Chapter XX: Conversion Of Constantine.—Part II. 第二十章君士坦丁的皈依——第二节

Chapter XX: Conversion Of Constantine.—Part II.

第二十章君士坦丁的皈依——第二节

The assurance that the elevation of Constantine was intimately connected with the designs of Providence, instilled into the minds of the Christians two opinions, which, by very different means, assisted the accomplishment of the prophecy. Their warm and active loyalty exhausted in his favor every resource of human industry; and they confidently expected that their strenuous efforts would be seconded by some divine and miraculous aid. The enemies of Constantine have imputed to interested motives the alliance which he insensibly contracted with the Catholic church, and which apparently contributed to the success of his ambition. In the beginning of the fourth century, the Christians still bore a very inadequate proportion to the inhabitants of the empire; but among a degenerate people, who viewed the change of masters with the indifference of slaves, the spirit and union of a religious party might assist the popular leader, to whose service, from a principle of conscience, they had devoted their lives and fortunes. ²⁵ The example of his father had instructed Constantine to esteem and to reward the merit of the Christians; and in the distribution of public offices, he had the advantage of strengthening his government, by the choice of ministers or generals, in whose fidelity he could repose a just and unreserved confidence. By the influence of these dignified missionaries, the proselytes of the new faith must have multiplied in the court and army; the Barbarians of Germany, who filled the ranks of the legions, were of a careless temper, which acquiesced without resistance in the religion of their commander; and when they passed the Alps, it may fairly be presumed, that a great number of the soldiers had already consecrated their swords to the service of Christ and of Constantine. ²⁶ The habits of mankind and the interests of religion gradually abated the horror of war and bloodshed, which had so long prevailed among the Christians; and in the councils which were assembled under the gracious protection of Constantine, the authority of the bishops was seasonably employed to ratify the obligation of the military oath, and to inflict the penalty of excommunication on those soldiers who threw away their arms during the peace of the church. ²⁷ While Constantine, in his own dominions, increased the number and zeal of his faithful adherents, he could depend on the support of a powerful faction in those provinces which were still possessed or usurped by his rivals. A secret disaffection was diffused among the Christian subjects of Maxentius and Licinius; and the resentment, which the latter did not attempt to conceal, served only to engage them still more deeply in the interest of his competitor. The regular correspondence which connected the bishops of the most distant provinces, enabled them freely to communicate their wishes and their designs, and to transmit without danger any useful intelligence, or any pious contributions, which might promote the service of Constantine, who publicly declared that he had taken up arms for the deliverance of the church. ²⁸

基督徒深信君士坦丁的崛起与天意的安排密切相连，这一信念在他们心中激起两种想法，而这两种想法各以迥异的方式，促成了那预言的应验。他们既热忱又积极，为效忠于他而竭尽人力所能、穷尽一切手段；同时又满怀信心地期待：自己的奋力拼搏，终将得到某种神圣而奇迹般的相助。君士坦丁与大公教会渐渐结成同盟，而这同盟显然助长了他野心的得逞；他的敌人便将此举归因于利害的算计。四世纪之初，基督徒在帝国居民中所占的比例仍然很小；然而，当时的民众已然堕落，眼看主子更迭也不过报以奴隶般的漠然；在这样的人群里，一个宗教团体若能同心同德、意气昂扬，便足以助那位众望所归的领袖一臂之力——他们出于良心的信念，早已把自己的性命与财产，全数献给了对他的效力。 ²⁵ 其父的榜样早已教会君士坦丁看重并奖赏基督徒的才干；分派官职之际，他专挑那些足以让他毫无保留、放心托付的大臣与将领，既得其忠，又借此巩固了自己的统治。有这些身居高位者充当传教士，从中影响，新信仰的皈依者在宫廷和军队里想必与日俱增；充斥于军团行伍的日耳曼蛮族，性情本就漫不经心，主帅信什么教，他们便毫不抵触地跟着信；因此不妨推断：当大军翻越阿尔卑斯山时，已有大批士兵把自己的刀剑献给了基督与君士坦丁的事业。 ²⁶ 世人的习性与宗教的利益，渐渐冲淡了基督徒长久以来对战争流血的深恶痛绝；而在君士坦丁的隆恩庇护下召开的历次宗教会议上，主教们的权威也适时派上了用场：他们既确认了从军誓言的约束力，又规定凡在教会承平之际擅自弃甲丢兵的士兵，一律处以逐出教会之罚。 ²⁷ 君士坦丁一面在自己的疆域内使忠实的信徒日益增多、日益热忱，一面又能在那些仍为对手所据、所窃的行省里，倚仗一个强大派系的支持。马克森提乌斯与李锡尼治下的基督徒臣民之间，暗暗弥漫着一股离心之情；李锡尼更是毫不掩饰对他们的怨恨，结果反倒把他们越发紧紧地推向了他对手的一边。各行省相隔虽远，主教之间却有固定的书信往来，使他们得以自由地互通心愿、密谋筹划，并可安然无虞地传递任何有用的情报或虔诚的捐输，以推进君士坦丁的事业——因为他已公开宣称，自己举兵正是为了拯救教会。 ²⁸

The enthusiasm which inspired the troops, and perhaps the emperor himself, had sharpened their swords while it satisfied their conscience. They marched to battle with the full assurance, that the same God, who had formerly opened a passage to the Israelites through the waters of Jordan, and had thrown down the walls of Jericho at the sound of the trumpets of Joshua, would display his visible majesty and power in the victory of Constantine. The evidence of ecclesiastical history is prepared to affirm, that their expectations were justified by the conspicuous miracle to which the conversion of the first Christian emperor has been almost unanimously ascribed. The real or imaginary cause of so important an event, deserves and demands the attention of posterity; and I shall endeavor to form a just estimate of the famous vision of Constantine, by a distinct consideration of the standard, the dream, and the celestial sign; by separating the historical, the natural, and the marvellous parts of this extraordinary story, which, in the composition of a specious argument, have been artfully confounded in one splendid and brittle mass.

那股狂热激励着全军，或许连皇帝本人也为之鼓舞；它既磨利了将士的刀剑，又安抚了他们的良心。他们开赴战场时坚信不疑：那位上帝——昔日曾为以色列人分开约旦河水，又曾在约书亚的号角声中震塌耶利哥城墙——如今也必要在君士坦丁的胜利中，昭显他那可见的威严与大能。教会史的种种记载都随时准备断言：他们的期望果然应验，凭据便是那桩显赫的奇迹——几乎人人都异口同声地把头一位基督徒皇帝的皈依归功于它。如此重大的一件事，其成因究竟是真有其事，还是出于臆想，值得、也理应引起后世的关注；我将力求对那桩著名的君士坦丁异象作出公允的评断：把“军旗”“梦兆”与“天象”分别考察，把这桩离奇故事中属于史实、属于自然、属于神异的三个部分逐一剥离——为了拼凑出一套似是而非的论证，世人早已巧妙地把这三者搅作一团，看似光彩夺目，实则不堪一击。

