罗马帝国灭亡的原因是什么?(一)
What are the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire?译文简介
网友:罗马帝国从一开始就注定要失败。一个以奴隶制度为基础的帝国只有在扩张、征服新土地并洗劫它们时才能持续存在。一旦扩张结束,经济崩溃就会随之而来......
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The Roman Empire was doomed from the start.
An empire whose economy is based on slavery can last only as long as it expands, conquers new lands and loots them. Once the expansion ends, an economical collapse will ensue - there will first be deflation, then inflation and finally bankruptcy. This same story has happened time and time again - Assyrians, steppe nomads, Arabs, Ottoman Turks - you name it.
The reason is that a slavery-based economy will create a horribly divided society with a filthy rich upper class, no middle class (except middleman minorities like Jews), a dirt poor proletariat - and a vast horde of slaves who have no rights and no power whatsoever. As there is no middle class, the only ones with any purchasing power are the elites - and they buy only luxury items. The proletariat lives from hand to mouth and the slaves are on the mercy of their owners.
罗马帝国从一开始就注定要失败。一个以奴隶制度为基础的帝国只有在扩张、征服新土地并洗劫它们时才能持续存在。一旦扩张结束,经济崩溃就会随之而来——首先是通货紧缩,然后是通货膨胀,最后是破产。同样的故事一再上演——亚述人、游牧民族、阿拉伯人、奥斯曼土耳其人——你可以随便挑一个。
原因是奴隶制经济将会创造出一个极度分化的社会,有着极其富有的上层阶级、没有中产阶级(除了像犹太人这样的中间人少数民族)、贫穷的无产阶级和一大群完全没有权利和力量的奴隶。由于没有中产阶级,只有精英阶层有任何购买力——而他们只购买豪华商品。无产阶级过着口吃面包的生活,而奴隶则受其主人的恩惠。
这样的社会唯一真正的现金流是掠夺、征税和**。以奴隶制为基础的文明基本上是一种“强盗经济学”。 唯一的生产是日用品和必需品,几乎没有出口。 珍品都是进口,所以现金流出了帝国。 技术水平注定要保持低水平 - 当你拥有可以免费、易于强制和鞭打的奴隶劳动力时,为什么还要发展技术呢?
Only Aurelianus managed to stitch the Empire back together in 278. But it was too late. Finally Diocletianus moved the capital to Mediolanum in 283. The Roman Empire had ceased to be Roman.
塞维鲁-亚历山大被谋杀后,经济上的失误导致了帝国的崩溃,帝国解体为三个部分。随之而来的是一段几乎持续不断的内战,军营里的皇帝们在统治了几个月后就互相残杀,互相继位。
只有奥勒良努斯(Aurelianus)设法在278年将帝国重新缝合起来。但这已经太晚了。最后戴克里先于283年将首都迁至麦迪奥兰姆。罗马帝国已经不再是罗马帝国了。
Constantine I (The Great) moved the capital from Mediolanum to Constantinopolis 313 AD. This was a wise move - I just cannot imagine a better place for a capital than Constantinopolis.
戴克里先进行了经济改革,以挽救可以挽救的东西。他们为帝国的东部地区多争取了1200年的时间。但是,西方是注定要失败的。它的破产迫在眉睫。它已经被榨干了,许多省份已经完全放弃了货币经济,转而进行易货贸易。
君士坦丁一世(大帝)于公元313年将首都从麦迪奥兰姆迁至君士坦丁堡。这是一个明智之举--我实在无法想象还有比君士坦丁堡更好的建都地点。
Against all odds, the Western Empire - the trash bank - struggled for almost 100 years more until it went bankrupt for good. It basically expended itself for the Hunnic campaign 451–453. The Barbarians never really conquered the Western Empire. They simply declared it insolvent and divided it among themselves - like any bankruptcy.
The Eastern Roman Empire was now the only sole Roman Empire, and Empire Stroke Back on the reign of Justinianus (emperor 527–565). But that is another sory.
