Lucretius

The philosopher Lucretius is the hero of the story, and Lightman recounts how the Roman’s works played a key role in the development of his own thinking.

A foedus is a league, or compact, but it is often used as synonymous with lex, and Renaissance commentators on Lucretius interpreted him as talking about the laws of nature.

The “seeds of disease” were almost certainly influenced by Democritean atomism and took inspiration from the Roman poet Lucretius, whose work had been rediscovered in the 15th century.

Set down the creation of the universe as related in Genesis and then add the pagan version outlined by Lucretius and both suddenly invite debate and discussion.

So there he is, among this philosophical elite, who share the rediscovered wisdom of such ancient authors as Plato and Lucretius, recently rediscovered in Florence.