Chapter XVIII: Character Of Constantine And His Sons.—Part II. 第十八章 君士坦丁及其诸子的品格——第二节
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By the death of Crispus, the inheritance of the empire seemed to devolve on the three sons of Fausta, who have been already mentioned under the names of Constantine, of Constantius, and of Constans. These young princes were successively invested with the title of Cæsar; and the dates of their promotion may be referred to the tenth, the twentieth, and the thirtieth years of the reign of their father. 29 This conduct, though it tended to multiply the future masters of the Roman world, might be excused by the partiality of paternal affection; but it is not so easy to understand the motives of the emperor, when he endangered the safety both of his family and of his people, by the unnecessary elevation of his two nephews, Dalmatius and Hannibalianus. The former was raised, by the title of Cæsar, to an equality with his cousins. In favor of the latter, Constantine invented the new and singular appellation of Nobilissimus; 30 to which he annexed the flattering distinction of a robe of purple and gold. But of the whole series of Roman princes in any age of the empire, Hannibalianus alone was distinguished by the title of King; a name which the subjects of Tiberius would have detested, as the profane and cruel insult of capricious tyranny. The use of such a title, even as it appears under the reign of Constantine, is a strange and unconnected fact, which can scarcely be admitted on the joint authority of Imperial medals and contemporary writers. 31 3111
克里斯普斯（Crispus）一死，帝国的继承权看来便落到了福斯塔（Fausta）所生的三个儿子身上——前文已提到他们的名字：君士坦丁（Constantine）、君士坦提乌斯（Constantius）与君士坦斯（Constans）。这三位年轻的皇子先后受封为恺撒，受封的年份，大致可定在其父在位的第十年、第二十年与第三十年。29此举固然使日后统治罗马世界的君主愈发繁多，但出于父爱偏私，尚情有可原；然而皇帝竟无端抬举自己的两个侄儿达尔马提乌斯（Dalmatius）与安尼巴利阿努斯（Hannibalianus），从而把全家与万民的安危一并推入险境，其用心便令人费解了。前者受封恺撒，得与几位堂兄弟平起平坐；至于后者，君士坦丁则别出心裁，为他新创了“至贵者（Nobilissimus）”（Nobilissimus）这一闻所未闻的尊号，30又附赐紫金袍服，以示恩宠。不过，纵观罗马帝国历朝历代的皇室成员，唯独安尼巴利阿努斯一人冠有“王”的称号；这个名号，提比略（Tiberius）治下的臣民若是听到，必定深恶痛绝，视之为反复无常的暴政强加于人的侮辱，既亵渎，又残忍。即便放在君士坦丁一朝，用这样的称号也是一桩离奇突兀、与前后史事毫无关联的怪事；纵有帝国钱币与当世作家两相佐证，也难教人采信。31 3111
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The whole empire was deeply interested in the education of these five youths, the acknowledged successors of Constantine. The exercise of the body prepared them for the fatigues of war and the duties of active life. Those who occasionally mention the education or talents of Constantius, allow that he excelled in the gymnastic arts of leaping and running that he was a dexterous archer, a skilful horseman, and a master of all the different weapons used in the service either of the cavalry or of the infantry. 32 The same assiduous cultivation was bestowed, though not perhaps with equal success, to improve the minds of the sons and nephews of Constantine. 33 The most celebrated professors of the Christian faith, of the Grecian philosophy, and of the Roman jurisprudence, were invited by the liberality of the emperor, who reserved for himself the important task of instructing the royal youths in the science of government, and the knowledge of mankind. But the genius of Constantine himself had been formed by adversity and experience. In the free intercourse of private life, and amidst the dangers of the court of Galerius, he had learned to command his own passions, to encounter those of his equals, and to depend for his present safety and future greatness on the prudence and firmness of his personal conduct. His destined successors had the misfortune of being born and educated in the imperial purple. Incessantly surrounded with a train of flatterers, they passed their youth in the enjoyment of luxury, and the expectation of a throne; nor would the dignity of their rank permit them to descend from that elevated station from whence the various characters of human nature appear to wear a smooth and uniform aspect. The indulgence of Constantine admitted them, at a very tender age, to share the administration of the empire; and they studied the art of reigning, at the expense of the people intrusted to their care. The younger Constantine was appointed to hold his court in Gaul; and his brother Constantius exchanged that department, the ancient patrimony of their father, for the more opulent, but less martial, countries of the East. Italy, the Western Illyricum, and Africa, were accustomed to revere Constans, the third of his sons, as the representative of the great Constantine. He fixed Dalmatius on the Gothic frontier, to which he annexed the government of Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece. The city of Cæsarea was chosen for the residence of Hannibalianus; and the provinces of Pontus, Cappadocia, and the Lesser Armenia, were destined to form the extent of his new kingdom. For each of these princes a suitable establishment was provided. A just proportion of guards, of legions, and of auxiliaries, was allotted for their respective dignity and defence. The ministers and generals, who were placed about their persons, were such as Constantine could trust to assist, and even to control, these youthful sovereigns in the exercise of their delegated power. As they advanced in years and experience, the limits of their authority were insensibly enlarged: but the emperor always reserved for himself the title of Augustus; and while he showed the Cæsars to the armies and provinces, he maintained every part of the empire in equal obedience to its supreme head. 34 The tranquillity of the last fourteen years of his reign was scarcely interrupted by the contemptible insurrection of a camel-driver in the Island of Cyprus, 35 or by the active part which the policy of Constantine engaged him to assume in the wars of the Goths and Sarmatians.
