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Translator's notes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

E. M. Atkins
Affiliation:
Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds
R. J. Dodaro
Affiliation:
Instituto Patristico 'Augustinianum', Rome
E. M. Atkins
Affiliation:
Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds
R. J. Dodaro
Affiliation:
Instituto Patristico 'Augustinianum', Rome
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Summary

Traduttore, traditore, say the Italians: ‘the translator is a traitor’. I hope that the following notes will alert the reader to some of the ways in which the vast differences between Augustine's world of thought and our own are reflected in the language that he uses.

Courtesy titles

The etiquette of late antique letters was elaborate. A large number of honorific titles was used which conveyed, more or less specifically, a range of social nuances which we cannot now recover in all their subtlety (for a comprehensive survey, see O'Brien, Titles). Some of these terms were technical: illustris (‘illustrious’), spectabilis (‘admirable’) and clarissimus (‘renowned’) referred to three levels of rank in the late imperial élite, illustris being the most senior title, then spectabilis, then clarissimus. Certain epithets, such as ‘holy’ and ‘blessed’, were normally reserved for Christian ecclesiastics; others such as ‘beloved’ were also specifically Christian in usage.

Such language should not, of course, be taken at face value (we ourselves rarely feel affection for those we address as ‘Dear Sir’). Abstract nouns were also used honorifically; I have translated such phrases as, for example, ‘your holy self’ rather than ‘your holiness’.

Commonwealth, government, empire, public life

Res publica means literally ‘public thing’. In Letter 138.10 Augustine refers to Cicero's well-known definition, which may be literally translated: ‘the “public thing” is a thing of (belonging to) the people’.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2001

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  • Translator's notes
  • Augustine
  • Edited by E. M. Atkins, Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds, R. J. Dodaro, Instituto Patristico 'Augustinianum', Rome
  • Book: Augustine: Political Writings
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511802317.003
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  • Translator's notes
  • Augustine
  • Edited by E. M. Atkins, Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds, R. J. Dodaro, Instituto Patristico 'Augustinianum', Rome
  • Book: Augustine: Political Writings
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511802317.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Translator's notes
  • Augustine
  • Edited by E. M. Atkins, Trinity and All Saints College, Leeds, R. J. Dodaro, Instituto Patristico 'Augustinianum', Rome
  • Book: Augustine: Political Writings
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511802317.003
Available formats
×