I. An instrument of the tortures which were inflicted only on slaves and strangers, became on object of horror in the eyes of a Roman citizen; and the ideas of guilt, of pain, and of ignominy, were closely united with the idea of the cross. ²⁹ The piety, rather than the humanity, of Constantine soon abolished in his dominions the punishment which the Savior of mankind had condescended to suffer; ³⁰ but the emperor had already learned to despise the prejudices of his education, and of his people, before he could erect in the midst of Rome his own statue, bearing a cross in its right hand; with an inscription which referred the victory of his arms, and the deliverance of Rome, to the virtue of that salutary sign, the true symbol of force and courage. ³¹ The same symbol sanctified the arms of the soldiers of Constantine; the cross glittered on their helmet, was engraved on their shields, was interwoven into their banners; and the consecrated emblems which adorned the person of the emperor himself, were distinguished only by richer materials and more exquisite workmanship. ³² But the principal standard which displayed the triumph of the cross was styled the Labarum, ³³ an obscure, though celebrated name, which has been vainly derived from almost all the languages of the world. It is described ³⁴ as a long pike intersected by a transversal beam. The silken veil, which hung down from the beam, was curiously inwrought with the images of the reigning monarch and his children. The summit of the pike supported a crown of gold which enclosed the mysterious monogram, at once expressive of the figure of the cross, and the initial letters, of the name of Christ. ³⁵ The safety of the labarum was intrusted to fifty guards, of approved valor and fidelity; their station was marked by honors and emoluments; and some fortunate accidents soon introduced an opinion, that as long as the guards of the labarum were engaged in the execution of their office, they were secure and invulnerable amidst the darts of the enemy. In the second civil war, Licinius felt and dreaded the power of this consecrated banner, the sight of which, in the distress of battle, animated the soldiers of Constantine with an invincible enthusiasm, and scattered terror and dismay through the ranks of the adverse legions. ³⁶ The Christian emperors, who respected the example of Constantine, displayed in all their military expeditions the standard of the cross; but when the degenerate successors of Theodosius had ceased to appear in person at the head of their armies, the labarum was deposited as a venerable but useless relic in the palace of Constantinople. ³⁷ Its honors are still preserved on the medals of the Flavian family. Their grateful devotion has placed the monogram of Christ in the midst of the ensigns of Rome. The solemn epithets of, safety of the republic, glory of the army, restoration of public happiness, are equally applied to the religious and military trophies; and there is still extant a medal of the emperor Constantius, where the standard of the labarum is accompanied with these memorable words, BY THIS SIGN THOU SHALT CONQUER. ³⁸

一、十字架本是一种刑具，只加于奴隶与外邦人之身；在罗马公民眼中，它是可憎可怖之物，凡罪愆、苦痛、耻辱的念头，无不与十字架的意象紧紧相连。 ²⁹ 君士坦丁不久便在自己的疆域内废除了这种刑罚——人类的救主当年曾屈尊忍受的，正是它；不过促使他废除的，与其说是仁慈，不如说是虔敬。 ³⁰ 但皇帝要在罗马城中央为自己竖起一尊右手执十字架的雕像，还须先跨过一道门槛：学会藐视自身所受教育以及本国民众的种种成见——那尊雕像的铭文，把他武功的胜利、罗马城的获救，统统归功于这一救世征兆的德能，称它才是力量与勇气的真正象征。 ³¹ 同一征兆也使君士坦丁麾下将士的兵器染上了神圣：十字架在他们的头盔上熠熠生辉，镌刻于盾牌之上，织入军旗之中；至于装点皇帝本人的那些神圣徽记，与众人的相比，也不过是用料更华贵、做工更精致罢了。 ³² 不过，最能彰显十字架凯旋的那面主旗，则称作拉巴伦军旗， ³³ 这名号虽赫赫有名，含义却晦暗不明；人们几乎从世上一切语言中去追溯它的来历，却都徒劳无功。据记载， ³⁴ 它是一支长矛，中间横贯一根横木。从横木上垂下一幅丝质旗幔，上面精工织就在位君主及其子女的肖像。矛尖顶着一顶金冠，冠中围着那个神秘的花押字——它既描摹出十字架的形状，又是基督之名的起首字母。 ³⁵ 拉巴伦军旗的安危，托付给五十名以勇武忠诚著称的卫士看守；这一职位有荣衔厚禄相随；后来又发生了几桩侥幸之事，遂令人生出一种说法：只要护旗卫士恪守其职，便可在敌人的矢石之中安然无恙、刀枪不入。在第二次内战中，李锡尼亲身领教并畏惧这面圣旗的威力：每逢战事吃紧，只要一见它，君士坦丁的士兵便群情激昂、锐不可当，而对方军团的行伍里却是一片惊惶失措。 ³⁶ 后世历代基督徒皇帝，出于对君士坦丁先例的敬重，每逢出征都要打出这面十字架军旗；但到了狄奥多西那些一代不如一代的后嗣不再亲临军前之时，拉巴伦军旗便作为一件可敬却已无用的遗物，收藏进了君士坦丁堡的皇宫。 ³⁷ 它的荣光，如今仍留存在弗拉维安家族的纪念章上。这一家族满怀感恩的虔敬，把基督的花押字安置在了罗马军徽的正中。宗教的与军事的战利品，都一样冠以诸如“共和国之安泰”“军队之荣耀”“公众福祉之重光”这一类庄严的颂词；如今尚存有一枚君士坦提乌斯皇帝的纪念章，章上拉巴伦军旗旁刻着这句令人难忘的话：“凭此征兆，尔必得胜。” ³⁸

II. In all occasions of danger and distress, it was the practice of the primitive Christians to fortify their minds and bodies by the sign of the cross, which they used, in all their ecclesiastical rites, in all the daily occurrences of life, as an infallible preservative against every species of spiritual or temporal evil. ³⁹ The authority of the church might alone have had sufficient weight to justify the devotion of Constantine, who in the same prudent and gradual progress acknowledged the truth, and assumed the symbol, of Christianity. But the testimony of a contemporary writer, who in a formal treatise has avenged the cause of religion, bestows on the piety of the emperor a more awful and sublime character. He affirms, with the most perfect confidence, that in the night which preceded the last battle against Maxentius, Constantine was admonished in a dream ^39a to inscribe the shields of his soldiers with the celestial sign of God, the sacred monogram of the name of Christ; that he executed the commands of Heaven, and that his valor and obedience were rewarded by the decisive victory of the Milvian Bridge. Some considerations might perhaps incline a sceptical mind to suspect the judgment or the veracity of the rhetorician, whose pen, either from zeal or interest, was devoted to the cause of the prevailing faction. ⁴⁰ He appears to have published his deaths of the persecutors at Nicomedia about three years after the Roman victory; but the interval of a thousand miles, and a thousand days, will allow an ample latitude for the invention of declaimers, the credulity of party, and the tacit approbation of the emperor himself who might listen without indignation to a marvellous tale, which exalted his fame, and promoted his designs. In favor of Licinius, who still dissembled his animosity to the Christians, the same author has provided a similar vision, of a form of prayer, which was communicated by an angel, and repeated by the whole army before they engaged the legions of the tyrant Maximin. The frequent repetition of miracles serves to provoke, where it does not subdue, the reason of mankind; ⁴¹ but if the dream of Constantine is separately considered, it may be naturally explained either by the policy or the enthusiasm of the emperor. Whilst his anxiety for the approaching day, which must decide the fate of the empire, was suspended by a short and interrupted slumber, the venerable form of Christ, and the well-known symbol of his religion, might forcibly offer themselves to the active fancy of a prince who reverenced the name, and had perhaps secretly implored the power, of the God of the Christians. As readily might a consummate statesman indulge himself in the use of one of those military stratagems, one of those pious frauds, which Philip and Sertorius had employed with such art and effect. ⁴² The præternatural origin of dreams was universally admitted by the nations of antiquity, and a considerable part of the Gallic army was already prepared to place their confidence in the salutary sign of the Christian religion. The secret vision of Constantine could be disproved only by the event; and the intrepid hero who had passed the Alps and the Apennine, might view with careless despair the consequences of a defeat under the walls of Rome. The senate and people, exulting in their own deliverance from an odious tyrant, acknowledged that the victory of Constantine surpassed the powers of man, without daring to insinuate that it had been obtained by the protection of the Gods. The triumphal arch, which was erected about three years after the event, proclaims, in ambiguous language, that by the greatness of his own mind, and by an instinct or impulse of the Divinity, he had saved and avenged the Roman republic. ⁴³ The Pagan orator, who had seized an earlier opportunity of celebrating the virtues of the conqueror, supposes that he alone enjoyed a secret and intimate commerce with the Supreme Being, who delegated the care of mortals to his subordinate deities; and thus assigns a very plausible reason why the subjects of Constantine should not presume to embrace the new religion of their sovereign. ⁴⁴

二、每逢危难困厄，早期基督徒惯于以十字圣号来坚固自己的身心；无论在一切教会礼仪之中，还是在日常生活的种种遭遇里，他们都要划这十字圣号，视之为万无一失的护身之物，足以抵御一切精神上或现世的祸患。 ³⁹ 单凭教会的权威，或许就足以为君士坦丁的虔敬提供依据；他正是循着同样审慎而渐进的步调，一面承认基督教的真理，一面采纳它的标记。但有一位同时代的作者，曾在一部正式论著中为宗教的事业申冤张目；据他所言，皇帝的虔敬便平添了几分更为庄严可畏的色彩。他信心十足地断言：在与马克森提乌斯决战的前夜，君士坦丁于梦中得了神谕， ^39a 命他在士兵的盾牌上刻画“上帝的天示征兆”，也就是基督之名那神圣的花押字；说他遵行了上天的旨意，其勇武与顺服终得回报，赢得了米尔维安桥一役的决定性胜利。然而，细究起来，生性多疑的人或许要怀疑这位修辞家的判断力，乃至他的诚实——此人手中的笔，或出于狂热，或出于私利，早已卖身投靠了得势的一派。 ⁴⁰ 看来他是在罗马大捷之后约三年，于尼科米底亚发表了那部《迫害者之死》；然而，隔着一千英里的路途、一千个日夜的光阴，尽有充裕的余地任凭那班雄辩之士去编造，任凭党派去轻信，也任凭皇帝本人默然首肯——一桩既能抬高他声望、又能推进他图谋的奇谈，他听来自不会动怒。李锡尼当时仍在掩饰其反基督徒之心，这位作者对他也一样偏爱，给他也安排了一桩类似的异象：一位天使传授了一篇祷文，全军在与暴君马克西明的军团交战之前，齐声诵念。奇迹一再重演，即便未能折服人的理性，也足以激起其反感； ⁴¹ 不过，君士坦丁那个梦若单独来看，倒不难得到自然的解释：要么出于他的权谋，要么出于他的狂热。翌日之战将决定帝国的命运，他为此焦虑不安；及至一场短暂而断续的浅眠暂时驱散了这份焦虑，基督那令人肃然的形象，连同他宗教中那广为人知的标记，便可能强烈地浮现在这位君主活跃的想象之中——他一向敬畏基督徒之上帝的名号，或许还曾暗中祈求过其威能。同样地，一位老练的政治家也大可以放手施展一记军事诡计——一场虔诚的骗局，正如腓力与塞多留当年运用得那般巧妙而奏效。 ⁴² 古代各族普遍相信梦境源于超自然，而高卢军中已有相当一部分人，随时准备把信心寄托在基督教那救世的征兆之上。君士坦丁这桩秘密的异象，唯有战事的结局才能证其真伪；而这位无畏的英雄，既已翻越阿尔卑斯山与亚平宁山脉，即便设想自己败于罗马城下，也大可抱着一种破釜沉舟、听天由命的心境去看待其后果。元老院与人民庆幸自己终于摆脱了一个可憎的暴君，纷纷承认君士坦丁的胜利已非人力所能及，却谁也不敢暗示这胜利是靠了“诸神”的庇佑。那座在事发后约三年落成的凯旋门，以模棱两可的措辞宣告：他凭着自己伟大的心智，凭着神明的某种“感召”或推动，拯救了罗马共和国，并为它报了仇。 ⁴³ 那位异教演说家曾抢先寻得机会颂扬这位征服者的德行，他设想：唯独君士坦丁一人，与至高之神有着某种私密而亲近的往来，而这位至高之神却把照看凡人之事，委派给了他手下的诸位次级神祇；如此一来，他便为君士坦丁的臣民何以不该冒昧改奉其君主的新宗教，找出了一条看似极有道理的理由。 ⁴⁴

III. The philosopher, who with calm suspicion examines the dreams and omens, the miracles and prodigies, of profane or even of ecclesiastical history, will probably conclude, that if the eyes of the spectators have sometimes been deceived by fraud, the understanding of the readers has much more frequently been insulted by fiction. Every event, or appearance, or accident, which seems to deviate from the ordinary course of nature, has been rashly ascribed to the immediate action of the Deity; and the astonished fancy of the multitude has sometimes given shape and color, language and motion, to the fleeting but uncommon meteors of the air. ⁴⁵ Nazarius and Eusebius are the two most celebrated orators, who, in studied panegyrics, have labored to exalt the glory of Constantine. Nine years after the Roman victory, Nazarius ⁴⁶ describes an army of divine warriors, who seemed to fall from the sky: he marks their beauty, their spirit, their gigantic forms, the stream of light which beamed from their celestial armor, their patience in suffering themselves to be heard, as well as seen, by mortals; and their declaration that they were sent, that they flew, to the assistance of the great Constantine. For the truth of this prodigy, the Pagan orator appeals to the whole Gallic nation, in whose presence he was then speaking; and seems to hope that the ancient apparitions ⁴⁷ would now obtain credit from this recent and public event. The Christian fable of Eusebius, which, in the space of twenty-six years, might arise from the original dream, is cast in a much more correct and elegant mould. In one of the marches of Constantine, he is reported to have seen with his own eyes the luminous trophy of the cross, placed above the meridian sun and inscribed with the following words: BY THIS CONQUER. This amazing object in the sky astonished the whole army, as well as the emperor himself, who was yet undetermined in the choice of a religion: but his astonishment was converted into faith by the vision of the ensuing night. Christ appeared before his eyes; and displaying the same celestial sign of the cross, he directed Constantine to frame a similar standard, and to march, with an assurance of victory, against Maxentius and all his enemies. ⁴⁸ The learned bishop of Cæsarea appears to be sensible, that the recent discovery of this marvellous anecdote would excite some surprise and distrust among the most pious of his readers. Yet, instead of ascertaining the precise circumstances of time and place, which always serve to detect falsehood or establish truth; ⁴⁹ instead of collecting and recording the evidence of so many living witnesses who must have been spectators of this stupendous miracle; ⁵⁰ Eusebius contents himself with alleging a very singular testimony; that of the deceased Constantine, who, many years after the event, in the freedom of conversation, had related to him this extraordinary incident of his own life, and had attested the truth of it by a solemn oath. The prudence and gratitude of the learned prelate forbade him to suspect the veracity of his victorious master; but he plainly intimates, that in a fact of such a nature, he should have refused his assent to any meaner authority. This motive of credibility could not survive the power of the Flavian family; and the celestial sign, which the Infidels might afterwards deride, ⁵¹ was disregarded by the Christians of the age which immediately followed the conversion of Constantine. ⁵² But the Catholic church, both of the East and of the West, has adopted a prodigy which favors, or seems to favor, the popular worship of the cross. The vision of Constantine maintained an honorable place in the legend of superstition, till the bold and sagacious spirit of criticism presumed to depreciate the triumph, and to arraign the truth, of the first Christian emperor. ⁵³

三、哲人以冷静的怀疑之眼，去审视世俗史乃至教会史中的种种梦兆与预兆、奇迹与异象，大概会得出这样的结论：目击者的眼睛固然有时会被骗局所蒙蔽，读者的理智却更常受到虚构的愚弄。凡是看似偏离自然常轨的事件、景象或偶然，人们无不轻率地归之于神明的直接作为；而芸芸众生受惊之下的臆想，有时竟给天空中那转瞬即逝却又罕见的流星异光，添上了形状与色彩、言语与动作。 ⁴⁵ 纳扎里乌斯与优西比乌是两位最负盛名的演说家，都曾在精心结撰的颂词中，竭力抬高君士坦丁的荣光。罗马大捷之后九年，纳扎里乌斯 ⁴⁶ 描述了一支仿佛从天而降的神兵：他细数其容貌之俊美、气概之昂扬、身形之巨伟，其天界甲胄迸射出的道道光流，以及他们如何耐着性子，让凡人既能看见、又能听见自己，还宣告说：他们奉命前来，特意飞驰而至，援助伟大的君士坦丁。为证这桩奇迹确有其事，这位异教演说家竟援引当时在场的全体高卢人来为自己作证；他似乎还指望：借着这桩晚近而公开的事件，那些古老的神灵显现 ⁴⁷ 如今也能取信于人。优西比乌那则基督教的神话，历经二十六年，或许正是从当初那个梦演化而来，却铸造得远为工整而典雅。据说，在君士坦丁某次行军途中，他曾亲眼望见一座光辉夺目的十字架战徽，高悬于正午的太阳之上，上面刻着这样几个字：“凭此得胜。”天上这一惊人的景象，令全军连同皇帝本人都惊骇不已——当时他还未拿定主意究竟该信哪一种宗教：但次夜的一场异象，便将他的惊骇化作了信仰。基督现身在他眼前，出示了同样的十字天象，指示君士坦丁照样制作一面军旗，并满怀必胜的信念，去讨伐马克森提乌斯及其一切仇敌。 ⁴⁸ 这位博学的凯撒里亚主教似乎也自知：这桩离奇轶事晚近才被披露出来，即便在他最虔诚的读者当中，也不免要引起几分惊讶与疑虑。然而，确切的时间地点最能揭穿谎言、也最能证实真相，他却不去查明； ⁴⁹ 这桩惊天奇迹想必有众多在世之人亲眼目睹，他们的证词他也不去搜集、记录； ⁵⁰ 优西比乌只满足于援引一份极为奇特的证词，即那已故的君士坦丁本人的证词：事过多年之后，皇帝在一次随意的交谈中，向他讲述了自己生平这段离奇的经历，并以庄严的誓言担保其真实。这位博学的高级教士，出于谨慎与感恩，自不敢怀疑他那位常胜君主的诚实；但他也明白无误地暗示：对于这样一桩事，若换了分量稍轻的权威来作证，他是断然不肯轻信的。这一取信的理由，随着弗拉维安家族权势的消亡而不复成立；那桩天象，日后纵为不信教者所讥笑， ⁵¹ 却早在紧接君士坦丁皈依之后的那一代基督徒中，便已无人理会。 ⁵² 然而，东西两方的大公教会都采纳了这桩奇迹，因为它有利于——或看似有利于——民间对十字架的崇拜。君士坦丁的异象在迷信的传说中一直占据着体面的位置，直到大胆而敏锐的批判精神，竟敢贬低头一位基督徒皇帝的凯旋、质问其真伪。 ⁵³

The Protestant and philosophic readers of the present age will incline to believe, that in the account of his own conversion, Constantine attested a wilful falsehood by a solemn and deliberate perjury. They may not hesitate to pronounce, that in the choice of a religion, his mind was determined only by a sense of interest; and that (according to the expression of a profane poet) ⁵⁴ he used the altars of the church as a convenient footstool to the throne of the empire. A conclusion so harsh and so absolute is not, however, warranted by our knowledge of human nature, of Constantine, or of Christianity. In an age of religious fervor, the most artful statesmen are observed to feel some part of the enthusiasm which they inspire, and the most orthodox saints assume the dangerous privilege of defending the cause of truth by the arms of deceit and falsehood.

当今那些既信新教、又崇尚哲理的读者，多半倾向于认为：君士坦丁在讲述自己皈依经过时，是以一场庄严而蓄意的伪誓，替一个存心捏造的谎言作了保。他们或许会毫不犹豫地断言：在择定宗教一事上，他心中所计较的无非是利害；而且（借一位亵渎不虔的诗人的说法） ⁵⁴ 他不过是把教会的祭坛，当作了一块登上帝国宝座的便利踏脚石。然而，如此苛刻而绝对的结论，无论以我们对人性的了解、对君士坦丁的了解，还是对基督教的了解来衡量，都站不住脚。在一个宗教狂热的时代，人们可以看到：最工于心计的政治家，也会对自己所煽动的那股狂热多少身受几分；而最正统的圣徒，也会擅取一项危险的特权——以欺瞒与谎言为武器，去捍卫真理的事业。

Personal interest is often the standard of our belief, as well as of our practice; and the same motives of temporal advantage which might influence the public conduct and professions of Constantine, would insensibly dispose his mind to embrace a religion so propitious to his fame and fortunes. His vanity was gratified by the flattering assurance, that he had been chosen by Heaven to reign over the earth; success had justified his divine title to the throne, and that title was founded on the truth of the Christian revelation. As real virtue is sometimes excited by undeserved applause, the specious piety of Constantine, if at first it was only specious, might gradually, by the influence of praise, of habit, and of example, be matured into serious faith and fervent devotion. The bishops and teachers of the new sect, whose dress and manners had not qualified them for the residence of a court, were admitted to the Imperial table; they accompanied the monarch in his expeditions; and the ascendant which one of them, an Egyptian or a Spaniard, ⁵⁵ acquired over his mind, was imputed by the Pagans to the effect of magic. ⁵⁶ Lactantius, who has adorned the precepts of the gospel with the eloquence of Cicero, ⁵⁷ and Eusebius, who has consecrated the learning and philosophy of the Greeks to the service of religion, ⁵⁸ were both received into the friendship and familiarity of their sovereign; and those able masters of controversy could patiently watch the soft and yielding moments of persuasion, and dexterously apply the arguments which were the best adapted to his character and understanding. Whatever advantages might be derived from the acquisition of an Imperial proselyte, he was distinguished by the splendor of his purple, rather than by the superiority of wisdom, or virtue, from the many thousands of his subjects who had embraced the doctrines of Christianity. Nor can it be deemed incredible, that the mind of an unlettered soldier should have yielded to the weight of evidence, which, in a more enlightened age, has satisfied or subdued the reason of a Grotius, a Pascal, or a Locke. In the midst of the incessant labors of his great office, this soldier employed, or affected to employ, the hours of the night in the diligent study of the Scriptures, and the composition of theological discourses; which he afterwards pronounced in the presence of a numerous and applauding audience. In a very long discourse, which is still extant, the royal preacher expatiates on the various proofs still extant, the royal preacher expatiates on the various proofs of religion; but he dwells with peculiar complacency on the Sibylline verses, ⁵⁹ and the fourth eclogue of Virgil. ⁶⁰ Forty years before the birth of Christ, the Mantuan bard, as if inspired by the celestial muse of Isaiah, had celebrated, with all the pomp of oriental metaphor, the return of the Virgin, the fall of the serpent, the approaching birth of a godlike child, the offspring of the great Jupiter, who should expiate the guilt of human kind, and govern the peaceful universe with the virtues of his father; the rise and appearance of a heavenly race, primitive nation throughout the world; and the gradual restoration of the innocence and felicity of the golden age. The poet was perhaps unconscious of the secret sense and object of these sublime predictions, which have been so unworthily applied to the infant son of a consul, or a triumvir; ⁶¹ but if a more splendid, and indeed specious interpretation of the fourth eclogue contributed to the conversion of the first Christian emperor, Virgil may deserve to be ranked among the most successful missionaries of the gospel. ⁶²

个人的利害，往往既是我们行事的准绳，也是我们信仰的准绳；那些足以左右君士坦丁公开言行与表态的现世利益动机，也会不知不觉地使他倾心去接受这样一种宗教——它对他的声名与命运，实在是再有利不过。有一句谀词令他的虚荣心大得满足，那便是：唯有“他”，才是上天拣选来统治大地的人；功成业就，已然印证了他那承自神授的王位名分，而这一名分，正是建立在基督教启示之真确性上的。正如真实的德行有时也能为不虞之誉所激发，君士坦丁那看似虔诚的表象——纵使起初当真只是表象——也可能在赞誉、习惯与榜样的熏染之下，渐渐酿成真诚的信仰与炽热的虔敬。这个新教派的主教与导师们，其衣着与举止本不足以厕身宫廷，如今却获准同赴御宴；他们伴随君主一同出征；其中一人——或是埃及人，或是西班牙人 ⁵⁵ ——对皇帝心灵的支配之力竟如此之大，异教徒们便把它归咎于魔法的作用。 ⁵⁶ 拉克坦提乌斯以西塞罗般的雄辩为福音的教诲增色， ⁵⁷ 优西比乌则把希腊人的学识与哲学奉献给了宗教的事业， ⁵⁸ 二人都得以跻身其君主的友朋密交之列；这两位辩论的高手，能耐心守候皇帝心软意动、易于说服的时机，再灵巧地端出那些最切合他性情与悟性的论据。招得一位皇帝皈依，固然可获种种好处；但要论智慧或德行，他其实并不比那成千上万早已接受基督教教义的臣民高明——他之所以与众不同，靠的不过是那一袭紫袍的华贵罢了。况且，一个不通文墨的武人，其心智竟折服于种种凭据之下，这也不足为奇——毕竟在一个更为开明的时代，正是这些凭据，令格劳秀斯、帕斯卡、洛克这般人物的理性或感到满足，或为之折服。在其崇高职位那无休无止的操劳之余，这位武人还把夜间的时光用于——或佯装用于——勤研《圣经》、撰写神学讲辞；日后又当着众多喝彩的听众，把这些讲辞宣讲出来。在一篇至今尚存的极长的讲辞中，这位身为帝王的传道者，就宗教的种种凭据侃侃而谈；不过他尤其津津乐道于西比拉的神谕诗 ⁵⁹ 与维吉尔的第四首牧歌。 ⁶⁰ 早在基督降生之前四十年，这位曼图亚的诗人便仿佛受了以赛亚那天界诗神的启迪，以东方隐喻的全副华彩，歌咏了童贞女的归来、毒蛇的坠落，以及一位神样孩童即将降生——他乃伟大朱庇特的子嗣，将涤除人类的罪愆，并以其父的德行统御这太平的宇宙；歌咏一个天界种族的兴起与显现，一个遍布世间的原初之民；歌咏黄金时代那纯真与福乐的渐次重返。诗人本人或许并未意识到这些崇高预言的隐秘含义与所指，后人竟把它们如此不相称地附会到某位执政官、或某位三头执政之一的幼子身上； ⁶¹ 然而，倘若对第四首牧歌那更为堂皇、其实也更为牵强的一番解读，当真促成了头一位基督徒皇帝的皈依，那么维吉尔或许配得上跻身福音传播最成功的传教士之列。 ⁶²

Notes 注释

In the beginning of the last century, the Papists of England were only a thirtieth, and the Protestants of France only a fifteenth, part of the respective nations, to whom their spirit and power were a constant object of apprehension. See the relations which Bentivoglio (who was then nuncio at Brussels, and afterwards cardinal) transmitted to the court of Rome, (Relazione, tom. ii. p. 211, 241.) Bentivoglio was curious, well informed, but somewhat partial.

在上一个世纪之初，英格兰的天主教徒仅占全国人口的三十分之一，法国的新教徒也仅占十五分之一；然而这两国对本国这一小群人的气焰与势力，却始终怀着戒惧。参见本蒂沃利奥（其时任驻布鲁塞尔的教廷大使，后来擢升枢机）呈送罗马教廷的报告（Relazione, tom. ii. p. 211, 241.）。本蒂沃利奥好奇心重、见闻广博，却略有偏袒。

This careless temper of the Germans appears almost uniformly on the history of the conversion of each of the tribes. The legions of Constantine were recruited with Germans, (Zosimus, l. ii. p. 86;) and the court even of his father had been filled with Christians. See the first book of the Life of Constantine, by Eusebius.

日耳曼人这种漫不经心的性情，在各部族皈依的历史中几乎无一例外地表露出来。君士坦丁的军团招募了大批日耳曼人（Zosimus, l. ii. p. 86），甚至连他父亲的宫廷里也满是基督徒。参见优西比乌《君士坦丁传》第一卷。

De his qui arma projiciunt in pace, placuit eos abstinere a communione. Council. Arelat. Canon. iii. The best critics apply these words to the peace of the church.

De his qui arma projiciunt in pace, placuit eos abstinere a communione.（大意：凡在承平之际弃械者，议决应禁其领受圣餐。）Council. Arelat. Canon. iii.（阿尔勒会议教规第三条）最优秀的评注家把这里的“承平”理解为“教会的承平”。

Eusebius always considers the second civil war against Licinius as a sort of religious crusade. At the invitation of the tyrant, some Christian officers had resumed their zones; or, in other words, had returned to the military service. Their conduct was afterwards censured by the twelfth canon of the Council of Nice; if this particular application may be received, instead of the lo se and general sense of the Greek interpreters, Balsamor Zonaras, and Alexis Aristenus. See Beveridge, Pandect. Eccles. Græc. tom. i. p. 72, tom. ii. p. 73 Annotation.

优西比乌一向把讨伐李锡尼的第二次内战视为某种宗教圣战。应那暴君之召，有些基督徒军官重新系上了 zones（军带）——换言之，重返了行伍。他们的行为后来受到尼西亚公会议第十二条教规的谴责；这是就该教规的这一特定所指而言，而非依照希腊注疏家巴尔萨蒙、佐纳拉斯与阿莱克修斯·阿里斯特努斯那种宽泛笼统的解释。参见 Beveridge, Pandect. Eccles. Græc. tom. i. p. 72, tom. ii. p. 73 之注释。

Nomen ipsum crucis absit non modo a corpore civium Romano rum, sed etiam a cogitatione, oculis, auribus. Cicero pro Raberio, c. 5. The Christian writers, Justin, Minucius Felix, Tertullian, Jerom, and Maximus of Turin, have investigated with tolerable success the figure or likeness of a cross in almost every object of nature or art; in the intersection of the meridian and equator, the human face, a bird flying, a man swimming, a mast and yard, a plough, a standard, &c., &c., &c. See Lipsius de Cruce, l. i. c. 9.

Nomen ipsum crucis absit non modo a corpore civium Romanorum, sed etiam a cogitatione, oculis, auribus.（西塞罗语：“十字架”之名，不惟不该加于罗马公民之身，甚至不该入其思虑、其目、其耳。）Cicero pro Raberio, c. 5. 基督教作家查士丁、米努基乌斯·菲利克斯、德尔图良、哲罗姆与都灵的马克西姆斯，颇为成功地在几乎一切自然与人工之物中寻出了十字的形状或影子：子午线与赤道的交叉、人的面孔、飞鸟、泅水之人、桅与桁、犁、军旗，等等，等等，不一而足。参见 Lipsius de Cruce, l. i. c. 9.

See Aurelius Victor, who considers this law as one of the examples of Constantine’s piety. An edict so honorable to Christianity deserved a place in the Theodosian Code, instead of the indirect mention of it, which seems to result from the comparison of the fifth and eighteenth titles of the ninth book.

参见奥勒留·维克托，他把这条法律视为君士坦丁虔敬的例证之一。这样一道于基督教大有荣光的敕令，本该在《狄奥多西法典》中占一席之地，而不该只落得间接一提——那一提，似乎还要靠比对该法典第九卷第五题与第十八题才能推知。

Eusebius, in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. 40. This statue, or at least the cross and inscription, may be ascribed with more probability to the second, or even third, visit of Constantine to Rome. Immediately after the defeat of Maxentius, the minds of the senate and people were scarcely ripe for this public monument.

Eusebius, in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. 40. 这尊雕像，或至少其上的十字架与铭文，更有可能出自君士坦丁第二次、甚至第三次巡幸罗马之时。因为马克森提乌斯败亡之后不久，元老院与人民的心思还远未成熟到能接受这样一座公开的纪念物。

Agnoscas, regina, libens mea signa necesse est;
In quibus effigies crucis aut gemmata refulget
Aut longis solido ex auro præfertur in hastis.
Hoc signo invictus, transmissis Alpibus Ultor
Servitium solvit miserabile Constantinus.
Christus purpureum gemmanti textus in auro
Signabat Labarum, clypeorum insignia Christus
Scripserat; ardebat summis crux addita cristis.
Prudent. in Symmachum, l. ii. 464, 486.（普鲁登修斯诗句，大意谓：女王啊，你须心悦诚服地认得我的旗号——其上或有宝石镶就的十字闪耀，或以长矛擎起纯金铸成的十字。复仇者君士坦丁凭此征兆战无不胜，越过阿尔卑斯山，解除了那可悲的奴役。基督以缀满宝石的金线，织就了那紫色的拉巴伦军旗，又亲手把徽记写在盾牌之上；十字加于盔顶，熠熠生辉。）

The derivation and meaning of the word Labarum or Laborum, which is employed by Gregory Nazianzen, Ambrose, Prudentius, &c., still remain totally unknown, in spite of the efforts of the critics, who have ineffectually tortured the Latin, Greek, Spanish, Celtic, Teutonic, Illyric, Armenian, &c., in search of an etymology. See Ducange, in Gloss. Med. et infim. Latinitat. sub voce Labarum, and Godefroy, ad Cod. Theodos. tom. ii. p. 143.

Labarum 或 Laborum 一词，纳齐安的格列高利、安布罗斯、普鲁登修斯等人都曾使用，然其语源与含义至今仍全然不明。评注家们枉费心机，为寻其词源而在拉丁语、希腊语、西班牙语、凯尔特语、条顿语、伊利里亚语、亚美尼亚语等等之间反复推敲，终归徒劳。参见 Ducange, in Gloss. Med. et infim. Latinitat. 之 Labarum 词条，以及 Godefroy, ad Cod. Theodos. tom. ii. p. 143.

Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. 30, 31. Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 312, No. 26) has engraved a representation of the Labarum.

Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. 30, 31. 巴罗尼乌斯（Annal. Eccles. A. D. 312, No. 26）曾镌刻过一幅拉巴伦军旗的图样。

Transversâ X literâ, summo capite circumflexo, Christum in scutis notat. Cæcilius de M. P. c. 44, Cuper, (ad M. P. in edit. Lactant. tom. ii. p. 500,) and Baronius (A. D. 312, No. 25) have engraved from ancient monuments several specimens (as thus of these monograms) which became extremely fashionable in the Christian world.

Transversâ X literâ, summo capite circumflexo, Christum in scutis notat.（大意：以一横加于 X 字母、其顶端作弯钩状，于盾牌上标示基督之名。）Cæcilius de M. P. c. 44. 库佩尔（ad M. P. in edit. Lactant. tom. ii. p. 500）与巴罗尼乌斯（A. D. 312, No. 25）都曾据古代遗物摹刻过这类花押字的若干样式，这类花押在基督教世界里一度极为风行。

Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. l. ii. c. 7, 8, 9. He introduces the Labarum before the Italian expedition; but his narrative seems to indicate that it was never shown at the head of an army till Constantine above ten years afterwards, declared himself the enemy of Licinius, and the deliverer of the church.

Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. l. ii. c. 7, 8, 9. 他把拉巴伦军旗的出现置于意大利远征之前；但据其叙述来看，这面军旗其实要到十余年之后、君士坦丁公开与李锡尼为敌并以教会拯救者自居之时，才头一次打在军前。

See Cod. Theod. l. vi. tit. xxv. Sozomen, l. i. c. 2. Theophan. Chronograph. p. 11. Theophanes lived towards the end of the eighth century, almost five hundred years after Constantine. The modern Greeks were not inclined to display in the field the standard of the empire and of Christianity; and though they depended on every superstitious hope of defence, the promise of victory would have appeared too bold a fiction.

See Cod. Theod. l. vi. tit. xxv. Sozomen, l. i. c. 2. Theophan. Chronograph. p. 11. 塞奥法尼斯生活在八世纪将尽之时，几乎已在君士坦丁之后五百年。晚近的希腊人不愿在战场上打出这面兼为帝国与基督教标记的军旗；他们固然把种种迷信的指望都寄托在“守护”之上，但要许下“胜利”的承诺，在他们看来未免是过于大胆的虚构了。

The Abbé du Voisín, p. 103, &c., alleges several of these medals, and quotes a particular dissertation of a Jesuit the Père de Grainville, on this subject.

迪瓦赞神父（du Voisin, p. 103 等处）举出了这类纪念章中的数枚，并就此题目引述了耶稣会士格兰维尔神父的一篇专论。

Tertullian de Corona, c. 3. Athanasius, tom. i. p. 101. The learned Jesuit Petavius (Dogmata Theolog. l. xv. c. 9, 10) has collected many similar passages on the virtues of the cross, which in the last age embarrassed our Protestant disputants.

Tertullian de Corona, c. 3. Athanasius, tom. i. p. 101. 博学的耶稣会士佩塔维乌斯（Dogmata Theolog. l. xv. c. 9, 10）搜集了许多类似的段落，都在称颂十字架的德能；这些段落在上一个世纪曾令我们新教一方的论辩者颇为难堪。

39a

Manso has observed, that Gibbon ought not to have separated the vision of Constantine from the wonderful apparition in the sky, as the two wonders are closely connected in Eusebius. Manso, Leben Constantine, p. 82—M.

曼索指出，吉本本不该把君士坦丁的梦中异象与天空中那奇妙的显现分割开来，因为在优西比乌笔下，这两桩奇迹是紧密相连的。Manso, Leben Constantine, p. 82.—M

Cæcilius de M. P. c. 44. It is certain, that this historical declamation was composed and published while Licinius, sovereign of the East, still preserved the friendship of Constantine and of the Christians. Every reader of taste must perceive that the style is of a very different and inferior character to that of Lactantius; and such indeed is the judgment of Le Clerc and Lardner, (Bibliothèque Ancienne et Moderne, tom. iii. p. 438. Credibility of the Gospel, &c., part ii. vol. vii. p. 94.) Three arguments from the title of the book, and from the names of Donatus and Cæcilius, are produced by the advocates for Lactantius. (See the P. Lestocq, tom. ii. p. 46-60.) Each of these proofs is singly weak and defective; but their concurrence has great weight. I have often fluctuated, and shall tamely follow the Colbert Ms. in calling the author (whoever he was) Cæcilius.

Cæcilius de M. P. c. 44. 可以确定，这篇史事的宏论，是在东方君主李锡尼尚与君士坦丁及基督徒保持友好之际写成并发表的。凡有鉴赏力的读者都必看出，其文风与拉克坦提乌斯迥然不同，且远为逊色；勒克莱尔与拉德纳（Bibliothèque Ancienne et Moderne, tom. iii. p. 438；Credibility of the Gospel 等，part ii. vol. vii. p. 94）也正是这样判断的。为拉克坦提乌斯说话的人，从书名以及多纳图斯与凯基利乌斯二人之名出发，提出了三条论据（参见 P. Lestocq, tom. ii. p. 46-60）。这几条论据单看都薄弱而有缺漏，但合在一起却分量不小。我屡屡犹疑不定，最终姑且听从科尔贝抄本，把这位作者（无论他究竟是谁）称作凯基利乌斯。

Cæcilius de M. P. c. 46. There seems to be some reason in the observation of M. de Voltaire, (Œuvres, tom. xiv. p. 307.) who ascribes to the success of Constantine the superior fame of his Labarum above the angel of Licinius. Yet even this angel is favorably entertained by Pagi, Tillemont, Fleury, &c., who are fond of increasing their stock of miracles.

Cæcilius de M. P. c. 46. 伏尔泰先生的一点评论（Œuvres, tom. xiv. p. 307）似乎不无道理：他把君士坦丁的拉巴伦军旗之所以名声盖过李锡尼的天使，归因于君士坦丁的成功。然而，就连这位天使，也颇得帕吉、蒂耶蒙、弗勒里等人的青睐——这班人素来喜好为自己的奇迹库存添砖加瓦。

Besides these well-known examples, Tollius (Preface to Boileau’s translation of Longinus) has discovered a vision of Antigonus, who assured his troops that he had seen a pentagon (the symbol of safety) with these words, “In this conquer.” But Tollius has most inexcusably omitted to produce his authority, and his own character, literary as well as moral, is not free from reproach. (See Chauffepié, Dictionnaire Critique, tom. iv. p. 460.) Without insisting on the silence of Diodorus Plutarch, Justin, &c., it may be observed that Polyænus, who in a separate chapter (l. iv. c. 6) has collected nineteen military stratagems of Antigonus, is totally ignorant of this remarkable vision.

除这些人所共知的例子外，托利乌斯（为布瓦洛所译朗吉努斯一书作的序）还发掘出一桩安提柯的异象：据说安提柯向部众保证，自己曾看见一个五边形（平安的象征），旁配这样几个字——“凭此得胜。”然而托利乌斯却不可原谅地略去了他的出处，何况此人无论文品还是德行都非全无瑕疵（参见 Chauffepié, Dictionnaire Critique, tom. iv. p. 460）。姑且不去追究狄奥多罗斯、普鲁塔克、查士丁等人对此绝口不提，单说波利埃努斯：他在专门的一章（l. iv. c. 6）里辑录了安提柯的十九条兵略，竟对这桩非凡的异象一无所知。

Instinctu Divinitatis, mentis magnitudine. The inscription on the triumphal arch of Constantine, which has been copied by Baronius, Gruter, &c., may still be perused by every curious traveller.

Instinctu Divinitatis, mentis magnitudine.（凯旋门铭文：“凭神明之感召、凭其心智之伟大。”）这段君士坦丁凯旋门上的铭文，巴罗尼乌斯、格鲁特等人都曾抄录，至今任何好奇的游人仍可细读。

Habes profecto aliquid cum illa mente Divinâ secretum; quæ delegatâ nostrâ Diis Minoribus curâ uni se tibi dignatur ostendere Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2.

Habes profecto aliquid cum illa mente Divinâ secretum; quæ delegatâ nostrâ Diis Minoribus curâ uni se tibi dignatur ostendere.（颂词大意：你与那神圣的心智之间，确有某种秘契；它把照看我等之责委诸诸位次神，却独独屈尊向你一人显现。）Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2.

M. Freret (Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions, tom. iv. p. 411-437) explains, by physical causes, many of the prodigies of antiquity; and Fabricius, who is abused by both parties, vainly tries to introduce the celestial cross of Constantine among the solar halos. Bibliothec. Græc. tom. iv. p. 8-29. * Note: The great difficulty in resolving it into a natural phenomenon, arises from the inscription; even the most heated or awe-struck imagination would hardly discover distinct and legible letters in a solar halo. But the inscription may have been a later embellishment, or an interpretation of the meaning which the sign was construed to convey. Compare Heirichen, Excur in locum Eusebii, and the authors quoted.

弗雷雷先生（Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions, tom. iv. p. 411-437）以物理成因来解释古代的许多异象；而两派都加以诋毁的法布里丘斯，则枉费气力地想把君士坦丁的天界十字归入日晕之列（Bibliothec. Græc. tom. iv. p. 8-29）。* 编者按：要把它归为一种自然现象，最大的障碍在于那段铭文；即便是最狂热或最敬畏的想象，也很难在日晕之中辨认出清晰可读的字母来。不过，那铭文或许是后来的润饰，又或许是人们对这一征兆所欲传达之意的一种诠解。可比较 Heirichen, Excur. in locum Eusebii 及其所引诸家。

Nazarius inter Panegyr. Vet. x. 14, 15. It is unnecessary to name the moderns, whose undistinguishing and ravenous appetite has swallowed even the Pagan bait of Nazarius.

Nazarius inter Panegyr. Vet. x. 14, 15. 至于那些近人，就不必一一点名了——他们不加甄别、贪得无厌的胃口，竟连纳扎里乌斯这异教的诱饵也一并吞了下去。

The apparitions of Castor and Pollux, particularly to announce the Macedonian victory, are attested by historians and public monuments. See Cicero de Natura Deorum, ii. 2, iii. 5, 6. Florus, ii. 12. Valerius Maximus, l. i. c. 8, No. 1. Yet the most recent of these miracles is omitted, and indirectly denied, by Livy, (xlv. i.)

卡斯托耳与波吕克斯的显灵，尤其是那次昭告马其顿大捷的显灵，既有史家记载，又有公开的纪念碑为证。参见 Cicero de Natura Deorum, ii. 2, iii. 5, 6；Florus, ii. 12；Valerius Maximus, l. i. c. 8, No. 1。然而这些奇迹中最晚近的一桩，李维却略而不提，且间接予以否认（xlv. i）。

Eusebius, l. i. c. 28, 29, 30. The silence of the same Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, is deeply felt by those advocates for the miracle who are not absolutely callous.

Eusebius, l. i. c. 28, 29, 30. 同一个优西比乌，在其《教会史》中对此却只字不提；这一沉默，凡为这桩奇迹辩护而又不至于全然麻木的人，无不深感芒刺在背。

The narrative of Constantine seems to indicate, that he saw the cross in the sky before he passed the Alps against Maxentius. The scene has been fixed by provincial vanity at Trèves, Besançon, &c. See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 573.

君士坦丁的叙述似乎表明，他是在翻越阿尔卑斯山去讨伐马克森提乌斯之前，望见天空中那十字架的。各地出于乡土的虚荣，纷纷把这一幕的发生地锁定在特里尔、贝桑松等处。参见 Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 573.

The pious Tillemont (Mém. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 1317) rejects with a sigh the useful Acts of Artemius, a veteran and a martyr, who attests as an eye-witness to the vision of Constantine.

虔诚的蒂耶蒙（Mém. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 1317）虽觉《阿尔特米乌斯行传》大可派用场，却只得叹着气把它舍弃了——阿尔特米乌斯是位老兵，又是位殉道者，他以目击者的身份为君士坦丁的异象作证。

Gelasius Cyzic. in Act. Concil. Nicen. l. i. c. 4.

The advocates for the vision are unable to produce a single testimony from the Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries, who, in their voluminous writings, repeatedly celebrate the triumph of the church and of Constantine. As these venerable men had not any dislike to a miracle, we may suspect, (and the suspicion is confirmed by the ignorance of Jerom,) that they were all unacquainted with the life of Constantine by Eusebius. This tract was recovered by the diligence of those who translated or continued his Ecclesiastical History, and who have represented in various colors the vision of the cross.

为这桩异象辩护的人，从四、五世纪的教父那里竟找不出一条证词——尽管这些教父在其卷帙浩繁的著作里，一再颂扬教会与君士坦丁的凯旋。既然这些可敬的前辈对奇迹并无反感，我们便不免怀疑（哲罗姆的茫然无知更坐实了这一怀疑）：他们全都不曾读过优西比乌所写的《君士坦丁传》。这部著作，是靠了那些翻译或续写其《教会史》之人的勤勉才得以重见天日的，而他们对那十字架异象，也作了种种不同的描摹。

Godefroy was the first, who, in the year 1643, (Not ad Philostorgium, l. i. c. 6, p. 16,) expressed any doubt of a miracle which had been supported with equal zeal by Cardinal Baronius, and the Centuriators of Magdeburgh. Since that time, many of the Protestant critics have inclined towards doubt and disbelief. The objections are urged, with great force, by M. Chauffepié, (Dictionnaire Critique, tom. iv. p. 6–11;) and, in the year 1774, a doctor of Sorbonne, the Abbé du Voisin published an apology, which deserves the praise of learning and moderation. * Note: The first Excursus of Heinichen (in Vitam Constantini, p. 507) contains a full summary of the opinions and arguments of the later writers who have discussed this interminable subject. As to his conversion, where interest and inclination, state policy, and, if not a sincere conviction of its truth, at least a respect, an esteem, an awe of Christianity, thus coincided, Constantine himself would probably have been unable to trace the actual history of the workings of his own mind, or to assign its real influence to each concurrent motive.—M

头一个对这桩奇迹表示怀疑的是戈德弗鲁瓦，时在1643年（Not. ad Philostorgium, l. i. c. 6, p. 16）；而此前，巴罗尼乌斯枢机与马格德堡的世纪派史家曾以同等的热忱为它撑腰。自那以后，许多新教评注家都倾向于怀疑乃至否定。肖弗皮埃先生（Dictionnaire Critique, tom. iv. p. 6–11）极其有力地陈说了种种异议；而在1774年，索邦神学院的一位博士、迪瓦赞神父发表了一篇辩护之作，其博学与持平堪称可嘉。* 编者按：海尼兴的第一篇附论（in Vitam Constantini, p. 507）完整地概述了后世讨论这一没完没了之题目的诸家意见与论据。至于君士坦丁的皈依，其中利害与心性、国家权谋，再加上即便算不上对基督教真理的真诚信服、至少也是一份敬重、一份推崇、一份敬畏，凡此种种交汇于一处；恐怕连君士坦丁本人也未必说得清自己内心究竟经历了怎样的实际历程，更未必分得清每一重动机各自究竟起了多大作用。—M

Lors Constantin dit ces propres paroles:
J’ai renversé le culte des idoles:
Sur les debris de leurs temples fumans
Au Dieu du Ciel j’ai prodigue l’encens.
Mais tous mes soins pour sa grandeur supreme
N’eurent jamais d’autre objêt que moi-même;
Les saints autels n’etoient à mes regards
Qu’un marchepié du trone des Césars.
L’ambition, la fureur, les delices
Etoient mes Dieux, avoient mes sacrifices.
L’or des Chrêtiens, leur intrigues, leur sang
Ont cimenté ma fortune et mon rang.
（大意：君士坦丁于是亲口说道：我已推翻了偶像的崇拜，在他们庙宇尚且冒烟的废墟之上，向天上的上帝焚香献祭。然而我为他至高荣耀所费的一切苦心，从来别无所图，只为我自己；在我眼中，那些神圣的祭坛，不过是通往恺撒宝座的一级踏脚石。野心、狂怒与逸乐，才是我的诸神，才享我的祭飨。基督徒的黄金、他们的阴谋、他们的鲜血，砌就了我的富贵与尊位。）收录这几行诗的那首诗作，读来虽饶有兴味，其名却不便宣之于口。

This favorite was probably the great Osius, bishop of Cordova, who preferred the pastoral care of the whole church to the government of a particular diocese. His character is magnificently, though concisely, expressed by Athanasius, (tom. i. p. 703.) See Tillemont, Mém. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 524-561. Osius was accused, perhaps unjustly, of retiring from court with a very ample fortune.

这位宠臣多半就是那位了不起的奥西乌斯，科尔多瓦的主教——比起治理一方教区，他更愿担起牧养整个教会之责。阿塔纳修斯（tom. i. p. 703）对其品格的刻画虽简练，却极为堂皇。参见 Tillemont, Mém. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 524-561。有人指控奥西乌斯离开宫廷时携走了一大笔家财，不过这指控或许有欠公允。

See Eusebius (in Vit. Constant. passim) and Zosimus, l. ii. p. 104.

The Christianity of Lactantius was of a moral rather than of a mysterious cast. “Erat pæne rudis (says the orthodox Bull) disciplinæ Christianæ, et in rhetorica melius quam in theologia versatus.” Defensio Fidei Nicenæ, sect. ii. c. 14.

拉克坦提乌斯的基督教信仰，重在道德，而非重在玄秘。正统派的布尔说：“Erat pæne rudis disciplinæ Christianæ, et in rhetorica melius quam in theologia versatus.”（大意：他于基督教义几乎懵然无知，在修辞上的造诣远胜于在神学上的造诣。）Defensio Fidei Nicenæ, sect. ii. c. 14.

Fabricius, with his usual diligence, has collected a list of between three and four hundred authors quoted in the Evangelical Preparation of Eusebius. See Bibl. Græc. l. v. c. 4, tom. vi. p. 37-56.

法布里丘斯一如既往地勤勉，开列了一份名单，收入优西比乌《福音的准备》所征引的三四百位作者。参见 Bibl. Græc. l. v. c. 4, tom. vi. p. 37-56.

See Constantin. Orat. ad Sanctos, c. 19 20. He chiefly depends on a mysterious acrostic, composed in the sixth age after the Deluge, by the Erythræan Sibyl, and translated by Cicero into Latin. The initial letters of the thirty-four Greek verses form this prophetic sentence: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior of the World.

See Constantin. Orat. ad Sanctos, c. 19, 20. 他主要依据的是一首神秘的藏头诗，据说是大洪水之后第六个世代由厄律特拉的西比拉所作，再由西塞罗译成拉丁文。那三十四行希腊诗句的起首字母，连缀成如下一句预言：耶稣基督，上帝之子，世界的救主。

In his paraphrase of Virgil, the emperor has frequently assisted and improved the literal sense of the Latin ext. See Blondel des Sibylles, l. i. c. 14, 15, 16.

皇帝在意译维吉尔时，屡屡为拉丁原文的字面意思添枝加叶、加以润色。参见 Blondel des Sibylles, l. i. c. 14, 15, 16.

The different claims of an elder and younger son of Pollio, of Julia, of Drusus, of Marcellus, are found to be incompatible with chronology, history, and the good sense of Virgil.

有人主张这孩童是波利奥的长子或幼子，有人主张是尤利娅之子，有人主张是德鲁苏斯，有人主张是马塞勒斯；然而这些说法，无一能与年代、史实以及维吉尔的见识相合。

See Lowth de Sacra Poesi Hebræorum Prælect. xxi. p. 289- 293. In the examination of the fourth eclogue, the respectable bishop of London has displayed learning, taste, ingenuity, and a temperate enthusiasm, which exalts his fancy without degrading his judgment.

See Lowth de Sacra Poesi Hebræorum Prælect. xxi. p. 289-293. 在考辨第四首牧歌时，这位可敬的伦敦主教展现了博学、鉴赏力、机智，以及一种有节制的热忱——这热忱使他的想象升华，却又不至于损及他的判断。

Chapter XX: Conversion Of Constantine.—Part II. 第二十章 君士坦丁的皈依——第二节