Editing Epicureanism (section)

===On Nature===
On Nature ({{langx|grc|Περὶ φύσεως}}) is the name of a philosophical treatise in 37 books consisting of lectures written by Epicurus,<ref name="Long">{{Cite book | last=Long |first =A. A. | title=Hellenistic Philosophy | edition=2. | page=18 | publisher=University of California Press | year=1986}}</ref><ref name="Konstan">{{SEP|epicurus|Epicurus|David Konstans|16 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=O'Keefe| first=Tim | title=The Reductionist and Compatibilist Argument of Epicurus' ''On Nature'', Book 25 | journal=Phronesis | volume=47 | number=2 | year=2002 | pages=153–186 | doi=10.1163/15685280260028377 | jstor=4182694 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4182694}}</ref> which can be considered his main work, however, it has mostly been lost. Some excerpts have survived compiled from [[Herculaneum papyri|burnt papyri scrolls]] found in the [[Villa of the Papyri]] at [[Herculaneum]]. Most of the surviving papyri are kept in the [[Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III|National Library of Naples]]. Important parts of Book II are preserved in the [[British Museum]].<ref name="Long"/><ref name="Konstan"/>

Since most of the 37 books "On Nature" are lost,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.epicurism.info/etexts/ier.html|title = Epicurus.info : E-Texts : Introduction to the Epicurus Reader}}</ref> the Principal Doctrines and Epicurus' Letters to Herodotus, Menoeceus, and Pythocles are the most authoritative writings on Epicureanism. Similarly, Lucretius' poem ''[[De rerum natura]]'' probably follows Epicurus' work.<ref name="Konstan"/>