Bewilderments and Bafflements: Some Remarks on the Polish Translation of Anne Bernet’s Les Chrétiens dans l’empire romain: Des persécutions à la conversion, Ier-IVème siècle

Janusz GULA

John Paul II Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland , Poland

Abstract

The author offers his criticisms of the Polish translation of Anne Bernet’s Les Chrétiens dans l’empire romain: Des persécutions à la conversion, Ier-IVe siècle and of the article by its translator Piotr Tylus, who discusses and advertises the book in a Polish weekly magazine Do Rzeczy. The paper addresses the rendition by Bernet of certain historical issues, such as the (1) Great Fire of Rome, (2) the position of women in the Roman Empire, (3) the alleged authoritarian attitude and impunity of the father of the family (pater familias), resulting in the practices of infanticide and abandonment of children by their parents, and (4) the so-called ban of being a Christian imposed by the Roman Empire. The author underscores the fact that despite the substantial financial support the publication received, it is not free from linguistic errors of various kinds. Moreover, the work does not include sections such as bibliography or indexes, which are essential from the vantage point of a researcher.

Keywords:

Anne Bernet, the Roman Empire, the Roman law, persecution of Christians, translation of scholarly texts