Rufinus's Eusebius: Translation, Continuation, and Edition in the Latin Ecclesiastical History

Abstract

Rufinus's Latin translation of Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History is customarily regarded as an inferior creature to the Greek original. By examining Rufinus's complete translation and continuation together, however, a more sympathetic understanding of his Latin version can be reached. This shows that Rufinus's version was by no means a clumsy version of the Greek followed by a mediocre continuation, but was conceived of as a unified whole. Hence Rufinus revised Eusebius's text not only where he found it to be deficient, but also in order to make it fit with a new vision of Christian history that took account of events subsequent to the age of Constantine. Viewed in this light, Rufinus's version emerges as a more original contribution to ecclesiastical historiography than has been acknowledged hitherto.