罗马帝国衰亡史 Vol. 2 · Chapter 16 · Part 6

Chapter XVI: Conduct Towards The Christians, From Nero To Constantine.—Part VI. 第十六章 从尼禄到君士坦丁对基督徒的态度——第六节

Although the policy of Diocletian and the humanity of Constantius inclined them to preserve inviolate the maxims of toleration, it was soon discovered that their two associates, Maximian and Galerius, entertained the most implacable aversion for the name and religion of the Christians. The minds of those princes had never been enlightened by science; education had never softened their temper. They owed their greatness to their swords, and in their most elevated fortune they still retained their superstitious prejudices of soldiers and peasants. In the general administration of the provinces they obeyed the laws which their benefactor had established; but they frequently found occasions of exercising within their camp and palaces a secret persecution, 144 for which the imprudent zeal of the Christians sometimes offered the most specious pretences. A sentence of death was executed upon Maximilianus, an African youth, who had been produced by his own father 1441 before the magistrate as a sufficient and legal recruit, but who obstinately persisted in declaring, that his conscience would not permit him to embrace the profession of a soldier. 145 It could scarcely be expected that any government should suffer the action of Marcellus the Centurion to pass with impunity. On the day of a public festival, that officer threw away his belt, his arms, and the ensigns of his office, and exclaimed with a loud voice, that he would obey none but Jesus Christ the eternal King, and that he renounced forever the use of carnal weapons, and the service of an idolatrous master. The soldiers, as soon as they recovered from their astonishment, secured the person of Marcellus. He was examined in the city of Tingi by the president of that part of Mauritania; and as he was convicted by his own confession, he was condemned and beheaded for the crime of desertion. 146 Examples of such a nature savor much less of religious persecution than of martial or even civil law; but they served to alienate the mind of the emperors, to justify the severity of Galerius, who dismissed a great number of Christian officers from their employments; and to authorize the opinion, that a sect of enthusiastics, which avowed principles so repugnant to the public safety, must either remain useless, or would soon become dangerous, subjects of the empire.
戴克里先（Diocletian）出于治国的权衡，君士坦提乌斯（Constantius）出于本性的仁厚，二人本都愿意恪守宽容之道、不加破坏；然而不久便看得出来，与他们同居大位的另外两人——马克西米安（Maximian）与伽勒里乌斯（Galerius）——对基督徒的名号与信仰怀着最难消解的憎恶。这两位君主从未受过学问的启迪，性情也不曾因教养而变得温和。他们的显赫全凭手中的刀剑挣来；纵已登上至尊之位，身上仍带着行伍与田夫那种迷信的偏见。在各行省的日常治理上，他们还算遵行恩主所立的法度；但在自家的营帐与宫廷之内，却时常寻得机会暗中迫害基督徒，144而这些教徒热忱有余、不知审慎，有时恰好给了他们最冠冕堂皇的借口。一位阿非利加青年马克西米利安努斯（Maximilianus）便因此丧命。他的父亲亲自把他1441领到官长面前，声言其年岁体格皆合征募之格、堪充新兵；他却执意声称，自己的良心不容他去当兵。145至于百夫长马塞勒斯（Marcellus）的举动，很难想象哪个政府会对此不加惩处。在一次公共节庆上，这名军官抛下腰带、武器和军职的徽记，高声宣告：除了永恒之王耶稣基督（Jesus Christ），他不再听命于任何人；从此他永远弃绝尘世的刀兵，也不再侍奉崇拜偶像的主上。士兵们从错愕中回过神来，随即将马塞勒斯拿下。他在廷吉（Tingi）城由毛里塔尼亚（Mauritania）这一带的省长审讯；凭他自己的供词便已定罪，于是以擅离职守、私自逃亡之罪被判斩首。146这类案件，与其说是宗教迫害，不如说更像是依军法乃至民法论处；然而诸帝因此对基督徒心生反感，伽勒里乌斯也有了严厉行事的口实，将大批基督徒军官革职罢黜；人们也就有理由认为：这一群狂热之徒既然公然奉行如此有悖公共安全的原则，身为帝国臣民，若不是始终无用，便是不久就要酿成祸患。
After the success of the Persian war had raised the hopes and the reputation of Galerius, he passed a winter with Diocletian in the palace of Nicomedia; and the fate of Christianity became the object of their secret consultations. 147 The experienced emperor was still inclined to pursue measures of lenity; and though he readily consented to exclude the Christians from holding any employments in the household or the army, he urged in the strongest terms the danger as well as cruelty of shedding the blood of those deluded fanatics. Galerius at length extorted 1471 from him the permission of summoning a council, composed of a few persons the most distinguished in the civil and military departments of the state.
波斯之役告捷，抬高了伽勒里乌斯的声望，也使他愈加心怀厚望。此后他曾与戴克里先在尼科米底亚（Nicomedia）的宫中同度一冬，基督教的命运便成了二人密议的题目。147这位老练的皇帝仍倾向于采取宽和之策；他固然一口应允把基督徒摒于宫廷与军队的一切职任之外，却又极力申说：让那些受蒙蔽的狂信者流血，既是残忍，也是取祸之道。伽勒里乌斯终于逼得1471他点头，准许召集一个会议，与会者不过寥寥数人，皆是文武两班中最为显要的人物。
The important question was agitated in their presence, and those ambitious courtiers easily discerned, that it was incumbent on them to second, by their eloquence, the importunate violence of the Cæsar. It may be presumed, that they insisted on every topic which might interest the pride, the piety, or the fears, of their sovereign in the destruction of Christianity. Perhaps they represented, that the glorious work of the deliverance of the empire was left imperfect, as long as an independent people was permitted to subsist and multiply in the heart of the provinces. The Christians, (it might specially be alleged,) renouncing the gods and the institutions of Rome, had constituted a distinct republic, which might yet be suppressed before it had acquired any military force; but which was already governed by its own laws and magistrates, was possessed of a public treasure, and was intimately connected in all its parts by the frequent assemblies of the bishops, to whose decrees their numerous and opulent congregations yielded an implicit obedience. Arguments like these may seem to have determined the reluctant mind of Diocletian to embrace a new system of persecution; but though we may suspect, it is not in our power to relate, the secret intrigues of the palace, the private views and resentments, the jealousy of women or eunuchs, and all those trifling but decisive causes which so often influence the fate of empires, and the councils of the wisest monarchs. 148
这一重大问题就在这些人面前反复讨论。那班热衷功名的廷臣一眼便看出：他们理当施展辩才，为这位恺撒（即伽勒里乌斯）咄咄逼人的强横之意帮腔助势。大可推想，凡能触动君主的骄矜、虔敬或畏惧、从而促其铲除基督教的话题，他们无不竭力鼓吹。也许他们进言道：只要还容许一个独立自主的族群在各行省腹地存续繁衍，那么拯救帝国的辉煌大业便终究残缺、未竟全功。他们或许还特别指出：基督徒既已背弃罗马的诸神与典章，实际上另立了一个自成一格的邦国；趁它尚未拥有武力，眼下还来得及压服；可它早已有自己的法律与长官，掌握着公库，各地又借主教频繁的集会而紧密相连，人数众多、家道殷实的会众，对主教们的裁断一律俯首听命。大约正是这一类议论，才使本不情愿的戴克里先下定决心，采行一套新的迫害之法。至于宫闱之内的暗中钩斗、私下的算计与积怨、后妃或宦官的妒忌，以及其他种种琐屑却起决定作用的因由，我们纵有猜疑，也无从一一道来；而左右帝国命运乃至最英明君主决策的，往往正是这类因由。148
The pleasure of the emperors was at length signified to the Christians, who, during the course of this melancholy winter, had expected, with anxiety, the result of so many secret consultations. The twenty-third of February, which coincided with the Roman festival of the Terminalia, 149 was appointed (whether from accident or design) to set bounds to the progress of Christianity. At the earliest dawn of day, the Prætorian præfect, 150 accompanied by several generals, tribunes, and officers of the revenue, repaired to the principal church of Nicomedia, which was situated on an eminence in the most populous and beautiful part of the city. The doors were instantly broke open; they rushed into the sanctuary; and as they searched in vain for some visible object of worship, they were obliged to content themselves with committing to the flames the volumes of the holy Scripture. The ministers of Diocletian were followed by a numerous body of guards and pioneers, who marched in order of battle, and were provided with all the instruments used in the destruction of fortified cities. By their incessant labor, a sacred edifice, which towered above the Imperial palace, and had long excited the indignation and envy of the Gentiles, was in a few hours levelled with the ground. 151