“最终,在狄奥多西去世后的395年,帝国被分为两个部分。哥哥阿卡迪乌斯获得了东罗马帝国,而弟弟霍诺留斯则掌管了西罗马帝国。 不可思议的是,处于危机中的西罗马帝国奋斗了将近100年,直到彻底破产。它基本上在451-453年的匈人战役中耗尽了自己。野蛮人实际上从未征服过西罗马帝国。他们只是宣布它破产,并将其划分给自己,就像任何个人破产一样。 东罗马帝国现在是唯一的罗马帝国,并在贾斯汀尼安(皇帝527-565年在位)统治时期振兴。但这是另一个故事了。”
In college, I toyed with this idea called the Quandary Cascade (bad name I know). I never really developed it but it was on the list of potential theses.
Basically, the idea is that no single factor leads to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and instead, it was the interaction of a variety of factors. A cascade of problems that would interact in strange ways to create the necessary environment for the Western Roman Empire to collapse.
在大学期间,我曾经想过一个叫做“困境级联”的想法(我知道名字有点烂)。我从未真正开发它,但它曾是我的潜在论文列表之一。 基本上,这个想法是没有单一因素会导致西罗马帝国的崩溃,相反,它是各种因素的互动。一系列问题的级联效应将以奇怪的方式相互作用,创造出西罗马帝国崩溃所需的环境。
First, let's go over a few primary factors behind the collapse of Rome.
#1: East-West Split
The East was the more powerful half of the empire. Constantinople was easily defended and the richest and most populous provinces like Anatolia and Egypt were in the East.
This left the West economically weakened and missing key population centers for recruiting.
我来解释一下。
首先,让我们回顾一下罗马崩溃背后的几个主要因素。
#1:东西方分裂
东方是帝国更强大的一半。君士坦丁堡易守难攻,安纳托利亚和埃及等最富有和人口最多的省份都在东方。
这使得西方在经济上被削弱,并且缺少关键的人口招募中心。
Corruption really killed Rome in a number of ways. The system was so broken it is hard to imagine how it could be repaired.
The rich were able to bribe their way into paying no taxes. The middle-class tax collectors were responsible for collecting a set amount and if they failed they would be forced to pay out of pocket to cover the shortfall.
So they would squeeze and abuse the lower and middle classes for every possible penny. This led to rampant poverty and even then the tax collectors never collected enough. So the Empire never got enough money- leading to a perpetual treasury shortage.
In addition, Roman politics didn’t look so good anymore. Political careers were seen as dangerous and corrupt so the brilliant and capable avoided political careers and focused on working in the private sector instead.
#2:腐败
腐败在很多方面真正杀死了罗马。这个系统是如此的破碎,很难想象它是如何被修复的。
富人能够以贿赂的方式不交税。中产阶级的征税人负责征收一定数额的税款,如果他们失败了,他们将被迫自掏腰包以弥补亏空。
因此,他们会压榨和虐待中下层阶级的每一分钱。这导致了猖獗的贫困,即使如此,征税人也从未收够过。因此,帝国从来没有得到足够的钱,导致国库长期短缺。
此外,罗马的政治看起来不再那么好了。政治生涯被认为是危险和腐败的,所以聪明和有能力的人都避免政治生涯,而是专注于在私营部门工作。
Rome had experienced an economic shift after the crisis. The Empire was short on slaves as all conquest had stopped. So the wealthy Roman landowners began to rely on cheap laborers to run their massive estates.
The landowners did not want their labor force to be recruited. So they used their wealth to shield their estates from recruiting.
#3:经济的转变
罗马在危机后经历了一次经济转变。由于所有的征服行动都已停止,帝国缺少奴隶。因此,富有的罗马地主开始依靠廉价的劳动力来经营他们的庞大庄园。
地主们不希望他们的劳动力被征用。所以他们利用自己的财富来保护他们的庄园不被招募。
Rome became a Christian Empire with the rise of Constantine the Great. While this was not as bad as many made it out to be (Edward Gibbon) it nonetheless caused significant problems.
The biggest problem was determining what branch of Christianity was Orthodox and what wasn’t. There was an immediate divide in the Christian community and this divide led to conflict and political struggles.
#4:宗教的转变
随着君士坦丁大帝的崛起,罗马成为一个基督教帝国。虽然这并不像许多人所说的那样糟糕(爱德华-吉本),但还是造成了重大问题。
最大的问题是确定基督教的哪个分支是东正教,哪个不是。基督教界立即出现了分歧,这种分歧导致了冲突和政治斗争。
The Goths showed up on the border in the 370s. Valens, the emperor at the time allowed them to settle.
