Regarding the Utility of Periodically Publishing New Translations of Works by Ancient Authors into Modern Languages

Abstract

The article discusses the question of the usefulness of periodically publishing new translations of works by ancient authors into modern languages. In the author’s view, the need to do this arises not only because previously published translations become bibliographic rarities, but also because progress in the study of ancient history may call into question the translation of certain terms from Latin or ancient Greek into modern languages. To illustrate this thesis, the author critically analyzes several Russian, English, and Ukrainian translations of passages in Suetonius Tranquillus’ Lives of the Twelve Caesars and Cornelius Tacitus’ Annals containing information on the contents of the so-called “Breviarium totius imperii,” composed for Emperor Augustus shortly before his death. The author focuses on the ways the translators treat such terms as fiscus, tributum, and vectigal. It is pointed out that today’s historiography calls into question the practice of imposing the modern understanding of the organization of public finance management on the interpretation of ancient Roman finances. Therefore, some historians today categorically refute the thesis of the translators of these works by Suetonius Tranquillus and Cornelius Tacitus that already during the reign of Emperor Octavian Augustus a separate imperial treasury (fiscus) was created in the Roman Empire alongside the old Senate treasury (aerarium). Based on modern analyses of the basic division of taxes collected by the Roman state during the reign of the first emperors, the author argues that the translators’ interpretation of the terms tributum and vectigal leads to the erroneous grouping of taxes collected from the population into direct and indirect. These considerations prompt the author to conclude that it is expedient to periodically publish updated translations of works not only by Suetonius and Tacitus, but also by other ancient authors.