Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus.—Part II. 第四章康茂德的残暴、荒唐与遇弑——第二节

Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus.—Part II.

第四章康茂德的残暴、荒唐与遇弑——第二节

Pestilence and famine contributed to fill up the measure of the calamities of Rome. ²⁵ The first could be only imputed to the just indignation of the gods; but a monopoly of corn, supported by the riches and power of the minister, was considered as the immediate cause of the second. The popular discontent, after it had long circulated in whispers, broke out in the assembled circus. The people quitted their favorite amusements for the more delicious pleasure of revenge, rushed in crowds towards a palace in the suburbs, one of the emperor’s retirements, and demanded, with angry clamors, the head of the public enemy. Cleander, who commanded the Prætorian guards, ²⁶ ordered a body of cavalry to sally forth, and disperse the seditious multitude. The multitude fled with precipitation towards the city; several were slain, and many more were trampled to death; but when the cavalry entered the streets, their pursuit was checked by a shower of stones and darts from the roofs and windows of the houses. The foot guards, ²⁷ who had been long jealous of the prerogatives and insolence of the Prætorian cavalry, embraced the party of the people. The tumult became a regular engagement, and threatened a general massacre. The Prætorians, at length, gave way, oppressed with numbers; and the tide of popular fury returned with redoubled violence against the gates of the palace, where Commodus lay, dissolved in luxury, and alone unconscious of the civil war. It was death to approach his person with the unwelcome news. He would have perished in this supine security, had not two women, his eldest sister Fadilla, and Marcia, the most favored of his concubines, ventured to break into his presence. Bathed in tears, and with dishevelled hair, they threw themselves at his feet; and with all the pressing eloquence of fear, discovered to the affrighted emperor the crimes of the minister, the rage of the people, and the impending ruin, which, in a few minutes, would burst over his palace and person. Commodus started from his dream of pleasure, and commanded that the head of Cleander should be thrown out to the people. The desired spectacle instantly appeased the tumult; and the son of Marcus might even yet have regained the affection and confidence of his subjects. ²⁸

瘟疫与饥荒接踵而至，罗马的灾祸至此可谓满盈。²⁵ 前者只能归咎于诸神的义怒；后者的直接祸首，则被认作那位权臣——他倚仗财富与权势垄断了粮食。民怨久已在窃窃私语间蔓延，终于在万众云集的竞技场上爆发。民众撇下心爱的娱乐，转而追逐复仇这更为痛快的乐事，成群结队涌向近郊一座离宫——那是皇帝的休憩之所——怒声鼓噪，索要那个公敌的首级。统领禁卫军的克莱安德²⁶下令一队骑兵冲出，驱散作乱的人群。人群仓皇逃向城内，数人被杀，更多的人遭践踏而死；然而骑兵一进街巷，乱石与标枪便从屋顶与窗口如雨般飞掷而下，逼得他们无从追击。步兵卫队²⁷素来嫉恨禁卫骑兵的特权与骄横，此刻便站到了民众一边。骚乱演成一场正式的厮杀，眼看就要酿成大屠杀。禁卫军终因寡不敌众而退却；民愤如潮，挟着倍增的凶猛，重又扑向宫门——康茂德正沉湎于奢靡之中，独独对这场内乱一无所知。谁敢带着这不祥的消息到他跟前，便是死罪。他就要在这般懵懂的安逸中丧命了，幸而有两个女人——他的长姐法迪拉，和最受宠的姬妾玛西娅——冒死闯入他的寝宫。二人泪流满面，披头散发，扑倒在他脚下，以恐惧所激发的急切辩才，把权臣的罪行、民众的怒火、以及顷刻之间就要倾覆宫室、危及性命的大祸，一一向惊惶的皇帝和盘托出。康茂德从享乐的迷梦中惊醒，下令把克莱安德的首级抛给民众。众人所求的这一幕当即平息了骚乱；此时的马可之子，本来甚至还有望重新赢回臣民的爱戴与信任。²⁸