Many other barbarians start making incursions into Roman territory.
#5: 城门内的野蛮人 哥特族在公元370年代出现在罗马边境。当时的皇帝瓦伦斯允许他们定居。 许多其他的野蛮人开始进入罗马领土。
Rome had been uncommonly tolerant throughout its history. Their ability to abandon ideas or cultural elements without prejudice was among their greatest strengths.
Rome was tolerant of all cultures and religions- to a degree that’s hard to imagine for the time. They were not perfect but this toleration allowed them to rule over one of the most ethnically diverse empires in history.
But around the late 300s, the Roman aristocracy decided to draw a strange line. Now being a full-blooded Roman was necessary to be taken seriously.
#6:种族主义
罗马在其历史上一直是不寻常的宽容。他们没有偏见地放弃思想或文化元素的能力是他们最大的优势之一。
罗马对所有文化和宗教都很宽容--其程度在当时是难以想象的。他们并不完美,但这种宽容使他们能够统治历史上种族最多样化的帝国之一。
但大约在300年代末,罗马贵族决定划出一条奇怪的界限。现在,要想被认真对待,就必须成为一个血统纯正的罗马人。
The East-West split and corruption has caused a shortfall in cash and a brain drain. The Imperial government needs money though so they start reducing the fine metals in coins and they start minting coins like crazy. This in turn leads to mass inflation which weakened the economy further.
Then we have a shift in economics which led to a lack of recruits. The lack of recruits combined with inflation leads to a small and weak Roman military. This then combines with the barbarians. Rome is unable to field a large enough military to really repulse the barbarians.
The East-West split leaves the West vulnerable strategically. It’s nearly impossible for the barbarians to get past Greece so most of the Eastern Empire is protected from sacking. This means the barbarian invasions are focused on the West.
现在让我们看看他们是如何互动的。
东西方的分裂和腐败造成了现金的短缺和人才的流失。虽然帝国政府需要钱,所以他们开始减少硬币中的精细金属,他们开始疯狂地铸造硬币。这又导致了大规模的通货膨胀,进一步削弱了经济。
然后,我们的经济发生了转变,导致了新兵的缺乏。新兵的缺乏加上通货膨胀,导致罗马军队规模小而弱。然后,这与野蛮人相结合。罗马无法派出足够大的军队来真正击退野蛮人。
东西方的分裂使西方在战略上处于弱势。蛮族几乎不可能越过希腊,所以东部帝国的大部分地区都受到保护,不会被洗劫。这意味着野蛮人的入侵都集中在西部地区。
Since the barbarians are never allowed to assimilate they are disloyal. These new legions are not loyal to Rome- at all. They often hate Rome. They would frequently turn on Rome and begin sacking Roman territory. They would extort money from the Imperial government in exchange for safety.
The Imperial government, already weakened by economics, and possessing little in the way of its own military due to lack of recruits and inflation is forced to give in. This new cost further harms the Roman economy and impacts Rome’s ability to raise its own armies.
为了解决这个问题,罗马决定招募野蛮人作为雇佣兵加入他们的队伍。但是,由于罗马现在已经成为一个奇怪的种族主义民族国家,野蛮人的将军,即使是像斯蒂利科或埃蒂乌斯这样出生在罗马的将军,也从未被接受或得到应有的权力。雇佣兵总是被保持距离,而且从不允许被同化。
由于野蛮人从未被允许同化,他们是不忠诚的。这些新军团根本就不忠于罗马。他们经常憎恨罗马。他们会经常背叛罗马,开始洗劫罗马领土。他们会向帝国政府勒索金钱以换取安全。
帝国政府已经被经济所削弱,而且由于缺乏新兵和通货膨胀,它自己的军队也几乎没有,因此被迫让步。这笔新的费用进一步损害了罗马的经济,影响了罗马组建自己军队的能力。
The barbarians are now Rome’s sole source of protection. The barbarians realize this soon and begin playing kingmaker with Roman politics. The weakened Imperial government is unable to do anything about this. The disloyal barbarians that were never assimilated care nothing for Rome and allow it to fall without a single tear shed.
