Live 左
巴打加油
It cannot be presumed that all the barbarians were at all times capable of perpetrating such amorous outrages; and the want of youth, or beauty, or chastity, protected the greatest part of the Roman women from the danger of a rape. But avarice is an insatiate and universal passion; since the enjoyment of almost every object that can afford pleasure to the different tastes and tempers of mankind may be procured by the possession of wealth. In the pillage of Rome a just preference was given to gold and jewels, which contain the greatest value in the smallest compass and weight, but, after these portable riches had been removed by the more diligent robbers, the palaces of Rome were rudely stripped of their splendid and costly furniture. The sideboards of massy plate, and the variegated wardrobes of silk and purple, were irregularly piled in the waggons that always followed the march of a Gothic army. The most exquisite works of art were roughly handled or wantonly destroyed: many a statue was melted for the sake of the precious materials and many a vase, in the division of the spoil, was shivered into fragments by the stroke of a battleaxe. The acquisition of riches served only to stimulate the avarice of the rapacious barbarians, who proceeded by threats, by blows, and by tortures, to force from their prisoners the confession of hidden treasure.
我們不能設想所有的野蠻人在任何時候都準備進行這種發泄肉欲的暴行;不夠年輕、缺乏美貌,或堅貞不屈保護了絕大多數羅馬婦女免遭強姦的危害。然而,貪婪卻是一種永不滿足的普遍存在的欲望;因為幾乎所有能給人類中各種愛好、各種脾性的人帶來歡樂的東西,只要佔有了財富便全能得到。在對羅馬的搶劫中,人們首先搶的還是金子和珠寶這些體積最小、重量最輕,卻又價值最高的東西;但是在這些便於攜帶的財寶都被先下手的強盜搶光以後,羅馬宮殿裡的富麗而貴重的陳設也隨之被搶劫一空了。成櫃的貴重餐具,成箱的各色絲綢衣服和紫袍全都橫七豎八堆滿在那些總是緊隨著哥特部隊前進的大車上。大量精美的藝術珍品受到了粗暴的處置,甚至被肆意毀壞:許多雕像被熔化,以求得到那貴重的金屬;許多貴重的器皿為了平均分贓,常被一板斧劈成碎片。財富的獲得只不過使那些貪得無厭的野蠻人更加貪婪,他們進而用恐嚇、毆打,甚至酷刑強迫他們的俘虜供出他們隱藏的寶物。
/[quote]
[quote]Whatever might be the numbers of equestrian or plebeian rank who perished in the massacre of Rome, it is confidently affirmed that only one senator lost his life by the sword of the enemy. But it was not easy to compute the multitudes who, from an honourable station and a prosperous fortune, were suddenly reduced to the miserable condition of captives and exiles.
在這次羅馬大屠殺中,不論騎士或平民階層的人共死去多少,但可以確切地肯定,僅只有一
位元老死在敵人的屠刀之下。但究竟有多少人從體面和富有的地位一下變成了可憐的俘虜和流放犯,那就難以計算了。
The Italian fugitives were dispersed through the provinces, along the coast of Egypt and Asia, as far as Constantinople and Jerusalem; and the village of Bethlehem, the solitary residence of St. Jerom and his female converts, was crowned with illustrious beggars, of either sex and every age, who excited the public compassion by the remembrance of their past fortune. This awful catastrophe of Rome filled the astonished empire with grief and terror. So interesting a contrast of greatness and ruin disposed the fond credulity of the people to deplore, and even to exaggerate, the afflictions of the queen of cities. The clergy, who applied to recent events the lofty metaphors of Oriental prophecy, were sometimes tempted to confound the destruction of the capital and the dissolution of the globe.
意大利的難民沿埃及和亞洲海岸散佈在那幾個省份之中,直至遙遠的君士坦丁堡和耶路撒冷;在聖傑羅姆和他的女信徒的淒涼的居住地貝特勒姆村中擠滿了不同性別和各種年齡的聲名顯赫的乞丐,他們過去的富有不免勾起公眾的極大的同情。羅馬的這一驚人的大悲劇使整個帝國陷於憂慮和恐怖之中。過去的偉大和眼前的破敗形成如此可笑的對比,使得一些慣於輕信的人不禁誇大了這座城中之後所遭受的痛苦。那些把東方預言家的高深的隱喻用之於新近發生的一些事件的教士們,有時不免將首都的毀滅和世界的末日混在一起了。
Whether fame, or conquest, or riches were the object of Alaric, he pursued that object with an indefatigable ardour which could neither be quelled by adversity nor satiated by success. No sooner had he reached the extreme land of Italy than he was attracted by the neighbouring prospect of a fertile and peaceful island. Yet even the possession of Sicily he considered only an intermediate step to the important expedition which he already meditated against the continent of Africa.
不管阿拉裡克所追求的是名譽,是征服土地,還是財富,他反正是永不懈怠地追求著,既
不屈服於反抗的力量,也不滿足於已取得的勝利。他剛一到達義大利的邊境,馬上又被鄰近的
一個富庶、寧靜的美麗景象所吸引。而且即使得到了西西里島,他也覺得那不過是他早已計畫進行的向整個非洲大陸進軍的那個重要遠征計畫的一個中間步驟而已。
“哦,羅馬,您長年是世界的女王。您是諸神的母親,也是許多優異男子的母親。</p>
您所表現的崇高,就像太陽不會完全消逝一樣的,不會從人心中消失。您給人帶來的贈禮,就好像陽光普照大地一樣的,充滿了整個羅馬世界。無論灼熱的沙漠或是結冰的北海,都無法遮蔽您發出的光芒。無論在何處,只要有人類居住,那裡就會有羅馬。
羅馬啊,您將分裂為諸多民族與部族的人類統合成一個國家,讓他們知道在法律下享受平等的感受。確實我們剛開始受到羅馬征服,但不久後隨即感受到在羅馬之下生存的好處。因為羅馬雖擁有強大的軍事力量卻懂得自製,知道如何有效運用軍事力量。結果使得住在羅馬帝國內的人學會在羅馬法之下,一邊維持自己特有的風俗,一邊與不同風俗的民族共存。仿佛羅馬帝國本身就是由諸多民族形成的聯合國。
至今為止,不知有多少帝國興亡。然而在其中唯有羅馬帝國的偉大遠超過其他國家。羅馬帶來的和平,並非忘我的自信帶來的產物;羅馬的光榮,並非獨夫自創的業績,而是彙集帝國內的才能所產生的。羅馬能身為支配者,是因為他們真正具有支配外人的資格。
然而,不久之前起,羅馬無法從苦惱中脫身。不過總有一天,羅馬會治好傷痕,四肢再度恢復力量。因為逆境正是興隆的、廢墟正是復興的前一階段。
羅馬的敵人如今高唱凱歌,但總有一天他們會遇上沒落凋零的時候。就連漢尼拔,最後也只有為自己的成功歎息。敵人或許認為自己將羅馬踏為廢墟,然而總有一天廢墟中會生長出新的羅馬。以往豐饒一片,如今遭人棄置荒廢的萊茵河畔,總有一天會再度成為有人居住的地方。尼羅河沿岸的土地,想必也會再度向西方運送大量的小麥。在這時候,想必不僅是義大利,全歐洲都會成為質精量多的葡萄酒產地。”