Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines.—Part I. 第二章 安敦尼诸帝时代罗马帝国的内部繁荣——第一节
¶
Of The Union And Internal Prosperity Of The Roman Empire, In The Age Of The Antonines.
安敦尼诸帝（Antonines）时代罗马帝国的团结与内部繁荣
¶
It is not alone by the rapidity, or extent of conquest, that we should estimate the greatness of Rome. The sovereign of the Russian deserts commands a larger portion of the globe. In the seventh summer after his passage of the Hellespont, Alexander erected the Macedonian trophies on the banks of the Hyphasis. 1 Within less than a century, the irresistible Zingis, and the Mogul princes of his race, spread their cruel devastations and transient empire from the Sea of China, to the confines of Egypt and Germany. 2 But the firm edifice of Roman power was raised and preserved by the wisdom of ages. The obedient provinces of Trajan and the Antonines were united by laws, and adorned by arts. They might occasionally suffer from the partial abuse of delegated authority; but the general principle of government was wise, simple, and beneficent. They enjoyed the religion of their ancestors, whilst in civil honors and advantages they were exalted, by just degrees, to an equality with their conquerors.
衡量罗马之伟大，不能单凭它征服之神速、疆土之辽阔。俄罗斯荒原的君主，所统辖的疆域便比罗马更为广阔。亚历山大自渡过赫勒斯滂（Hellespont）之后，第七个夏天便在希法西斯河（Hyphasis）畔立起了马其顿的凯旋碑。1不到一个世纪，所向无敌的成吉思汗（Zingis）及其一脉的蒙古诸王，从中国海直到埃及与德意志的边境，一路残暴蹂躏，建起了一个短命的帝国。2然而罗马的强盛却不然：这座坚实的大厦，是累世的智慧一手筑起、又一手守护下来的。图拉真（Trajan）与安敦尼诸帝治下，各行省俯首听命，法律使它们连成一体，文艺使它们增光生辉。受命掌权的官员偶尔会在局部滥用权柄，行省固然因此受累；但就大体而论，治国的准则明智、简朴而仁厚。各行省的居民既得安享祖先的宗教，又在民政的荣衔与权益上循序渐进地得到提携，终至与征服他们的罗马人平起平坐。
¶
I. The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the enlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious, part of their subjects. The various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord.
一、在宗教事务上，诸帝与元老院的方针恰好左右逢源：臣民之中，开明者出于理性的省思，迷信者出于世代的习惯，都不谋而合地为之助力。罗马天下盛行的形形色色的崇拜方式，在民众看来一概同样真实，在哲人看来一概同样虚妄，在官长看来一概同样有用。于是，宽容不仅让各教彼此相安，甚至促成了宗教上的和睦。
¶
The superstition of the people was not imbittered by any mixture of theological rancor; nor was it confined by the chains of any speculative system. The devout polytheist, though fondly attached to his national rites, admitted with implicit faith the different religions of the earth. 3 Fear, gratitude, and curiosity, a dream or an omen, a singular disorder, or a distant journey, perpetually disposed him to multiply the articles of his belief, and to enlarge the list of his protectors. The thin texture of the Pagan mythology was interwoven with various but not discordant materials. As soon as it was allowed that sages and heroes, who had lived or who had died for the benefit of their country, were exalted to a state of power and immortality, it was universally confessed, that they deserved, if not the adoration, at least the reverence, of all mankind. The deities of a thousand groves and a thousand streams possessed, in peace, their local and respective influence; nor could the Romans who deprecated the wrath of the Tiber, deride the Egyptian who presented his offering to the beneficent genius of the Nile. The visible powers of nature, the planets, and the elements were the same throughout the universe. The invisible governors of the moral world were inevitably cast in a similar mould of fiction and allegory. Every virtue, and even vice, acquired its divine representative; every art and profession its patron, whose attributes, in the most distant ages and countries, were uniformly derived from the character of their peculiar votaries. A republic of gods of such opposite tempers and interests required, in every system, the moderating hand of a supreme magistrate, who, by the progress of knowledge and flattery, was gradually invested with the sublime perfections of an Eternal Parent, and an Omnipotent Monarch. 4 Such was the mild spirit of antiquity, that the nations were less attentive to the difference, than to the resemblance, of their religious worship. The Greek, the Roman, and the Barbarian, as they met before their respective altars, easily persuaded themselves, that under various names, and with various ceremonies, they adored the same deities. 5 The elegant mythology of Homer gave a beautiful, and almost a regular form, to the polytheism of the ancient world.