同时,宗教的转变造成了猖獗的政治不稳定。帝国政府的衰弱导致民众不再信任其政府。帝国代理人制定法律,但由于罗马军队被削弱,并且由于猖獗的腐败,罗马无法执行其意愿。
蛮族现在是罗马的唯一保护来源。蛮族很快意识到这一点,并开始在罗马的政治中扮演国王的角色。被削弱的帝国政府对此束手无策。那些从未被同化的不忠诚的野蛮人对罗马毫不关心,任由它倒下而不流一滴泪。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处
It was 146 BCE. The Roman general Scipio Aemilianus had finally conquered Carthage after a brutal three-year siege. The Rome-Carthage rivalry, first sparked over a century earlier, had finally come full circle. Aemilianus ordered the surviving 50,000 civilians sold into slavery, and then set the great ancient city ablaze.
Aemilianus, watching the great city, which predated Rome itself, in its death throes, began uncontrollably sobbing. His mentor, the historian Polybius, saw him, and asked him what was wrong. The general responded with a quote from the Illiad:
A day will come when sacred Troy shall perish,
And Priam and his people shall be slain.
那是公元前146年。罗马将军西庇阿-埃米利亚努斯在经过三年的残酷围攻后终于征服了迦太基。一个多世纪前首次引发的罗马-迦太基之争,终于圆满结束。埃米利亚努斯下令将幸存的5万名平民卖为奴隶,然后放火烧毁这座伟大的古城。
埃米利亚努斯看着这座比罗马本身更早的伟大城市处于死亡的边缘,开始无法控制地抽泣起来。他的导师,历史学家波利比乌斯看到他,问他怎么了。这位将军用《伊利亚特》中的一段话来回答:
有一天,神圣的特洛伊城将会灭亡、
普里安和他的人民将被杀害。
When Aemilianus said this, he referred to his own republic. Rome. He of all people knew that all human things eventually return to the dust from which they came. As he watched this last vestige of a once-great enemy of Rome perish for the last time, he saw only this same fate waiting for his own great nation.
And he was right. Absolutely right. Within 150 years, his beloved republic and its institutions would be completely irrelevant, and Rome would be ruled by what they absolutely refused to be ruled by: a king.
埃米利安努斯和波里比乌斯在迦太基的废墟上散步
当埃米利安努斯说这句话时,他指的是他自己的共和国。罗马。所有的人都知道,所有的人类事物最终都会回归到它们所来自的尘土中。当他看着这个曾经是罗马伟大敌人的最后遗迹最后一次灭亡时,他看到等待他自己的伟大国家的只有这种同样的命运。
而且他是对的。绝对正确。在150年内,他所钟爱的共和国及其机构将完全失去意义,而罗马将被他们绝对拒绝的东西所统治:一个国王。
原创翻译:龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处
An existential external force at the gates is a great unifying force, allowing the people of a country to unite and face their common enemy. They forget their petty squabbles, if only for a minute, to defend the nation they can all take pride in, and would happily die for.
But what happens when those external forces are removed from the equation? What happens when Rome loses that worthy opponent? Of course. Without having to lead armies on campaign every year, Roman politicians finally have the time to do what politicians are best at: fighting each other, lying, cheating, and enacting radical reforms. Maybe the occasional riot, massacre, or civil war.
With the dual sacking of Carthage and Corinth in 146 BCE, Rome truly had no equal in the Mediterranean. Thousands of pounds of gold and silver were brought back from these campaigns, which gave the Roman economy a huge boost. Domestic issues were now brought to the forefront, and there were quite a few of them.
