in full Titus Lucretius Carus
flourished 1st century BC
Latin poet and philosopher.
He is known for his long poem On the Nature of Things, the fullest extant statement of the physical theory of Epicurus . In it Lucretius established the main principles of atomism and refuted the rival theories of Heracleitus , Empedocles , and Anaxagoras ; demonstrated the atomic structure and mortality of the soul; described the mechanics of sense perception, thought, and certain bodily functions; and described the creation and working of the world and of the celestial bodies and the evolution of life and human society.