民众的迷信没有掺进神学上的仇怨，因而并不刻毒，也不受任何思辨体系的锁链束缚。虔诚的多神教徒虽笃爱本族的祭仪，却也满心信服地接纳天下各处形形色色的宗教。3恐惧、感恩、好奇，一场梦、一个征兆，一场怪病、一趟远行，都会时时促使他增添所信奉的名目，扩充庇佑他的神祇名单。异教神话的经纬本就疏薄，各色素材虽杂却不相抵触，尽可织入其中。一旦人们承认，那些为国而生、为国而死的圣贤豪杰已被擢升，握有神力，永享不朽，世人便一致认定：他们纵不配受万民崇拜，至少也当受万民敬仰。千林千川，各有其神，各自在一方施展灵威，彼此相安无扰；罗马人既祈求台伯河（Tiber）息怒，又岂能讥笑向尼罗河仁慈之灵献祭的埃及人？自然界看得见的伟力，诸行星与四大元素，在宇宙各处原是一样的；那些主宰道德世界、肉眼看不见的神灵，也就难免出自相仿的模子，由虚构与寓言铸成。每一种美德，乃至每一种恶德，都有了自己的神明作代表；每一门技艺、每一种行业，也都有了守护神。这些神祇的品性，即便在最遥远的年代与国度，也无不脱胎于各自崇拜者的性情。众神性情各异、利害相左，俨然结成一个神界的共和国；无论在哪一套神学体系里，这样的共和国都需要一位至高主宰居中调停。随着知识日进、谄媚日甚，这位主宰渐渐被尊为永恒之父、全能之君，集种种崇高的完美于一身。4上古之世，风气何等平和：各民族看待彼此的宗教崇拜，着眼的多是相似之处，而不大在意差异。希腊人、罗马人与蛮族，在彼此的祭坛前相逢时，都不难说服自己：名号纵异、仪式纵殊，众人所敬奉的原是同一批神明。5荷马那套优雅的神话，使古代世界的多神信仰有了优美而近乎井然有序的形态。
¶
The philosophers of Greece deduced their morals from the nature of man, rather than from that of God. They meditated, however, on the Divine Nature, as a very curious and important speculation; and in the profound inquiry, they displayed the strength and weakness of the human understanding. 6 Of the four most celebrated schools, the Stoics and the Platonists endeavored to reconcile the jaring interests of reason and piety. They have left us the most sublime proofs of the existence and perfections of the first cause; but, as it was impossible for them to conceive the creation of matter, the workman in the Stoic philosophy was not sufficiently distinguished from the work; whilst, on the contrary, the spiritual God of Plato and his disciples resembled an idea, rather than a substance. The opinions of the Academics and Epicureans were of a less religious cast; but whilst the modest science of the former induced them to doubt, the positive ignorance of the latter urged them to deny, the providence of a Supreme Ruler. The spirit of inquiry, prompted by emulation, and supported by freedom, had divided the public teachers of philosophy into a variety of contending sects; but the ingenious youth, who, from every part, resorted to Athens, and the other seats of learning in the Roman empire, were alike instructed in every school to reject and to despise the religion of the multitude. How, indeed, was it possible that a philosopher should accept, as divine truths, the idle tales of the poets, and the incoherent traditions of antiquity; or that he should adore, as gods, those imperfect beings whom he must have despised, as men? Against such unworthy adversaries, Cicero condescended to employ the arms of reason and eloquence; but the satire of Lucian was a much more adequate, as well as more efficacious, weapon. We may be well assured, that a writer, conversant with the world, would never have ventured to expose the gods of his country to public ridicule, had they not already been the objects of secret contempt among the polished and enlightened orders of society. 7
希腊的哲人，是从人性、而非从神性中推导出他们的道德学说的。不过他们也玄思神性，视之为一桩极耐寻味、又极关紧要的思辨课题；在这番深邃的探究里，人类理智的长处与短处尽都暴露无遗。6在四大最负盛名的学派中，斯多葛派（Stoic）与柏拉图主义者（Platonists）力图调和理性与虔敬这两桩相互抵牾的旨趣。他们论证第一因的存在与完美，为后世留下了最为崇高的证明；但他们无从设想物质竟是被创造出来的，于是斯多葛哲学里的那位工匠，便与他的作品区分得不够分明；反过来，柏拉图及其门徒所说的那位精神性的神，则更像观念，而不像实体。学园派（Academics）与伊壁鸠鲁派（Epicureans）的主张，宗教色彩就淡得多了：前者治学审慎谦抑，因而只是怀疑至高主宰的天意；后者则一味无知而自负，索性加以否认。公开授业的哲学教师受争胜之心激励，又有自由为之撑腰，竞相探究，早已分成了众多相互争鸣的派别；然而聪颖的青年从四面八方涌向雅典及罗马帝国其他学术重镇，无论投在哪一派门下，所受的教诲都如出一辙：要摒弃、要鄙夷芸芸众生的宗教。说来也是，一个哲学家，怎能把诗人们的无稽故事、上古那些前后不相贯通的传说，当作神圣的真理来接受？那些神话人物并不完美，当作凡人看，他尚且要鄙夷，又怎能奉若神明去膜拜？面对这样不值一驳的对手，西塞罗竟还屈尊动用理性与雄辩为武器；然而琉善（Lucian）的讽刺，才是一件远为称手、也远为奏效的兵器。我们大可断定：若不是社会上层那些高雅开明之士早已在暗中鄙夷本国的神明，一位深谙世情的作家断不会贸然把这些神明公之于众、任人耻笑。7
¶
Notwithstanding the fashionable irreligion which prevailed in the age of the Antonines, both the interest of the priests and the credulity of the people were sufficiently respected. In their writings and conversation, the philosophers of antiquity asserted the independent dignity of reason; but they resigned their actions to the commands of law and of custom. Viewing, with a smile of pity and indulgence, the various errors of the vulgar, they diligently practised the ceremonies of their fathers, devoutly frequented the temples of the gods; and sometimes condescending to act a part on the theatre of superstition, they concealed the sentiments of an atheist under the sacerdotal robes. Reasoners of such a temper were scarcely inclined to wrangle about their respective modes of faith, or of worship. It was indifferent to them what shape the folly of the multitude might choose to assume; and they approached with the same inward contempt, and the same external reverence, the altars of the Libyan, the Olympian, or the Capitoline Jupiter. 8
