Lucretius in Wikipedia

Titus Lucretius Carus (ca. 99 BC – ca. 55 BC) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the epic philosophical poem on Epicureanism De rerum natura, translated into English as On the Nature of Things or "On the Nature of the Universe". Life of Lucretius - Very little is known about Lucretius's life; the only certain fact is that he was either a friend or a client of Gaius Memmius, to whom he dedicated De Rerum Natura. Another piece of information is found in a letter Cicero wrote to his brother Quintus in February 54 BCE. Cicero writes: "The poems of Lucretius are as you write: they exhibit many flashes of genius, and yet show great mastership."[1] Apparently, by February 54 BCE both Cicero and his brother had read De Rerum Natura. However, internal evidence from the poem suggests that it was published without a final revision, possibly due to its author's untimely death. If this is true, Lucretius must have been dead by February 54 BCE...