But every sentiment of virtue and humanity was extinct in the mind of Commodus. Whilst he thus abandoned the reins of empire to these unworthy favorites, he valued nothing in sovereign power, except the unbounded license of indulging his sensual appetites. His hours were spent in a seraglio of three hundred beautiful women, and as many boys, of every rank, and of every province; and, wherever the arts of seduction proved ineffectual, the brutal lover had recourse to violence. The ancient historians ²⁹ have expatiated on these abandoned scenes of prostitution, which scorned every restraint of nature or modesty; but it would not be easy to translate their too faithful descriptions into the decency of modern language. The intervals of lust were filled up with the basest amusements. The influence of a polite age, and the labor of an attentive education, had never been able to infuse into his rude and brutish mind the least tincture of learning; and he was the first of the Roman emperors totally devoid of taste for the pleasures of the understanding. Nero himself excelled, or affected to excel, in the elegant arts of music and poetry: nor should we despise his pursuits, had he not converted the pleasing relaxation of a leisure hour into the serious business and ambition of his life. But Commodus, from his earliest infancy, discovered an aversion to whatever was rational or liberal, and a fond attachment to the amusements of the populace; the sports of the circus and amphitheatre, the combats of gladiators, and the hunting of wild beasts. The masters in every branch of learning, whom Marcus provided for his son, were heard with inattention and disgust; whilst the Moors and Parthians, who taught him to dart the javelin and to shoot with the bow, found a disciple who delighted in his application, and soon equalled the most skilful of his instructors in the steadiness of the eye and the dexterity of the hand.

然而康茂德心中，一切德行与仁慈之念早已泯灭殆尽。他既把帝国的缰绳丢给这班不肖的宠幸，在至高皇权中便只看重一样东西：可以无所顾忌、纵情声色的特权。他的光阴消磨在一座后宫里，那里有三百名美女，又有同样数目的男童，来自各个阶层、各个行省；凡引诱的手段不能得逞之处，这个兽性的情人便诉诸暴力。古代的史家²⁹对这些放荡的淫乱情景多有铺陈，那等秽行全不顾天性与廉耻的约束；只是他们过于忠实的记述，实在难以译成今人雅驯的语言。纵欲之余的闲暇，全用最下作的消遣填满。他身处文雅的时代，又受过悉心教养，可这一切始终无法把一星半点学识渗入他那粗鄙野蛮的头脑；他是罗马历代皇帝中，头一个对心智之乐全然没有品味的人。就连尼禄，在音乐与诗歌这等高雅之艺上也确有所长，或至少佯装擅长；他的这些爱好本不该受人轻蔑，只可惜他把闲暇片刻的怡情消遣，变成了毕生孜孜以求的正业与野心。康茂德却自幼便厌恶一切理性或高尚的事物，独独痴迷于市井小民的娱乐：竞技场与斗兽场的竞逐、角斗士的厮杀、以及猎杀野兽。马可为儿子延请了各门学问的名师，他听讲时却心不在焉、满是厌烦；反倒是那些教他投掷标枪、开弓射箭的摩尔人和帕提亚人，得到了一个乐此不疲的弟子——不多久，他眼力之稳、手法之巧，便赶上了教师中最精熟的人。

The servile crowd, whose fortune depended on their master’s vices, applauded these ignoble pursuits. The perfidious voice of flattery reminded him, that by exploits of the same nature, by the defeat of the Nemæan lion, and the slaughter of the wild boar of Erymanthus, the Grecian Hercules had acquired a place among the gods, and an immortal memory among men. They only forgot to observe, that, in the first ages of society, when the fiercer animals often dispute with man the possession of an unsettled country, a successful war against those savages is one of the most innocent and beneficial labors of heroism. In the civilized state of the Roman empire, the wild beasts had long since retired from the face of man, and the neighborhood of populous cities. To surprise them in their solitary haunts, and to transport them to Rome, that they might be slain in pomp by the hand of an emperor, was an enterprise equally ridiculous for the prince and oppressive for the people. ³⁰ Ignorant of these distinctions, Commodus eagerly embraced the glorious resemblance, and styled himself (as we still read on his medals³¹) the Roman Hercules. ³¹¹ The club and the lion’s hide were placed by the side of the throne, amongst the ensigns of sovereignty; and statues were erected, in which Commodus was represented in the character, and with the attributes, of the god, whose valor and dexterity he endeavored to emulate in the daily course of his ferocious amusements. ³²