安敦尼诸帝时代虽盛行不敬神明的时髦风气，祭司的利益却仍受到相当的尊重，民众的轻信也照样得到迁就。古代哲人在著述与言谈中，坚称理性自有其独立的尊严；可一到行事，他们却甘愿听凭法律与习俗的支配。对俗众形形色色的谬见，他们报以怜悯而宽容的一笑，自己却仍勤谨地奉行祖先的礼仪，虔敬地出入神庙；有时甚至屈尊在迷信这座舞台上扮演一角，把一个无神论者的心思，掩藏在祭司的法袍之下。有这般心性的思辨之士，自然也不大乐意为各自信仰或崇拜的方式争执不休。芸芸众生的愚昧要以什么面目出现，于他们全不相干；无论走近利比亚的朱庇特、奥林匹亚的朱庇特，还是卡皮托利山（Capitoline）的朱庇特，他们心里同样鄙夷，面上同样恭敬。8
¶
It is not easy to conceive from what motives a spirit of persecution could introduce itself into the Roman councils. The magistrates could not be actuated by a blind, though honest bigotry, since the magistrates were themselves philosophers; and the schools of Athens had given laws to the senate. They could not be impelled by ambition or avarice, as the temporal and ecclesiastical powers were united in the same hands. The pontiffs were chosen among the most illustrious of the senators; and the office of Supreme Pontiff was constantly exercised by the emperors themselves. They knew and valued the advantages of religion, as it is connected with civil government. They encouraged the public festivals which humanize the manners of the people. They managed the arts of divination as a convenient instrument of policy; and they respected, as the firmest bond of society, the useful persuasion, that, either in this or in a future life, the crime of perjury is most assuredly punished by the avenging gods. 9 But whilst they acknowledged the general advantages of religion, they were convinced that the various modes of worship contributed alike to the same salutary purposes; and that, in every country, the form of superstition, which had received the sanction of time and experience, was the best adapted to the climate, and to its inhabitants. Avarice and taste very frequently despoiled the vanquished nations of the elegant statues of their gods, and the rich ornaments of their temples; 10 but, in the exercise of the religion which they derived from their ancestors, they uniformly experienced the indulgence, and even protection, of the Roman conquerors. The province of Gaul seems, and indeed only seems, an exception to this universal toleration. Under the specious pretext of abolishing human sacrifices, the emperors Tiberius and Claudius suppressed the dangerous power of the Druids: 11 but the priests themselves, their gods and their altars, subsisted in peaceful obscurity till the final destruction of Paganism. 12
很难设想，究竟出于什么动机，迫害异己之风竟会渗入罗马的朝议。官长们本身就是哲人，雅典的各派学说又早已为元老院立下了准绳，他们不可能受盲目却真诚的偏执驱使。他们也不可能是受野心或贪欲的驱迫，因为世俗与宗教两种权柄本就集于同一批人之手：祭司长都从最显赫的元老中选出，而最高祭司长一职，更向来由皇帝亲自担任。他们深知宗教有益于政务，也看重这层好处；鼓励各种公共节庆，借以使民风温良文雅；又把占卜之术当作称手的统治工具来运用。人们相信，伪誓之罪无论在今生还是来世，终归逃不过复仇诸神的严惩；这一信念大有用处，他们更把它尊为维系社会最牢固的纽带。9不过，他们虽承认宗教总体上大有裨益，却也深信：各种崇拜方式都同样有助于达成这些有益的目的；而且在每个国度，经时间与经验认可的迷信形式，总是最合乎当地的水土，也最适合当地的居民。贪婪与雅趣往往联手，把战败民族精美的神像、华丽的庙饰，一并劫掠而去；10但只要论到奉行祖传的宗教，这些民族所领受的，无一例外都是罗马征服者的宽容，乃至庇护。高卢（Gaul）行省看似是这普遍宽容的一个例外——但也仅仅是看似而已。提比略（Tiberius）与克劳狄乌斯（Claudius）两位皇帝，打着废除人祭这一冠冕堂皇的幌子，铲除了德鲁伊祭司（Druids）那股危险的势力；11但祭司们本人，连同他们的神明与祭坛，却一直默默无闻、安然无扰地存续下来，直到异教最终覆灭。12
¶
Rome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly filled with subjects and strangers from every part of the world, 13 who all introduced and enjoyed the favorite superstitions of their native country. 14 Every city in the empire was justified in maintaining the purity of its ancient ceremonies; and the Roman senate, using the common privilege, sometimes interposed, to check this inundation of foreign rites. 141 The Egyptian superstition, of all the most contemptible and abject, was frequently prohibited: the temples of Serapis and Isis demolished, and their worshippers banished from Rome and Italy. 15 But the zeal of fanaticism prevailed over the cold and feeble efforts of policy. The exiles returned, the proselytes multiplied, the temples were restored with increasing splendor, and Isis and Serapis at length assumed their place among the Roman Deities. 151 16 Nor was this indulgence a departure from the old maxims of government. In the purest ages of the commonwealth, Cybele and Æsculapius had been invited by solemn embassies; 17 and it was customary to tempt the protectors of besieged cities, by the promise of more distinguished honors than they possessed in their native country. 18 Rome gradually became the common temple of her subjects; and the freedom of the city was bestowed on all the gods of mankind. 19