这个凄惶的冬天里，基督徒一直忧心忡忡，等着那许多密议究竟会有怎样的结局。诸帝的旨意终于向他们宣示了。为基督教的蔓延划定界限的日子，选在了二月二十三日，正逢罗马人祭祀界神的特尔米纳利亚节（Terminalia）149；这究竟是偶然巧合，还是有意为之，就不得而知了。天刚破晓，禁卫军长官（Prætorian præfect）150便带着几名将领、军事保民官与税务官吏，直奔尼科米底亚的主教堂而去；那教堂坐落在城中人烟最盛、风景最美之处的一座高地上。他们当即撞开大门，冲入圣所，四处搜寻却找不到任何有形的崇拜之物，只得将一卷卷圣经（Scripture）付之一炬，聊以泄愤。戴克里先的这些官吏身后，跟着大队卫兵与工兵，列成战阵前进，还备齐了攻拔坚城所用的各样器械。这座圣殿高踞于皇宫之上，早已惹得异教徒又恨又妒；卫兵与工兵一刻不停地动手，不过数小时，便将它夷为平地。151
The next day the general edict of persecution was published; 152 and though Diocletian, still averse to the effusion of blood, had moderated the fury of Galerius, who proposed, that every one refusing to offer sacrifice should immediately be burnt alive, the penalties inflicted on the obstinacy of the Christians might be deemed sufficiently rigorous and effectual. It was enacted, that their churches, in all the provinces of the empire, should be demolished to their foundations; and the punishment of death was denounced against all who should presume to hold any secret assemblies for the purpose of religious worship. The philosophers, who now assumed the unworthy office of directing the blind zeal of persecution, had diligently studied the nature and genius of the Christian religion; and as they were not ignorant that the speculative doctrines of the faith were supposed to be contained in the writings of the prophets, of the evangelists, and of the apostles, they most probably suggested the order, that the bishops and presbyters should deliver all their sacred books into the hands of the magistrates; who were commanded, under the severest penalties, to burn them in a public and solemn manner. By the same edict, the property of the church was at once confiscated; and the several parts of which it might consist were either sold to the highest bidder, united to the Imperial domain, bestowed on the cities and corporations, or granted to the solicitations of rapacious courtiers. After taking such effectual measures to abolish the worship, and to dissolve the government of the Christians, it was thought necessary to subject to the most intolerable hardships the condition of those perverse individuals who should still reject the religion of nature, of Rome, and of their ancestors. Persons of a liberal birth were declared incapable of holding any honors or employments; slaves were forever deprived of the hopes of freedom, and the whole body of the people were put out of the protection of the law. The judges were authorized to hear and to determine every action that was brought against a Christian. But the Christians were not permitted to complain of any injury which they themselves had suffered; and thus those unfortunate sectaries were exposed to the severity, while they were excluded from the benefits, of public justice. This new species of martyrdom, so painful and lingering, so obscure and ignominious, was, perhaps, the most proper to weary the constancy of the faithful: nor can it be doubted that the passions and interest of mankind were disposed on this occasion to second the designs of the emperors. But the policy of a well-ordered government must sometimes have interposed in behalf of the oppressed Christians; 1521 nor was it possible for the Roman princes entirely to remove the apprehension of punishment, or to connive at every act of fraud and violence, without exposing their own authority and the rest of their subjects to the most alarming dangers. 153
次日，那道普遍迫害的敕令便颁布了。152伽勒里乌斯本主张：凡拒绝献祭者一律立即活活烧死；戴克里先仍不愿大肆流血，才把他这股狂怒压了下去。饶是如此，加在冥顽不化的基督徒身上的惩罚，也已可算严酷而奏效。敕令规定：帝国各行省的基督教堂一律拆毁到底、直捣根基；凡胆敢为礼拜而私下聚会者，一律处死。此时有些哲人甘愿屈就这等不光彩的差事，替这股盲目的迫害狂热指点方向。他们曾用心钻研过基督教的性质与精髓，也知道照基督徒的说法，这一信仰的思辨教义尽载于先知、福音书作者与使徒的著述之中；于是那道命令多半便出自他们的献策：责令主教与长老把全部圣书一概交到官长手里，官长则奉有严令，必须当众隆重地将其焚毁，违令者处以最重的刑罚。同一道敕令又把教会的财产一举没收；其中种种产业，或售予出价最高者，或并入皇室领地，或赏赐给各城市与团体，或应贪婪廷臣之请而分赐与人。当局为了取缔基督徒的礼拜、瓦解其教会组织，已经采取了如此有力的措施，此外还认为有必要再进一步：若还有人执迷不悟，仍旧拒斥祖辈所奉、本乎自然的罗马宗教，就要让这些人的处境苦不堪言。凡出身自由者，一概宣告不得担任任何荣衔或职务；奴隶则永远断绝了获释的指望；基督徒全体，都被摈于法律的保护之外。法官获准受理并裁决一切针对基督徒的诉讼；基督徒本人所受的任何侵害，却不许申诉。于是这些不幸的教徒，只承受着公共司法的严苛，却被拒于它的荫庇之外。这种新样的殉难，痛楚而绵长，晦暗而屈辱，或许最能磨尽信徒的坚忍之心；而世人出于私欲与私利，这一回无疑也乐于成全诸帝的图谋。不过，治理有序的政府出于自身的权衡，想必有时也曾出面回护受压迫的基督徒；1521毕竟，罗马诸帝若让作恶之人全无受罚之虞，或对一切欺诈与暴行都听之任之，就会使自身的权威和其余臣民都陷入最可怕的险境。153
This edict was scarcely exhibited to the public view, in the most conspicuous place of Nicomedia, before it was torn down by the hands of a Christian, who expressed at the same time, by the bitterest invectives, his contempt as well as abhorrence for such impious and tyrannical governors. His offence, according to the mildest laws, amounted to treason, and deserved death. And if it be true that he was a person of rank and education, those circumstances could serve only to aggravate his guilt. He was burnt, or rather roasted, by a slow fire; and his executioners, zealous to revenge the personal insult which had been offered to the emperors, exhausted every refinement of cruelty, without being able to subdue his patience, or to alter the steady and insulting smile which in his dying agonies he still preserved in his countenance. The Christians, though they confessed that his conduct had not been strictly conformable to the laws of prudence, admired the divine fervor of his zeal; and the excessive commendations which they lavished on the memory of their hero and martyr, contributed to fix a deep impression of terror and hatred in the mind of Diocletian. 154
这道敕令刚在尼科米底亚最醒目的地方张贴出来、供众人观看，就被一名基督徒动手撕了下来；他还破口痛骂，将满腔的鄙夷与憎恶，尽数倾泻在这般亵渎神明、暴虐无道的统治者身上。即便依最宽和的律法，他的罪行也已构成叛逆，理当处死；倘若他当真是个有身份、有教养的人，那只会使他罪加一等。他被处以火刑——与其说是烧死，不如说是用文火慢慢烤死。行刑者一心要替诸帝所受的这番当面羞辱雪耻，把种种精巧的酷虐手段用尽，却始终压不垮他的忍耐，也抹不去他脸上那副从容而带着讥讽的笑容——直到临死的苦痛之中，他仍旧保持着这样的神情。基督徒们虽也承认他的举动未必尽合审慎之道，却仍钦佩他那出于神启的炽烈热忱；他们对这位英雄兼殉道者的追念极尽褒扬，而这种过度的颂赞，反倒使戴克里先心中对他们的恐惧与仇恨越发根深蒂固。154
His fears were soon alarmed by the view of a danger from which he very narrowly escaped. Within fifteen days the palace of Nicomedia, and even the bed-chamber of Diocletian, were twice in flames; and though both times they were extinguished without any material damage, the singular repetition of the fire was justly considered as an evident proof that it had not been the effect of chance or negligence. The suspicion naturally fell on the Christians; and it was suggested, with some degree of probability, that those desperate fanatics, provoked by their present sufferings, and apprehensive of impending calamities, had entered into a conspiracy with their faithful brethren, the eunuchs of the palace, against the lives of two emperors, whom they detested as the irreconcilable enemies of the church of God.