一班谄媚的奴才，身家性命全系于主子的恶习，便对这些卑下的癖好大加喝彩。奸佞的阿谀之声提醒他：当年希腊的赫拉克勒斯，正是凭着同样的功业——制服涅墨亚的猛狮，屠戮厄律曼托斯的野猪——才跻身神列，并在人间留下不朽的英名。他们却唯独忘了指出：在社会的洪荒之世，凶猛的野兽每每与人争夺尚未开辟的土地，那时讨伐这些猛兽而获胜，实是英雄事业中最无害、也最有益的一桩。到了罗马帝国这般开化的时代，野兽早已远遁，避开了人迹，也远离了人烟稠密的城郭。于是要到荒僻的兽穴去袭捕它们，再千里迢迢运来罗马，好让皇帝亲手大张旗鼓地宰杀——这样的营生，于君主既属可笑，于百姓又是劳民伤财。³⁰ 康茂德不明就里，看不出其中的分别，反倒热切地攀附这份“光荣的相似”，自封为（如今仍可在他的钱币上读到³¹）“罗马的赫拉克勒斯”。³¹¹ 棍棒与狮皮被摆在御座旁，列入皇权的仪仗之中；又立起一尊尊塑像，把康茂德塑成那位天神的模样，配上他的种种标记——而这位天神的勇武与身手，正是他每日在残暴的游猎中竭力仿效的。³²

Elated with these praises, which gradually extinguished the innate sense of shame, Commodus resolved to exhibit before the eyes of the Roman people those exercises, which till then he had decently confined within the walls of his palace, and to the presence of a few favorites. On the appointed day, the various motives of flattery, fear, and curiosity, attracted to the amphitheatre an innumerable multitude of spectators; and some degree of applause was deservedly bestowed on the uncommon skill of the Imperial performer. Whether he aimed at the head or heart of the animal, the wound was alike certain and mortal. With arrows whose point was shaped into the form of crescent, Commodus often intercepted the rapid career, and cut asunder the long, bony neck of the ostrich. ³³ A panther was let loose; and the archer waited till he had leaped upon a trembling malefactor. In the same instant the shaft flew, the beast dropped dead, and the man remained unhurt. The dens of the amphitheatre disgorged at once a hundred lions: a hundred darts from the unerring hand of Commodus laid them dead as they run raging round the Arena. Neither the huge bulk of the elephant, nor the scaly hide of the rhinoceros, could defend them from his stroke. Æthiopia and India yielded their most extraordinary productions; and several animals were slain in the amphitheatre, which had been seen only in the representations of art, or perhaps of fancy. ³⁴ In all these exhibitions, the securest precautions were used to protect the person of the Roman Hercules from the desperate spring of any savage, who might possibly disregard the dignity of the emperor and the sanctity of the god. ³⁵

这些赞誉令他飘飘然，也渐渐泯灭了他天生的羞耻之心；于是康茂德决意，把这些身手当着罗马民众的面展示出来——此前他还知趣地把它们局限在宫墙之内，只让少数几个宠臣观看。到了指定那天，逢迎、畏惧、好奇，种种不同的动机把无数观众引到了斗兽场；对这位皇帝表演者的非凡技艺，人们也不无理由地给予了几分喝彩。无论他瞄准的是野兽的头还是心，那一箭都同样准确、同样致命。他用箭镞磨成新月形的箭，屡屡在鸵鸟疾奔之际拦腰射去，把那细长多骨的脖颈一箭斩断。³³ 一头豹被放了出来；这位射手一直等到它扑向一个瑟瑟发抖的囚犯，就在这一瞬，箭已离弦，猛兽应声毙命，那人却毫发无伤。斗兽场的兽栏一次放出百头雄狮：它们绕场狂奔咆哮，康茂德那只百发百中的手掷出百枝标枪，便将它们一一射杀于场中。无论是大象的庞然巨躯，还是犀牛的鳞甲厚皮，都挡不住他那一击。埃塞俄比亚与印度也奉上了它们最奇异的物产；斗兽场上被杀死的野兽中，有几种此前只在艺术的、或竟是想象的图画里才见得到。³⁴ 在所有这些表演中，人们都采取了最周密的防范，以保护这位“罗马的赫拉克勒斯”，免得哪头猛兽拼死一扑——它们可未必会顾及皇帝的尊严和天神的神圣。³⁵