罗马是泱泱帝国的都城，天下各地的臣民与异邦客旅络绎不绝，挤满全城，13无不把本乡最钟爱的迷信带进城来，照旧奉行。14帝国境内每一座城邦，都有权保全本城古老礼仪的纯正；罗马元老院也援用各城共有的这项特权，时而出面干预，以遏止外来祭仪的泛滥。141埃及人的迷信在所有迷信中最为可鄙、最为卑贱，故而屡遭禁绝：塞拉皮斯（Serapis）与伊西斯（Isis）的神庙被夷平，信徒被逐出罗马与意大利。15但狂热的宗教激情，终究压倒了官府那些冷淡而无力的举措。被逐者纷纷回返，皈依者与日俱增，神庙一座座重建、且一座比一座辉煌，伊西斯与塞拉皮斯终于在罗马诸神之列占得了一席之地。151 16这样的通融，倒也并未背离古来的治国格言。早在共和国风气最淳正的年代，人们便曾派出庄严的使团，迎请库柏勒（Cybele）与埃斯库拉庇乌斯入城；17而按照惯例，罗马人每围攻一座城池，总要向城中的守护神许诺，给它们比在本邦更为尊崇的礼遇，好把它们诱引过来。18罗马就这样渐渐成了她治下万民共有的神庙；而这座城市的公民权，也遍赐给了世人所奉的一切神明。19
¶
II. The narrow policy of preserving, without any foreign mixture, the pure blood of the ancient citizens, had checked the fortune, and hastened the ruin, of Athens and Sparta. The aspiring genius of Rome sacrificed vanity to ambition, and deemed it more prudent, as well as honorable, to adopt virtue and merit for her own wheresoever they were found, among slaves or strangers, enemies or barbarians. 20 During the most flourishing æra of the Athenian commonwealth, the number of citizens gradually decreased from about thirty 21 to twenty-one thousand. 22 If, on the contrary, we study the growth of the Roman republic, we may discover, that, notwithstanding the incessant demands of wars and colonies, the citizens, who, in the first census of Servius Tullius, amounted to no more than eighty-three thousand, were multiplied, before the commencement of the social war, to the number of four hundred and sixty-three thousand men, able to bear arms in the service of their country. 23 When the allies of Rome claimed an equal share of honors and privileges, the senate indeed preferred the chance of arms to an ignominious concession. The Samnites and the Lucanians paid the severe penalty of their rashness; but the rest of the Italian states, as they successively returned to their duty, were admitted into the bosom of the republic, 24 and soon contributed to the ruin of public freedom. Under a democratical government, the citizens exercise the powers of sovereignty; and those powers will be first abused, and afterwards lost, if they are committed to an unwieldy multitude. But when the popular assemblies had been suppressed by the administration of the emperors, the conquerors were distinguished from the vanquished nations, only as the first and most honorable order of subjects; and their increase, however rapid, was no longer exposed to the same dangers. Yet the wisest princes, who adopted the maxims of Augustus, guarded with the strictest care the dignity of the Roman name, and diffused the freedom of the city with a prudent liberality. 25
二、雅典与斯巴达（Sparta）都固守一条狭隘的国策：一味保全古老公民血统的纯粹，不许羼入任何外来成分——正是这条国策，遏抑了两邦的气运，也加速了它们的覆亡。罗马则志向高远，宁可牺牲虚荣以成全雄图：德行与才干，无论见于奴隶还是异邦人、仇敌还是蛮族，她一概收为己有，并认为这样做比固守血统更明智，也更体面。20雅典共和国最鼎盛的年代，公民人数反倒从约莫三万21渐渐减到了两万一千。22反过来，若考察罗马共和国的壮大，便可发现：尽管连年征战与广设殖民地不断消耗人力，公民之数在塞尔维乌斯·图利乌斯（Servius Tullius）首次户口普查时还不过八万三千，到同盟战争爆发之前，却已增至四十六万三千——个个都是能为国荷戈上阵的丁壮。23当罗马的盟邦要求平分荣衔与特权时，元老院宁可诉诸刀兵、听凭胜负之数，也不肯屈辱地退让。萨莫奈人（Samnites）与卢卡尼亚人（Lucanians）为自己的鲁莽付出了惨重代价；其余意大利各邦则陆续重新归顺，一一被纳入共和国的怀抱，24不久便也成了葬送国人自由的一份助力。在民主政体之下，主权由公民行使；可这份主权一旦交到一群庞杂难驭的乌合之众手里，先是遭到滥用，继而便告丧失。但民众大会在历代皇帝治下遭到废止以后，征服者与被征服的各民族之间便只剩下一重分别：前者不过是臣民之中位列第一、最为尊贵的一等罢了。这样一来，罗马公民的人数无论增长得多快，也不再招致先前那样的危险。然而，最贤明的君主秉承奥古斯都的格言，仍极尽审慎地守护着“罗马”之名的尊严，推广罗马公民权时既慷慨，又不失分寸。25
Notes 注释
1
↩
They were erected about the midway between Lahor and Delhi. The conquests of Alexander in Hindostan were confined to the Punjab, a country watered by the five great streams of the Indus. * Note: The Hyphasis is one of the five rivers which join the Indus or the Sind, after having traversed the province of the Pendj-ab—a name which in Persian, signifies five rivers. * * * G. The five rivers were, 1. The Hydaspes, now the Chelum, Behni, or Bedusta, (Sanscrit, Vitashà, Arrow-swift.) 2. The Acesines, the Chenab, (Sanscrit, Chandrabhágâ, Moon-gift.) 3. Hydraotes, the Ravey, or Iraoty, (Sanscrit, Irâvatî.) 4. Hyphasis, the Beyah, (Sanscrit, Vepâsà, Fetterless.) 5. The Satadru, (Sanscrit, the Hundred Streamed,) the Sutledj, known first to the Greeks in the time of Ptolemy. Rennel. Vincent, Commerce of Anc. book 2. Lassen, Pentapotam. Ind. Wilson’s Sanscrit Dict., and the valuable memoir of Lieut. Burnes, Journal of London Geogr. Society, vol. iii. p. 2, with the travels of that very able writer. Compare Gibbon’s own note, c. lxv. note 25.—M substit. for G.
