LUC 
Latin poet, was a Roman, but whether of the ancient 
Lucretian family is uncertain. According to the_ Eufe- 
bian Chronicle, he was born about B.C. 96. It is pro¬ 
bable that he was fent to Athens when young, and there 
fludied philofophy under Zeno the Sidonian, a celebrated 
Epicurean, and Phaedrus. We have no other anecdote 
of his life than the romantic one, that an amatory philtre 
beino- adminiftered to him by his wife, he was rendered 
infane, and thenceforth had only intervals of reaf'on, dur¬ 
ing which he compofed the poem which has conferred fo 
much celebrity on his name. It is laid that he died by 
his own hand, in the forty-fourth year of his age. 
The poem of Lucretius in fix books, entitled De Rerum 
Natura, was the firth accurate ftatement of the Epicurean 
philofophy in the Latin language. It is an example of 
the great freedom with which opinions contradictory to 
the eftablilhed religion were at that time maintained ; for 
no writer has in (Ironger terms controverted all the popu¬ 
lar notions of heathenifm, and even thofe fundamental 
points in all religion, the exillence of a creative power, 
a providence, and the immortality of the foul. His lan¬ 
guage and verfification partake of the rudenefs of an early 
period of literature; and, in the argumentative parts of 
his works the poet is frequently fcarce difcernible. But, 
where the fubjeCt admits of elevated fentimentor defcrip- 
tive beauty, no poet, at lead no Roman poet, has taken a 
loftier flight, or exhibited more fpirit and fublimity. Nor is 
it only in detached paffages that he has difplayed the ge¬ 
nius of a true poet; the fame animated ftrain is fupported 
almofl throughout entire books, when he gets free from 
the trammels of his fyflem. Virgil ftudied him clofely, 
and has borrowed much of his diftion. The morality of 
Lucretius is generally pure, although fome of his defcrip- 
tions are grofs and "licentious. The abfurd impiety of 
his philofophy cannot now be accounted dangerous; and 
the graved: characters in modern times have not fcrupled 
the office of his editors and commentators. 
The belt editions of his work are thofe of Creech, 
Oxon. 8vo. 1695; of Havercamp, Lugd. B. 2 vol. 410. 
1715 ; and of Wakefield, Lond. 3 vels. 1796. This lad 
edition had become extremely rare, on account of the fire 
which deftroyed the greater part of the impreffion. Mr. 
Good, the tranflator of the poem into blank verfe, and 
wdiofe work was publifhed in 1805, has therefore given the 
entire text from Mr. Wakefield’s edition, which had been 
collated and printed with the utmoft care by that learned 
and much-to-be-lamented claflical fcholar. In the tranf- 
lation juft referred to, there are, befides elaborate annota¬ 
tions, a critical account of the principal editions and tranf- 
lations of his author, a hillory of the poet, a vindication of 
his charafter and philofophy from vulgar mifreprefentation, 
and a comparative fiatement of the rival fyftems of philo¬ 
fophy that fiouriffied in the time of Lucretius. In this 
poem the tranflator imagines he has difcovered the induc¬ 
tive method of the illultrious Bacon ; part of the fublime 
phyfics of fir I. Newton, and various chemical difcoveries of 
our own days, in a furpriling degree anticipated, as to their 
principles and many important refults.—The firlt tranfla- 
tion of Lucretius into a living language was, we believe, 
that of Marolles into French about the middle of the 17th 
century. At nearly the fame period, a verfion of this poet 
was attempted by our countryman Evelyn: but, having 
completed only a fixth part of his talk, he abandoned it as 
too weighty for his powers ; and he refigned to Creech the 
merit of firlt placing an entire tranflation of the poem in 
the hand of the Englilh reader. As a fcholar and a poet, 
Creech was eminently qualified for the undertaking-in 
which he engaged, and yet his fuccefs cannot be pro¬ 
nounced to be great. His production betrays every-where 
the inaccuracies of a writer who acquiefces in the firlt 
fuggeltions of his mind, and who is more defirous of finifh- 
ing, than ambitious of finishing well. His pages are at 
once redundant and defective; and occafionally they dif- 
cover the conceits of a vitiated talt'e in the molt direct 
oppofition to the ample character and the majeftic genius 
LUC 751 
of the Roman original. On fome of the more poetic paf- 
fages of this author, the great Dryden bellowed the vigour 
and the harmony of his mufe; and his tranllations in 
this inltance, which are executed with his accultomed fu- 
periority of power, leave us-only to regret that they are 
not extended to every part of this illultrious and philo- 
phic bard. Lucretius has been tranflated very recently by 
Dr. Bulby. 
