Lucretius' On the Nature of the Universe Bk 1 was written around 55BCE, towards the end of the Roman Republic. Lucretius was unusual, though not alone, in his startlingly modern world view which encompassed Epicurean philosophy, a knowledge of physics and a belief that religion was intrinsically evil and an instrument of social control. The translation of Book 1 of his magnum opus is equally modern - Emma Gee plays with the Latin, retaining its linguistic and sonic effects whilst drastically re-orientating the poem towards modernity. Translated with the first-time reader in mind, this version of Lucretius will captivate and astound those with no experience of Latin or of poetry, and bring Lucretius and his ideas to life.