这些纪念碑约莫立在拉合尔（Lahor）与德里（Delhi）之间的中途。亚历山大在印度斯坦（Hindostan）的征服仅限于旁遮普（Punjab）——此地由印度河（Indus）的五条大河灌溉。* 编者按：希法西斯河是汇入印度河（即信德河）的五条河流之一，它先流经旁遮普省（Pendj-ab）——这个名称在波斯语中意为“五河”。* * * G. 这五条河是：一、海达斯佩斯河（Hydaspes），今名切卢姆河（Chelum）、贝尼河（Behni）或贝杜斯塔河（Bedusta），（梵语 Vitashà，意为“箭一般迅疾”）；二、阿克西尼斯河（Acesines），即切纳布河（Chenab），（梵语 Chandrabhágâ，意为“月之赐”）；三、希德拉俄特斯河（Hydraotes），即拉维河（Ravey，又作 Iraoty），（梵语 Irâvatî）；四、希法西斯河（Hyphasis），即贝亚斯河（Beyah），（梵语 Vepâsà，意为“无羁”）；五、萨塔德鲁河（Satadru，梵语意为“百川”），即苏特莱杰河（Sutledj），希腊人最早在托勒密时代得知此河。Rennel。Vincent, Commerce of Anc. book 2。Lassen, Pentapotam. Ind.。Wilson’s Sanscrit Dict.，以及伯恩斯中尉（Lieut. Burnes）那篇宝贵的论文，载 Journal of London Geogr. Society, vol. iii. p. 2，并见这位极有才干的作家的游记。参较吉本本人的注释，见本书第六十五章注 25。—M 替代 G 原注。
2
↩
See M. de Guignes, Histoire des Huns, l. xv. xvi. and xvii.
参见德经（Guignes）先生（M. de Guignes），《匈人（Huns）史》（Histoire des Huns），l. xv. xvi. and xvii.。
3
↩
There is not any writer who describes in so lively a manner as Herodotus the true genius of polytheism. The best commentary may be found in Mr. Hume’s Natural History of Religion; and the best contrast in Bossuet’s Universal History. Some obscure traces of an intolerant spirit appear in the conduct of the Egyptians, (see Juvenal, Sat. xv.;) and the Christians, as well as Jews, who lived under the Roman empire, formed a very important exception; so important indeed, that the discussion will require a distinct chapter of this work. * Note: M. Constant, in his very learned and eloquent work, “Sur la Religion,” with the two additional volumes, “Du Polytheisme Romain,” has considered the whole history of polytheism in a tone of philosophy, which, without subscribing to all his opinions, we may be permitted to admire. “The boasted tolerance of polytheism did not rest upon the respect due from society to the freedom of individual opinion. The polytheistic nations, tolerant as they were towards each other, as separate states, were not the less ignorant of the eternal principle, the only basis of enlightened toleration, that every one has a right to worship God in the manner which seems to him the best. Citizens, on the contrary, were bound to conform to the religion of the state; they had not the liberty to adopt a foreign religion, though that religion might be legally recognized in their own city, for the strangers who were its votaries.” —Sur la Religion, v. 184. Du. Polyth. Rom. ii. 308. At this time, the growing religious indifference, and the general administration of the empire by Romans, who, being strangers, would do no more than protect, not enlist themselves in the cause of the local superstitions, had introduced great laxity. But intolerance was clearly the theory both of the Greek and Roman law. The subject is more fully considered in another place.—M.
