section 15 of On the Nature of Things. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Nathan at antipedianwriter.wordpress.com. On the Nature of Things by Lucretius. Translated by John Solby Watson. Section 15 book 5 part 3. And that early race of men upon the earth was much more hardy as it was natural that they should be for the hard earth herself bore them. They were internally sustained with bones both larger and more solid and furnished with strong nerves throughout their bodies nor were they a race that could easily be injured by heat or cold or by change of food or by any corporeal milady. And during many lusters of the Sun revolving through the heaven they prolonged their lives after the roving manner of wild beasts. No one was either a driver of the crooked plow or knew how to turn up the fields with the spade or to plant young seedlings in the earth or to cut with pruning hooks the old bowels from the lofty trees. That supply which the Sun and rain had afforded or which the earth had yielded of its own accord sufficiently gratified their desires. They refreshed themselves for the most part among the acorn laden oaks. The earth too then furnished abundance of water berries even larger than at present which you now see ripen in winter and become of a purple color and many rude kinds of nourishment besides ample for hapless mortals the florid freshness of the world in those days produced. The rivers and fountains then invited them to quench their thirst as the echoing fall of waters from the high hills now calls far and wide the thirsty tribes of wild beasts. Afterwards they occupied the silvan temples of the nymphs well known to the wanderers from which the goddesses sent forth flowing rules of water to lave with a copious flood the humid rocks tripling over the green moss and to swell and burst forth with a portion of their streams over the level plain. Nor as yet did they understand how to improve their condition by the aid of fire or to use skins and to clothe their bodies with the spoils of wild beasts. But they dwelt in groves and hollow mountains and woods and when compelled to flee from the violence of the wind and rain sheltered their rude limbs amid the thickets. Nor could they have any regard to any common interest or understand how to observe any customs or laws among themselves. Whatever prize fortune had thrown in the way of anyone on that he seized each knowing only to profit by his own instinct and to live for himself. And Venus united the persons of lovers in the woods for either mutual desire reconciled each female to the intercourse or the impetuous force and vehement lust of the man overcame her or acorns and water berries or choice crabs with the purchase of her favours and relying on the extraordinary vigor of their hands and feet they pursued the silvan tribes of wild beasts with missile stones and ponderous clubs and many they overcame while a few escaped them in their dens and when surprised by night they threw their savage limbs like bristly boars unprotected on the earth covering themselves over with leaves and branches. Nor did they trembling and wandering in the shades of night seek to recall the day and the sun with loud cries throughout the fields but silent and buried in sleep they waited till Phoebus with his rosy beams should again spread light over the heavens for since they had always been accustomed from the infancy to see darkness and light produced at alternate seasons it was impossible that they should ever wonder at the change or feel apprehension lest the beams of the sun being withdrawn forever eternal night should keep possession of the earth but what rather gave them trouble was that the tribes of wild beasts often disturbed the rest of hapless sleepers while driven from their cell at the approach of a foaming bore or stout line they fled from their rocky shelter and yielded up with trembling at the dead of night their catches of leaves to the savage intruders nor yet did the race of men in those days leave with lamentations the sweet light of life in much greater numbers than at present but they more frequently at that period one individual of their number being caught by wild beasts and consumed by their teeth afforded them living food and filled meanwhile the groves and mountains and forests with his shrieks as he felt his bowels buried in a living tomb while those whom flight had saved with their bodies torn and pressing their trembling hands over their grievous wounds called on death with horrid cries until destitute of relief and ignorant what their hurts required cruel tortures deprived them of life yet in those times one day did not consign to destruction many thousands of men under military banners nor did the boisterous floods of the sea dash ships and men upon rocks but the ocean though often rising and swelling raged in vain and to no purpose and laid aside its empty threats without effect nor could the deceitful allurement of its calm water and ties with its smiling waves anyone into danger for the daring art of navigation was then unknown want of food then consigned languishing bodies to death now on the contrary abundance of luxuries causes destruction the men of those times often poured out poison for themselves unawares now persons of their own accord give it craftily to others afterwards when they procured huts and skins and fire and the woman united to the man came to dwell in the same place with him and when the pure and pleasing connections of undivided love were known and they saw a progeny sprung from themselves then first the human race began to be softened and civilized for fire now rendered their shivering bodies less able to endure the cold under the canopy of heaven and love diminished their strength and children with their blandishments easily subdued the ferocious tempers of their parents then also neighbors feeling a mutual friendship began to form agreements not to hurt or injure one another and they commended with sounds and gestures their children and the female sex to each other's protection while they signified with imperfect speech that it is right for everyone to have compassion on the weak such concord however could not be established universally but the better and greater part kept their faith in violet or the human race would then have been wholly destroyed and the species could not have continued its generations to the present period but nature prompted men to utter the various sounds of the tongue and convenience drew from them the names of things almost in the same manner as inability to use the tongue seems to excite children to gesture when it causes them to point with the finger at objects which are present before them for every creature is sensible that it can use its own faculty even before horns are produced on the forehead of a calf it butts and pushes fiercely with it when enraged and the young of panthers and welts of lions contend with their talons and feet and teeth when their teeth and talons are yet scarcely grown we see moreover that the whole race of birds trust to their wings and seek a fluttering support from their opinions to suppose therefore that any one man then assigned names to things and that men thence learned their first words is to think absurdly for why should this one man be able to distinguish all things with names and to utter the varied accents of the voice and others not be deemed able to do this at the same time besides if others had not also used words among themselves wence was the knowledge of them engrafted in him wence was power first given to him that he should understand and discern in his mind what expediency would wish to effect one likewise would not be able to compel many and oblige them by force to submit to learn his names of things nor could he by any means teach or persuade men unfitted to listen what was necessary to be done for neither would they at all bear with patience or long suffer him to dig into their ears to no purpose the strange and unintelligible sounds of his voice lastly what is there so wonderful in this matter if the human race his voice and tongue were in full vigor distinguished various objects by sounds according to their various feelings when done cattle and even the tribes of wild beasts are want to utter different and distinct cries when terror or pain affects their hearts and when joy prevails in them for this you may observe by manifest instances when the large flabby jaws of the molestian dogs begin to growl as they are irritated exposing their hard teeth their violent fury threatens with a far different sound from that which they utter when they merely bark and fill all the neighborhood with yapping and when they begin to lick their welps tenderly with their tongue or when they fondle them with their paws and snapping at them affect gently to swallow them up with teeth suspended over them they sooth them with a sort of whining using their voice far otherwise than when they howl deserted in lonely buildings or when with crouching body they slink whimpering from beneath a blow again just not the voice of the horse seem also to differ when as a vigorous steed in the flower of his age and pierced with the goads of winged love he rages wildly among the mears and when he utters a snorting for war from his expanded nostrils and thus with his limbs trembling nays in quite other tones further the winged tribes and various birds hawks and eagles and gulls which amid the waves of the sea seek their food and living in the salt water utter far other cries at other times than when they contend for sustenance and fight about prey occasionally also the long lived generations of crows and the flocks of ravens change their horse notes with the weather when they are said sometimes to call for rain and showers and sometimes to cry for gales of wind if various feelings therefore impel the inferior animals though they are destitute of speech to utter various sounds how much more consonant is it to reason that men even in those early days should have been able to distinguish different objects by different names and lest perchance in reference to these subjects you should meditate with yourself as to the following point and be anxious to know the origin of fire i will inform you that lightning first brought flame down upon the earth for mortals and that from thence all the fire in the world is spread abroad for we even now see many substances struck with fire from heaven ignite when the ethereal region has sent down its flames though it is not to be forgotten indeed that when a branching tree struck by the winds is shaken and agitated moving to and fro and pressing against the bowels of another tree fire excited by the violent friction is elicited so that sometimes while the branches and stems are rubbed together a fervoured glow of flame bursts forth of