<\/b> Predicts the “sublime” verses of Lucretius will only perish when the world itself ends.<\/li>\n
        • Seneca (Ep. ad Luc. 110,6):<\/b> Cites Lucretius on the confusion of the mind (animi confusio<\/i>).<\/li>\n
        • Quintilian (X 1,87):<\/b> Describes Lucretius as “elegant in his own matter, but difficult.”<\/li>\n
        • Jerome (Chron.):<\/b> Records the tradition that Lucretius composed his books during “intervals of insanity” and that Cicero corrected them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Conspectus Siglorum<\/h3>\n
            \n
          • O (Oblongus):<\/b> Codex Leidensis Vossianus Lat. Fol. 30 (9th Century).<\/li>\n
          • Q (Quadratus):<\/b> Codex Leidensis Vossianus Quadratus 94 (9th Century).<\/li>\n
          • G (Gottorpienses):<\/b> Schedae Haunienses (8 fragments from the 9th Century).<\/li>\n
          • V (Vindobonenses):<\/b> Schedae Vindobonenses priores, folios 9\u201314.<\/li>\n
          • U (Vindobonenses):<\/b> Schedae Vindobonenses posteriores, folios 15\u201318.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Note on Schedae Vindobonenses (V and U)<\/h3>\n

            These fragments are of primary importance for the lines covered in this module. The manuscript evidence for Book II, lines 642\u20131174, relies heavily on the Vindobonenses<\/i> (V), specifically Folios 9 through 11. Folio 9v contains the transition to the discussion of the colorless atom (841a), while Folios 11r and 11v preserve the concluding imagery of the aging world and the exhausted earth.<\/p>\n

            Technical Metadata for Pressbooks<\/b><\/p>\n

              \n
            • Latin Text:<\/b> Hermann Diels, T. Lucreti Cari De Rerum Natura<\/i>, 1923 (Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung).<\/li>\n
            • Foreword Context:<\/b> Albert Einstein, 1924.<\/li>\n
            • Digital Catalog Reference:<\/b> SFU Library Aldine Collection (1515 Venice Edition by Aldus Manutius).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"menu_order":12,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-41","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":18,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/41\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/41\/revisions\/42"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/18"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/41\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=41"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=41"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.psgaesthetics.uk\/lucretius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}