终结的开始
一个存在于大门口的外部力量是一种巨大的团结力量,使一个国家的人民能够团结起来,面对他们共同的敌人。他们忘记了他们的琐碎争吵,哪怕只有一分钟,以保卫他们都能引以为豪的国家,并乐意为之献身。
但是,当这些外部力量被从等式中移除时会发生什么?当罗马失去了那个值得尊敬的对手时会发生什么?当然是这样。没有了每年带领军队征战,罗马的政治家们终于有时间去做政治家们最擅长的事情:互相争斗、撒谎、欺骗,以及颁布激进的改革。也许偶尔会有暴乱、屠杀或内战。
随着公元前146年对迦太基和科林斯的双重洗劫,罗马在地中海地区真正做到了无人能敌。从这些战役中带回了数以千计的黄金和白银,这给罗马的经济带来了巨大的推动。国内问题现在被推到了前台,而且有相当多的问题。
Citizenship for Rome’s Italian allies was a biggie. The Italian allies had just fought in several generations’ worth of wars, and they made up a big portion of the Roman army. They had fought valiantly for Rome, and in return, they got inferior social status, no voting rights, and very little of the spoils of war, even though they had played an equal part in obtaining those spoils.
Now that the Italians had just helped conquer territory from North Africa to Greece and everywhere in between, they naturally expected to at least be given some concessions in terms of their standing in the Roman world. Instead, they were given a pat on the back, and a “Nice work. Now back to your farm.”
Italian citizenship remained a hot-button issue throughout the last half of the 100s BCE and into the next couple decades, and the most prominent politicians of the day were heavily invested in the issue. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus were among the most vocal advocates of Italian citizenship, and Marius granted citizenship to any Italian who fought for a certain number of years. Eventually, the issue exploded into the Social War in 91 BCE, which resulted in the Romans granting full citizenship to all their Italian allies.
意大利公民权
罗马的意大利盟友的公民权是个大问题。意大利盟友刚刚参加了几代人的战争,他们占了罗马军队的很大一部分。他们为罗马英勇作战,而作为回报,他们得到了低下的社会地位,没有投票权,而且很少得到战利品,尽管他们在获得这些战利品方面发挥了同等的作用。
现在,意大利人刚刚帮助征服了从北非到希腊以及两者之间的所有领土,他们自然期望至少在他们在罗马世界的地位方面得到一些让步。相反,他们得到的是拍拍屁股,和一句 "干得好。现在回到你的农场去吧"。
在整个公元前100年的后半期和接下来的几十年里,意大利公民权仍然是一个热点问题,当时最著名的政治家们在这个问题上投入了大量的精力。提比略和盖乌斯-格拉丘斯是意大利公民权最有力的倡导者之一,马利乌斯将公民权授予任何参加过一定年限战斗的意大利人。最终,这个问题在公元前91年爆发了社会战争,其结果是罗马人给予他们所有的意大利盟友以完全的公民权。
The Roman system of men being part-time farmers and part-time citizen soldiers didn’t work well when campaigns often dragged on for years. A family would have to leave their property unattended for several years, and by the time they got back, their property was completely worthless. The money the man would need to make his property productive again was too much, so often he simply sold his property to a rich landowner.
Demand for free labor was not high, as the rich landowners would instead purchase slaves that had recently been acquired in the wars of conquest in North Africa and Greece. As a result, this pushed the now poor and landless citizens into the cities. The ager publicus, or the public land, was most often targeted by the rich landowners for absorption into their estates. The rich were essentially squatting on public land. A land redistribution bill, proposed by Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BCE, was the spark that would set Rome alight.
土地分配和财富不平等
罗马人作为兼职农民和兼职公民士兵的制度,在战役经常拖延多年的情况下并不奏效。一个家庭不得不把他们的财产留在那里好几年,等他们回来的时候,他们的财产已经完全没有价值了。这个人要使他的财产重新具有生产力所需要的钱太多了,所以他常常干脆把他的财产卖给一个富有的地主。
对自由劳动力的需求并不高,因为富有的地主反而会购买最近在北非和希腊的征服战争中获得的奴隶。因此,这就把现在的穷人和无地公民推向了城市。ager publicus,即公共土地,最常被富有的地主作为目标,纳入他们的庄园。富人基本上是在公共土地上蹲守。公元前133年,由提比略-格拉库斯提出的土地重新分配法案是点燃罗马的火花。
These reforms would be continued by his brother Gaius, who was elected Tribune of the Plebs in 122 BCE. He kept the Lex Agraria in effect, but also passed his own reforms, which included judiciary reforms that gave the plebians more representation in the system, expanding the land allotments given to poor farmers, and purchasing grain in bulk from Sicily and North Africa to be sold to Roman citizens at a subsidized price. But just like with his brother, his reforms were bitterly opposed by the Senate, and he committed suicide to escape the wrath of a violent mob.