不久，他险些遭了一场大难，心中的恐惧随即被勾了起来。半月之内，尼科米底亚的宫殿——甚至戴克里先的寝宫——两度起火；虽说两次都及时扑灭、未造成什么大损，可火灾这般蹊跷地一再发生，人们理所当然地认定：这分明不是偶然，也不是失于防范之故。嫌疑自然落到了基督徒头上。有人提出一种不无道理的猜测：那些走投无路的狂信者，既被眼下的苦难所激怒，又惧怕大祸临头，便与宫中同为教友的宦官串通一气，密谋加害于两位皇帝——在他们眼里，这两人正是上帝教会不共戴天的仇敌。
Jealousy and resentment prevailed in every breast, but especially in that of Diocletian. A great number of persons, distinguished either by the offices which they had filled, or by the favor which they had enjoyed, were thrown into prison. Every mode of torture was put in practice, and the court, as well as city, was polluted with many bloody executions. 155 But as it was found impossible to extort any discovery of this mysterious transaction, it seems incumbent on us either to presume the innocence, or to admire the resolution, of the sufferers. A few days afterwards Galerius hastily withdrew himself from Nicomedia, declaring, that if he delayed his departure from that devoted palace, he should fall a sacrifice to the rage of the Christians.
猜忌与怨愤盘踞在每个人的胸中，尤以戴克里先为甚。一大批人被投入狱中，其中不乏曾身居要职、或素蒙恩宠的显要之辈。各样酷刑无不施用；无论宫廷还是城中，都因一场场血腥的处决而蒙污。155然而，这桩隐秘之事终究拷问不出半点真相；如此看来，我们要么当推定受刑者清白无辜，要么便当叹服他们的坚贞不屈。几天之后，伽勒里乌斯便匆匆离开尼科米底亚，扬言道：他若再不从这座在劫难逃的宫殿脱身，迟早要葬送在基督徒的怒火之下。
The ecclesiastical historians, from whom alone we derive a partial and imperfect knowledge of this persecution, are at a loss how to account for the fears and dangers of the emperors. Two of these writers, a prince and a rhetorician, were eye-witnesses of the fire of Nicomedia. The one ascribes it to lightning, and the divine wrath; the other affirms, that it was kindled by the malice of Galerius himself. 156
关于这场迫害，我们所知的那一星半点、残缺不全的情形，全靠教会史家的记述；可就连他们，对诸帝的惊惧与危难也说不出个所以然来。这些史家当中，有两人——一位君侯、一位修辞学家——曾亲眼目睹尼科米底亚的那场大火。前者把它归于雷电与神的震怒，后者则一口咬定，那是伽勒里乌斯本人怀着恶意放的火。156
Fifteen days at Nicomedia 尼科米底亚的半月之间 FIFTEEN DAYS AT NICOMEDIA 尼科米底亚的半月之间 “he passed a winter with Diocletian in the palace of Nicomedia; and the fate of Christianity became the object of their secret consultations” 「他曾与戴克里先在尼科米底亚的宫中同度一冬，基督教的命运便成了二人密议的题目」 above the line, what the court did; below it, what answered — the days counted from the Terminalia 线上为朝廷所为，线下为由此而来的回应——日子自特尔米纳利亚节数起 THE TERMINALIA · 23 FEBRUARY 特尔米纳利亚节·二月二十三日 The twenty-third of February, which coincided with the Roman festival of the Terminalia, was appointed — whether from accident or design — to set bounds to the progress of Christianity. At the earliest dawn the Prætorian præfect broke open the doors; the Scriptures were burnt; and a sacred edifice which towered above the Imperial palace was in a few hours levelled with the ground. 二月二十三日——恰逢罗马的特尔米纳利亚节——被定为对基督教的蔓延划定界限之日； 这究竟是偶然巧合，还是有意为之，就不得而知了。天刚破晓，禁卫军长官便撞开大门， 一卷卷圣经付之一炬；那座高踞皇宫之上的圣殿，不过数小时便被夷为平地。 2 · 23 THE NEXT DAY · THE GENERAL EDICT 次日·普遍敕令 The next day the general edict of persecution was published. Galerius had proposed that every one refusing to offer sacrifice should immediately be burnt alive; Diocletian, still averse to the effusion of blood, had moderated his fury. 次日，那道普遍迫害的敕令便颁布了。伽勒里乌斯本主张：凡拒绝献祭者一律立即活活 烧死；戴克里先仍不愿大肆流血，才把他这股狂怒压了下去。 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 THE WINTER 那个冬天 a winter of secret consultations, then a council 一冬密议，继而召集会议 THE EDICT TORN DOWN 敕令遭撕 The edict was scarcely exhibited before it was torn down by the hands of a Christian, with the bitterest invectives. He was burnt, or rather roasted, by a slow fire — and preserved in his dying agonies the steady and insulting smile. 敕令刚一张贴，就被一名基督徒动手撕了下 来，还破口痛骂。他被处以火刑——与其说是 烧死，不如说是用文火慢慢烤死；临死的苦痛 之中，他仍保持着那副从容而带着讥讽的笑容。 WITHIN FIFTEEN DAYS · TWICE IN FLAMES 半月之内·两度起火 Within fifteen days the palace of Nicomedia, and even the bed-chamber of Diocletian, were twice in flames. Suspicion fell on the Christians: it was suggested, with some degree of probability, that they had conspired with the eunuchs of the palace. Nothing could be extorted — it seems incumbent on us either to presume the innocence, or to admire the resolution, of the sufferers. 半月之内，尼科米底亚的宫殿——甚至戴克里先的寝宫——两度起火。嫌疑 自然落到了基督徒头上；有人提出一种不无道理的猜测：他们与宫中同为 教友的宦官串通一气。各样酷刑无不施用，却终究拷问不出半点真相；我 们要么当推定受刑者清白无辜，要么便当叹服他们的坚贞不屈。 A FEW DAYS AFTERWARDS 几天之后 A few days afterwards Galerius hastily withdrew himself from Nicomedia, declaring that if he delayed his departure from that devoted palace, he should fall a sacrifice to the rage of the Christians. 几天之后，伽勒里乌斯便匆匆离开 尼科米底亚，扬言道：他若再不从 这座在劫难逃的宫殿脱身，迟早要 葬送在基督徒的怒火之下。 The ecclesiastical historians are at a loss how to account for the fears and dangers of the emperors. Two of these writers were eye-witnesses of the fire of Nicomedia. 教会史家对诸帝的惊惧与危难说不出个所以然来。这些史家当中，有两人曾亲眼目睹尼科米底亚的那场大火。 A PRINCE 一位君侯 ascribes it to lightning, and the divine wrath 把它归于雷电与神的震怒 A RHETORICIAN 一位修辞学家 affirms that it was kindled by the malice of Galerius himself 一口咬定，那是伽勒里乌斯本人怀着恶意放的火
Fig. 16.8 — Fifteen days at Nicomedia: on the feast of the Terminalia the church that towered above the palace was levelled in a few hours; the next day the edict; then an edict torn down, a palace twice in flames, and Galerius' hasty departure — the fire ascribed by one eye-witness to lightning and the divine wrath, by the other to Galerius himself. 图16.8——尼科米底亚的半月之间：特尔米纳利亚节当天，那座高踞皇宫之上的教堂数小时内被夷为平地；次日敕令颁布；随后敕令遭人撕毁，宫殿两度起火，伽勒里乌斯匆匆离城——那场火，两位目击者一个归于雷电与神怒，一个咬定是伽勒里乌斯本人所放。
As the edict against the Christians was designed for a general law of the whole empire, and as Diocletian and Galerius, though they might not wait for the consent, were assured of the concurrence, of the Western princes, it would appear more consonant to our ideas of policy, that the governors of all the provinces should have received secret instructions to publish, on one and the same day, this declaration of war within their respective departments. It was at least to be expected, that the convenience of the public highways and established posts would have enabled the emperors to transmit their orders with the utmost despatch from the palace of Nicomedia to the extremities of the Roman world; and that they would not have suffered fifty days to elapse, before the edict was published in Syria, and near four months before it was signified to the cities of Africa. 157