这五个年轻人既是公认的君士坦丁继承人，全帝国对他们的教育自然极为关切。习武强身，使他们能承受战阵的劳苦，也担得起入世任事的种种责任。凡是顺带提及君士坦提乌斯学养与才能的作者，都承认他跳跃、奔跑等体操竞技样样出众，射术精准，骑术娴熟，无论骑兵还是步兵所用的各色兵器，都运用自如。32君士坦丁诸子诸侄的心智，也同样得到勤勉不懈的栽培，只是成效或许不及体魄的锤炼。33皇帝出手大方，遍邀基督信仰、希腊哲学与罗马法学最负盛名的大师前来任教，而把最要紧的一门——教这些皇室子弟通晓治国之术、洞明世道人心——留给自己亲授。然而，君士坦丁本人的才略，却是磨难与阅历所铸就。当年他出入民间，交游无拘，又身处伽勒里乌斯（Galerius）宫廷的重重凶险之中，由此既学会了驾驭自己的喜怒欲念，也学会了应付同侪的种种意气，更懂得当下的安危、日后的显达，全系于自身行事的审慎与坚定。他这几位注定继位的子侄，却不幸生长于帝王的紫袍之中。他们身边终日簇拥着一群谄媚之徒，青春便消磨在锦衣玉食和对帝位的期盼里；碍于身份尊贵，又不能走下那高高在上的位置，而从那样的高处望下去，世人的品性纵然千差万别，看上去也都是一副没有棱角、千篇一律的面孔。君士坦丁一味纵容，让他们在稚龄之年便分理朝政；于是他们练习为君之道，代价却由托付给他们照管的百姓承担。他派小君士坦丁到高卢（Gaul）开设宫廷。高卢是他本人的旧日基业，原先由小君士坦丁的弟弟君士坦提乌斯领有；君士坦提乌斯拿它换得了东方那些更为富庶、却不那么尚武的地区。意大利、西伊利里库姆（Illyricum）和阿非利加三地，则已习惯把皇帝的第三子君士坦斯尊为伟大君士坦丁的代表。他把达尔马提乌斯安置在哥特人边境，又将色雷斯（Thrace）、马其顿与希腊的治权一并划归其名下。安尼巴利阿努斯的驻地则选在凯撒里亚（Cæsarea）城；本都（Pontus）、卡帕多西亚（Cappadocia）与小亚美尼亚（Lesser Armenia）三省，注定要构成他这个新王国的疆界。每位皇子都配备了相称的班底，并按各人的身份与防务所需，分得数量适当的卫队、军团与辅军。安置在他们身边的大臣与将领，都是君士坦丁信得过的人——既能辅佐这些年轻的君主行使受托之权，必要时甚至能加以节制。随着他们年岁渐长、历练渐深，权限也不知不觉地放宽；但皇帝始终把“奥古斯都”的尊号留给自己：他一面让各路军队和行省见到这几位恺撒，一面又让帝国各处一体听命于他这位至高的元首。34他在位的最后十四年天下太平，几乎不曾有什么扰动：塞浦路斯（Cyprus）岛上一个赶骆驼的贱夫发动的那场不足挂齿的叛乱，35以及君士坦丁出于权谋而卷入的哥特人与萨尔马提亚人（Sarmatians）之间的战争，都未能真正打破这份安宁。
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Among the different branches of the human race, the Sarmatians form a very remarkable shade; as they seem to unite the manners of the Asiatic barbarians with the figure and complexion of the ancient inhabitants of Europe. According to the various accidents of peace and war, of alliance or conquest, the Sarmatians were sometimes confined to the banks of the Tanais; and they sometimes spread themselves over the immense plains which lie between the Vistula and the Volga. 36 The care of their numerous flocks and herds, the pursuit of game, and the exercises of war, or rather of rapine, directed the vagrant motions of the Sarmatians. The movable camps or cities, the ordinary residence of their wives and children, consisted only of large wagons drawn by oxen, and covered in the form of tents. The military strength of the nation was composed of cavalry; and the custom of their warriors, to lead in their hand one or two spare horses, enabled them to advance and to retreat with a rapid diligence, which surprised the security, and eluded the pursuit, of a distant enemy. 37 Their poverty of iron prompted their rude industry to invent a sort of cuirass, which was capable of resisting a sword or javelin, though it was formed only of horses’ hoofs, cut into thin and polished slices, carefully laid over each other in the manner of scales or feathers, and strongly sewed upon an under garment of coarse linen. 38 The offensive arms of the Sarmatians were short daggers, long lances, and a weighty bow with a quiver of arrows. They were reduced to the necessity of employing fish-bones for the points of their weapons; but the custom of dipping them in a venomous liquor, that poisoned the wounds which they inflicted, is alone sufficient to prove the most savage manners, since a people impressed with a sense of humanity would have abhorred so cruel a practice, and a nation skilled in the arts of war would have disdained so impotent a resource. 39 Whenever these Barbarians issued from their deserts in quest of prey, their shaggy beards, uncombed locks, the furs with which they were covered from head to foot, and their fierce countenances, which seemed to express the innate cruelty of their minds, inspired the more civilized provincials of Rome with horror and dismay.
在人类种族的诸多分支中，萨尔马提亚人是极为特异的一支：他们似乎兼具亚洲蛮族的习俗，又有欧洲古代居民的体貌与肤色。随着和与战、结盟与征服的种种际遇，萨尔马提亚人时而局促于塔奈斯河（Tanais）一带，时而又散布于维斯瓦河（Vistula）与伏尔加河之间那片辽阔无垠的平原。36萨尔马提亚人四处游徙，或为照料成群的牛羊，或为追逐野兽，或为操演战事——或者不如说，操演劫掠。他们那些可以迁移的营地或城市，平日供妻儿栖身，其实不过是一辆辆牛拉的大车，蒙上帐篷般的顶盖罢了。这个民族的军事力量全由骑兵构成；他们的武士素来习惯手牵一两匹备用的马，如此便能疾进疾退、来去如飞，往往打得远方之敌措手不及，又叫对方追之莫及。37由于缺铁，他们只得凭粗陋的手艺，别出心裁地做出一种胸甲：虽仅以马蹄削成薄而磨光的甲片，一片片仔细叠压，如鳞似羽，再牢牢缝在一件粗麻内衣之上，却也足以抵挡刀剑与标枪。38萨尔马提亚人的进攻兵器，是短匕首、长枪，以及一张沉重的弓，配着一壶箭。他们迫不得已，只好拿鱼骨来做兵器的尖头；但他们惯于把兵器蘸上毒液，被它伤到的人，伤口便会中毒——单凭这一习俗，就足以证明他们野蛮至极：但凡还存几分人道之心的民族，都会对如此残忍的做法深恶痛绝，而但凡精于兵法的民族，也会不屑于借助这般无济于事的手段。39每当这群蛮人走出他们的荒漠、四出掠夺，那蓬乱的胡须、不加梳理的鬈发、从头到脚裹着的兽皮，还有那一副凶狠、仿佛把天生的残忍尽写在脸上的面孔，无不叫罗马那些较为开化的行省居民骇然失色、惊惧不安。
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The use of poisoned arms, which has been spread over both worlds, never preserved a savage tribe from the arms of a disciplined enemy. The tender Ovid, after a youth spent in the enjoyment of fame and luxury, was condemned to a hopeless exile on the frozen banks of the Danube, where he was exposed, almost without defence, to the fury of these monsters of the desert, with whose stern spirits he feared that his gentle shade might hereafter be confounded. In his pathetic, but sometimes unmanly lamentations, 40 he describes in the most lively colors the dress and manners, the arms and inroads, of the Getæ and Sarmatians, who were associated for the purposes of destruction; and from the accounts of history there is some reason to believe that these Sarmatians were the Jazygæ, one of the most numerous and warlike tribes of the nation. The allurements of plenty engaged them to seek a permanent establishment on the frontiers of the empire. Soon after the reign of Augustus, they obliged the Dacians, who subsisted by fishing on the banks of the River Teyss or Tibiscus, to retire into the hilly country, and to abandon to the victorious Sarmatians the fertile plains of the Upper Hungary, which are bounded by the course of the Danube and the semicircular enclosure of the Carpathian Mountains. 