他的法案《农业法》借鉴了公元前367年的一个先例,其中规定,任何公民都不能拥有超过500朱格拉的公共土地。很多富有的地主控制的公共土地远远超过500朱格拉,因此提比略的土地重新分配委员会没收了这些土地,并将其重新分配给那些被推入城市的贫穷农民。自然,这一法案遭到了元老院的大量反对,因为许多元老是那些富有的地主。这一冲突最终升级为一场暴乱,造成数百人死亡,其中包括提比略。
他的弟弟盖乌斯将继续进行这些改革,他在公元前122年当选为平民议会的护民官。他保持了《农业法》的效力,但也通过了自己的改革,其中包括司法改革,使平民在系统中拥有更多的代表权,扩大给予贫困农民的土地分配,以及从西西里和北非大量购买粮食,以补贴的价格出售给罗马公民。但就像他的兄弟一样,他的改革遭到了元老院的强烈反对,他为了躲避暴力暴徒的愤怒而自杀。
The Marian Reforms were enacted by, you guessed it, Gaius Marius. They were a series of reforms that fully professionalized the Roman legions, by transforming warmaking from an obligation to an occupation. Marius abolished property requirements for enlistment, and the poor masses could finally enlist in the army. He also stipulated that the state would fund the army and pay for its equipment and training. The organization and tactics of the army was also fundamentally changed, and the army moved away from the maniple system to a more rigid legion system. Land grants were promised to any soldier who served his full 16 years.
马利亚改革
马利亚改革是由,你猜对了,盖乌斯-马略制定的。他们进行了一系列改革,将罗马军团完全职业化,将参军从一种义务转变为一种职业。马略废除了征兵的财产要求,穷苦大众终于可以参军了。他还规定,国家将资助军队,并支付其装备和训练费用。军队的组织和战术也发生了根本性的变化,军队从操纵系统转为更严格的军团系统。任何服役满16年的士兵都会得到土地赠予。
这样做的影响是广泛的。首先,士兵的工资由他们所领导的将军控制,由于将军是支付他们工资和给他们土地的人,他拥有士兵的完全忠诚,并可以利用他们来促进他们的政治野心。苏拉(Lucius Cornelius Sulla)是第一个利用他的军队来对付他的政敌的人,他曾两次进军罗马,强攻他的对手。苏拉激励了下一代伟大的罗马人,他们最终将参加保存或摧毁共和国的内战。这些是我们都知道的名字: 加图、庞培、凯撒。
由于士兵们不再是作为一种兼职义务为罗马作战,而是作为一种职业在一个将军手下作战,他们对将军的忠诚度自然要比对元老院的忠诚度高得多。毕竟,元老院并不是给他们钱和给他们土地的人。当他们真的得到土地时,他们往往不知道如何正确地使用它,这导致了很多不满,有时导致心怀不满的老兵拿起武器反对共和国。元老院和军队之间的分歧为后来擎天柱和人民党之间的内战打开了大门,这将最终结束共和国。
The Romans won great military victories, and had the best trained and best equipped army in the Mediterranean world. They developed this powerful army out of need, to fight off equally strong enemies that, at times, threatened their very survival. But when they conquered those enemies, politicians and generals were finally able to turn their full attention to domestic issues, and they used the resources obtained from their great military victories to build political and military power bases from which to strike at each other.
Constant internal conflict and civil war, only made worse by the fact that the legions were more loyal to their generals than the Senate or Rome, ultimately caused the fall of the 500 year old Roman Republic.
结论
罗马人赢得了伟大的军事胜利,并拥有地中海世界中训练有素、装备精良的军队。他们发展这支强大的军队是出于需要,以对抗同样强大的敌人,这些敌人有时会威胁到他们的生存。但是,当他们征服了这些敌人之后,政治家和将军们终于能够把全部注意力转向国内问题,他们利用从伟大的军事胜利中获得的资源来建立政治和军事力量的基地,并从这些基地中相互打击。
不断的内部冲突和内战,只是由于军团比元老院或罗马更忠于他们的将军而变得更糟,最终导致了拥有500年历史的罗马共和国的垮台。