这道针对基督徒的敕令，本意是要成为通行全帝国的普遍法令；戴克里先与伽勒里乌斯纵使不等西方两位君主点头首肯，也确知他们必会附和赞同。照我们对政务的常理来推想，各行省总督理应事先都接到密令，好在同一天于各自辖境内颁布这道宣战书。至少也该料想：凭着四通八达的驿道与设置完备的驿站，诸帝本可将命令以最快的速度从尼科米底亚宫廷传至罗马世界的天涯海角，断不至于拖到五十天之后才在叙利亚公布，更拖到将近四个月之后才传达至阿非利加各城。157
This delay may perhaps be imputed to the cautious temper of Diocletian, who had yielded a reluctant consent to the measures of persecution, and who was desirous of trying the experiment under his more immediate eye, before he gave way to the disorders and discontent which it must inevitably occasion in the distant provinces. At first, indeed, the magistrates were restrained from the effusion of blood; but the use of every other severity was permitted, and even recommended to their zeal; nor could the Christians, though they cheerfully resigned the ornaments of their churches, resolve to interrupt their religious assemblies, or to deliver their sacred books to the flames. The pious obstinacy of Felix, an African bishop, appears to have embarrassed the subordinate ministers of the government. The curator of his city sent him in chains to the proconsul. The proconsul transmitted him to the Prætorian præfect of Italy; and Felix, who disdained even to give an evasive answer, was at length beheaded at Venusia, in Lucania, a place on which the birth of Horace has conferred fame. 158 This precedent, and perhaps some Imperial rescript, which was issued in consequence of it, appeared to authorize the governors of provinces, in punishing with death the refusal of the Christians to deliver up their sacred books. There were undoubtedly many persons who embraced this opportunity of obtaining the crown of martyrdom; but there were likewise too many who purchased an ignominious life, by discovering and betraying the holy Scripture into the hands of infidels. A great number even of bishops and presbyters acquired, by this criminal compliance, the opprobrious epithet of Traditors; and their offence was productive of much present scandal and of much future discord in the African church. 159
这一拖延，或许要归咎于戴克里先谨慎的性情：迫害之举本是他勉强应允的，他想先在自己眼皮底下试上一试，然后才肯听任远方各行省因此生出势所难免的动荡与不满。起初，官长们确实被约束着不得流血；但除此之外的一切严酷手段都获准使用，甚至受到怂恿，任其卖力施为。基督徒们固然甘愿交出教堂里的种种饰物，却终究下不了决心中止礼拜的聚会，也不肯把圣书投入火中。阿非利加主教费利克斯（Felix）出于虔诚，固执不从，似乎叫政府下层的官吏大为为难。他所在城市的市政长官给他戴上镣铐，押送到代执政官处；代执政官又将他转解给意大利禁卫军长官。费利克斯连一句支吾搪塞的答话都不屑于说，最终在卢卡尼亚（Lucania）的韦努西亚（Venusia）被斩首——此地因是贺拉斯（Horace）的诞生之所而享有盛名。158有了这一先例，或许还有因此颁下的某道皇帝敕答，各行省总督似乎便有权处死拒不交出圣书的基督徒。无疑有许多人趁此机会去博取殉道的桂冠；可也有太多的人供出圣经的藏处，把经卷出卖给异教徒，换来一条苟且偷生的可耻性命。甚至有大批主教与长老也这般屈从，犯下罪过，落得 Traditors（意为“交经者（Traditors）”，即把圣书交予迫害者之人）这一可耻的称号；此事当时便酿成极大的丑闻，日后又在阿非利加教会中埋下了许多纷争的祸根。159
The copies as well as the versions of Scripture, were already so multiplied in the empire, that the most severe inquisition could no longer be attended with any fatal consequences; and even the sacrifice of those volumes, which, in every congregation, were preserved for public use, required the consent of some treacherous and unworthy Christians. But the ruin of the churches was easily effected by the authority of the government, and by the labor of the Pagans. In some provinces, however, the magistrates contented themselves with shutting up the places of religious worship. In others, they more literally complied with the terms of the edict; and after taking away the doors, the benches, and the pulpit, which they burnt as it were in a funeral pile, they completely demolished the remainder of the edifice. 160 It is perhaps to this melancholy occasion that we should apply a very remarkable story, which is related with so many circumstances of variety and improbability, that it serves rather to excite than to satisfy our curiosity. In a small town in Phrygia, of whose name as well as situation we are left ignorant, it should seem that the magistrates and the body of the people had embraced the Christian faith; and as some resistance might be apprehended to the execution of the edict, the governor of the province was supported by a numerous detachment of legionaries. On their approach the citizens threw themselves into the church, with the resolution either of defending by arms that sacred edifice, or of perishing in its ruins. They indignantly rejected the notice and permission which was given them to retire, till the soldiers, provoked by their obstinate refusal, set fire to the building on all sides, and consumed, by this extraordinary kind of martyrdom, a great number of Phrygians, with their wives and children. 161
圣经的抄本与各种译本，在帝国境内早已流传极广，纵是最严厉的搜查，也不至于再酿成什么致命的后果；便是要把各会众公用而珍存的那些经卷付之一炬，也还得先有几个背信弃义、不配为徒的基督徒点头相助才行。至于捣毁教堂，凭政府的权势与异教徒出力，倒是轻而易举。不过在有些行省，官长们只把礼拜场所封闭了事；在另一些行省，他们则更拘泥于敕令的字面——先把门扇、长凳和讲坛拆下，如同堆起火葬柴堆一般统统烧掉，再将建筑的其余部分彻底夷平。160有一则极不寻常的故事，或许就该归到这场拆毁教堂的惨祸名下。这故事所载的种种情节纷繁杂沓、难以置信，与其说满足了我们的好奇心，不如说更把它勾了起来。弗里吉亚（Phrygia）有一座小城，名称与方位我们都无从得知；看来当地的官长连同全城百姓都已皈依了基督教。由于料到敕令的施行或会遭遇抵抗，行省总督便调来一支人数众多的军团分遣队为后盾。大军逼近之际，市民们纷纷涌入教堂，抱定了或持械死守这座圣殿、或与它同归于尽的决心。他们接到通知，获准撤离，却愤然拒绝；士兵被这般顽抗激怒，终于从四面纵火焚烧教堂，一大批弗里吉亚人连同妻儿就这样化为灰烬，以一种非同寻常的方式殉了道。161
Some slight disturbances, though they were suppressed almost as soon as excited, in Syria and the frontiers of Armenia, afforded the enemies of the church a very plausible occasion to insinuate, that those troubles had been secretly fomented by the intrigues of the bishops, who had already forgotten their ostentatious professions of passive and unlimited obedience. 162
在叙利亚以及亚美尼亚边境，曾有几场小小的骚动，几乎是刚一发作便被弹压下去；然而这却给教会的仇敌递上了一个颇为像样的口实，好含沙射影地说：这些乱子暗中是由主教们的阴谋煽动起来的，而这些主教早把自己那番大肆标榜的“逆来顺受、绝对服从”的表白抛到了脑后。162
