ABSTRACT
Nowadays, the growing interest in knowledge and education in our society has given rise to translation activity, and as before, translations are not restricted exclusively to the latest developments in science but seek to introduce the original sources and data which made it possible to produce these new results. There have been many translations of new historical works: our journals have been publishing translations from [Thomas] Macaulay and [Claus] Groth, a translation of Roman history by [Theodor] Mommsen is being published in Moscow, where they are also preparing to issue a translation of [François] Guisot; and a whole edition of The History Library is underway in St. Petersburg. The classical literature of Antiquity has not been forgotten either: translations of tragedies and ancient lyrical poems appear alongside translations of philosophical and historical treatises. So far we have three books which constitute the beginning of a massive edition of The Roman Writers’ Library in Russian Translation undertaken by Mr. [Aleksandr] Klevanov. These books have introduced the works of Sallust and Julius Caesar, and they will be followed by translations of Livy (Titus Livius), Cicero, and Tacitus. Needless to say, we must thank the translator for this choice, which demonstrates how well he understands the present demand and interest of our public. Sallust and Caesar are contemporaries and public figures from one of the most interesting epochs in Roman history, and the events they discuss are of special importance. Caesar’s notes on the civil war can be read as the continuation of Sallust’s description of Catilline’s plot.89 The history of the Jugurthine War casts light on the preceding epoch and explains some of the events that followed in the time of Caesar. If we add to this the speeches of Cicero, this rhetorical genius who held not a
single genuine belief in anything, then the last days of the Roman republic will vividly emerge before our eyes.