论生动地描摹多神信仰的真精神，没有哪位作家比得上希罗多德。最好的阐说，可见于休谟先生的《宗教的自然史》（Natural History of Religion）；最好的对照，则见于博叙埃（Bossuet）的《世界通史》（Universal History）。埃及人的行事中，隐约透出些许不宽容的痕迹（见尤维纳利斯（Juvenal）《讽刺诗集》第十五首）；而生活在罗马帝国治下的基督徒与犹太人，则构成了一个极重要的例外——重要到需要本书专辟一章来讨论。* 编者按：贡斯当（Constant）先生（M. Constant）在其博学而雄辩的著作《论宗教》（Sur la Religion）及另外增补的两卷《论罗马多神教》（Du Polytheisme Romain）中，以哲人的气度通观了多神教的整部历史；他的见解我们纵不尽赞同，这番气度却不妨钦佩。“多神教那为人称道的宽容，并非建立在社会应当尊重个人意见自由这一点上。多神教各民族，邦与邦之间固然相互宽容，却仍不懂得开明宽容唯一的根基，也就是那条永恒的原则：人人都有权按自己认为最好的方式敬拜神。恰恰相反，公民必须遵奉本邦的宗教；外来的宗教，哪怕本城的法律允许它的外邦信徒奉行，公民自己也没有信奉的自由。”——Sur la Religion, v. 184。Du. Polyth. Rom. ii. 308。此时，宗教冷漠之风日盛，加之帝国普遍由罗马人治理，而罗马人身为外来者，对当地的迷信至多加以保护，绝不肯投身其中，于是宗教上的约束实际上已大为宽松。然而在理论上，希腊法与罗马法显然都主张不宽容。此题另有他处更详加讨论。—M.
4
↩
The rights, powers, and pretensions of the sovereign of Olympus are very clearly described in the xvth book of the Iliad; in the Greek original, I mean; for Mr. Pope, without perceiving it, has improved the theology of Homer. * Note: There is a curious coincidence between Gibbon’s expressions and those of the newly-recovered “De Republica” of Cicero, though the argument is rather the converse, lib. i. c. 36. “Sive hæc ad utilitatem vitæ constitute sint a principibus rerum publicarum, ut rex putaretur unus esse in cœlo, qui nutu, ut ait Homerus, totum Olympum converteret, idemque et rex et patos haberetur omnium.”—M.
奥林匹斯山（Olympus）主宰的种种权利、威能以及他自诩的名分，在《伊利亚特》（Iliad）第十五卷里描摹得极为清晰——我指的是希腊原文；因为蒲柏先生（Mr. Pope）在不知不觉间，把荷马的神学给美化了。* 编者按：吉本此处的措辞，与新近重见天日的西塞罗《论共和国》（De Republica）中的一段话有个耐人寻味的暗合，尽管其论点毋宁说是相反的，见该书第一卷第三十六章：“Sive hæc ad utilitatem vitæ constitute sint a principibus rerum publicarum, ut rex putaretur unus esse in cœlo, qui nutu, ut ait Homerus, totum Olympum converteret, idemque et rex et patos haberetur omnium.”（大意：这些说法，或许是各国的执政者为了有益于人生而定下的，好让人们相信天上只有一位君王，正如荷马所说，他一颔首便能震动整个奥林匹斯，并且他被奉为万有的君王与父亲。）—M.
5
↩
See, for instance, Cæsar de Bell. Gall. vi. 17. Within a century or two, the Gauls themselves applied to their gods the names of Mercury, Mars, Apollo, &c.
例如可参恺撒《高卢战记》（de Bell. Gall.）vi. 17。不出一两个世纪，高卢人（Gauls）自己也用墨丘利（Mercury）、玛尔斯（Mars）、阿波罗（Apollo）等名号来称呼他们的神了。
6
↩
The admirable work of Cicero de Natura Deorum is the best clew we have to guide us through the dark and profound abyss. He represents with candor, and confutes with subtlety, the opinions of the philosophers.
西塞罗那部令人叹服的《论神性》（de Natura Deorum），是引领我们穿越这幽暗深邃之渊的最佳线索。他既坦诚地陈述、又精微地驳斥了诸家哲人的见解。
7
↩
I do not pretend to assert, that, in this irreligious age, the natural terrors of superstition, dreams, omens, apparitions, &c., had lost their efficacy.
我并不敢断言，在这个不敬神的时代，迷信所引发的种种天然恐惧——梦魇、凶兆、鬼影之类——就已失去了它们的效力。
8
↩
Socrates, Epicurus, Cicero, and Plutarch always inculcated a decent reverence for the religion of their own country, and of mankind. The devotion of Epicurus was assiduous and exemplary. Diogen. Lært. x. 10.
苏格拉底、伊壁鸠鲁（Epicurus）、西塞罗与普鲁塔克，都一再教人对本国乃至天下各族的宗教怀有得体的敬意。伊壁鸠鲁本人的虔敬更是勤谨而堪为楷模。见 Diogen. Lært. x. 10。
9
↩
Polybius, l. vi. c. 53, 54. Juvenal, Sat. xiii. laments that in his time this apprehension had lost much of its effect.
见波利比乌斯（Polybius），l. vi. c. 53, 54。尤维纳利斯在《讽刺诗集》第十三首中慨叹，到他那个时代，这种畏惧之心已大失效力。
10
↩
See the fate of Syracuse, Tarentum, Ambracia, Corinth, &c., the conduct of Verres, in Cicero, (Actio ii. Orat. 4,) and the usual practice of governors, in the viiith Satire of Juvenal.
试看叙拉古（Syracuse）、塔兰图姆（Tarentum）、安布拉基亚（Ambracia）、科林斯（Corinth）等地的遭遇，以及维雷斯（Verres）的行径（见西塞罗，Actio ii. Orat. 4），还有总督们的惯常做法（见尤维纳利斯《讽刺诗集》第八首）。
11
↩
Seuton. in Claud.—Plin. Hist. Nat. xxx. 1.
