PREFACE
PREFACE
I came to Tertullian indirectly. My initial area of research interest some fifteen years ago was fourth-century Christianity at the time of Constantine. The scholarship of Professor Timothy Barnes impressed me and when I looked for what else he had written, I was introduced to Christianity in North Africa in the Severan age. The debt I owe to Professor Barnes’ biography is obvious in the pages of this volume.
It is only when one undertakes the laborious task of translating that one realizes the truth of the oft-found comments by predecessors about the difficulty of Tertullian’s Latin. The problem is not so much with his grammar as with the density of his thinking and the obscurity of his style. I wish to thank friends and colleagues who have helped me in these labours. In particular, I would like to thank Professor Pauline Allen, who suggested this volume to me and offered encouragement along the way, Dr Bronwen Neil, who generously read through every word of my translation and made countless suggestions to save me from inaccuracy and inelegancy, and John Cawte, who offered his painstaking linguistic expertise with one of the texts. My debt to them is enormous. I am sure that it is only my foolhardiness that is responsible for me not taking every one of their suggestions on board. I am also grateful to the professional encouragement and suggestions from Richard Stoneman of Routledge and in particular to Carol Harrison, the series editor, for her many suggestions and careful reading of my manuscript.
I am also in debt to the many scholars whose works I have consulted over the years and who have informed and challenged me in my thinking about North African Christianity and Tertullian. In a book of this nature, designed for a more general audience, it has not been possible always to acknowledge my reliance upon the vast amount of scholarly literature available. My original bibliography for this volume included over 230 items.
Even at the last minute, as I prepare to send the manuscript to the publishers, I am making a great number of corrections and improvements. Although many imperfections must have slipped through undetected thus far, I hope that in years to come I can look back at my first book with great fondness.
Geoffrey D.Dunn
March 2004