This volume uses the tools of intertextuality research to study the history of the critical reception of Lucretius' "De rerum natura" in Latin prose literature from between ca. 50 BC and ca. 310 AD. The main emphasis lies on analyzing the quotes and mentions taken from Lucretius in Latin prose writings. It studies the reception from the first known critique of Lucretius' work by Cicero and then touches on the extant documents concerning the later reception in the late Republican-Augustinian and early Caesarian literature. It also analyzes the role of Lucretius during so-called archaism. Finally, it scrutinizes the considerable secondary literature of the (pre-Constantine) Christian era on Lucretius, especially by the Christian apologists Arnobius and Lactantius.

Cover design or artwork by: akg-images GmbH Archiv fÃ"r Kunst und Geschichte