which causes accordingly either might have supplied fire to mankind the sun next instructed them to dress their food and soften it with the heat of flame for they saw many things throughout the fields mollified by the force of his beams and subdued by his warmth hence those who excelled in sense and had power of understanding taught the others every day more and more to change their rude diet and form a mode of life for new practices and improvements by means of fire at length the leaders began to build cities and to found fortresses as a protection and refuge for themselves they also divided the cattle and the fields and a lot of them according to the beauty and strength and understanding of each individual for beauty was then much esteemed and strength had great influence afterwards wealth was introduced and gold brought to light which easily robbed the strong and beautiful of their honor for men however strong or endowed with however beautiful a person generally follow the party of the richer but to man whoever governs his life according to true reason it is great wealth to live on a little with a contented mind for of a little there is no want yet men wished themselves to be honored and powerful that their fortune might rest on a steady foundation and that themselves being strong might pass an undisturbed life but this they desired in vain for as they strove to reach the highest honors they rendered the course of their steps full of trouble and still though they attain their object envy like a thunderbolt hurls them at times from their preeminence and seeks them with scorn as into the gloom of Tartarus so that it is far better to obey in quiet than to seek to hold states under our sway and to manage kingdoms let men therefore if they will sweat out their life's blood wearing themselves to no purpose and struggling along the narrow road of ambition for the highest objects and whatever are more exposed on eminences are generally sooner scorched with envy as well as with lightning since they gather knowledge only from the mouths of others and pursue things rather from what they hear than from their own judgments nor does this folly prevail more now or will it prevail more hereafter than it has already prevailed in past time kings therefore being deposed and slain the ancient majesty of their thrones and their proud receptors lay overthrown in the dust and the illustrious ornament of the royal head stained with blood beneath the feet of the rubble mourned the loss of its supreme honour for that which has been too much feared before is eagerly trodden down power accordingly returned to the lowest dregs and rubble of mankind whilst each sought a dominion and eminence for himself but at length the wiser part taught them to establish a government and made laws for them that they might consent to observe order the mankind weary of passing their lives in a state of violence were worn out with contentions on which account they fell more submissively under the power of laws and strict ordinances for because everyone in his resentment prepared to take revenge for himself more severely than is now allowed by equitable laws men for this reason became disgusted with living in strife since from this source the fear of punishment poisons the enjoyments of life for violence and injury involve everyone and generally recoil upon the head of him from whom they arose nor is it possible for anyone to live a quiet and peaceable life who violates by his actions the common bonds of peace for though his guilt escape for a time the knowledge of both gods and men yet he cannot feel sure that it will always be hidden since many speaking frequently in dreams or being delirious in sickness are said to have revealed their secrets and to have published to the world long concealed crimes in the next place what caused spread aboard throughout the wide nations of the earth the notion of the existence and power of the gods and filled cities with altars and led a solemn sacred rites to be instituted which sacred rites now flourish and are performed on all important occasions and in all distinguished places when also terror pervades mortals a terror which raises new temples of the deities throughout the whole globe of the earth and impels men to celebrate their worship on feast days it is not so difficult as it may seem to explain for in those early times of which we speak the tribes of mortals beheld in their minds even when awake glorious images as of gods and saw them in their sleep still more distinctly and of a wondrous magnitude a figure to these therefore they attributed vitality because they seemed to move their limbs and utter majestic words suitable to their distinguished appearance and mighty strength and they assigned to them an immortal existence because their appearances came in constant succession and their form remained the same although they might certainly have deemed them immortal on another account as they would consider that beings endowed with such apparent strength could not easily be subdued by any destructive force and they thought them preeminent in happiness because the fear of death could thus trouble none of them and because at the same time they saw them in their dreams do many and wonderful actions and experience as it seemed no difficulty in the performance of them besides they observed the revolutions of the heavens and the various seasons of the year go round in a certain order and yet could not understand by what causes these effects were produced they had then this resource for themselves to ascribe all things to gods and to make all things be guided by their will and the seats and abodes of these gods they placed in the sky because through the sky the night and the moon are seen to revolve the moon I say the day and the night and the august constellations of night and the nocturnal luminaries of the heavens and the flying meteors as well as the clouds the sun rain snow winds lightnings hail and the vehement noises and loud threatening murmurs of the thunder oh unhappy race of men as they attributed such acts besides ascribing bitter roth to the gods what lamentations did they then prepare for themselves and what sufferings for us what fears have they entailed upon our posterity nor is it any piety for a man to be seen with his head veiled turning towards a stone and drawing near to every altar or to fall prostrate on the ground and to stretch out his hands before the shines of the gods or to sprinkle the altars with copious blood of four-footed beasts and or add vows to vows but it is rather piety to be able to contemplate all things with a serene mind but when we look up to the celestial regions of the vast world above and contemplate the firmament studded with glittering stars and reflect upon the revolutions of the sun and moon the apprehension lest they assured perchance be an almighty power of the gods above us which guides the stars in their various motions begins then to raise its head as if awaking within our breast an apprehension which perhaps before lay dormant under the weight of other cares since poverty of reason and ignorance of natural causes disquiet of the mind while it doubts whether there was any birth or commencement of the world or whether there is any limit of time until which the walls of the world and the silent movements of the heavenly bodies can endure this incessant labor or whether the heavens divinely endowed with an imperishable nature can as they roll along times eternal course defy the mighty power of endless age besides whose heart does not shrink at the terrors of the gods whose limbs do not shudder with dread when the scorched earth trembles with the awful stroke of lightning and when the roars of thunder pervade the vast heaven do not people and nations tremble and do not proud monarchs penetrated with fear of the deities recoil in every nerve lest for some foul deed or arrogant word the dread time of pain penalty become when likewise the mighty force of the tempestuous wind raging over the sea sweeps a thwart the deep the commander of a fleet with all his powerful legions and elephants does he not solicit peace of the gods with fouls and timidly implore them with prayers for a lull of the winds and a prosperous gale but alas he implores them to no purpose for frequently seized by a violent hurricane he's nevertheless born away to the shoals of death thus some unseen power apparently bears upon human things and seems to trample down proud face seas and cruel axes and make them merely a sport for itself further when the whole earth totters under our feet in cities shaken to their base fall or threatened to fall what wonder is it that the nations of the world despise and humble themselves and admit the vast influence of the gods over the world and their stupendous power to govern all things moreover brass and gold and iron were discovered as well as heavy silver and the substance of lead at a time when fire had consumed mighty forests upon the high mountains either from lightning having been hurled upon them or because men warring among themselves in the woods had set fire to them for a terror to their enemies or else because moved by the goodness of the soil they wished to lay open fertile fields and to render the country fit for pastridge or because they sought to kill the wild beasts and to enrich themselves with their spoils for to catch the game by means of pitfalls and fire became a practice before men surrounded the forest with nets or roused the animals with dogs however this may be or from whatever caused the rage of the fire with frightful noise had consumed the woods from their deepest roots and had melted the earth with heat their flowed from the boiling veins uniting in the hollow places of the soil a stream of silver and gold as well as of brass and lead which when they afterwards saw it congealed and shining with a bright color on the ground they took up being attracted by its glittering and smooth luster and they observed that the masses were formed of the same shape as the figure of the receptacle of each had been it then occurred to them that these metals being melted with heat might settle into any form or figure of things and might also be fashioned by beating out into the sharpest and finest points of instruments so that they might make tools for themselves and be able both to cut down the woods and hue timber and smooth and polish boards as well as to pierce excavate and bore these instruments they had first attempted to make of silver and gold no less than of the strong substance of hard brass but in vain for the consistency of those metals yielded and gave way and both were alike unable to bear severe usage accordingly brass was then more in esteem and gold was neglected on account of its uselessness as taken only a dull edge and blunt point now brass