De rerum natura (;
On the Nature of Things) is a first-century BC
didactic poem by the
Roman poet and
philosopher Lucretius (c. 99 BC – c. 55 BC) with the goal of explaining
Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7,400
dactylic hexameters, is divided into six untitled books, and explores Epicurean physics through richly poetic language and metaphors.