But the meanest of the populace were affected with shame and indignation when they beheld their sovereign enter the lists as a gladiator, and glory in a profession which the laws and manners of the Romans had branded with the justest note of infamy. ³⁶ He chose the habit and arms of the Secutor, whose combat with the Retiarius formed one of the most lively scenes in the bloody sports of the amphitheatre. The Secutor was armed with a helmet, sword, and buckler; his naked antagonist had only a large net and a trident; with the one he endeavored to entangle, with the other to despatch his enemy. If he missed the first throw, he was obliged to fly from the pursuit of the Secutor, till he had prepared his net for a second cast. ³⁷ The emperor fought in this character seven hundred and thirty-five several times. These glorious achievements were carefully recorded in the public acts of the empire; and that he might omit no circumstance of infamy, he received from the common fund of gladiators a stipend so exorbitant that it became a new and most ignominious tax upon the Roman people. ³⁸ It may be easily supposed, that in these engagements the master of the world was always successful; in the amphitheatre, his victories were not often sanguinary; but when he exercised his skill in the school of gladiators, or his own palace, his wretched antagonists were frequently honored with a mortal wound from the hand of Commodus, and obliged to seal their flattery with their blood. ³⁹ He now disdained the appellation of Hercules. The name of Paulus, a celebrated Secutor, was the only one which delighted his ear. It was inscribed on his colossal statues, and repeated in the redoubled acclamations ⁴⁰ of the mournful and applauding senate. ⁴¹ Claudius Pompeianus, the virtuous husband of Lucilla, was the only senator who asserted the honor of his rank. As a father, he permitted his sons to consult their safety by attending the amphitheatre. As a Roman, he declared, that his own life was in the emperor’s hands, but that he would never behold the son of Marcus prostituting his person and dignity. Notwithstanding his manly resolution Pompeianus escaped the resentment of the tyrant, and, with his honor, had the good fortune to preserve his life. ⁴²

然而，当民众眼看着自己的君主以角斗士的身份下场比武，还以这门营生为荣时，即便是其中最卑贱的人也不禁又羞又愤——罗马的法律与风俗，早已给这一行当打上了最当之无愧的耻辱烙印。³⁶ 他选了Secutor（追击斗士）的装束与兵器；这种斗士与Retiarius（持网斗士）的对决，是斗兽场血腥角逐中最扣人心弦的场面之一。Secutor头戴盔、手持剑、臂挽小盾；他那近乎赤身的对手却只有一张大网和一杆三叉戟：一件用来缠住对方，一件用来结果对方。倘若头一网撒空，他便只得掉头逃开，躲避Secutor的追击，直到重新整好网，准备再撒第二回。³⁷ 皇帝以这副角色出战，前后竟达七百三十五次之多。这些“辉煌战绩”都被一丝不苟地载入帝国的公报；而且，唯恐漏掉任何一桩可耻的名目，他还从角斗士的公共基金里支取一份高得离谱的酬金，以致成了压在罗马人民头上的一项新的、也最不光彩的赋税。³⁸ 不难想见，在这类较量中，这位天下之主总是稳操胜券；在斗兽场上，他的胜利倒不常见血；可一旦他到角斗士学校、或自己宫中一展身手，他那些可怜的对手便往往“有幸”死于康茂德手下的致命一击，不得不用鲜血来为自己的谄媚作结。³⁹ 此时他已不屑于赫拉克勒斯这个称号。唯有保卢斯——一位赫赫有名的追击斗士——的名字，才能悦他之耳。这个名字镌刻在他那些巨大的塑像上，也在元老院一再高涨的欢呼声⁴⁰中反复响起——那是一群既哀痛又不得不鼓掌的元老。⁴¹ 卢基拉那位德行高尚的丈夫克劳狄乌斯·蓬培阿努斯，是唯一一位维护了自己身份尊严的元老。身为父亲，他允许儿子们为了自身安全去斗兽场捧场；身为罗马人，他却宣称：自己的性命固然操于皇帝之手，但他绝不肯亲眼看着马可之子如此糟践自己的身体与尊严。话虽说得如此刚直，蓬培阿努斯却居然躲过了暴君的报复，既保全了名节，又有幸保住了性命。⁴²

