Starting with Nebrija’s claim that language has always been the company of empire, this chapter discusses the role of translators during the colonization of the Americas. It considers the metaphor of translation as colonial violence, as the first Europeans kidnapped and trained indigenous people to act as mediators. It discusses the varying importance of translation in the consolidation of the colonial administrations and its use by religious orders and priests to evangelize the native population. It discusses the use of translation in Europe as a metaphor of the rivalry between nations such as Spain and England, and concludes by showing how translation (or the lack of it) continues to shape contemporary nations in the Americas as a result of the early modern colonial conflicts.