Salvete,
I recently read a comment posted to the Internet Classics Archive regarding
Lucretius' "On the Nature of Things," which follows:
"> The theories of Lucretius were not necessarily
> new. Epicurus seemed to have served as a fostering
> father for the philosophy of Lucretius. It is
> paridoxical in that while the approach is, on an
> intellectal level, atheistic and anti-religion, it
> makes many references to Pagan gods, such as
> Venus. In this respect, it fails to completely
> break away from the religion which it condemns.
> However, I would give Lucretius credit for acting
> as a relay from Epicurus to the present. The
> Nature of Things, even if the ideas expressed
> therein were not new, it was clearly
> revolutionary.
"Lucretius is unable to break from the past religions his time due to the fact
that it would be punishable by death by the Empire. As in later times, the
Christians were persecuted by Nero for simple refusing to worship Roman Gods.
Lucretius would not have been able to spread his propaganda without the
approval the leaders of the time. AS for originality, I believe that Xenophon
has striking similarities to the father Epicurus."
The quoted comment is interesting to me for two reasons. First, I'd love to
explore more fully the idea of religion that Lucretius conveys. Is he really
espousing atheism, or is he just against superstition? Does he see the two as
one and the same, breaking from Epicurus, who argues strongly for piety? Any
comments anyone might have on this seeming dichotomy would be welcome, as well
as suggestions for books and articles on the subject.
The second reason is that it has sparked in me an interest in what was and
wasn't acceptable religious practice in ancient Rome. Would Lucretius
actually have been put to death if he openly avowed atheism? I don't think
so, but I am woefully ignorant regarding this aspect of our esteemed
ancestors' culture. Lucretius wrote around 50 BCE, long before any Christians
showed up. Would he have been treated differently if he had written a century
or two later? Once again, any comments or references on the subject would be
very welcome.
Valete,
T. Labienus Fortunatus
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