见苏埃托尼乌斯《克劳狄乌斯传》（Sueton. in Claud.）；普林尼《自然史》（Plin. Hist. Nat.）xxx. 1。
12
↩
Pelloutier, Histoire des Celtes, tom. vi. p. 230—252.
佩卢蒂耶（Pelloutier），《凯尔特人史》（Histoire des Celtes），tom. vi. p. 230—252。
13
↩
Seneca, Consolat. ad Helviam, p. 74. Edit., Lips.
塞涅卡（Seneca），《致赫尔维娅的慰问书》（Consolat. ad Helviam），p. 74，莱比锡版（Edit., Lips.）。
14
↩
Dionysius Halicarn. Antiquitat. Roman. l. ii. (vol. i. p. 275, edit. Reiske.)
哈利卡纳苏斯的狄奥尼修斯（Dionysius Halicarn.），《罗马古事记》（Antiquitat. Roman.），l. ii.（vol. i. p. 275，赖斯克（Reiske）版 edit. Reiske）。
141
↩
Yet the worship of foreign gods at Rome was only guarantied to the natives of those countries from whence they came. The Romans administered the priestly offices only to the gods of their fathers. Gibbon, throughout the whole preceding sketch of the opinions of the Romans and their subjects, has shown through what causes they were free from religious hatred and its consequences. But, on the other hand the internal state of these religions, the infidelity and hypocrisy of the upper orders, the indifference towards all religion, in even the better part of the common people, during the last days of the republic, and under the Cæsars, and the corrupting principles of the philosophers, had exercised a very pernicious influence on the manners, and even on the constitution.—W.
不过，在罗马崇拜外邦神明的自由，只保障给这些神明故国的本地人；罗马人自己担任祭司，也只奉祀祖辈相传的神明。吉本在前面通篇勾勒罗马人及其臣民的种种看法，已然揭示了他们因何得以免于宗教仇恨及其后果。然而另一方面，在共和国末世及诸恺撒治下，有几件事贻害世风极深，甚至波及国家体制：这些宗教内部的状况；上层阶级的不信神与虚伪；对一切宗教的漠然，连普通民众中的良善之辈也不例外；还有哲人们那些败坏人心的信条。—W.
15
↩
In the year of Rome 701, the temple of Isis and Serapis was demolished by the order of the Senate, (Dion Cassius, l. xl. p. 252,) and even by the hands of the consul, (Valerius Maximus, l. 3.) After the death of Cæsar it was restored at the public expense, (Dion. l. xlvii. p. 501.) When Augustus was in Egypt, he revered the majesty of Serapis, (Dion, l. li. p. 647;) but in the Pomærium of Rome, and a mile round it, he prohibited the worship of the Egyptian gods, (Dion, l. liii. p. 679; l. liv. p. 735.) They remained, however, very fashionable under his reign (Ovid. de Art. Amand. l. i.) and that of his successor, till the justice of Tiberius was provoked to some acts of severity. (See Tacit. Annal. ii. 85. Joseph. Antiquit. l. xviii. c. 3.) * Note: See, in the pictures from the walls of Pompeii, the representation of an Isiac temple and worship. Vestiges of Egyptian worship have been traced in Gaul, and, I am informed, recently in Britain, in excavations at York.— M.
罗马纪元 701 年，伊西斯与塞拉皮斯的神庙奉元老院之命被拆毁（Dion Cassius, l. xl. p. 252），且动手拆庙的正是执政官本人（Valerius Maximus, l. 3）。恺撒死后，此庙又由公款重建（Dion. l. xlvii. p. 501）。奥古斯都身在埃及时，曾敬奉塞拉皮斯的威严（Dion, l. li. p. 647）；但在罗马的城界（Pomærium）之内、及其周边一英里以内，他却禁止崇拜埃及诸神（Dion, l. liii. p. 679; l. liv. p. 735）。然而在他及其继任者治下，这些神明始终大为时兴（Ovid. de Art. Amand. l. i.），直到提比略激于义愤，才采取了若干严厉的举措（见 Tacit. Annal. ii. 85. Joseph. Antiquit. l. xviii. c. 3）。* 编者按：在庞贝（Pompeii）城壁的绘画中，可见一座伊西斯神庙及其崇拜的图景。埃及崇拜的遗迹已在高卢发现；据我所知，近来在不列颠约克（York）的发掘中亦有所见。—M.
151
↩
Gibbon here blends into one, two events, distant a hundred and sixty-six years from each other. It was in the year of Rome 535, that the senate having ordered the destruction of the temples of Isis and Serapis, the workman would lend his hand; and the consul, L. Paulus himself (Valer. Max. 1, 3) seized the axe, to give the first blow. Gibbon attribute this circumstance to the second demolition, which took place in the year 701 and which he considers as the first.—W.
吉本此处把相距一百六十六年的两桩事件混为一谈了。事情发生在罗马纪元 535 年：元老院下令拆毁伊西斯与塞拉皮斯的神庙，工匠们却不肯动手；于是执政官卢基乌斯·保卢斯（Paulus）本人（Valer. Max. 1, 3）夺过斧子，亲自砍下第一斧。吉本却把这一情节安到了第二次拆庙头上；那次拆庙发生在 701 年，被他当成了头一次。—W.
