1 Earliest Rome

2. THE DEITIES OI' ROME
2.7e Magna Mate)- as the Earth
Like other deities, Magna Mater was interpreted in numerous different ways.
Here Lucretius treats her as an allegory of the Earth and explains her attributes
in terms ofthat allegory.
See further: West (1964) 103-14*; Jope (1985).
Lucretius, On the Nature of Things, 11.581-628
In this connection you should also keep in mind one other fact, sealed and treasured in
your memory: there is nothing, whose nature is clearly visible to us, that consists of one
type of element only, and nothing that is not formed from a mixture of different kinds of
particle; and the more powers and qualities any particular substance has, so it shows us
that there are within it elements of very many different typcs and shapes. First, the earth
contains the primordial matter from which the Springs, rolling down their coolness,
constantly replenish the vast sea; and it possesses the matter that gives birth to fire. For in
many places the earths surface smoulders and burns, and from its depths the eruptions of
Etna 1 blaze furiously. Then too it has the capacity to bring forth shining crops and
bounteous orchards for the races of men, and to furnish rivers and leaves and bounteous
pastures for the breed of wild beasts that roams the mountains. That is why this one
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