is despised and gold has succeeded to the highest honors for this revolving time changes the seasons of things that which was once in estimation becomes of no repute at all while another thing succeeds and bursts forth from contempt something which is daily more and more sought and which when found flourishes among mankind with special praise and wonderful honor it is now easy for thee to understand of our self my minimus how the nature and use of iron were discovered the first weapons of mankind were the hands nails and teeth also stones and branches of trees the fragments of the woods then flame and fire were used as soon as they were known and lastly was discovered to the strength of iron and brass but the use of brass was known earlier than that of iron in as much as its substance is more easy to work and it's abundance greater with brass they turned up the soil of the earth and with brass they excited the tumults of war and inflicted deep wounds and took away the cattle and lands of their neighbors for everything unarmed and defenseless easily surrendered to those that were armed then gradually came forth the sword of steel and the form of the brazen pruning hook was turned into contempt with iron they began to cleave the ground and the contests of doubtful warfare were made equal and it appears that man mounted armed upon the back of the horse and guided it with reins and exerted his right hand to fight before he tried the hazards of war in a two horse to chariot but also doubtless occurred earlier to yoke two horses then four or then to mount in full armor on chariots equipped with sides in process of time the carthaginians taught fierce elephants with towers on their backs and with snake like proboscis to endure the wounds of war and to throw vast martial battalions into confusion thus sad discord produced one invention after another to spread terror in battle among the tribes of men and add a daily increase to the horrors of contention they tried bulls also in the business of war and endeavoured to impel fierce bores against the enemy the Parthians too sent strong lions before them with armed keepers and daring guides to govern them and hold them in chains but such attempts were in vain but the savage beasts heated with tumultuous slaughter and shaking their terrible mains on every side disordered all troops without distinction nor could the riders soothe the spirits of their horses which were alarmed at the roaring of the lions and turn them with the reins against the enemy the lions in their rage threw themselves with leaps among the soldiers in every part they flew at the faces of those who came against them and seized on others from behind unawares and clasping them round about through them to the earth sinking under wounds clinging to them with their strong teeth and hooked talons the bulls tossed their own people and trampled them underfoot they gored with their horns and sides of the horses and their bellies underneath and tore up the earth with alarming fury but the boars killed their own friends with strong tusks staining in their rage the broken darts with their blood and spread promiscuous destruction among cavalry and infantry for though the horses leaping aside shunned the fierce attacks of their teeth or rearing up poured the air with their feet yet they struggled to no purpose since you might have seen them sink down hamstrung and cover the earth with a heavy fall whatever beasts they thought sufficiently tame at home they saw in the heat of action maddened with wounds cries flight terror and tumult nor could they recall any portion of them to order for all the different kinds of beasts scattered themselves abroad as elephants even now when imperfectly inured to weapons flee hither and thither after having inflicted much cruel damage on their masters thus and with these views it is possible that they might act but i'm scarcely inclined to think that they could not originally foresee and consider in their minds how general and calamitous and evil such warfare would prove to succeeding times but they were willing to adopt this practice not so much with the hope of conquering as to cause annoyance to the enemy and men who distrusted their numbers and were without efficient arms naturally grew desperate and were ready to perish themselves if they might but destroy their opponents the garment of skins fastened together existed before the woven dress the woven succeeded the discovery of iron for by iron weaving is performed nor indeed of any other material can instruments of such smoothness as treedles spindles shuttles and rattling yarn beams be produced and nature obliged men to work in wool before women for all the male sex far excel in art and are much more ingenious than the female this state of things continued until the sturdy husband made it a reproach to the workers in wool making them consent to resign it to the hands of women and themselves to endure hard labour together with the tillers of the ground and strengthen their limbs and hands with severe toil but of sowing and planting and of grafting nature the great producer of all things was herself the first example and origin for berries and acorns that fell from the trees exhibited in the proper season a crop of seedlings underneath from observing which they also ventured to interest slips to the vows and to plant young stocks throughout the fields they then tried different methods of tilling the kindly soil and saw wild fruits become improved in their lands by being cherished and indulgently cultivated and they compelled the woods to withdraw daily further up the mountains and to give room below for tillage so that they might have meadows lakes rivulets cornfields and rich vineyards throughout the hills and plains and that a green tract of olives marking the ground might run between other trees stretching far over the heights and valleys and plains as you now see all gardens distinguished with varied beauty which intersected with rows of dulcet apples men lay out and adorn and which they keep planted around with other fruit trees but to imitate with the mouth the liquid voices of birds was practiced long before men could play melodious tunes and delight the ear with music the whistling of the zifa through the empty reeds first taught the rustics to blow through hollow stalks then by degrees they learned the sweet plaintive notes which the pipe pressed by the fingers of the players pauseful the pipe which is now found through all the pathless groves and woods and glades through the solitary haunts and divine resting places of the shepherds thus time by degrees suggests every discovery and skill evolves it into the regions of light and fame these melodies softened the hearts of those spains and delighted them when they were satisfied with food for then everything affords pleasure oftentimes therefore stretched upon the soft grass near a rivulet of water under the bowels of a high tree they socially though with no great wealth gratified their senses with pleasure especially when the weather smiled upon them and the seasons of the year painted the green herbage with flowers then jests and pleasant talk and agreeable laughter were want to be enjoyed for then the rustic mousse had full vigor and influence then sportive gaiety prompted them to deck their heads and shoulders with garlands of flowers and leaves and to stand forth in irregular dances moving their limbs stiffly and to stamp on mother earth with heavy foot whence arose smiles and joconde laughter because all these exhibitions had then greater effect as being new and wonderful hence to produce various modulations of voice and to weave tunes and to run over the reeds with compressed lips were compensations for want of sleep as they watched during the night from whom also the men of the present day wakeful and nocturnal orgies have received and maintained the same practices and have learned to preserve regularity of numbers and yet they do not even now enjoy their amusement with greater delight than that which the sylvan sons of earth then experienced for that gratification which is present if we have previously known nothing more agreeable delights as preemnantly and seems to be superior to everything else but anything better which is discovered afterwards blunts and alters our feelings as to all we enjoyed before thus dislike of acorns came upon mankind thus those ancient beds formed of grass and leaves were abandoned skins too and the savage dress fell into contempt address of which i can imagine the discovery to have excited such envy that he who first wore it possibly died from a treacherous combination against him and that his garment being torn with much bloodshed among mose who slew him was at last spoiled and rendered incapable of being used in those days skins in these gold and purple disturbed the life of men with cares and harass it with war in which regard as i think blame has fallen far more justly on us than on them for cold tormented the uncovered children of earth when they were without skins but to be destitute of a purple garment adorned with gold and cumbers figures causes no inconvenience to us provided that we have instead of it a common dress that may defend us against the weather the human race accordingly labor perpetually in vain and to no purpose and consume their life in empty cares evidently because they do not know what is the proper limit to acquisition and how far real pleasure extends and this ignorance has gradually carried them into a sea of evils and thoroughly aroused the mighty tumults of war but the wakeful and untiring sun and moon that illumined with their light the vast revolving region of the heaven taught mankind that the seasons of the year proceed and that everything is carried on by a certain law and in a certain order they afterwards passed their lives defended with strong fortresses and the earth divided and marked out was cultivated and peopled the sea was next covered with ships for the sake of perfumes men had auxiliaries and allies with settled treaties the poets now began to hand down great deeds in their poems letters had only a short time before being discovered hence our age cannot trace what previously occurred except so far as reason gives indications ships and the culture of land walls of cities laws arms roads garments and other things of this kind all the blessings and all the delights of life poems pictures and artfully wrought statues improving use and the experience of the active mind proceeding step by step taught all mankind gradually to adopt thus time by degrees suggests every discovery and skill evolves it into the regions of light and celebrity thus in the various arts we see that different inventions proceed from different minds until they reach the highest point of excellence end of section 15 book 5 