The resentment, or the fears, of Diocletian, at length transported him beyond the bounds of moderation, which he had hitherto preserved, and he declared, in a series of cruel edicts, 1621 his intention of abolishing the Christian name. By the first of these edicts, the governors of the provinces were directed to apprehend all persons of the ecclesiastical order; and the prisons, destined for the vilest criminals, were soon filled with a multitude of bishops, presbyters, deacons, readers, and exorcists. By a second edict, the magistrates were commanded to employ every method of severity, which might reclaim them from their odious superstition, and oblige them to return to the established worship of the gods. This rigorous order was extended, by a subsequent edict, to the whole body of Christians, who were exposed to a violent and general persecution. 163
戴克里先或出于怨恨，或出于恐惧，终于越出了此前一直恪守的克制之限，接连颁下一道道残酷的敕令，1621公然宣告要把“基督徒”这一名号从世上抹去。头一道敕令命各行省总督把教会中一切神职人员尽行拘捕；于是那些本为收押最凶恶罪犯而设的牢狱，转眼便挤满了成群的主教、长老、执事、诵经员与驱魔师。第二道敕令责令官长们施展一切严酷手段，务要把这些人从那可憎的迷信中拉回来，逼他们照国家的定制重新敬拜诸神。随后又有一道敕令，把这条严令推及基督徒全体，使他们尽数遭受一场猛烈而普遍的迫害。163
The legislation of the persecution 迫害的立法 THE LEGISLATION OF THE PERSECUTION 迫害的立法 “he declared, in a series of cruel edicts, his intention of abolishing the Christian name” 「接连颁下一道道残酷的敕令，公然宣告要把『基督徒』这一名号从世上抹去」 THE GENERAL EDICT 那道普遍迫害的敕令 published the day after the Terminalia 于特尔米纳利亚节次日颁布 their churches, in all the provinces of the empire, to be demolished to their foundations 帝国各行省的基督教堂一律拆毁到底、直捣根基 the punishment of death denounced against all who should presume to hold any secret assemblies for worship 凡胆敢为礼拜而私下聚会者，一律处死 the bishops and presbyters to deliver all their sacred books to the magistrates, to be burnt in a public and solemn manner — an order most probably suggested by the philosophers 责令主教与长老把全部圣书交到官长手里，当众隆重焚毁 ——那道命令多半便出自哲人的献策 the property of the church at once confiscated — sold to the highest bidder, united to the Imperial domain, bestowed on cities and corporations, or granted to rapacious courtiers 教会的财产一举没收——或售予出价最高者，或并入皇室领 地，或赏赐给各城市与团体，或分赐给贪婪的廷臣 persons of a liberal birth declared incapable of holding any honors or employments; slaves forever deprived of the hopes of freedom 凡出身自由者，一概宣告不得担任任何荣衔或职务；奴隶则 永远断绝了获释的指望 and the whole body of the people put out of the protection of the law 基督徒全体，都被摈于法律的保护之外 Galerius had proposed that every one refusing to offer sacrifice should immediately be burnt alive; Diocletian, still averse to the effusion of blood, had moderated his fury. 伽勒里乌斯本主张：凡拒绝献祭者一律立即活活烧死；戴克里先仍不愿大肆流血，才把他这股狂怒压了下去。 THE FIRST OF THE SERIES 一连串敕令中的头一道 the governors of the provinces were directed to apprehend all persons of the ecclesiastical order; and the prisons, destined for the vilest criminals, were soon filled with a multitude of bishops, presbyters, deacons, readers, and exorcists 命各行省总督把教会中一切神职人员尽行拘捕；于是那些本为收押最凶恶罪犯而设的牢狱，转眼便挤满了 成群的主教、长老、执事、诵经员与驱魔师 BY A SECOND EDICT 第二道敕令 the magistrates were commanded to employ every method of severity, which might reclaim them from their odious superstition, and oblige them to return to the established worship of the gods 责令官长们施展一切严酷手段，务要把这些人从他们那可憎的迷信中拉回来，逼他们重归对诸神的 既定崇拜 BY A SUBSEQUENT EDICT 随后的一道敕令 this rigorous order was extended to the whole body of Christians, who were exposed to a violent and general persecution 把这条严令推及基督徒全体，使他们尽数遭受一场猛烈而普遍的迫害 “those unfortunate sectaries were exposed to the severity, while they were excluded from the benefits, of public justice.” 「于是这些不幸的教徒，只承受着公共司法的严苛，却被拒于它的荫庇之外。」
Fig. 16.9 — The legislation of the persecution: from the general edict — churches demolished, Scriptures burnt, the whole body of the people put out of the protection of the law — through the seizure of the clergy and every method of severity, extended at last to all who bore the Christian name. 图16.9——迫害的立法：从那道普遍敕令——拆毁教堂、焚烧圣书、将基督徒全体摈于法律保护之外——到尽拘神职人员、施展一切严酷手段，最终推及所有背负基督徒之名的人。
Instead of those salutary restraints, which had required the direct and solemn testimony of an accuser, it became the duty as well as the interest of the Imperial officers to discover, to pursue, and to torment the most obnoxious among the faithful. Heavy penalties were denounced against all who should presume to save a prescribed sectary from the just indignation of the gods, and of the emperors. Yet, notwithstanding the severity of this law, the virtuous courage of many of the Pagans, in concealing their friends or relations, affords an honorable proof, that the rage of superstition had not extinguished in their minds the sentiments of nature and humanity. 164
从前尚有一些有益的约束，要求必须有原告出面、当庭郑重作证方可行事；如今这些约束荡然无存，搜寻、追捕并折磨信徒中最惹当局厌恶的人，反倒成了帝国官吏分内的职责，也正合他们的私利。谁若胆敢庇护一名在缉的教徒，让他逃过诸神与诸帝正当的义愤，便要受到重罚。然而法令虽如此严酷，仍有许多异教徒出于高尚的勇气，把亲友藏匿起来；这可敬的一幕足以证明：迷信的狂热并未泯灭他们心中天性与人道的情感。164

Notes 注释

144 ↩
Eusebius, l. viii. c. 4, c. 17. He limits the number of military martyrs, by a remarkable expression, of which neither his Latin nor French translator have rendered the energy. Notwithstanding the authority of Eusebius, and the silence of Lactantius, Ambrose, Sulpicius, Orosius, &c., it has been long believed, that the Thebæan legion, consisting of 6000 Christians, suffered martyrdom by the order of Maximian, in the valley of the Pennine Alps. The story was first published about the middle of the 5th century, by Eucherius, bishop of Lyons, who received it from certain persons, who received it from Isaac, bishop of Geneva, who is said to have received it from Theodore, bishop of Octodurum. The abbey of St. Maurice still subsists, a rich monument of the credulity of Sigismund, king of Burgundy. See an excellent Dissertation in xxxvith volume of the Bibliothèque Raisonnée, p. 427-454.
