The first attested reader
Read Cicero’s single sentence on the poems of Lucretius, its date and its disputed wording, as evidence of the poem’s first circulation in Rome.
An original introduction. This guide accompanies the work; it is neither the complete text nor a translation.
Situating the text
The remark belongs to a private correspondence published after Cicero’s death and numbered 2.9 or 2.10 depending on the edition; some editors have emended its transmitted wording. Cicero never names Lucretius in his philosophical dialogues, even where he attacks Epicurean doctrine. In a letter of February 54 BCE, Cicero agrees with his brother that the poems of Lucretius show many flashes of natural genius and yet much art. This single sentence is the earliest secure evidence that the poem existed and was being read in Rome.
Following the arguments
Date : Written in February 54 BCE, the letter shows the poem, or part of it, circulating close to the dates later given for the poet’s death. Genius and art : Pairing natural talent with technical craft uses the vocabulary of Roman literary criticism; scholars disagree whether it marks a contrast, a surprise or simple praise. Cicero’s silence : Lucretius is absent from Cicero’s treatises on Epicureanism, which leaves his considered judgement of the poem open to interpretation.
Continuing the reading
Read the sentence within the whole letter, compare two editions of the Latin, then set it beside Jerome’s claim that Cicero corrected the poem. The remark belongs to a private correspondence published after Cicero’s death and numbered 2.9 or 2.10 depending on the edition; some editors have emended its transmitted wording. Cicero never names Lucretius in his philosophical dialogues, even where he attacks Epicurean doctrine.
One private sentence dates the poem’s circulation but leaves Cicero’s full judgement of it uncertain.
Your turn to think.
- What does the pairing of genius and art suggest about how Romans judged a philosophical poem?
- Why might Cicero praise the poem in a letter yet ignore it in his attacks on Epicureanism?
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