41 In this advantageous position, they watched or suspended the moment of attack, as they were provoked by injuries or appeased by presents; they gradually acquired the skill of using more dangerous weapons, and although the Sarmatians did not illustrate their name by any memorable exploits, they occasionally assisted their eastern and western neighbors, the Goths and the Germans, with a formidable body of cavalry. They lived under the irregular aristocracy of their chieftains: 42 but after they had received into their bosom the fugitive Vandals, who yielded to the pressure of the Gothic power, they seem to have chosen a king from that nation, and from the illustrious race of the Astingi, who had formerly dwelt on the hores of the northern ocean. 43
新旧两个世界都有人使用毒箭，却从没有哪个野蛮部落凭着它，逃过纪律严明之敌的兵锋。柔弱多情的奥维德（Ovid），年少时享尽声名与奢华，晚年却被判处流放，无望地困居于多瑙河冰封的岸边；在那里，他几乎无从自卫，任凭这些荒漠中的恶魔肆虐，甚至担忧自己温柔的亡魂日后会与他们那冷酷的鬼魂混作一处。在他那些哀婉动人、却有时未免失之柔靡的悲叹中，40他以最鲜活的笔触，描摹了格泰人（Getæ）与萨尔马提亚人的服饰习俗、兵器与入寇，这两族原是为烧杀掳掠而结成一伙的。从史籍的记载来看，有几分理由相信，这些萨尔马提亚人便是雅济格斯人（Jazygæ），这一部落论人数、论骁勇，在全族中都数一数二。丰饶之地的诱惑，促使他们谋求在帝国边陲永久定居。奥古斯都死后不久，他们便逼得达契亚人（Dacians）退入山地。达契亚人原在蒂萨河（Teyss）（又名蒂比斯库斯河（Tibiscus））两岸捕鱼为生，只得把上匈牙利那片肥沃的平原，拱手让给得胜的萨尔马提亚人；这片平原一面以多瑙河为界，一面由喀尔巴阡山脉（Carpathian Mountains）半环合抱。41占据了这一有利位置，他们便相机进退：受了侵害便伺机进击，得了馈赠便按兵不发；又渐渐学会了使用更为致命的兵器。萨尔马提亚人虽没有什么值得称道的功业足以扬名，却时不时出动一支令人生畏的骑兵，援助东西两面的邻族哥特人和日耳曼人。他们原本处在各部酋长松散无章的贵族统治之下；42不过，后来汪达尔人（Vandals）抵不住哥特势力的压迫，逃来投奔，萨尔马提亚人收留了他们，此后似乎便从汪达尔人中推举了一位国王，出身显赫的阿斯丁吉（Astingi）家族；这个家族曾世居北方大洋之滨。43
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This motive of enmity must have inflamed the subjects of contention, which perpetually arise on the confines of warlike and independent nations. The Vandal princes were stimulated by fear and revenge; the Gothic kings aspired to extend their dominion from the Euxine to the frontiers of Germany; and the waters of the Maros, a small river which falls into the Teyss, were stained with the blood of the contending Barbarians. After some experience of the superior strength and numbers of their adversaries, the Sarmatians implored the protection of the Roman monarch, who beheld with pleasure the discord of the nations, but who was justly alarmed by the progress of the Gothic arms. As soon as Constantine had declared himself in favor of the weaker party, the haughty Araric, king of the Goths, instead of expecting the attack of the legions, boldly passed the Danube, and spread terror and devastation through the province of Mæsia.
好战而各自为政的民族之间，边境上本就争端不断；如今萨尔马提亚人收留了汪达尔人，因此同哥特人结下新仇，争端势必愈演愈烈。汪达尔诸王既心怀恐惧，又急于报仇；哥特诸王则一心要把版图从黑海一直扩张到日耳曼边境；于是，蒂萨河的小支流马罗斯河（Maros），被交战蛮族的鲜血染红了。萨尔马提亚人几番领教了对手在实力与人数上的优势，便转而恳求罗马君主的庇护；而这位君主，一面乐见诸族相争，一面却也理所当然地为哥特兵锋的步步进逼而警觉。君士坦丁刚一表态偏袒弱势的一方，桀骜的哥特王阿拉利克（Araric）非但不坐等罗马军团来攻，反倒悍然渡过多瑙河，在默西亚（Mæsia）全省大肆蹂躏，所到之处一片惊恐。
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To oppose the inroad of this destroying host, the aged emperor took the field in person; but on this occasion either his conduct or his fortune betrayed the glory which he had acquired in so many foreign and domestic wars. He had the mortification of seeing his troops fly before an inconsiderable detachment of the Barbarians, who pursued them to the edge of their fortified camp, and obliged him to consult his safety by a precipitate and ignominious retreat. 4311 The event of a second and more successful action retrieved the honor of the Roman name; and the powers of art and discipline prevailed, after an obstinate contest, over the efforts of irregular valor. The broken army of the Goths abandoned the field of battle, the wasted province, and the passage of the Danube: and although the eldest of the sons of Constantine was permitted to supply the place of his father, the merit of the victory, which diffused universal joy, was ascribed to the auspicious counsels of the emperor himself.
为抵御这支破坏成性的大军入侵，年迈的皇帝亲自出征；然而这一回，或是他指挥失当，或是他运气不济，竟辜负了他在历次内外战争中赢得的荣光。他眼睁睁看着自己的军队在一小队微不足道的蛮族面前望风而逃，蛮族一直追杀到罗马设防营垒的边缘，逼得他只能仓皇而可耻地撤退以求自保，其屈辱难堪可想而知。4311第二仗打得较为顺手，方才挽回了罗马的名誉；经过一番苦战，技艺与纪律的威力，终究压倒了那凭一时血勇、杂乱无章的抵抗。溃败的哥特军队丢下战场、丢下被蹂躏的行省，也放弃了多瑙河渡口；虽说君士坦丁准许长子代父督战，但这场令举国欢腾的胜利，其功劳却归于皇帝本人的英明谋断。
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He contributed at least to improve this advantage, by his negotiations with the free and warlike people of Chersonesus, 44 whose capital, situate on the western coast of the Tauric or Crimæan peninsula, still retained some vestiges of a Grecian colony, and was governed by a perpetual magistrate, assisted by a council of senators, emphatically styled the Fathers of the City.
不过，这一战果得以进一步扩大，至少有他一份功劳：他同克尔松尼斯（Chersonesus）那个自由而好战的民族展开了交涉。44该族的都城坐落在陶里卡（Tauric）（即克里米亚）半岛西岸，当时仍存有几分希腊殖民城邦的遗风。城中由一位终身任职的行政官治理，另有元老会议辅佐，元老们被郑重其事地尊称为“城邦之父”。
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The Chersonites were animated against the Goths, by the memory of the wars, which, in the preceding century, they had maintained with unequal forces against the invaders of their country. They were connected with the Romans by the mutual benefits of commerce; as they were supplied from the provinces of Asia with corn and manufactures, which they purchased with their only productions, salt, wax, and hides. Obedient to the requisition of Constantine, they prepared, under the conduct of their magistrate Diogenes, a considerable army, of which the principal strength consisted in cross-bows and military chariots. The speedy march and intrepid attack of the Chersonites, by diverting the attention of the Goths, assisted the operations of the Imperial generals. The Goths, vanquished on every side, were driven into the mountains, where, in the course of a severe campaign, above a hundred thousand were computed to have perished by cold and hunger. Peace was at length granted to their humble supplications; the eldest son of Araric was accepted as the most valuable hostage; and Constantine endeavored to convince their chiefs, by a liberal distribution of honors and rewards, how far the friendship of the Romans was preferable to their enmity. In the expressions of his gratitude towards the faithful Chersonites, the emperor was still more magnificent. The pride of the nation was gratified by the splendid and almost royal decorations bestowed on their magistrate and his successors. A perpetual exemption from all duties was stipulated for their vessels which traded to the ports of the Black Sea. A regular subsidy was promised, of iron, corn, oil, and of every supply which could be useful either in peace or war. But it was thought that the Sarmatians were sufficiently rewarded by their deliverance from impending ruin; and the emperor, perhaps with too strict an economy, deducted some part of the expenses of the war from the customary gratifications which were allowed to that turbulent nation.
克尔松人（Chersonites）对哥特人满怀敌意，只因他们还记得上一个世纪的那些战争——当年他们曾以寡敌众，抵御入侵故土的外敌。他们与罗马人则因通商而互蒙其利、彼此相连：亚细亚诸省向他们供应谷物与制成品，而他们用以交换的，只有本地仅有的出产——盐、蜡和兽皮。他们遵奉君士坦丁的征调，在执政官第欧根尼（Diogenes）的统领下备下一支可观的军队，主力是弩弓与战车。克尔松人进军神速、攻势凌厉，分散了哥特人的注意力，从而策应了帝国将领的作战。哥特人四面受敌、节节败退，被逼进山中；在山里历经一番严酷的征战，据估算有十万余人冻饿而死。他们低声下气地乞求，终于获准议和；阿拉利克的长子被收作最宝贵的人质；君士坦丁则慷慨地封授荣衔、颁发赏赐，力图让哥特首领们明白：与罗马人结好，远胜于与之为敌。皇帝酬谢忠诚的克尔松人，出手更是豪阔。他赐给克尔松（Cherson）执政官及其后历任执政官华美的徽饰，规格几近王者，大大满足了这个民族的自尊；又订明凡是往来黑海各港经商的克尔松船只，一律永久免税；还许诺定期供给铁、谷物、油，以及平时或战时用得着的一切物资。然而罗马方面认为，萨尔马提亚人逃过了迫在眉睫的覆灭，便已得到足够的报偿；于是皇帝或许过于精打细算，从惯常拨给这个桀骜难驯的民族的赏赐中，扣下一部分充作战费。
¶
Exasperated by this apparent neglect, the Sarmatians soon forgot, with the levity of barbarians, the services which they had so lately received, and the dangers which still threatened their safety. Their inroads on the territory of the empire provoked the indignation of Constantine to leave them to their fate; and he no longer opposed the ambition of Geberic, a renowned warrior, who had recently ascended the Gothic throne. Wisumar, the Vandal king, whilst alone, and unassisted, he defended his dominions with undaunted courage, was vanquished and slain in a decisive battle, which swept away the flower of the Sarmatian youth. 4411 The remainder of the nation embraced the desperate expedient of arming their slaves, a hardy race of hunters and herdsmen, by whose tumultuary aid they revenged their defeat, and expelled the invader from their confines. But they soon discovered that they had exchanged a foreign for a domestic enemy, more dangerous and more implacable. Enraged by their former servitude, elated by their present glory, the slaves, under the name of Limigantes, claimed and usurped the possession of the country which they had saved. Their masters, unable to withstand the ungoverned fury of the populace, preferred the hardships of exile to the tyranny of their servants. Some of the fugitive Sarmatians solicited a less ignominious dependence, under the hostile standard of the Goths. A more numerous band retired beyond the Carpathian Mountains, among the Quadi, their German allies, and were easily admitted to share a superfluous waste of uncultivated land. But the far greater part of the distressed nation turned their eyes towards the fruitful provinces of Rome. Imploring the protection and forgiveness of the emperor, they solemnly promised, as subjects in peace, and as soldiers in war, the most inviolable fidelity to the empire which should graciously receive them into its bosom. According to the maxims adopted by Probus and his successors, the offers of this barbarian colony were eagerly accepted; and a competent portion of lands in the provinces of Pannonia, Thrace, Macedonia, and Italy, were immediately assigned for the habitation and subsistence of three hundred thousand Sarmatians. 45 4511
这番明摆着的冷落激怒了萨尔马提亚人；蛮族生性轻率，他们很快便忘了自己新近才得到的援手，也忘了眼下仍悬在头顶的危险。他们侵入帝国境内，惹得君士坦丁勃然大怒，索性撒手不管，任其自生自灭；从此他不再阻拦盖贝里克（Geberic）的野心——此人是一位声名赫赫的武士，新近才登上哥特王位。汪达尔王维苏马尔（Wisumar）孤立无援，仍以无畏的勇气独力捍卫自己的领土，终在一场决战中兵败被杀，萨尔马提亚的青年精锐也随之一扫而空。4411残存的族人走投无路，只得出此下策：把奴隶武装起来。这些奴隶原是一群强悍的猎人与牧人，族人靠这群乌合之众相助，总算报了败仗之仇，把入侵者逐出了自己的疆界。可他们旋即发觉，自己不过是拿一个外敌换来了一个内患，而这内患更凶险、更难消解。这些奴隶名为利米甘特斯人（Limigantes），既因昔日的奴役而满腔积愤，又因今日的战功而趾高气扬，竟对这片自己保全下来的土地提出占有的要求，进而强行霸占。他们的主人抵挡不住这群暴民肆无忌惮的凶焰，宁可忍受流亡之苦，也不愿受自家奴仆的暴虐。逃亡的萨尔马提亚人中，有些人投到宿敌哥特人的旗下，甘居一种不那么屈辱的附庸地位。更多的一群则退过喀尔巴阡山脉，投奔他们的日耳曼盟友夸迪人（Quadi），轻而易举便获准分得一片多余的荒地。但受难民族中绝大多数人，把目光投向了罗马那些富饶的行省。他们恳求皇帝的庇护与宽宥，郑重许诺：只要帝国肯开恩把他们纳入怀抱，他们平时便做顺民，战时便当兵卒，对帝国效以最坚贞不渝的忠诚。皇帝依照普罗布斯（Probus）及其后继者所奉行的准则，欣然接纳了这批蛮族移民的归附之请，随即在潘诺尼亚（Pannonia）、色雷斯、马其顿和意大利各省划出足够的土地，供三十万萨尔马提亚人栖居谋生。45 4511
¶
By chastising the pride of the Goths, and by accepting the homage of a suppliant nation, Constantine asserted the majesty of the Roman empire; and the ambassadors of Æthiopia, Persia, and the most remote countries of India, congratulated the peace and prosperity of his government. 46 If he reckoned, among the favors of fortune, the death of his eldest son, of his nephew, and perhaps of his wife, he enjoyed an uninterrupted flow of private as well as public felicity, till the thirtieth year of his reign; a period which none of his predecessors, since Augustus, had been permitted to celebrate. Constantine survived that solemn festival about ten months; and at the mature age of sixty-four, after a short illness, he ended his memorable life at the palace of Aquyrion, in the suburbs of Nicomedia, whither he had retired for the benefit of the air, and with the hope of recruiting his exhausted strength by the use of the warm baths. The excessive demonstrations of grief, or at least of mourning, surpassed whatever had been practised on any former occasion. Notwithstanding the claims of the senate and people of ancient Rome, the corpse of the deceased emperor, according to his last request, was transported to the city, which was destined to preserve the name and memory of its founder. The body of Constantine adorned with the vain symbols of greatness, the purple and diadem, was deposited on a golden bed in one of the apartments of the palace, which for that purpose had been splendidly furnished and illuminated. The forms of the court were strictly maintained. Every day, at the appointed hours, the principal officers of the state, the army, and the household, approaching the person of their sovereign with bended knees and a composed countenance, offered their respectful homage as seriously as if he had been still alive. From motives of policy, this theatrical representation was for some time continued; nor could flattery neglect the opportunity of remarking that Constantine alone, by the peculiar indulgence of Heaven, had reigned after his death. 47
君士坦丁一面挫抑哥特人的骄气，一面又接受一个乞降民族的臣服，由此彰显了罗马帝国的威严；埃塞俄比亚、波斯乃至印度最遥远国度的使节，纷纷前来庆贺他治下的太平与繁荣。46倘若他把长子之死、外甥之死、或许还有妻子之死，也算作命运的眷顾，那么直到在位的第三十年，他无论私福公福，都享之不绝、从未中断——自奥古斯都以来，他的历代前任无一得以庆贺这样一个年头。那场隆重的庆典之后，君士坦丁又活了约十个月。他年已六十有四，患病不久，便在尼科米底亚（Nicomedia）郊外的阿奎里翁（Aquyrion）宫走完了不平凡的一生。他先前退居此地，本想借当地清佳的空气调养，又指望靠温泉浴恢复业已耗尽的精力。人们表露的悲痛过了分寸，是以往任何一次都比不上的；至少，举哀的排场是如此。尽管罗马故都的元老院与人民力主将他留葬当地，这位已故皇帝的遗体仍依其临终之请，运往那座以他命名、注定要永远铭记这位奠基者的城市。君士坦丁的遗体，饰以那些徒具虚荣的伟大象征——紫袍与冠冕——安放在宫中一室的金榻之上，那间屋子为此特意布置得富丽堂皇、灯火通明。宫廷的种种礼仪一丝不苟地维持着。每天到了指定的时辰，国家、军队与内廷的主要官员便屈膝趋近他们君主的遗体，神色肃穆，恭致敬意，庄重之态一如君主尚在人世。出于权谋的考虑，这出戏一连演了好些时日；谄媚者更不肯放过这个机会，声称唯独君士坦丁一人，蒙上天格外垂青，竟能于身后仍旧临朝。47
¶
But this reign could subsist only in empty pageantry; and it was soon discovered that the will of the most absolute monarch is seldom obeyed, when his subjects have no longer anything to hope from his favor, or to dread from his resentment. The same ministers and generals, who bowed with such referential awe before the inanimate corpse of their deceased sovereign, were engaged in secret consultations to exclude his two nephews, Dalmatius and Hannibalianus, from the share which he had assigned them in the succession of the empire. We are too imperfectly acquainted with the court of Constantine to form any judgment of the real motives which influenced the leaders of the conspiracy; unless we should suppose that they were actuated by a spirit of jealousy and revenge against the præfect Ablavius, a proud favorite, who had long directed the counsels and abused the confidence of the late emperor. The arguments, by which they solicited the concurrence of the soldiers and people, are of a more obvious nature; and they might with decency, as well as truth, insist on the superior rank of the children of Constantine, the danger of multiplying the number of sovereigns, and the impending mischiefs which threatened the republic, from the discord of so many rival princes, who were not connected by the tender sympathy of fraternal affection. The intrigue was conducted with zeal and secrecy, till a loud and unanimous declaration was procured from the troops, that they would suffer none except the sons of their lamented monarch to reign over the Roman empire. 48 The younger Dalmatius, who was united with his collateral relations by the ties of friendship and interest, is allowed to have inherited a considerable share of the abilities of the great Constantine; but, on this occasion, he does not appear to have concerted any measure for supporting, by arms, the just claims which himself and his royal brother derived from the liberality of their uncle. Astonished and overwhelmed by the tide of popular fury, they seem to have remained, without the power of flight or of resistance, in the hands of their implacable enemies. Their fate was suspended till the arrival of Constantius, the second, and perhaps the most favored, of the sons of Constantine. 49
然而这种“统治”，终究只能是空洞的排场；人们很快便看清：纵是最专制的君主，一旦臣民再不能指望他的恩宠，也不必畏惧他的恼怒，他的旨意便很少有人听从了。就是这批大臣与将领，在故去君主僵冷的遗体前那般诚惶诚恐地俯首，暗地里却在密谋，不让他的两个侄儿达尔马提乌斯与安尼巴利阿努斯继承他生前分派给两人的那份疆土。我们对君士坦丁的宫廷所知实在太少，无从判断这伙密谋首脑的真正动机；也许只能猜想，他们是对禁卫军长官阿布拉维乌斯（Ablavius）心怀妒忌，意图报复。此人是个傲慢的宠臣，长期把持先帝的决策，又滥用先帝的信任。至于他们用来争取士兵与民众附和的那些说辞，就显而易见得多了。他们大可名正言顺、也合乎实情地力陈：君士坦丁的亲生儿子身份更为尊贵；君主一多，便暗藏祸患；这许多彼此争位的皇子之间，又没有手足亲情的温厚维系，一旦失和，国家便要大祸临头。密谋者行事既卖力又隐秘，终于促使全军异口同声，发出震天动地的宣告：除了他们所痛悼的先君的亲生儿子，绝不容许任何人统治罗马帝国。48小达尔马提乌斯与几位堂兄弟之间，本有交情，利害也彼此相连；众人都公认，他颇得伟大君士坦丁才干的几分真传。他和身为国王的兄弟安尼巴利阿努斯，凭着伯父的慷慨分封，本可名正言顺地主张自己的权益；然而这一回，他似乎并没有筹划任何举措，以武力来捍卫这些权益。面对汹涌而来的民愤，他们惊愕失措、不知所以，既无力逃走，也无从抵抗，只能束手落入不共戴天之敌的掌握。他们的命运就此悬而未决，只待君士坦丁诸子中的次子——或许也是最得宠的一个——君士坦提乌斯到来，方见分晓。49
Notes 注释
29
↩
Euseb. Orat. in Constantin. c. 3. These dates are sufficiently correct to justify the orator.
Euseb. Orat. in Constantin. c. 3。这些年代已足够准确，足以证实这位颂辞作者所言不虚。
30
↩
Zosim. l. ii. p. 117. Under the predecessors of Constantine, Nobilissimus was a vague epithet, rather than a legal and determined title.
Zosim. l. ii. p. 117。在君士坦丁的前任治下，至贵者（Nobilissimus）只是一个含糊的称谓修饰语，而非一个法定而明确的头衔。
31
↩
Adstruunt nummi veteres ac singulares. Spanheim de Usu Numismat. Dissertat. xii. vol. ii. p. 357. Ammianus speaks of this Roman king (l. xiv. c. l, and Valesius ad loc.) The Valesian fragment styles him King of kings; and the Paschal Chronicle acquires the weight of Latin evidence.
Adstruunt nummi veteres ac singulares.（古老而独特的钱币足以佐证。）见 Spanheim de Usu Numismat. Dissertat. xii. vol. ii. p. 357。阿米阿努斯（Ammianus）提到这位罗马国王（l. xiv. c. l，并见瓦莱修斯（Valesius）该处的注释）。《瓦莱修斯残篇》称他为“万王之王”；《复活节编年史》虽是希腊文著作，在这一点上的记载却和拉丁史料一样有分量。
3111
↩
Hannibalianus is always designated in these authors by the title of king. There still exist medals struck to his honor, on which the same title is found, Fl. Hannibaliano Regi. See Eckhel, Doct. Num. t. viii. 204. Armeniam nationesque circum socias habebat, says Aur. Victor, p. 225. The writer means the Lesser Armenia. Though it is not possible to question a fact supported by such respectable authorities, Gibbon considers it inexplicable and incredible. It is a strange abuse of the privilege of doubting, to refuse all belief in a fact of such little importance in itself, and attested thus formally by contemporary authors and public monuments. St. Martin note to Le Beau i. 341.—M.
在这些作者笔下，安尼巴利阿努斯始终被冠以“王”的头衔。为纪念他而铸造的钱币至今尚存，上面也刻着同样的头衔：Fl. Hannibaliano Regi。参见 Eckhel, Doct. Num. t. viii. 204。奥勒留·维克托（Aurelius Victor）说：Armeniam nationesque circum socias habebat（他统辖亚美尼亚及周边的盟族，见 Aur. Victor, p. 225）——作者指的是小亚美尼亚。既有如此可敬的权威为这一事实作证，本无从质疑，吉本却仍视之为无从解释、难以置信。一件事本身无足轻重，又经当世作者与公共纪念物如此郑重地证实，竟一概不予采信，这样滥用怀疑的特权，实在奇怪。圣马丁（St. Martin）为勒博（Beau）著作所作之注，i. 341。—M
32
↩
His dexterity in martial exercises is celebrated by Julian, (Orat. i. p. 11, Orat. ii. p. 53,) and allowed by Ammianus, (l. xxi. c. 16.)
尤利安（Julian）盛赞他在武艺演练上的娴熟（Orat. i. p. 11，Orat. ii. p. 53），阿米阿努斯亦予以认可（l. xxi. c. 16）。
33
↩
Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. l. iv. c. 51. Julian, Orat. i. p. 11-16, with Spanheim’s elaborate Commentary. Libanius, Orat. iii. p. 109. Constantius studied with laudable diligence; but the dulness of his fancy prevented him from succeeding in the art of poetry, or even of rhetoric.
Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. l. iv. c. 51。Julian, Orat. i. p. 11-16，并见斯潘海姆（Spanheim）详尽的评注。Libanius, Orat. iii. p. 109。君士坦提乌斯用功之勤，值得称道；只是想象力迟钝，使他无论在诗艺还是辩术上都难有所成。
34
↩
Eusebius, (l. iv. c. 51, 52,) with a design of exalting the authority and glory of Constantine, affirms, that he divided the Roman empire as a private citizen might have divided his patrimony. His distribution of the provinces may be collected from Eutropius, the two Victors and the Valesian fragment.
优西比乌（l. iv. c. 51, 52）为抬高君士坦丁的权威与荣耀，声称他分割罗马帝国，就如同一介平民分割自己的祖产一般。他对各行省的分配，可从欧特罗皮乌斯（Eutropius）、两位维克托（Victor）以及《瓦莱修斯残篇》中辑得。
35
↩
Calocerus, the obscure leader of this rebellion, or rather tumult, was apprehended and burnt alive in the market-place of Tarsus, by the vigilance of Dalmatius. See the elder Victor, the Chronicle of Jerom, and the doubtful traditions of Theophanes and Cedrenus.
这场事变与其说是叛乱，不如说是骚动，首领卡洛凯鲁斯（Calocerus）名不见经传；达尔马提乌斯十分警觉，将他拿获，在塔尔苏斯（Tarsus）的集市上活活烧死。参见老维克托、哲罗姆（Jerom）的编年史，以及塞奥法尼斯（Theophanes）与塞德雷努斯（Cedrenus）那些真伪难辨的传闻。
36
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Cellarius has collected the opinions of the ancients concerning the European and Asiatic Sarmatia; and M. D’Anville has applied them to modern geography with the skill and accuracy which always distinguish that excellent writer.
切拉里乌斯（Cellarius）汇集了古人有关欧洲与亚洲萨尔马提亚的种种说法；当维尔（Anville）先生又将这些说法比照于近代地理，其手法之精、考订之确，一如这位杰出作者一贯的水准。
37
↩
Ammian. l. xvii. c. 12. The Sarmatian horses were castrated to prevent the mischievous accidents which might happen from the noisy and ungovernable passions of the males.
Ammian. l. xvii. c. 12。萨尔马提亚人的马匹都经过阉割，以免公马发情时又吵又难驯，闹出乱子。
38
↩
Pausanius, l. i. p. 50,. edit. Kuhn. That inquisitive traveller had carefully examined a Sarmatian cuirass, which was preserved in the temple of Æsculapius at Athens.
Pausanius, l. i. p. 50, edit. Kuhn。这位好奇的旅行家曾仔细察看过一件萨尔马提亚（Sarmatia）胸甲，它当时保存在雅典的埃斯库拉庇乌斯神庙里。
39
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Aspicis et mitti sub adunco toxica ferro, Et telum causas mortis habere duas. Ovid, ex Ponto, l. iv. ep. 7, ver. 7.——See in the Recherches sur les Americains, tom. ii. p. 236—271, a very curious dissertation on poisoned darts. The venom was commonly extracted from the vegetable reign: but that employed by the Scythians appears to have been drawn from the viper, and a mixture of human blood.
Aspicis et mitti sub adunco toxica ferro, Et telum causas mortis habere duas. Ovid, ex Ponto, l. iv. ep. 7, ver. 7.（大意：你看，毒液也随那弯钩的箭镞射出，一支箭便兼具两重致命之由。）——参见 Recherches sur les Americains, tom. ii. p. 236—271 中一篇考论毒镖的奇文，饶有趣味。毒液通常取自植物；但斯基泰人（Scythians）所用的毒，似乎取自蝰蛇，又掺入了人血。
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The nine books of Poetical Epistles which Ovid composed during the seven first years of his melancholy exile, possess, beside the merit of elegance, a double value. They exhibit a picture of the human mind under very singular circumstances; and they contain many curious observations, which no Roman except Ovid, could have an opportunity of making. Every circumstance which tends to illustrate the history of the Barbarians, has been drawn together by the very accurate Count de Buat. Hist. Ancienne des Peuples de l’Europe, tom. iv. c. xvi. p. 286-317
奥维德在凄凉流放的头七年里写成的九卷《诗简》，除文辞优雅之外，还有双重价值：其一，它们描绘出人心处于极为特殊境遇下的一幅图景；其二，其中包含许多耐人寻味的观察，而这些观察，除奥维德外，没有哪个罗马人有机会作出。凡有助于阐明蛮族历史的种种情形，都已由治学极为严谨的布阿（Buat）伯爵搜罗殆尽。Hist. Ancienne des Peuples de l’Europe, tom. iv. c. xvi. p. 286-317。
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The Sarmatian Jazygæ were settled on the banks of Pathissus or Tibiscus, when Pliny, in the year 79, published his Natural History. See l. iv. c. 25. In the time of Strabo and Ovid, sixty or seventy years before, they appear to have inhabited beyond the Getæ, along the coast of the Euxine.
公元 79 年普林尼刊行其《博物志》时，萨尔马提亚的雅济格斯人已定居在帕蒂苏斯河（Pathissus）（即蒂比斯库斯河）两岸。见 l. iv. c. 25。而在此前六七十年、斯特拉波（Strabo）与奥维德的时代，他们似乎还居住在格泰人以远、沿黑海一带。
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Principes Sarmaturum Jazygum penes quos civitatis regimen plebem quoque et vim equitum, qua sola valent, offerebant. Tacit. Hist. iii. p. 5. This offer was made in the civil war between Vitellino and Vespasian.
Principes Sarmaturum Jazygum penes quos civitatis regimen plebem quoque et vim equitum, qua sola valent, offerebant.（塔西佗语，大意：雅济格斯萨尔马提亚人的首领——政权即操于其手——献上了平民乃至他们唯一的强项：骑兵之力。）Tacit. Hist. iii. p. 5。这番效力的提议，是在维泰利乌斯与韦帕芗（Vespasian）的内战期间提出的。
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This hypothesis of a Vandal king reigning over Sarmatian subjects, seems necessary to reconcile the Goth Jornandes with the Greek and Latin historians of Constantine. It may be observed that Isidore, who lived in Spain under the dominion of the Goths, gives them for enemies, not the Vandals, but the Sarmatians. See his Chronicle in Grotius, p. 709. Note: I have already noticed the confusion which must necessarily arise in history, when names purely geographical, as this of Sarmatia, are taken for historical names belonging to a single nation. We perceive it here; it has forced Gibbon to suppose, without any reason but the necessity of extricating himself from his perplexity, that the Sarmatians had taken a king from among the Vandals; a supposition entirely contrary to the usages of Barbarians Dacia, at this period, was occupied, not by Sarmatians, who have never formed a distinct race, but by Vandals, whom the ancients have often confounded under the general term Sarmatians. See Gatterer’s Welt-Geschiehte p. 464—G.
要调和哥特人约达尼斯（Jornandes）与记述君士坦丁的希腊、拉丁史家之间的分歧，似乎非得假定有一位汪达尔国王统治着萨尔马提亚臣民不可。不妨指出：伊西多尔（Isidore）生活在哥特人统治下的西班牙，他记述哥特人的敌人时，说那是萨尔马提亚人，而非汪达尔人。见其编年史，收于格劳秀斯书 p. 709。* 编者按：我此前已指出，把“萨尔马提亚”这类纯属地理的名称，当成某个单一民族专有的历史名称，史书的记述必然因此陷入混乱。此处便是一例。它逼得吉本不得不假定萨尔马提亚人从汪达尔人中推举了一位国王——除了替自己解开困惑，这一假定别无根据，而且完全违背蛮族的惯例。此一时期的达契亚（Dacia），占据它的并非萨尔马提亚人（后者从来不曾构成一个独立的种族），而是汪达尔人；古人则常把汪达尔人笼统归入“萨尔马提亚人”这一泛称之下。见加特勒尔（Gatterer）《世界史》（Gatterer, Welt-Geschiehte）p. 464。—G
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Gibbon states, that Constantine was defeated by the Goths in a first battle. No ancient author mentions such an event. It is, no doubt, a mistake in Gibbon. St Martin, note to Le Beau. i. 324.—M.
吉本称君士坦丁在第一仗中败于哥特人。然而并无任何古代作者提及此事，这无疑是吉本的一处失误。圣马丁为勒博著作所作之注，i. 324。—M
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I may stand in need of some apology for having used, without scruple, the authority of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, in all that relates to the wars and negotiations of the Chersonites. I am aware that he was a Greek of the tenth century, and that his accounts of ancient history are frequently confused and fabulous. But on this occasion his narrative is, for the most part, consistent and probable nor is there much difficulty in conceiving that an emperor might have access to some secret archives, which had escaped the diligence of meaner historians. For the situation and history of Chersone, see Peyssonel, des Peuples barbares qui ont habite les Bords du Danube, c. xvi. 84-90. ——Gibbon has confounded the inhabitants of the city of Cherson, the ancient Chersonesus, with the people of the Chersonesus Taurica. If he had read with more attention the chapter of Constantius Porphyrogenitus, from which this narrative is derived, he would have seen that the author clearly distinguishes the republic of Cherson from the rest of the Tauric Peninsula, then possessed by the kings of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, and that the city of Cherson alone furnished succors to the Romans. The English historian is also mistaken in saying that the Stephanephoros of the Chersonites was a perpetual magistrate; since it is easy to discover from the great number of Stephanephoroi mentioned by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, that they were annual magistrates, like almost all those which governed the Grecian republics. St. Martin, note to Le Beau i. 326.—M.
在一切关涉克尔松人战事与谈判的记述上，我都毫不迟疑地援用了君士坦丁·波菲罗格尼图斯（Constantine Porphyrogenitus）的权威，为此或许需要略作辩解。我很清楚，他是十世纪的一位希腊人，他对古代历史的记述往往含混而近乎荒诞。但就本例而言，他的叙述大体上前后一致、合乎情理；何况他身为皇帝，得以查阅某些秘密档案，而身份低微的史家再怎么勤于搜求也无缘得见，这也不难想见。关于克尔松的位置与历史，见 Peyssonel, des Peuples barbares qui ont habite les Bords du Danube, c. xvi. 84-90。——吉本把克尔松城（即古代的克尔松尼斯）的居民，与陶里卡的克尔松尼斯（Chersonesus Taurica）半岛的居民混为一谈了。他若更留意地读一读他这段叙述所本的君士坦丁·波菲罗格尼图斯那一章，便会看到：作者分明把克尔松这个共和邦，与陶里卡半岛其余部分区别开来——后者当时为辛梅里安博斯普鲁斯诸王所有——而向罗马人提供援兵的，唯有克尔松一城。这位英国史家还有一处失误：他说克尔松人的斯特法涅弗罗斯（Stephanephoros）是终身任职的执政官；殊不知从君士坦丁·波菲罗格尼图斯所提到的众多斯特法涅弗罗斯来看，不难发现他们其实是一年一任的执政官，几乎与治理希腊各共和邦的所有执政官无异。圣马丁为勒博著作所作之注，i. 326。—M
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Gibbon supposes that this war took place because Constantine had deducted a part of the customary gratifications, granted by his predecessors to the Sarmatians. Nothing of this kind appears in the authors. We see, on the contrary, that after his victory, and to punish the Sarmatia is for the ravages they had committed, he withheld the sums which it had been the custom to bestow. St. Martin, note to Le Beau, i. 327.—M.
吉本推测这场战争之所以爆发，是因为君士坦丁扣减了前任惯常赐给萨尔马提亚人的一部分赏赐。可诸家作者中并无此类记载。恰恰相反，我们看到的是：在他获胜之后，为惩罚萨尔马提亚人所犯的劫掠，他才扣下了那些照惯例本应赏赐的钱款。圣马丁为勒博著作所作之注，i. 327。—M
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The Gothic and Sarmatian wars are related in so broken and imperfect a manner, that I have been obliged to compare the following writers, who mutually supply, correct, and illustrate each other. Those who will take the same trouble, may acquire a right of criticizing my narrative. Ammianus, l. xvii. c. 12. Anonym. Valesian. p. 715. Eutropius, x. 7. Sextus Rufus de Provinciis, c. 26. Julian Orat. i. p. 9, and Spanheim, Comment. p. 94. Hieronym. in Chron. Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. l. iv. c. 6. Socrates, l. i. c. 18. Sozomen, l. i. c. 8. Zosimus, l. ii. p. 108. Jornandes de Reb. Geticis, c. 22. Isidorus in Chron. p. 709; in Hist. Gothorum Grotii. Constantin. Porphyrogenitus de Administrat. Imperii, c. 53, p. 208, edit. Meursii.
哥特战争与萨尔马提亚战争的记载支离破碎、残缺不全，逼得我不得不将下列诸家彼此对照——他们互为补充、互相订正、互相印证。凡肯下同样一番功夫的人，便可取得批评我这番叙述的资格。Ammianus, l. xvii. c. 12. Anonym. Valesian. p. 715. Eutropius, x. 7. Sextus Rufus de Provinciis, c. 26. Julian Orat. i. p. 9, and Spanheim, Comment. p. 94. Hieronym. in Chron. Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. l. iv. c. 6. Socrates, l. i. c. 18. Sozomen, l. i. c. 8. Zosimus, l. ii. p. 108. Jornandes de Reb. Geticis, c. 22. Isidorus in Chron. p. 709; in Hist. Gothorum Grotii. Constantin. Porphyrogenitus de Administrat. Imperii, c. 53, p. 208, edit. Meursii.
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Compare, on this very obscure but remarkable war, Manso, Leben Coa xantius, p. 195—M.
关于这场极为晦暗、却颇值得注意的战争，可比照 Manso, Leben Coa xantius, p. 195。—M
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Eusebius (in Vit. Const. l. iv. c. 50) remarks three circumstances relative to these Indians. 1. They came from the shores of the eastern ocean; a description which might be applied to the coast of China or Coromandel. 2. They presented shining gems, and unknown animals. 3. They protested their kings had erected statues to represent the supreme majesty of Constantine.
优西比乌（in Vit. Const. l. iv. c. 50）就这些印度人提到三点情形：一、他们来自东方大洋之滨——此语用来指中国或科罗曼德尔（Coromandel）海岸皆可；二、他们献上璀璨的宝石与不知名的动物；三、他们声称本国的君王已树立雕像，以象征君士坦丁至高无上的威严。
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Funus relatum in urbem sui nominis, quod sane P. R. ægerrime tulit. Aurelius Victor. Constantine prepared for himself a stately tomb in the church of the Holy Apostles. Euseb. l. iv. c. 60. The best, and indeed almost the only account of the sickness, death, and funeral of Constantine, is contained in the fourth book of his Life by Eusebius.
Funus relatum in urbem sui nominis, quod sane P. R. ægerrime tulit. Aurelius Victor.（大意：遗体被运往以他命名的城市，罗马人民对此实在极为不满。）君士坦丁曾为自己在圣使徒教堂中预建了一座宏伟的陵墓。Euseb. l. iv. c. 60。关于君士坦丁的患病、死亡与葬礼，最好——实际上也几乎是唯一——的记载，见于优西比乌所撰《君士坦丁传》第四卷。
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Eusebius (l. iv. c. 6) terminates his narrative by this loyal declaration of the troops, and avoids all the invidious circumstances of the subsequent massacre.
优西比乌（l. iv. c. 6）以军队这番效忠的宣告结束其叙述，而对随后那场屠杀的种种可憎情形一概避而不谈。
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The character of Dalmatius is advantageously, though concisely drawn by Eutropius. (x. 9.) Dalmatius Cæsar prosperrimâ indole, neque patrou absimilis, haud multo post oppressus est factione militari. As both Jerom and the Alexandrian Chronicle mention the third year of the Cæsar, which did not commence till the 18th or 24th of September, A. D. 337, it is certain that these military factions continued above four months.
欧特罗皮乌斯对达尔马提乌斯的品格着墨不多，却写得颇为称许（x. 9）：Dalmatius Cæsar prosperrimâ indole, neque patrou absimilis, haud multo post oppressus est factione militari.（大意：达尔马提乌斯恺撒禀性极佳，与其伯父颇为相类，然不久便为一场兵变所倾覆。）哲罗姆与《亚历山大里亚编年史》（Alexandrian Chronicle）都提到这位恺撒在位的第三年，而该年迟至公元 337 年 9 月 18 日或 24 日方才起算；由此可以确定，这些兵变前后延续了四个多月。