优西比乌（Eusebius），l. viii. c. 4, c. 17。他用一个值得注意的措辞来限定殉难军人的数目，可惜他的拉丁文译者与法文译者都未能传达出其中的力度。优西比乌的权威记载与此不合，拉克坦提乌斯（Lactantius）、安布罗斯（Ambrose）、苏尔皮基乌斯（Sulpicius）、奥罗修斯（Orosius）等人又都只字未提，世人却长期相信：一支由六千名基督徒组成的底比斯军团（Thebæan legion），曾奉马克西米安之命，在潘尼恩阿尔卑斯山（Pennine Alps）的山谷中殉难。这个故事最早约在五世纪中叶由里昂（Lyons）主教欧凯里乌斯（Eucherius）公之于世；他从某些人那里听来，那些人又得之于日内瓦（Geneva）主教伊萨克（Isaac），据说伊萨克则是从奥克托杜鲁姆（Octodurum）主教狄奥多尔（Theodore）那里听来的。圣莫里斯（St. Maurice）修道院至今犹存，产业丰厚，堪称勃艮第（Burgundy）王西吉斯蒙德（Sigismund）轻信之心的一座丰碑。参见 Bibliothèque Raisonnée 第三十六卷中一篇出色的论文，p. 427-454。
1441 ↩
M. Guizot criticizes Gibbon’s account of this incident. He supposes that Maximilian was not “produced by his father as a recruit,” but was obliged to appear by the law, which compelled the sons of soldiers to serve at 21 years old. Was not this a law of Constantine? Neither does this circumstance appear in the acts. His father had clearly expected him to serve, as he had bought him a new dress for the occasion; yet he refused to force the conscience of his son. and when Maximilian was condemned to death, the father returned home in joy, blessing God for having bestowed upon him such a son.—M.
基佐（Guizot）先生对吉本关于此事的叙述有所非议。他认为，马克西米利安（Maximilian）并非“由父亲当作新兵领来”，而是依法不得不出面——那条法律规定，士兵之子须在二十一岁时应征入伍。可这难道不是君士坦丁（Constantine）的一条法律吗？何况殉道行传中也并未提到这一点。他父亲显然是指望他去从军的，为此还特地给他置办了一身新衣；然而他却不肯强逼儿子违背良心。及至马克西米利安被判处死刑，那父亲竟欢天喜地回到家中，为上帝赐给他这样一个儿子而颂赞不已。—M
145 ↩
See the Acta Sincera, p. 299. The accounts of his martyrdom and that of Marcellus, bear every mark of truth and authenticity.
参见 Acta Sincera, p. 299。关于他及马塞勒斯殉难的记载，处处都带有真实可信的印记。
146 ↩
Acta Sincera, p. 302. * Note: M. Guizot here justly observes, that it was the necessity of sacrificing to the gods, which induced Marcellus to act in this manner.—M.
Acta Sincera, p. 302。* 编者按：基佐先生在此说得对，马塞勒斯之所以有此举动，正是因为他被迫要向诸神献祭。—M
147 ↩
De M. P. c. 11. Lactantius (or whoever was the author of this little treatise) was, at that time, an inhabitant of Nicomedia; but it seems difficult to conceive how he could acquire so accurate a knowledge of what passed in the Imperial cabinet. Note: * Lactantius, who was subsequently chosen by Constantine to educate Crispus, might easily have learned these details from Constantine himself, already of sufficient age to interest himself in the affairs of the government, and in a position to obtain the best information.—G. This assumes the doubtful point of the authorship of the Treatise.—M.
De M. P. c. 11。拉克坦提乌斯（或者不论此小册子的作者究竟是谁）当时正住在尼科米底亚；然而他何以能对皇帝密室之内所发生的事了解得如此确切，却是难以想象的。* 编者按：拉克坦提乌斯后来被君士坦丁选去教导克里斯普斯（Crispus），他大可从君士坦丁本人那里探知这些详情——君士坦丁其时已到了会关心朝政的年纪，又身居能获取最可靠消息的地位。—G 此说先认定那本小册子出自拉克坦提乌斯之手，而这一点本身尚有疑问。—M
1471 ↩
This permission was not extorted from Diocletian; he took the step of his own accord. Lactantius says, in truth, Nec tamen deflectere potuit (Diocletianus) præcipitis hominis insaniam; placuit ergo amicorum sententiam experiri. (De Mort. Pers. c. 11.) But this measure was in accordance with the artificial character of Diocletian, who wished to have the appearance of doing good by his own impulse and evil by the impulse of others. Nam erat hujus malitiæ, cum bonum quid facere decrevisse sine consilio faciebat, ut ipse laudaretur. Cum autem malum. quoniam id reprehendendum sciebat, in consilium multos advocabat, ut alioram culpæ adscriberetur quicquid ipse deliquerat. Lact. ib. Eutropius says likewise, Miratus callide fuit, sagax præterea et admodum subtilis ingenio, et qui severitatem suam aliena invidia vellet explere. Eutrop. ix. c. 26.—G.——The manner in which the coarse and unfriendly pencil of the author of the Treatise de Mort. Pers. has drawn the character of Diocletian, seems inconsistent with this profound subtilty. Many readers will perhaps agree with Gibbon.—M.
这一许可并非从戴克里先那里逼取而来，而是他自行迈出的一步。拉克坦提乌斯确实说过：Nec tamen deflectere potuit (Diocletianus) præcipitis hominis insaniam; placuit ergo amicorum sententiam experiri.（大意：他终究未能扭转这鲁莽之人的疯狂，于是决意试探众友之意。）（De Mort. Pers. c. 11.）不过此举正合戴克里先那矫饰的性情：他但求做善事时显得出于己意，做恶事时则显得出于他人的怂恿。Nam erat hujus malitiæ, cum bonum quid facere decrevisse sine consilio faciebat, ut ipse laudaretur. Cum autem malum. quoniam id reprehendendum sciebat, in consilium multos advocabat, ut alioram culpæ adscriberetur quicquid ipse deliquerat.（大意：此人的狡黠正在于此：凡决意行善，便不与人商议，径自为之，好让美名独归于己；若要作恶，因自知必遭非议，便召集许多人共商，好把自己的过失都算到别人的罪责上。）见拉克坦提乌斯同处。欧特罗皮乌斯（Eutropius）亦云：Miratus callide fuit, sagax præterea et admodum subtilis ingenio, et qui severitatem suam aliena invidia vellet explere.（大意：他秉性狡黠，又精明过人，心思极为缜密，惯于假手他人来施行自己的严酷，让别人去承受怨恨。）见 Eutrop. ix. c. 26。—G——《de Mort. Pers.》的作者以粗率而带敌意的笔触描画戴克里先；照他笔下的形象看，此人似乎并没有这般深沉的机巧。许多读者或许会赞同吉本的看法，认为这一许可是伽勒里乌斯逼出来的。—M
148 ↩
The only circumstance which we can discover, is the devotion and jealousy of the mother of Galerius. She is described by Lactantius, as Deorum montium cultrix; mulier admodum superstitiosa. She had a great influence over her son, and was offended by the disregard of some of her Christian servants. * Note: This disregard consisted in the Christians fasting and praying instead of participating in the banquets and sacrifices which she celebrated with the Pagans. Dapibus sacrificabat pœne quotidie ac vicariis suis epulis exhibebat. Christiani abstinebant, et illa cum gentibus epulante, jejuniis hi et oratiomibus insisteban; hine concepit odium Lact de Hist. Pers. c. 11.—G.
我们所能查明的唯一情节，便是伽勒里乌斯之母的虔敬与妒忌。拉克坦提乌斯形容她是 Deorum montium cultrix; mulier admodum superstitiosa（山中诸神的崇拜者，一个极其迷信的女人）。她对儿子影响极大，又因几名基督徒仆从对她的怠慢而心怀愠怒。* 编者按：所谓怠慢，是指这些基督徒宁可禁食祈祷，也不肯参与她与异教徒一同举行的宴飨与献祭。Dapibus sacrificabat pœne quotidie ac vicariis suis epulis exhibebat. Christiani abstinebant, et illa cum gentibus epulante, jejuniis hi et oratiomibus insistebant; hine concepit odium.（大意：她几乎天天设馔献祭，并以筵席款待乡里；基督徒却避而不与，她同异教徒宴饮之时，他们只顾禁食祈祷；她由此怀恨在心。）Lact de Hist. Pers. c. 11。—G
149 ↩
The worship and festival of the god Terminus are elegantly illustrated by M. de Boze, Mém. de l’Académie des Inscriptions, tom. i. p. 50.
关于特尔米努斯（Terminus）神的崇拜与节庆，德博兹（Boze）先生有精雅的阐说，见 Mém. de l’Académie des Inscriptions, tom. i. p. 50。
150 ↩
In our only MS. of Lactantius, we read profectus; but reason, and the authority of all the critics, allow us, instead of that word, which destroys the sense of the passage, to substitute prœfectus.
在我们仅存的那部拉克坦提乌斯抄本中，此处作 profectus；然而这个词会破坏整段的文意，凭情理、也凭所有校勘家的权威，我们尽可用 prœfectus 一词取而代之。
151 ↩
Lactantius, de M. P. c. 12, gives a very lively picture of the destruction of the church.
拉克坦提乌斯，de M. P. c. 12，对这座教堂被毁的情形有极为生动的描绘。
152 ↩
Mosheim, (p. 922—926,) from man scattered passages of Lactantius and Eusebius, has collected a very just and accurate notion of this edict though he sometimes deviates into conjecture and refinement.
莫斯海姆（p. 922—926）把拉克坦提乌斯与优西比乌散见各处的段落汇集起来，对这道敕令得出了十分公允而准确的认识，只是有时不免流于臆测与穿凿。
1521 ↩
This wants proof. The edict of Diocletian was executed in all its right during the rest of his reign. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l viii. c. 13.—G.
此说尚缺乏根据。在戴克里先在位的其余岁月里，他的敕令始终得到不折不扣的执行。见 Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l. viii. c. 13。—G
153 ↩
Many ages afterwards, Edward J. practised, with great success, the same mode of persecution against the clergy of England. See Hume’s History of England, vol. ii. p. 300, last 4to edition.
许多世代之后，爱德华（Edward）一世曾以同样的手段迫害英格兰的教士，且大获成效。参见休谟《英格兰史》vol. ii. p. 300，最后一版四开本。
154 ↩
Lactantius only calls him quidam, et si non recte, magno tamer animo, &c., c. 12. Eusebius (l. viii. c. 5) adorns him with secular honora Neither have condescended to mention his name; but the Greeks celebrate his memory under that of John. See Tillemont, Memones Ecclésiastiques, tom. v. part ii. p. 320.
拉克坦提乌斯只称他为 quidam, et si non recte, magno tamer animo（某人，行事虽不合宜，气概却甚豪迈），云云，见 c. 12。优西比乌（l. viii. c. 5）则以世俗的荣衔来装点他。两人都不肯屈尊道出他的名字；然而希腊人却以“约翰”之名追念他。参见蒂耶蒙（Tillemont） Mémoires Ecclésiastiques, tom. v. part ii. p. 320。
155 ↩
Lactantius de M. P. c. 13, 14. Potentissimi quondam Eunuchi necati, per quos Palatium et ipse constabat. Eusebius (l. viii. c. 6) mentions the cruel executions of the eunuchs, Gorgonius and Dorotheus, and of Anthimius, bishop of Nicomedia; and both those writers describe, in a vague but tragical manner, the horrid scenes which were acted even in the Imperial presence.
拉克坦提乌斯 de M. P. c. 13, 14。Potentissimi quondam Eunuchi necati, per quos Palatium et ipse constabat（昔日权势煊赫、维系着宫廷乃至皇帝本人的那些宦官，尽遭诛戮）。优西比乌（l. viii. c. 6）提到宦官戈尔戈尼乌斯（Gorgonius）与多罗修斯（Dorotheus）、以及尼科米底亚主教安提米乌斯（Anthimius）惨遭处决之事；两位史家都以含糊而悲怆的笔调，描绘了那些甚至就在皇帝眼前上演的可怖景象。
156 ↩
See Lactantius, Eusebius, and Constantine, ad Cœtum Sanctorum, c. xxv. Eusebius confesses his ignorance of the cause of this fire. Note: As the history of these times affords us no example of any attempts made by the Christians against their persecutors, we have no reason, not the slightest probability, to attribute to them the fire in the palace; and the authority of Constantine and Lactantius remains to explain it. M. de Tillemont has shown how they can be reconciled. Hist. des Empereurs, Vie de Diocletian, xix.—G. Had it been done by a Christian, it would probably have been a fanatic, who would have avowed and gloried in it. Tillemont’s supposition that the fire was first caused by lightning, and fed and increased by the malice of Galerius, seems singularly improbable.—M.
参见拉克坦提乌斯、优西比乌，以及君士坦丁《致圣徒会众演说》c. xxv。优西比乌坦承自己不知这场火灾的起因。* 编者按：这一时期的史事中，找不出一例基督徒图谋对付迫害者的记载，因此我们毫无理由把宫中的火灾归咎于他们，这种可能连一丝一毫都谈不上；至于火灾的起因，仍有君士坦丁与拉克坦提乌斯的权威说法可作解释。蒂耶蒙先生已经指出二说如何可以调和，见 Hist. des Empereurs, Vie de Diocletian, xix。—G 倘若此火当真出自某个基督徒之手，那多半是个狂热之徒，而这种人是会公然承认、且引以为荣的。蒂耶蒙推想，火最初由雷电引起，再经伽勒里乌斯怀着恶意添柴助势而蔓延——此说尤其显得难以置信。—M
157 ↩
Tillemont, Mémoires Ecclesiast. tom. v. part i. p. 43.
Tillemont, Mémoires Ecclesiast. tom. v. part i. p. 43.
158 ↩
See the Acta Sincera of Ruinart, p. 353; those of Felix of Thibara, or Tibiur, appear much less corrupted than in the other editions, which afford a lively specimen of legendary license.
参见吕纳尔（Ruinart）编 Acta Sincera, p. 353；其中提巴拉（Thibara）（或作提比乌尔（Tibiur））的费利克斯行传，看来比别的版本窜乱要少得多；那些版本正是传奇笔法恣意驰骋的鲜活样本。
159 ↩
See the first book of Optatus of Milevis against the Donatiste, Paris, 1700, edit. Dupin. He lived under the reign of Valens.
参见米列维斯（Milevis）的奥普塔图斯（Optatus）驳多纳图斯派著作的第一卷，1700 年巴黎版，迪潘（Dupin）校订。他生活在瓦伦斯（Valens）在位之时。
160 ↩
The ancient monuments, published at the end of Optatus, p. 261, &c. describe, in a very circumstantial manner, the proceedings of the governors in the destruction of churches. They made a minute inventory of the plate, &c., which they found in them. That of the church of Cirta, in Numidia, is still extant. It consisted of two chalices of gold, and six of silver; six urns, one kettle, seven lamps, all likewise of silver; besides a large quantity of brass utensils, and wearing apparel.
附刊于奥普塔图斯著作之末的一批古代文献（p. 261 及以下），极其详尽地记述了各地总督拆毁教堂的经过。他们把在教堂中搜出的金银器皿等物一一登记造册。努米底亚（Numidia）西尔塔（Cirta）教堂的那份清单至今尚存，内有金圣爵两只、银圣爵六只，另有瓮六个、锅一口、灯七盏，皆为银制；此外还有大量的铜器与衣物。
161 ↩
Lactantius (Institut. Divin. v. 11) confines the calamity to the conventiculum, with its congregation. Eusebius (viii. 11) extends it to a whole city, and introduces something very like a regular siege. His ancient Latin translator, Rufinus, adds the important circumstance of the permission given to the inhabitants of retiring from thence. As Phrygia reached to the confines of Isauria, it is possible that the restless temper of those independent barbarians may have contributed to this misfortune. Note: Universum populum. Lact. Inst. Div. v. 11.—G.
拉克坦提乌斯（Institut. Divin. v. 11）把这场灾祸局限于那座 conventiculum（小礼拜堂）及其会众；优西比乌（viii. 11）却把它扩大到整整一座城市，还引入了一段颇像正规攻城战的情节。为优西比乌作古拉丁文译本的鲁菲努斯（Rufinus），则补上了一个重要细节：曾准许城中居民从那里撤出。弗里吉亚一直延伸到伊苏里亚（Isauria）边界，那里的蛮族素来独立，性情桀骜不驯，这场不幸或许也有他们推波助澜。* 编者按：Universum populum（全城百姓）。见 Lact. Inst. Div. v. 11。—G
162 ↩
Eusebius, l. viii. c. 6. M. de Valois (with some probability) thinks that he has discovered the Syrian rebellion in an oration of Libanius; and that it was a rash attempt of the tribune Eugenius, who with only five hundred men seized Antioch, and might perhaps allure the Christians by the promise of religious toleration. From Eusebius, (l. ix. c. 8,) as well as from Moses of Chorene, (Hist. Armen. l. ii. 77, &c.,) it may be inferred, that Christianity was already introduced into Armenia.
优西比乌，l. viii. c. 6。德瓦卢瓦（Valois）先生认为（不无几分道理），他在利巴尼乌斯（Libanius）的一篇演说辞里发现了叙利亚叛乱的踪迹：那不过是保民官欧根尼乌斯（Eugenius）的一场鲁莽之举——此人仅凭五百之众便夺取了安条克（Antioch），或许还曾以宗教宽容为许诺来招引基督徒。从优西比乌（l. ix. c. 8）以及科列纳齐的摩西（Hist. Armen. l. ii. 77, &c.）的记载来看，可以推断基督教当时已然传入亚美尼亚。
1621 ↩
He had already passed them in his first edict. It does not appear that resentment or fear had any share in the new persecutions: perhaps they originated in superstition, and a specious apparent respect for its ministers. The oracle of Apollo, consulted by Diocletian, gave no answer; and said that just men hindered it from speaking. Constantine, who assisted at the ceremony, affirms, with an oath, that when questioned about these men, the high priest named the Christians. “The Emperor eagerly seized on this answer; and drew against the innocent a sword, destined only to punish the guilty: he instantly issued edicts, written, if I may use the expression, with a poniard; and ordered the judges to employ all their skill to invent new modes of punishment. Euseb. Vit Constant. l. ii c 54.”—G.
他在第一道敕令中就已越出了这些界限。看来怨恨或恐惧在这几次新的迫害中并未起到什么作用：它们或许源于迷信，源于戴克里先对异教祭司那副貌似恭敬的姿态。戴克里先曾求问阿波罗（Apollo）的神谕，神谕却不作答复，只说是有义人在阻挠它开口。君士坦丁当时在场，他起誓断言：问到这些义人是谁时，大祭司指明正是基督徒。“皇帝迫不及待地抓住这个答复，拔出一柄本只该用来惩治罪人的剑，指向无辜之人；他随即颁下敕令——容我这样说——那简直是用匕首写成的，并命令法官们竭尽所能，去发明种种新的刑罚花样。见 Euseb. Vit. Constant. l. ii. c. 54。”—G
163 ↩
See Mosheim, p. 938: the text of Eusebius very plainly shows that the governors, whose powers were enlarged, not restrained, by the new laws, could punish with death the most obstinate Christians as an example to their brethren.
参见莫斯海姆，p. 938：优西比乌的记载明白显示，这些新法非但没有限制、反而扩大了各地总督的权力；总督可以处死最顽固的基督徒，以儆其余教友。
164 ↩
Athanasius, p. 833, ap. Tillemont, Mém. Ecclesiast. tom v part i. 90.
Athanasius, p. 833, ap. Tillemont, Mém. Ecclesiast. tom v part i. 90.