part 3 recording by Nathan at atypidianwriter.wordpress.com section 16 of on the nature of things this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Lenny on the nature of things by Lucretius translated by John Selby Watson section 16 book 6 part 1 in early days Athens of illustrious name first communicated to suffering mortals the method of producing corn Athens also first improved life and established laws Athens moreover first afforded sweet consolations of existence when she gave birth to that preeminent man endowed with such mighty genius who once poured forth instruction on all subjects from his truth speaking mouth and whose fame spread abroad of old on account of his discoveries is raised since his death even to the skies for when he observed that almost all things which necessity requires for subsistence and by which mankind may render life free from care are always prepared for them by nature yet saw that men may abound in wealth may be crowned with honor and applause and may have pride in the good fame of their children but that not withstanding there may be griefs in the heart of each at home and each made this quiet life with unhappy carelessness of mind he understood at once the cause which compels them to lament with such troubles and complaints he perceived that the vessel itself was in fault and that all good things which were collected and brought into it from abroad were spoiled by its imperfection within he was convinced of this partly because he saw that it was unsound and perforated so that it could never by any means be filled and partly because he found that it contaminated with an offensive taste as it were all things that it had received within it he therefore purged the minds of men with the words of truth and set bounds to desire and fear he explained what is the chief good at which we all aim and show the way in a narrow track by which we may in a straight course arrive at it and he taught what evil prevails everywhere in human affairs which flows and arises variously either from casual accident or from necessity according as nature has appointed and he showed from what portals each ought to be met and proved that mankind revolve in their breasts for the most part unnecessarily the sorrowful tumult of care for as children tremble and fear everything in thick darkness so we in delight fear sometimes things which are not more to be feared than those which children dread and imagine about to happen in the dark this terror of the mind therefore it is not the rays of the sun or the bright arrows of they that must dispel but the contemplation of nature and the exercise of reason for which cause I shall more carefully proceed to complete with some further observations the undertaking which I have in hand and since I have shown that the regions of the world are mortal and that the heaven consists of substance generated and perishable and that whatever things are produced and must necessarily be produced within it are for the most part necessarily dissolved attend now to what further remains to be said since his friends once more exhort the charioteer to ascend his stately chariot testifying by their applause that all things which before were adverse to his scores are now altered through their gentle favor but the phenomena which men observe to occur in the earth and the heavens when as often happens they are perplexed with fearful thoughts overall their minds with a dread of the gods and humble and depress them to the earth for ignorance of natural causes obliges them to refer all things to the power of the divinities and to resign the dominion of the world to them because of these effects they can by no means see the origin and accordingly suppose that they are produced by divine influence for if those who have fairly understood that the gods pass a life free from care nevertheless wonder meanwhile how things can severly be carried on especially in those matters which are seen in the ethereal regions above our heads they are carried back again to their old notions of religion and sat over themselves cruel tyrants whom they unhappily believe able to do all things being themselves ignorant what can and what cannot be done and by what means limited power and a deeply fixed boundary is assigned to everything on which account through their own blind reasoning they are led away more and more into error such fancies unless you expel from your mind and put far from you unworthy thoughts of the gods and seize the harbor notions inconsistent with their tranquility the sacred power of the divinities will often as being offended by you obstruct your peace not that the supreme majesty of the deities can really be violated so that it should seek through anger to inflict severe punishment but because you yourself when you might be calm in tranquil peace will suppose that the gods cherish vast floods of wrath against you nor will you approach the temples of the deities with a heart at ease nor be able to admit into your mind with placid serenity of contemplation those images which are born from the sacred persons of the gods as indications of their divine beauty into the breasts of mankind hence you may conceive what sort of life would follow such a belief and although many observations have been made by me to the end that true wisdom may repel such a life far from us many more still remain to be added and to be recommended by smooth verse and the nature of things above us and of the heaven is to be understood tempests and bright lightings are to be sung their nature is to be told and from what cause they pursue their course lest having foolishly divided the heaven into parts you should be anxious as to the quarter from which the flying flame may come or to what region it may but take itself and tremble to think how it penetrates through walled enclosures and how having exercised its power it extricates itself from them of which phenomena the multitude can by no means see the causes and think that they are accomplished by supernatural power thou oh skillful muse calliope solace of men in pleasure of the gods mark out my path for me as i run to the white goal at the end of the course that under thy guidance i may attain a crown with distinguished applause in the first place the blue skies are convulsed with thunder because the clouds in the year as they fly along on high when winds are opposite to each other meet together in collision for in a clear part of the sky no noise takes place but the more densely the clouds are collected in any quarter whatsoever with so much louder a noise does the thunder frequently proceed from that quarter the clouds too it is to be observed can neither be of so dense a substance as stones and wood are nor again a so subtle a consistent as flying mists and smoke are for in the one case they would either fall being brought down by their own dead weight or in the other they would like smoke be unable to keep together or to retain within them the cold snows and showers of hail clouds also produce a sound by certain motions a thwart the regions of the open sky as canvas stretched over the large theaters makes a noise when it is tossed about among the posts and beams sometimes a cloud is ruffled and torn in pieces by boisterous winds and then imitates the rattling noise of paper for that kind of crackling you may also observe in thunder or it sounds as when the winds shake with their blasts a hanging garment or flying sheets of parchment and rattle them in the air it sometimes happens moreover that clouds cannot so much come into collision front to front as meat side to side rubbing their masses slowly against one another with various movements winds that dry kind of sound which you may sometimes observe strikes upon the ear and which is protracted for some time until the clouds have escaped from the confined space thus to not unfrequently all things around convulsed with violent thunder seem to tremble and the mighty walls of the capacious world appear at once to have started and burst asunder and this happens when a collected body of strong wind has suddenly involved itself within a cloud and being shut up there forces the cloud as the whirling air stretches it more and more in all directions to become hollow but with a thick crust round the cavity afterwards when the strong force and spirit of the wind within has fermented it at length being emitted from confinement gives a crack with a frightfully crashing sound nor is this surprising when a small blather filled with air often produces suddenly burst a loud sound of a similar kind there's also another reason why the winds when they blow among the clouds may produce a sound for we often see branched and rough clouds carried about in the air in various directions so that such a noise may arise in the clouds as when the northwest gales blow through with thick wood and the leaves make a rustling and the boughs crackle it happens likewise at times that the vehement force of a strong blast tears a cloud asunder cleaving it through with a straight forward assault for what the wind may affect in the sky manifest experience demonstrates on the earth where though it is less violent it often overthrows and tears up lofty woods from their lowest routes there are also waves in the clouds which breaking heavily make murmuring noise such as is likewise excited in deep rivers and in the vast sea when it is broken and rages with the tide it occurs moreover that when the burning violence of lightning passes from one cloud into another the second cloud if it receives the fire into a large body of moisture immediately extinguishes it with a loud noise as hot iron taken from a glowing furnace hisses when we plunge it into the cold water standing near further if a cloud which is more dry than ordinary receives the lightning it is at once set on fire and scorched up with a loud sound such as is heard if a flame on any occasion spreads over hills covered with laurel burning it up with great fury and impelled by a storm of wind nor does any substance burn with a more startling sound as the flame crackles among its spouse then the Delphic laurel of Phoebus in addition we may observe that a great crushing of ice and fall of hail among the vast clouds in the sky frequently produce a loud sound for masses of cloud closely condensed and mixed with hail are when the wind compresses them shattered and broken to pieces it lightens also when the clouds by their collision have struck out numerous atoms of fire just as if a stone strikes another stone or a piece of iron for then in light manner a light bursts forth and scatters abroad bright sparks of fire but it always happens that we hear the sound of the thunder sometime after we perceive it lighten because objects which affect the hearing always come more slowly to the years than those which affect