Lucretius,
On the Nature of Things 2.75-79 (tr. W.H.D. Rouse, rev. Martin F. Smith):
Thus the sum of things is ever being renewed, and mortal creatures live dependent one upon another. Some species increase, others diminish, and in a short space the generations of living creatures are changed and, like runners, pass on the torch of life.
sic rerum summa novatur
semper, et inter se mortales mutua vivunt:
augescunt aliae gentes, aliae minuuntur,
inque brevi spatio mutantur saecla animantum
et quasi cursores vitai lampada tradunt.
Don Fowler ad loc.:
