Illiteracy in the Chronicon

In the course of our recent discussion with A*a**e**o* on literacy and
other matters, I noticed that, in support of his credentials as a
translator, he claimed to have been co-translator of the _Chronicon_
of St.Jerome. Seeking confirmation of this, today I finally had a
chance to get to the library and look at the English translation by
Malcolm Drew Donalson (Mellen University Press, 1996). I was unable to
find any mention of our friend A. in this. Perhaps it was some other
translation he had a hand in.
However, opening the text at random, I could not help noticing the
following passage:

AD 372 (246e) Didymus of Alexandria, utilizing secretaries, wrote
numerous commentaries on many things concerning our doctrine. He was
deprived of his eyesight in the fifth year after his birth and
therefore he was wholly illiterate. [Didymus Alexandrinus multa de
nostro dogmate per notarios commentatur. Qui post quintum nativitatis
suae annum luminibus orbatus elementorum quoque ignarus fuit.]

You'll recall that we discussed exactly this case, of a blind person
with others reading and writing for them, and A. assured us that such
a person was literate in the true meaning of the word. Unless the
above is a serious mistranslation, it would appear that the errors
against which A. railed in this recent discussion were already about
in the 4th century!

Ross Clark

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