the sight arrive at the eye this you may easily understand from the following instance if you observe a man at a distance cutting down the trunk of a tree with an axe you will see the stroke itself before the noise of the stroke makes any sound in the air so too we see the lightning before we hear the thunder which however is emitted at the same time with the flash and produced from the same collision of the clouds clouds likewise sometimes tinge the parts around with swiftly diffused light and the storm gleams with tremulous order from the following cause when wind has penetrated a cloud and rolling about within it has made the cloud as i showed above become hollow in the middle and condensed round about it acquires heat by its own activity as you see all bodies glow when made warm by motion and the ball of lead from being whirled through a long space even melts this hot wind accordingly when it has burst a dark cloud suddenly scatters atoms of heat which are as it were driven out by its violence and which cause the vibrating gleams of the lightning then follows the noise which affects the ear more slowly than the beams which come to our eyes strike them this you will understand takes place when the clouds are condensed and when they are piled at the same time high above one another with extraordinary effect and do not be misled by the circumstance that we from below see more plainly how broad the clouds are than how high they are built up for observe their appearance when the winds will carry these clouds resembling great mountains along through the year or when you shall see on the sides of high hills some clouds piled upon others and those placed in the upper region while the winds are buried in repose pressing down those in the lower and you will then be able to comprehend their vastness of bulk and observe the caverns within them which are formed as it were of hanging rocks and when the winds at the rising of a tempest have filled them the winds themselves being thus confined within the clouds complain with a loud murmuring and utter threats like wild beasts in dense sometimes they send their roaring in one direction and sometimes in another through the clouds and seeking an outlet turn themselves about and roll together atoms of fire from the cloudy masses and thus they collect many igneous particles and whirl about the flames within as in hollow furnaces until the cloud having burst they dart forth with a flash from this cause also it happens that that gleaming golden color of liquid fire flies down upon the earth in as much as the clouds themselves must of necessity contain many atoms of fire as when they are without any moisture their color is generally fiery and shining for they must receive many igneous particles from the light of the sun so that they naturally look red and send forth fire when therefore the wind driving them along has thrust compressed and condensed them into one place they pour forth the atoms of fire which are squeezed out and which cause the color of flame to shine through the sky it likewise lightens when the clouds in heaven are rarified for when the wind gently divides and attenuates them as they pass those atoms which cause the lightning must fall even in spite of them and then it lightens without any great terror or sounds or commotion of what nature moreover the lightning consists its strokes and the signs and marks which are burned into objects by its fire and which exhale a strong scent of sulfur sufficiently indicate for these are tokens of fire and not of wind or rain besides lightning often set on fire the roofs of houses and revel with a swift flame throughout houses themselves for nature has formed this attenuated fire you may be sure of the most minute particles of flame and with the subtlest motions and atoms so that nothing whatever can resist it powerful lightning indeed passes through the walls of houses like sounds and voices it passes through stones and brass and melts breasts and gold in a moment it causes wine also to flow out suddenly from vessels which still remain entire because as is evident its heat at its contact easily relaxes and expands all the earthen substance of the vessel so that penetrating into the liquid itself it actively separates and dispels the atoms of the wine agitating it with its flashing heat to a degree which the warmth of the sun seems unable to produce in an age so much more active and forcible is this influence of lightning how these lightnings are generated and become possessed of such force that they can split towers with a stroke overturn houses tear away beams and planks demolish and scatter abroad the monuments of heroes deprive men of life destroy whole herds of cattle at once and with what power they can affect all other things of this kind i will now proceed to explain nor will i delay you longer with promises it must be admitted that lightnings are produced from clouds that are dense and piled high in the air for none are ever emitted from a clear sky or from clouds that are but thinly collected for doubtless manifest observation shows this to be the case because at the time when thunder is heard the clouds are condensed from all sides through the whole atmosphere so that we might suppose all the darkness to have left accurate and to have filled the immense vault of heaven so formidable when the dire gloom of storms has collected and when the tempest begins to forge its thunderbolts does the face of black terror impend over the earth from above over the sea too very frequently a black stormy cloud like a flood of pitch flowing down from heaven so terribly descends upon the waters and rolls onward in such thick darkness and draws with it a black tempest so pregnant with thunder and hurricanes being charged too to the utmost with fire and wind that even men upon land shudder and seek shelter in their houses thus therefore we must believe that tempestuous clouds rise high above our heads for neither could clouds overwhelm the earth with such thick darkness the sun being wholly obscured unless they were built up numbers upon numbers to a great height nor could they when descending in rain deluge the earth with such vast showers as to make the rivers overflow and the plains a sheet of water unless the atmosphere contained clouds ranged high over one another in the air therefore at the time of storms all parts of the clouds are replete with wind and fire and thus thunders and lightnings are produced for I have shown above that the hollow clouds must contain many atoms of heat and they must also of necessity receive many from the rays and warmth of the sun thus when the same wind which has collected the clouds by chance into any one place has elicited from them many atoms of heat and with that heat has mingled itself the vortex of wind compressed within the cloud whirls itself about in it and sharpens the lightning as in a hot furnace within its depths for this wind is heated in two ways it both grows warm by its own motion and by the contact of fire then when the substance of the wind has grown hot of itself where the strong influence of fire has excited it the lightning being ripe as it were bursts suddenly through the cloud and the fiery gleam is roused and driven forth illuminating all places with vibrating light close upon which follows the awful crash of thunder so that the regions of heaven above seem suddenly to be disrupted and to totter tremor then violently pervades the earth and murmurs run along the lofty skies for almost all the stormy air then trembles with the shock and loud noises are sent forth after which concussion follows heavy and abundant rain so that the whole sky seems to be turned into showers and thus falling precipitately to excite the waters to a new deluge so mightier sound issues forth from the explosion of a cloud and from a tempest of wind when the lightning flies abroad with its burning impetus sometimes to the vehement force of the wind falls upon a dense cloud externally striking when its summit just dried for explosion and when it has burst through it there flies out instantly the fiery vortex which we in our native language call lightning and this is not confined to one point only but extends to other parts wheresoever the force of the wind has diffused itself it happens at times also that a furious wind though issuing forth without fire yet ignites as it goes in a long space and protracted flight losing to in its course some of those larger atoms which cannot penetrate through the air equally with the smaller and collecting from the air itself as it flies through it some of those minute particles which when mixed generate fire almost in the same manner as a ball of lead very frequently grows hot in its course when throwing off many atoms of cold it conceives heat in the atmosphere it occurs moreover that the force of a mere stroke excites fire in a cloud when a cold blast of wind darting forth without any fire at all has struck upon it because as is evident when the wind has dashed against the cloud with the violent impetus atoms of heat may flow both from the wind itself and also from that cloudy substance which then receives its impact just as fire flies out when we strike a stone with iron nor because the substance of iron is cold do those particles of igneous brightness the less on that account flow together at the stroke thus any substance likewise must naturally be kindled by lightning if it be adapted and disposed to take fire nor can the substance of the wind be easily supposed to be altogether cold considering its rapid flight from the parts whence it was so forcibly discharged from above for though it be not kindled by heat in its descent before it arrives in the slower regions it yet comes to them tepid and mixed with warmth but the activity and impulse of the lightning are so great as you observe them to be and the thunderbolts in general fly with so swift a descent because the force of the wind when roused first collects itself fully within the clouds and makes a great struggle to issue forth then when the cloud can no longer restrain the increased violence of its efforts its fury bursts out and flies accordingly with wonderful impetus like darts which are hurled from powerful engines add to this that it consists of small and smooth particles nor is it easy for anybody to withstand so subtle a substance for it winds and penetrates through the most minute passages it is not therefore checked or delayed by many obstacles and it accordingly flies and spreads with the most active swiftness consider further that all bodies universally tend downwards by nature and that when an impulse is added the swiftness is doubled and the force aggravated so that whatever obstacles oppose its power it but the sooner and the more vigorously scatters them with a stroke and pursues its own course