Robert McEachnie: Translating a ‘Luxuriant Vineyard': Rufinus's Latin productions of the Cappadocian Fathers

Although Rufinus of Concordia wrote the first ecclesiastical history in Latin, it was Jerome who defined his place in history. Jerome's attack on Rufinus ensured the latter would be memorialized as merely a translator, namely of the Egyptian theologian Origen. But during his stint in Italy from 397 until his death in 411 Rufinus translated much more than just the works of Origen. He also produced Latin versions of texts from Cappadocia, including those of Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory Nazianzus, in the space of 3-4 years while in Rome and Aquileia. Taken as a series these translations reveal a previously overlooked influence which Cappadocian thought had on the development of Italian Christianity.
This paper will trace the influence Cappadocian writers had on developing Italian ascetic ideals through Rufinus's selected translations. The translated sermons, monastic rule, hagiographic works, and theological tomes were destined for prominent proto-ascetic groups in Rome and Aquileia. The translations showcase the important links that existed between Cappadocia and Italy and also provide nuance to a view that privileges the Origenist controversy in early fifth-century Italian Christianity. The works which Rufinus translated tend towards the moral side, stressing personal holiness. This emphasis stands in stark contrast to the theological speculation associated with Origen. Considering Rufinus's strong links to developing ascetic groups in Italy based around Melania the Elder, Paulinus of Nola, and later Pelagius, the ascetic development of Italy owes a previously unrecognized debt to the thought of the Cappadocian Fathers via Rufinus.