The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

A poet of the late Roman Republic, Lucretius is a follower of the philosopher Epicurus, who espouses the pursuit of pleasure instead of the pieties of religious superstition. Lucretius’ poems influence other Roman poets, including Virgil and Horace. Lucretius’ only surviving work, On the Nature of Things, is nearly lost to history but rescued from oblivion in 1417 by papal secretary Poggio, who discovers the work in a monastery and copies it for posterity. The beautiful poem is read widely by artists, philosophers, and writers; its ideas undermine some of the harsh tenets of medieval Christian philosophy and encourage the development of the Renaissance and, ultimately, modern scientific, cultural, religious, and political thought. 

A third-century BC Greek philosopher, Epicurus believes that the universe is made of atoms that obey physical laws and are unaffected by divine intervention. Thus, humans ought to abandon their fear of gods, who can’t possibly care what people do, and instead pursue pleasure and happiness. Though a prolific writer, nearly all his works are lost. Epicurus’ best representative is the Roman poet Lucretius, whose poem On the Nature of Things explains Epicureanism and has a huge influence on Renaissance artists and thinkers. 

A brilliant, if testy, priest, Bruno’s advocacy of an Epicurean idea—that the Earth is but one of countless planets orbiting countless stars—angers church fathers. Arrested in the late 1500s, he endures years of persecution by the Inquisition, which finally declares him a heretic in 1600 and has him burned at the stake.

Hus is a Czech priest who rails publicly against clerical corruption, especially the sale of indulgences that purport to save purchasers from centuries in the Purgatorial afterlife. He becomes a thorn in the side of the Catholic hierarchy, which imprisons him in 1415 and has him burned at the stake. He is the first of a line of priests who will battle church fathers during the next few hundred years. 

During the 1400s, the Catholic pope is the absolute ruler of Rome and its surrounds; he controls an army, makes religious edicts that affect all of Europe, and his foreign policy decisions affect the affairs of Italian city-states as well as principalities elsewhere on the continent. In short, the pope is extremely powerful in secular as well as spiritual affairs; he is also at the top of a corrupt and venal clerical political system. For much of the early- and mid-1400s, several popes rely on the services of papal secretary Poggio.

Niccoli comes from a wealthy family, which permits him to indulge a lifelong interest in collecting antiquities. He and Poggio meet as students of Salutati and become friends, and it is to Niccoli that Poggio sends his copy of On the Nature of Things as soon as he recovers the poem from a monastery. Thus, Niccoli is one of the original emissaries of the text that helps to launch the Renaissance. Niccoli and Poggio also are the two main inventors of italic script. 

Longtime chancellor of the Florentine Republic—essentially Florence’s foreign minister—Salutati mentors young men who display an aptitude for scholarly work. One of his best pupils is Poggio, who applies what he learns from Salutati to the hunt for lost ancient manuscripts and locates the poem On the Nature of Things, which helps launch the Renaissance. Another of Salutati’s students is Niccoli, who helps to invent italic script, becomes an early and prolific collector of ancient artifacts, and who, with Poggio’s help, preserves classical Greco-Roman texts. 

Born to a family of Neapolitan pirates, Cossa grows into a shrewd governor and cardinal, eventually becoming pope. His papacy is threatened by an ongoing schism in the church, and two other high church officials claim his throne. Cossa’s administration, mired in controversy and scandal, becomes a target of church elders; he is deposed in 1415 and imprisoned for three years, but manages thereafter to have himself reinvested as a cardinal. He dies in 1419. His personal secretary, Poggio, cast adrift when Cossa is deposed, decides at first to hunt, not for another job, but for rare books. This leads to the discovery of the ancient poem On the Nature of Things, which helps launch the Renaissance. Thus, Cossa’s ouster becomes, by chance, the beginning of the modern age. 

Theodosius is the Roman emperor who, in 391 CE, makes Christianity the official religion of the empire and bans paganism in all its forms. This certifies Christian power in Europe for centuries to come; it also suppresses works, such as Lucretius’ poem On the Nature of Things, that lie dormant during the Middle Ages, and whose rediscoveries help launch the Renaissance. Theodosius’ rule is tolerant of extreme Christian clerics such as Theophilus and Cyril, who help to destroy the pagan Alexandrian Library and kill its most famous director, Hypatia.

A 16th-century French essayist, Montaigne is heavily influenced by Epicurean ideals espoused in Lucretius’ rediscovered poem On the Nature of Things. He is especially fond of Epicurus’ advocacy of pleasure as a worthy pursuit, and of Epicurean calmness in the face of death. Montaigne’s many citations of verses from the poem influence Shakespeare, who brings Epicurean ideas into his plays.