besides that which comes to the earth with a long flight must acquire speed which continually increases by progression and augments its vehement impetus and gives force to its stroke for its velocity causes whatever atoms there are in the body to be born forward as it were straight to one point combining them all as they roll on in that single direction perhaps the lightning too may in its passage through the sky attract to itself certain particles from the air which may increase the violence of its strokes and it passes through substances that remain uninjured and penetrates many objects that continue unaltered because the liquid fire finds a passage into them by the pores and many bodies it rends asunder where the atoms of the lightning strike against the atoms of their substances where they are held in close contextual it moreover easily dissolves brass and melts gold in a moment because its substance consists of infinitely small particles and of atoms that are smooth which easily penetrate bodies and when they have penetrated suddenly dissolve all connections and loosen all bonds the vault of heaven studded with glaring stars and the whole earth round about are shaken with thunder in autumn when the flowery season of spring displays itself more than at other times for in winter heat is deficient and in summer the winds fail and the clouds are not of so dense a consistent but when the seasons of the year are between the two all the various causes of thunder then concur for the intermediate portion of the year blends the cold and the heat both of which are necessary to produce thunder for us so that for the generation of it there may be a discord in things and that the atmosphere raging with heat and wind may be agitated with a vast tumble for the beginning of summer and the end of winter is the season of spring from which caused the two the similar natures heat and cold must at that time jar with one another and produce a commotion as they mingle and the termination of summer comes on meeting the commencement of winter at a time which is called the season of autumn and then to violent colds contend with violent heats these seasons may therefore be styled the war times of the year nor is it wonderful if at these conjunctures much thunder and lightning takes place and if tumultuous tempests are excited in the sky since there arises disturbance from doubtful strife on either hand heat contending on the one side and winds mingled with rain on the other this is the way to learn the true nature of igneous lightning and to understand by what power it produces every effect not to seek for indications of the hidden mind of the gods by turning over with futile research the verses of etruria superstitiously observing whence the fleeting fire has come or to which quarter it has turned itself how it has penetrated through wall departments and how having exercised its power it has extricated itself from them or what injury the stroke of a bolt from heaven can inflict but if Jupiter and the other gods shake the shine regions of heaven with terrific thunder and hurl the lightning whither so ever each has thought fit why do they not take special care that those who are guilty of reckless and detestable wickedness may, being struck, inhale the flames of lightning into their pierced breasts as a bitter warning to mortals and why rather is he who is conscious to himself of no one disgraceful act involved and overwhelmed innocent as he is with flames and carried off suddenly with a whirlwind and fire from heaven why also if the gods hurl thunderbolts at men do they ever seek solitary places and labor in vain or do they then exercise their arms and strengthen their elbows and why it may be asked do they suffer the weapon of father Jupiter to be blunted against the earth or why does he himself suffer it and not save it for his enemies furthermore why does Jupiter never hurl his bolts over the earth and scatter brought thunder from a clear sky does he wait till storms threaten and when the clouds have spread over the heaven come down into their vortex that he may hensane the strokes of his weapon from a nearer point for what reason moreover does he hurl his bolts into the sea of what does he accuse the waves and the watery flood and the liquid planes besides if he wishes us to guard against the blow of the thunderbolt why does he hesitate to contrive means that we may see it when it's hurled but if he desires to overwhelm us with his lightning unawares why does he thunder in the quarter from which he aims so that we may avoid it why does he first excite darkness and noises and murmurings in the air and how can you believe that he hurls his bolts in various directions at the same time or would you venture to say it never occurs that many strokes take effect at the same time but it has often occurred and must often occur that as in a storm rains and showers fall on many places at once so many thunder strokes are discharged on the earth at the same moment moreover why does he shatter the sacred temples of the other gods and his own stately abodes with his destructive lightning and why does he break in pieces the well wrought statues of the divinities and rob his own images of honor by violent disfigurement and why does he generally aim at high places at which it is evident that he does aim in as much as we see most traces of his fire and see them more distinctly upon the loftiest mountains end of section 16 section 17 of on the nature of things this is a lipovox recording all lipovox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit lipovox.org recording by ano simon on the nature of things by lucrisis translated by john selby watson section 17 book 6 part 2 furthermore it is easy to understand from these observations how those phenomena which the greeks from their nature have called presteris sent down from above descend into the sea for it sometimes happens that they drop like a column let down from the sky into the ocean around which column the waters boil being excited by violent blasts of wind and whatever vessels are then caught in that vortex are tossed about and incur the greatest danger this occurs when as is at times the case the impetuous force of the wind is not able to burst the cloud of which it has taken possession but bears it down so that it becomes by degrees like a pillar reaching from the heaven into the sea as if something were thrust down from above with a hand and the force of an arm and stretched into the waters hence when the fury of the wind has burst the cloud it rushes forth into the sea and excites an extraordinary agitation among the waves for the blast descends as a rolling roll wind and brings down with it the cloud which is of a yielding substance and not easy to be disrupted and when it has once thrust the heavy body of the cloud into the water of the ocean it suddenly plunges itself wholly into the waves and disturbs all the sea with a mighty noise forcing it to boil with agitation it happens also at times that a vortex of wind involves itself in clouds gathering up cloudy atoms from the air and imitates as it were a presta sent down from heaven when this vortex has descended to the earth and has burst it vomits forth and tempests abroad the impetuous fury of a whirlwind but such a vortex because it is formed but seldom and because the hills must obstruct its progress on the land appears more commonly in the wide prospect and open atmosphere over the sea clouds are formed when many atoms of a rough and hooked nature flying in the higher region of the heaven above us have suddenly come together and combined atoms which though attached only in a slight degree may yet be helped united in a body these first cause small clouds to gather those small clouds then unite and are combined with one another and as they join swell and are carried along by the winds with such violence that at length a raging tempester rises it occurs too that the nearer to any part of the sky the elevated summits of the hills are so much the more constantly do they smoke as it were with a thick mist of a yellow cloud because when the clouds first gather and before the eye can discern their thin substance the winds carrying them off collect them on the highest tops of the hills here at last it happens that when a larger collection is formed one dense and solid cloud seems both to show itself and to rise at the same time from the summit of the hills into the clear sky for the nature of the ground itself and our own perceptions as we climb high mountains demonstrate that breezy eminences are open to the ascent of exhalations besides that nature raises many atoms of vapor from the whole surface of the ocean garments suspended upon the shore testify in as much as they contract and retain moisture to augment the clouds therefore many atoms seem likely to arise from the motion of the salt water for the nature and action of all waters is similar moreover we observe mists and vapors arise from all rivers and from the earth itself also which exhaled from it like a breath are in the same manner carried upwards and cover the sky with obscurity and uniting together by degrees form clouds high in the air for the influence of the starry heaven above too keeps down the vapors and condensing them weaves the blue sky over as it were with clouds it is possible likewise that to this assemblage of clouds may come seminal atoms from without the heaven which may assist to form mists and flying storms for i've shown that the number of primordial atoms is countless and at the extent of the death of space is infinite and i've demonstrated too with how great celerity seminal particles fly and how instantaneously they have power to pass through an inexpressible distance it is not therefore wonderful if storms and darkness diffused from above cover in a short time such vast mountains as well as the whole sea and land since on every side exits and entrances are allowed to the elemental atoms through all the passages of the air and as it were through all the breathing places of the vast universe around attend now and i will explain how rain collects in the clouds above and how the showers are precipitated and descend upon the earth in the first place i shall observe that many atoms of moisture arise together with the clouds themselves from all things on the earth and at both these substances the clouds in the water which is contained in the clouds increase together in the same manner as our body grows together with blood that is in it and as sweat and other moisture which are diffused throughout the limbs are augmented together with them the clouds too when the wind drives them over the white sea frequently attract much moisture from the salt water like fleeces of wool suspended in the air in like manner moisture is raised from all rivers into the