4. Alexander the Great and his interpreters/ translators.

The Iranian civilization is one of the oldest civilizations, which has been developing for about three millennia. From X to VII in. BC. on the territory of Iran and adjacent lands there existed Iranian political establishments, which in the VI c. took shape in Iranian (Persian) state of the Achaemenid /əˈkiːmənɪd/ dynasty. Active expansion of the Achaemenids led to the seizure of vast territories of Persia, including Egypt. Later on this empire turned the largest that the ancient world had seen, extending from Anatolia and Egypt across western Asia to northern India and Central Asia. But in IV BC. Persia was defeated by the troops of Alexander the Great, and once new states emerged on its dominion territories.

Alexander the Great (356-323), the emperor of Macedonia, employed interpreters and translators of the Persian and Indian languages in Europe in the fourth century BC during his military campaign against Persia and India. Romans in their numerous wars also employed interpreters/translators (especially during the Punic Wars with Carthage in the second and third centuries BC). Unfortunately, little or nothing is practically known about the employment of translation in state affairs in other European countries of those times, though translators/interpreters must certainly have been employed on the same occasions and with the same purposes as in the Middle East. The inevitable employment of translation/interpretation was predetermined by the need to maintain intercommunal and international relations, which always exist between different ethnic groups as well as between, separate nations and their individual representatives.

5. Translation in ancient Rome. Livius Andronicus and his translations in the 3rd century b.C.

Often considered the “father of Latin literature,” Livius Andronicus is the earliest Latin writer whose identity is assured, and also was the earliest extant non-Roman writer in Latin poetry, as well as the first to compose using Greek models.

Andronicus’ magnum opus was a translation of Homer’s Odyssey into Latin Saturnian verse (the Odusia), which became a standard textbook for Roman classrooms. While it was a fairly literal translation, Andronicus adopted much of the epic to be suitable for a Roman audience. The names of gods and heroes were given Latin equivalents (e.g. Zeus = Iuppiter, Odysseus = Ulixes), and offensive or unflattering actions and titles were also replaced with innocuous ones. Thus Homer calls Patroclus a “counselor equal to the gods” (θεόφιν μήστωρ ἀτάλαντος, 3.110), but in Andronicus, he becomes merely “greatest and most-distinguished” (summus adprimus).

Andronicus is also rightly credited with bringing the Hellenistic theater to Rome. Tarentum, his hometown, was famous for its dramatic festivals, and its theater seemed to have traveled with him. Unfortunately, his output is almost all lost. Of his tragedies, 40 verses and eight titles are known: Achilles, Aegisthus, Andromeda, Aiax Mastigophorus (lit. “Ajax the Whip-Carrier”), Danae, Equos Troianus (lit. “The Trojan Horse”), Hermiona, and Tereus. Nonius reports two more, Andromeda and Antiopa (=Antiope), though many consider these actually written by Pacuvius. Varro is also aware of another which mentioned Teucer, though it is uncertain whether the tragedy was about him or someone else.

Three fabulae palliatae also exist under his name: Gladiolus, Ludius, and either a Virgusor Verpus.

Andronicus was honored with the task of creating a hymn to Juno, called a partheneion (a hymn sung by young virgin girls, from the Greek παρθένος, parthenos “virgin girl, maiden”), for good omens during a particularly critical moment of the Second Punic War; nothing of it remains.

It is possible but uncertain that he also composed fabulae praetextae and saturae.

Style and Legacy

Andronicus was not very popular at all during the heyday of Roman literature. He was mentioned by both Cicero (Brut. 71) and Horace (Epist. 2.1.61-62) as the originator of Latin literature and as a standard necessary for study, but neither found him appealing. Additionally, Horace mentions that his archaic Latin was particularly difficult for students to read, and it appears that it was archaic not only during the first century BCE, but even during Andronicus’ time as well. He was only quoted for this unusual language until his works were permanently lost around the seventh century CE.