Pierre-Louis Viollet published the first edition of his book as I was finishing my academic career at the University of Iowa. I decided then that a challenging first project in my new life would be to spend a few months translating his work into English. A few months curiously inflated to nearly three years as other projects caught my attention, and meanwhile Pierre-Louis published the second edition of his book. I am pleased to have been able to complete this most enjoyable and educational task, and thank Pierre-Louis for having given me the opportunity to make his wonderful work available to a wider audience.
To the extent possible, I have attempted to preserve Pierre-Louis’ organization of material at the paragraph level. Although the names of ancient people and places do not always have unique representations in French or English, I have tried to adopt consistent English names from among those that appear in the literature. In translating several ancient texts for which it was not possible to cite published English translations, I preserved the ancient modes of expression captured in Pierre-Louis’ translations in adapting them to the English edition. Responsibility for any inconsistencies or mistranslations is mine and mine alone.
I was fortunate to be able to do much of this work in the Iowa City Public Library, and also in the University of Iowa’s main library — both are marvelous facilities of which the City and University can be extremely proud. I completed the draft translation while in residence at the University of Nice Sofia-Antipolis, France, as a guest instructor in the Erasmus Mundus EuroAquae Hydroinformatics Masters program. I would especially like to thank Philippe Gourbesville and his colleagues and staff, especially Annie Vahramain, for their support and collegiality during this period. During this time Pierre- Louis and Dominique Viollet graciously hosted me for a final working session in Paris.
Finally, this project would have been impossible without the encouragement and moral and editorial support of my wife Joyce, who suffered through several proofreadings, was never shy about pointing out the need for rewriting, and patiently tolerated my endless hours at the keyboard.
Forrest M. Holly Jr.