clouds where when numerous particles of water have in many ways collected and have been augmented from every quarter the swollen clouds strive for two reasons to discharge themselves for the force of the wind presses them and the mass of clouds itself when a greater body than ordinary has united urges and weighs them down from above and makes the rain flow forth upon the earth moreover when the clouds are verified by the wind or when they are dissolved by the influence of the sun's heat from above they forthwith discharge rain their moisture distilling as wax thoroughly melted drops over a strong fire but violent rain takes place when the clouds are vehemently erred by both forces being densely heaped upon one another and pressed by the impetuosity of the wind and rains are accustomed to last long and to continue for a considerable period when many particles of moisture flow together and when there are clouds on clouds heaped one over another pouring down water from above and from every part around and when the whole earth fuming with vapor sends back moisture into the air then when the sun in the midst of a dark storm and when the rain descends opposite to him has shone upon the shower with his rays the use of the rainbow appear upon the black clouds other matters which gather above us and are produced above us and all bodies all i say without exception which collect in the clouds as snow wind hail and cold frost as well as the strong power of ice the great hardener of the waters and their strained which everywhere delays the eager rivers all these though numerous it is yet very easy to understand and to comprehend how they are produced and from what cause they arise when you have thoroughly learned what virtues and qualities belong to the atoms which constitute their substance give me now your attention further and learn what is the cause of earthquakes and first suppose the earth to be below as it is above filled in every part with airy caverns and containing also in its bosom many lakes and many pools as well as stones and fissured rocks while you must likewise suppose that it rolls along forcibly beneath the surface of the soil many hidden rivers floods and submerged rocks for nature herself requires that the earth be similar to itself throughout these points then being laid down and abided the earth quakes on the surface when it is shaken by great falls of substances beneath as when age brings down vast caverns for then whole mountains sink and from the violent shock tremlings spread far and wide in a moment an effect which we may naturally imagine since whole houses totter by the side of a road when shaken with wagons though of no great weight nor are edifices less agitated when the stout drivers of chariots hurry along the street the iron rounds of the wheels it happens also that when a large mass of earth rolls down from the effects of time into a wide and deep pool of water the water is agitated and the earth too trembles with the concussion of the flood as a vessel of liquid cannot stand still upon the ground unless the liquid after being shaken has ceased to sway with a rocking motion within it moreover when wind collected in the hollow places under the earth bears strongly from one quarter and struggling with fast power crowds into the deep caverns the earth towards the part where the force of the blast directs itself inclines and gives way and then the buildings which are erected upon the earth's surface sloping and being driven from the perpendicular lean in the same direction and so much the more as they respectively rise higher into the air while the beams being stretched stand out as ready to start from their places and do man hesitate to believe that a time of ruin and destruction awaits the whole fabric of the world when they see so vast a mass of the earth give way whereas even now unless the winds were to remit their fury no power could save all things or could hinder them from going to destruction but because they relax and struggle by turns and as if collecting their force returned to the charge and then retreat as if repulsed the earth on this account often a threatens ruin then actually suffers it for it inclines and starts back as it were only for a time and then making an effort with its whole weight recovers its station from this cause accordingly all our houses tremble and reel the highest more than the middling the middling more than the lowest the lowest scarcely at all there is also this cause of great quaking of the earth to be mentioned when wind and any vast quantity of air collected either without or within the earth has suddenly thrown itself into hollow places under the ground it there rages at first with violent fury among the vast caverns and rolls and urges itself along but at length when its force is roused and excited it bursts forth abroad and cleaning the deep soil forms a huge yawning chasm as happened in syrian sydon and was seen at egypt in the peloponises which cities such an eruption of air and that earthquake produced at the same time overthrew and destroyed many other cities also by reason of violent earthquakes have sunk down to the ground and many cities with their inhabitants have been overwhelmed in the sea but if the force of the air and violent fury of the wind do not burst through the soil they had spread like shattering blasts through the numerous openings in the ground and thus cause a tremor on the surface as cold when it penetrates into our limbs shakes them and compels them to tremble and quiver against our will men therefore in cities are appalled on such occasions with double terror for they dread the buildings above them and are afraid at the same time lest the earth should suddenly break up the deaths below lest being disrupted and disordered it should open wide its jaws and prepare to fill them with its own ruins though men therefore think that the heavens and the earth will be imperishable and are entrusted to eternal safety yet at times the present influence of danger causes in some degree the sensation of fear a fear lest the earth suddenly withdrawn from beneath their feet should sink down into a gulf unless the sum of things utterly overthrown should follow it and only a confused wreck of the world remain i must now proceed to give a reason why the sea knows no augmentation in the first place men wonder that nature does not necessarily enlarge the ocean into which there are so greater conflicts of waters and into which the rivers run from all quarters but add to the rivers if you please the wondering showers and flying storms which scatter and discharge themselves over all the sea and the earth add if you please the sources of the rivers yet all these compared with the vastness of the sea are but as one drop of water for the augmentation of the whole it is no wonder therefore that the mighty ocean is not increased besides the sun by the influence of his heat draws a large portion away from it for we observe how the sun dries with his burning rays garments that are drenched with moisture but the ocean we see is large and widely extended beneath his beams and although therefore the sun may exhale but a small portion of the moisture from each spot on the sea it will yet deduct a large quantity from its waters throughout so great an extent of service moreover the winds the winds i say which sweep the ocean may carry off a considerable portion of its liquid for we often see the roads after being drenched with rain dried in a single night and a crust of mud which before was soft hardened and congealed upon them the clouds too i've before shown take up a large quantity of moisture which is attracted by them from the vast surface of the ocean and which they sprinkle in various parts over the whole round of the earth at times when rain falls on the ground and when the winds drive the clouds outward the sky lastly since the earth is of a porous consistence and is in contact with the sea encompassing the shores of the deep on all sides the water as it flows from the earth into the sea must likewise pass reciprocally from the salt sea into the earth for the salt is strained off and the pure substance of the water flows back into the ground and collects altogether at the sources of rivers from once it returns in fresh streams over the earth wherever passage once cut has conveyed the flood in its liquid cause i shall now explain what is the cause that fires at times burst forth with such tempestuous fury from the jaws of mount etna for it was not from any divine origin of calamity that a storm of fire rising and raging over the fields of the Sicilians attracted to itself the attention of the neighboring nations when observing all the regions of heaven covered with smoke and gleaming with flames they felt their breasts filled with awful anxiety dreading what new catastrophe nature might design to produce in contemplating such subjects as these you must stretch your view widely and deeply and look far abroad in all directions that you may remind yourself that the sum of things is vast and reflect how very small how infinitely small a part of the whole universe is this one haven not even so considerable a part as one man is of the whole earth this point if you fully consider and fully understand when it is fairly presented to your mind you may forbear to wonder at many things which now excite your admiration for in respect to our own bodies which of us is surprised if any of his neighbors has contracted a fever that spreads through his frame with a burning heat or has felt any other painful disease in his limbs since the foot often swells on a sudden a sharp pang frequently seizes their teeth or darts through the eyes erosipilis arises and creeping through the frame burns whatever part it has attacked and spreads itself over the limbs nor is it strange that such melodies should occur for there are atoms ready to produce many effects and this earth and air contain seeds enough of noxious disease from which an abundance of infinite disorder may have its growth thus too we must suppose that as to our own bodies so to the whole heaven and earth are plentifully supplied all kinds of atoms from the immensity of matter by the effects of which the earth being suddenly moved may quake with agitation while a rapid hurricane may rush over sea and land the fire of ethna may swell forth and the heaven be in a blaze for even this happens even the celestial regions glow with heat thus too storms of rain arise with a greater combination of force when particles of moisture have in like manner chance to unite themselves but the raging fire of ethna you will say is extraordinarily great doubtless I answer and a river which has been seen by any person appears extraordinarily great to him who has never before seen a greater and a man or a tree possibly appears large to the