16
↩
Tertullian in Apologetic. c. 6, p. 74. Edit. Havercamp. I am inclined to attribute their establishment to the devotion of the Flavian family.
德尔图良（Tertullian），《护教篇》（Apologetic.），c. 6, p. 74，哈弗坎普（Havercamp）版（Edit. Havercamp）。我倾向于认为，这些神庙的确立，得归功于弗拉维安（Flavian）家族的虔敬。
17
↩
See Livy, l. xi. [Suppl.] and xxix.
见李维，l. xi.[Suppl.] 及 xxix。
18
↩
Macrob. Saturnalia, l. iii. c. 9. He gives us a form of evocation.
马克罗比乌斯，《农神节（Saturnalia）对话》（Saturnalia），l. iii. c. 9。他给出了一套“招神”（evocation）的仪式辞。
19
↩
Minutius Fælix in Octavio, p. 54. Arnobius, l. vi. p. 115.
米努基乌斯·菲利克斯，《奥克塔维乌斯》（Octavio），p. 54。阿尔诺比乌斯（Arnobius），l. vi. p. 115。
20
↩
Tacit. Annal. xi. 24. The Orbis Romanus of the learned Spanheim is a complete history of the progressive admission of Latium, Italy, and the provinces, to the freedom of Rome. * Note: Democratic states, observes Denina, (delle Revoluz. d’ Italia, l. ii. c. l.), are most jealous of communication the privileges of citizenship; monarchies or oligarchies willingly multiply the numbers of their free subjects. The most remarkable accessions to the strength of Rome, by the aggregation of conquered and foreign nations, took place under the regal and patrician—we may add, the Imperial government.—M.
见塔西佗《编年史》xi. 24。博学的斯潘海姆（Spanheim）所著《罗马世界》（Orbis Romanus），完整叙述了拉丁姆（Latium）、意大利乃至各行省如何逐步获得罗马公民权的历史。* 编者按：德尼纳（Denina）指出（delle Revoluz. d’Italia, l. ii. c. l.），民主制的邦国最吝于让人分享公民权，而君主制或寡头制则乐于增加其自由臣民的数目。罗马实力最引人注目的几次壮大，都靠兼并被征服的与外来的民族实现，且都发生在王政时期与贵族执政时期——我们不妨再加上一句：也发生在帝制时期。—M.
21
↩
Herodotus, v. 97. It should seem, however, that he followed a large and popular estimation.
见希罗多德，v. 97。不过看来，他所依据的是一个偏大而流行的估算。
22
↩
Athenæus, Deipnosophist. l. vi. p. 272. Edit. Casaubon. Meursius de Fortunâ Atticâ, c. 4. * Note: On the number of citizens in Athens, compare Bœckh, Public Economy of Athens, (English Tr.,) p. 45, et seq. Fynes Clinton, Essay in Fasti Hel lenici, vol. i. 381.—M.
阿特纳奥斯（Athenæus），《智者之宴》（Deipnosophist.），l. vi. p. 272，卡索邦（Casaubon）版（Edit. Casaubon）。默尔修斯（Meursius），de Fortunâ Atticâ, c. 4。* 编者按：关于雅典公民的人数，可参较伯克（Bœckh）《雅典的公共经济》（Public Economy of Athens，英译本）p. 45 及以下；以及法恩斯·克林顿（Fynes Clinton）载于 Fasti Hellenici, vol. i. 381 的论文。—M.
23
↩
See a very accurate collection of the numbers of each Lustrum in M. de Beaufort, Republique Romaine, l. iv. c. 4. Note: All these questions are placed in an entirely new point of view by Niebuhr, (Römische Geschichte, vol. i. p. 464.) He rejects the census of Servius fullius as unhistoric, (vol. ii. p. 78, et seq.,) and he establishes the principle that the census comprehended all the confederate cities which had the right of Isopolity.—M.
关于每次五年祭（Lustrum）的人口数字，德·博福尔（Beaufort）先生（M. de Beaufort）在《罗马共和国》（Republique Romaine）l. iv. c. 4 中作了极为精确的汇集。* 编者按：尼布尔（Römische Geschichte, vol. i. p. 464）把这一切问题置于全新的视角来考量。他否认塞尔维乌斯·图利乌斯的那次户口普查有史实依据（vol. ii. p. 78 及以下），并确立了一条原则：罗马的户口普查，把所有享有同等公民权（Isopolity）的同盟城邦都统计在内。—M.
24
↩
Appian. de Bell. Civil. l. i. Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 15, 16, 17.
阿庇安（Appian），《内战记》（de Bell. Civil.），l. i.。维莱伊乌斯·帕特尔库鲁斯（Velleius Paterculus），l. ii. c. 15, 16, 17。
25
↩
Mæcenas had advised him to declare, by one edict, all his subjects citizens. But we may justly suspect that the historian Dion was the author of a counsel so much adapted to the practice of his own age, and so little to that of Augustus.
梅塞纳斯（Mæcenas）曾劝奥古斯都以一道敕令宣布全体臣民皆为公民。但我们大可怀疑：这条计策其实出自史家狄奥（Dion）之手——它太贴合狄奥自己那个时代的做法，而与奥古斯都的时代格格不入。