• Hobbes's Thucydides and the Colonial Law of Nations

    Author(s):
    Christopher Warren (see profile)
    Date:
    2013
    Group(s):
    TC Law and the Humanities
    Subject(s):
    Classical literature, Translating and interpreting
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    humanism, international law, Thomas Hobbes, Translation Studies, Early modern studies, Translation
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M61K6K
    Abstract:
    This essay investigates why Thomas Hobbes translated Thucydides, published as Eight Bookes of the Peloponnesian Warres, and why Hobbes chose it to be published in 1628. It argues that Hobbes's translation should be seen not just as a precursor to his later treatises but as part of a broader attempt on the part of English humanists in the mid-1620s and early 1630s to make available to English readers the stories and exempla--the raw materials--necessary to underpin an ethical, English law of nations. Hobbes's Thucydides, it is suggested, was vitally concerned with the law of nations and concerned particularly with the legal justifications and moral obligations of empire.
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0268117X.2009.10555630
    Publisher:
    Taylor and Francis
    Pub. Date:
    2013-6-28
    Journal:
    The Seventeenth Century
    Volume:
    24
    Issue:
    2
    Page Range:
    260 - 286
    ISSN:
    0268-117X,2050-4616
    Status:
    Published
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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