eyes of some animals and everyone imagines everything of every sort which is the greatest that he has seen to be extremely large although all things that he beholds together with the heaven and the earth and the ocean are as nothing in comparison with the entire sum of the entire whole I will now however explain by what causes the fire of ethna when suddenly excited bursts forth from its vast furnaces in the first place the fabric of the mountain is hollow underneath supported for the most part by arches of flintstone in all the caverns more over is wind and air for air when is moved by any agitating impulse becomes wind when this air then has grown hot and has heated all the rocks and earth round about as far as it reaches and elicited from them fire raging with violent flames it mounts up and thus expels the blaze straight from the jaws of the mountain high into the air and spreads it far abroad and scatters the embers to a great distance and rolls forth smoke heavy with thick darkness while it darts out at the same time rocks of a wonderful weight you cannot therefore doubt but that it is the violent falls of air which produces these effects besides the sea for considerable distance ultimately breaks its waves and again retracts its tide at the base of that mountain from this sea caverns extend underground as far as the ascending jaws of the mountain by these caverns you must admit for fact absolutely compels you that blasts of wind enter and penetrate from the open sea and thus exalt the flame and cast up rocks and raise clouds of sand for on the summit of the mountains are craters as the greek call them but which we call jaws and mouths there are some phenomena too for which it is not sufficient to assign merely one cause but it is requisite to enumerate many of which however only one can be the true cause as if for example you should see the dead body of a man lying on the ground at a distance you naturally run over all the probable causes of his death that the one cause of it may be sure to be mentioned for neither perhaps can you prove that he died by the salt nor of the effects of cold nor by disease nor by poison but we know that it is something of this destructive nature that has happened to him this same observation we may make in respect to many other things the Nile the river of all Egypt is the only one of all streams in the world that swells to a summer and inundates the fields this river waters Egypt from time to time during the middle of the hot season and this happens possibly because the north winds which are said to be Ethesian winds prevail at that time in the summer over against the mouth of the river and blowing up the stream retarded and thus forcing the flood up the channel fill it and compel the waters to stagnate for without doubt these breezes which come from the cold stars of the north pole advance against the stream the river flows from the warm countries taking its rise from the extreme south and from the regions of noonday amidst the races of mankind blackened with scorching heat it is possible also that a great collection of sand at times when the sea excited by the wind drives the sand within the bed of the river may cause obstruction at the mouth of the stream to the waters coming towards it by this means it may happen that the outlet of the river may be less free and the current of the water likewise may be rendered less impetuous it is also possible perhaps that rain may fall more abundantly near its source at the very time when the Ethesian winds from the north drive all the clouds into those parts for when the clouds impelled towards the regions of the south have collected there in a body they are at last pressed and driven against the lofty mountains and compelled by the force of the wind to discharge their waters perhaps too it may have its increase entirely from the high hills of the Ethiopians at the time when the sun shining on all parts of them forces the white snow with its dissolving rays to descend in a flood upon the plains give me now your attention and i will show with what nature and qualities the regions and lakes which are called Avernian are distinguished in the first place as to the circumstance that they are named Avernian that name has been given them from their peculiar property in as much as they are destructive to all kinds of birds and because when any of the feathered tribe have in their flight come over against those parts forgetful of their steerage they relax the sails of their pinions and sinking down with powerless neck fall headlong on the ground if perchance the nature of the parts beneath allow them to fall thus or into the water if a lake of Avernus happened to be stretched under them such a spot is near Cumi where the hills smoke from being charged with a vivid sulfur and abounding with hot springs there is also a place within the walls of Athens on the very summit of the hill close by the temple of bountiful Tritonian palace to which the horse crowds never direct their flight not even when the altars smoke with offerings so carefully do they avoid not the violent wrath of palace on account of watchfulness as the poets of the greek have sung but the fumes of the sulfur for the nature of the place produces this effect of itself there is also reported to be a place in Syria plainly to be seen to which as soon as four footed animals have directed their steps the very nature of it causes them to fall heavily on the earth as if they were suddenly made a sacrifice to the infernal deities but all these things are affected by the operation of nature and the origin of them and from what causes their rise is apparent so that the gate of Tartarus must not be thought to be situated in these regions nor moreover must we imagine that the infernal deities can possibly draw souls down from hence into the coasts of Acheron as swift stags with the breath of their nostrils are often supposed to draw the crawling tribes of serpents from their hiding places but observe i pray you how far all this is at variance with just reasoning for i now proceed to give you a full explanation concerning this very subject in the first place i assert this which i have also frequently asserted before that there are in the earth all kinds of forms of the atoms of things of which there are many that are wholesome for food and many that may bring on disease and hasten death we have also previously shown that for different animals with regard to the substance of life some substances are better adapted than others on account of their dissimilar natures and opposite constitution one to the other and the primary figures of their seminal particles many noxious atoms pass through the ears many that are offensive and harsh to the sense penetrate through the nostrils nor are there few only which are to be avoided by the touch or shunned by the sight or which are bitter to the taste you may notice too how many things are of a violently pernicious influence on mankind both disagreeable and deadly to certain trees we may first observe has been assigned a poisonous shade so that they often cause pains in the head if anyone lies stretched on the grass beneath them there is likewise on the high mountains of helicon a tree which has been known to kill a man by the malignant odor of its blossom all these destructive substances you will understand spring from the ground because the earth contains many seeds of many things mingled in many ways and distributes them separately to different productions and when a night taper just extinguished strikes a person's nostrils with a pungent odor it takes away his senses so that he falls down on the very spot as when that disease takes effect which is accustomed to stretch man at full length and a woman overcome with a strong scent of castor if she has smelled it at the time at which she discharges her menses falls backward and her elegant work drops from her tender hands and many other things relax the organs causing them to languish throughout the body and disturb the soul in its seat within besides if with a stomach too full you even stay long in a warm bath or are drenched in a layer of tepid water how easily may it often happen that you may fall down fainting in the middle of it and how easily does the oppressive vapor and scent of charcoal find an entrance into the brain unless we have first taken a draft of water but when it has penetrated through all the well-warmed apartments of a house the odor of wine then falls like a deadly blow up on the nerves do you not observe also that sulfur is produced in the earth itself and that bitumen with its offensive smell forms concretions in it when moreover men seek for veins of silver and gold searching the hidden death of the earth with iron instruments how strong an odor does the mine exhale from beneath or have you not learned how much poison is in the earth for gold mines to exhale what sort of looks and complexions do they produce in the men who work in them do you not remark or hear from others in how short a time they are wont to waste away and how length of life is necessarily withheld from those whom superior power confines in such an employment the earth evidently steams forth all these vapors and breathe them out into the region of the air which are open and ready to receive them so likewise the regions of Avernus must send up from beneath a vapor destructive to birds a vapor which ascends from the earth into the air in such abundance as to poison the body of the atmosphere to a certain extent so that as soon as a bird has been born there on its wings it is there stopped being so violently affected by the invisible poison that it drops down over against the spot where the exhalation raises itself and when the bird has fallen there the same force of the exhalation takes away the remains of life from all its members for at first it only excites as it were a certain giddiness in the birds but afterwards when they are fallen from on high on the very sources of the poison it comes to pass that they must there yield up even their life because a vast quantity of the poisonous exhalation surrounds them it happens also at times that this vapor and exhalation of Avernus disperses the air which intervenes between the birds and the earth so that that portion of the atmosphere is left from this cause almost empty and when the birds in their flight have come over against this pod the effort of their wings immediately holds and grows ineffectual and every struggle of their opinions on either side is unsupported thus when they are unable to flap their wings or to rest upon them nature you will understand compels them to descend to the earth by their own weight and accordingly sinking down through the part which is almost a vacuum they disperse abroad their lives through every pore of the body end of section 17