LUCRIF'EROUS, adj. Gainful ; profitable_Silver 
was afterwards feparated from the gold, but in fo fmall 3 
quantity, that the experiment, the colt and pains con- 
fidered, was not lucriferous. Boyle. 
LUCRIF'IC, adj. Producing gain. 
LUCRIF'ICABLE, adj. Bringing gain. Bailey. 
LUCRI'NO, a lake near Naples, anciently celebrated 
for its green oy Iters and other filh; it was feparated from 
the fea only by a bank thrown up by the labour of man. 
In the year 1538, an earthquake formed a mountain near 
two miles in circumference, and two hundred feet iti 
height; (Lempriere lays, four miles round, and 1000 feet 
high ;) with a crater in the middle, confining of lava, 
burned (tones, fcoria, &c. which left no appearance of a 
lake, but a morafs ; filled with grafs and rulhes. 
LU'CROUS, adj. Full of gain. Bailey. 
LUCTA'TION,/ [ /#C?or, Lat.] Struggle; effort; con- 
teft. 
LUCTIF'EROUS, adj. [from the Lat. lultus, for row, 
and fero, to bring.] Producing forrow. Scott. 
LUCTIF'IC, adj. Caufing forrow. Scott. 
LUCTIS'ONOUS, adj. Uttering forrow; making a 
mournful found. Scott. 
LUC'FUOUS, adj. Sorrowful ; full of forrow. Scott. 
To LU'CUBRATE, v.a. \_lucubror, Lat. ] To watch j 
to (tudy by night. 
LUCUBRA'TION,/! Study by candle-light; noctur¬ 
nal ftudy 5 any thing compofed by night.—Thy lucubra¬ 
tions have been perilled by feveralof our friends. Tatler. 
LUCUBR A'TORY, adj. Compofed by candle-light.— 
You mult have a dilh of coffee, and a folitary candle at 
your fide, to write an epiftle lucubratory to your friends. 
Pope. 
LU'CULENCE,y [front luculent.} Clearnefs; certainty. 
LU'CULENT, adj. [luculentus, l. at.] Clear; tranfpa- 
rent; lucid. This word is perhaps not uled in this fenle 
by any other writer : 
And luculent along 
The purer rivers flow. Thomfon's Winter. 
Certain ; evident.—They are, againft the obftinate incre¬ 
dulity of the Jews, the molt luculent teftimonies that Chrif- 
tian religion hath. Hooker. 
LUCUL'LIAN GA'MES, in antiquity, were annual 
games decreed by the province of Alia, about the year 70 
before Chrift, in honour of the exploits of Lucullus. 
LUCUL'LUS (Lucius Licinus), a Roman commander, 
who has been celebrated for his luxury, as well as for his 
military talents, was born about the year 115 before the 
Chriflian era. As a military man, he was firlt noticed 
with applaufe in the Marlian war ; and was, on account 
of his good conduCt, made an edile. He was employed 
by Sylla in many important concerns, and during the liege 
of Athens was fent by that commander into Egypt and 
Lybia, to procure a fupply of (hips. With relpeCl to 
king Ptolemy he was unfuccefsful; but he pleaded the 
caufe of his employer with more effeCt in other places, 
and collected a fleer, with which he gave two defeats to 
that of Mithridates, and convoyed Sylla’s troops from the 
Thracian Cherfonefus. After the peace he was appointed 
quEeftor in Afia, and praetor in Africa, in which offices he 
rendered himfelf illultrious by his Jultice, moderation, and 
humanity. He was railed to the confullhip when he was 
about forty years of age, and entrulted with the care of 
the Mithridatic war; his firlt prowefs was conlpicuous in 
refcuing his colleague Cotta, whom the enemy had be- 
fieged in Chakedonia. This was foon followed by a ce- 
s iebisiejS 
