Cicero, as seen from the frequency with which he
imitates his _Aratea_ (Munro on Lucr. v. 619), and from the knowledge
Cicero shows of Lucretius' work, as in _Tusc._ i. 48.

The poet's full name is given in the MSS. as T. Lucretius Carus.

This is all the direct evidence regarding Lucretius' life.[32] The _de
rerum natura_ is addressed to C. Memmius.[33] From Cic. _ad Fam._
xiii. 1 (where Cicero tells us he employed his good offices with
Memmius on behalf of Patro for the preservation of the gardens of
Epicurus), it appears that he was not an Epicurean. Memmius is the
only contemporary mentioned by Lucretius; i. 24,

'Te sociam studeo scribendis versibus esse
quos ego de rerum natura pangere conor
Memmiadae nostro, quem tu, dea, tempore in omni
omnibus ornatum voluisti excellere rebus.'

Many, arguing from the fact that Carus is not known elsewhere as a
cognomen of the gens Lucretia, think that the poet was a freedman or a
freedman's son, but from the tone of equality in which he addresses
Memmius, it is more probable that he was a patrician; cf. i. 140,

'Sed tua me virtus tamen et sperata voluptas
suavis amicitiae quemvis sufferre laborem
suadet.'

Several personal characteristics may be inferred from the poem:

1. His earnestness and sincerity; iii. 28,

'His ibi me rebus quaedam divina voluptas
percipit atque horror,' etc.

Cf. the importance he attaches to his subject, i. 926,

'Avia Pieridum peragro loca nullius ante
trita solo.'

2. His admiration for the great men of the past. Cf. iii. 1024-52,
where Ancus, the Scipios, Homer, Democritus, and Epicurus are praised;
the introductions to Books i., iii., v., vi., on Epicurus; i. 716-33
on Empedocles; i. 117-9 on Ennius.

3. His powers of observation and love of nature. Cf. i. 716-25; ii. 29
_sqq._, 40 _sqq._; 323-32; iv. 572 _sqq._

4. His experience of women. Book iv. 1037-the end.

5. His wide reading. The poem shows knowledge of Epicurus, Empedocles,
Democritus, Anaxagoras, Heraclitus, Plato, the Stoic writers,
Thucydides, Hippocrates, Homer, Euripides. Among Latin writers Ennius,
Naevius, Pacuvius, Lucilius, and Accius are all imitated.

There is a reference to contemporary history in i. 41-3,

'Nam neque nos agere hoc patriai tempore iniquo
possumus aequo animo nec Memmi clara propago
talibus in rebus communi desse saluti.'

Munro thinks that these lines were written B.C. 59, when Memmius was
_praetor designa