Commodus had now attained the summit of vice and infamy. Amidst the acclamations of a flattering court, he was unable to disguise from himself, that he had deserved the contempt and hatred of every man of sense and virtue in his empire. His ferocious spirit was irritated by the consciousness of that hatred, by the envy of every kind of merit, by the just apprehension of danger, and by the habit of slaughter, which he contracted in his daily amusements. History has preserved a long list of consular senators sacrificed to his wanton suspicion, which sought out, with peculiar anxiety, those unfortunate persons connected, however remotely, with the family of the Antonines, without sparing even the ministers of his crimes or pleasures. ⁴³ His cruelty proved at last fatal to himself. He had shed with impunity the noblest blood of Rome: he perished as soon as he was dreaded by his own domestics. Marcia, his favorite concubine, Eclectus, his chamberlain, and Lætus, his Prætorian præfect, alarmed by the fate of their companions and predecessors, resolved to prevent the destruction which every hour hung over their heads, either from the mad caprice of the tyrant, ⁴³¹ or the sudden indignation of the people. Marcia seized the occasion of presenting a draught of wine to her lover, after he had fatigued himself with hunting some wild beasts. Commodus retired to sleep; but whilst he was laboring with the effects of poison and drunkenness, a robust youth, by profession a wrestler, entered his chamber, and strangled him without resistance. The body was secretly conveyed out of the palace, before the least suspicion was entertained in the city, or even in the court, of the emperor’s death. Such was the fate of the son of Marcus, and so easy was it to destroy a hated tyrant, who, by the artificial powers of government, had oppressed, during thirteen years, so many millions of subjects, each of whom was equal to their master in personal strength and personal abilities. ⁴⁴

康茂德此时已登上了邪恶与耻辱的顶峰。纵然身处谄媚朝廷的欢呼声中，他也无法自欺：帝国之内凡有见识、有德行的人，对他的鄙夷与憎恨，都是他咎由自取。他生性凶残，而这凶性又被几重心绪激得越发狂躁：他自知为人所恨，他嫉恨一切才德，他对危险怀着不无根据的恐惧，他又在日日的游猎中养成了嗜杀的习性。史册留下了一长串执政官级元老的名单，他们都成了他任意猜忌下的牺牲品；这份猜忌尤其处心积虑地去搜寻那些不幸之人——凡与安敦尼家族沾亲带故的，哪怕关系再疏远，也一概不放过，甚至连替他行凶作乐的爪牙也不能幸免。⁴³ 他的残暴，最终反噬了他自己。他滥杀罗马最高贵的人物而未受惩处；然而一旦连他的近侍也开始畏惧他，他也就随之覆亡了。他宠爱的姬妾玛西娅、他的内侍总管埃克莱克图斯、他的禁卫军统领莱图斯，眼见同僚与前任的下场，无不惊惧，遂决意抢先化解那时刻悬在头顶的杀身之祸——这祸患，或来自暴君喜怒无常的疯狂⁴³¹，或来自民众骤然爆发的愤怒。一次，康茂德猎兽劳顿之后，玛西娅趁机给她这位情人奉上一杯酒。康茂德退去就寝；正当他被毒药与醉意折腾得昏沉之际，一名以摔跤为业的健壮青年闯进寝室，将他活活扼死，竟未遇丝毫反抗。尸首被悄悄运出宫外，此时无论城中还是宫廷，都还没有人对皇帝之死起过半点疑心。马可之子的下场便是如此；而要除掉一个众所痛恨的暴君，竟又这般容易——十三年间，他凭借人为的统治权柄，压迫着千百万臣民，可论个人的体力与才具，他们每一个原本都与主子不相上下。⁴⁴

The measures of the conspirators were conducted with the deliberate coolness and celerity which the greatness of the occasion required. They resolved instantly to fill the vacant throne with an emperor whose character would justify and maintain the action that had been committed. They fixed on Pertinax, præfect of the city, an ancient senator of consular rank, whose conspicuous merit had broke through the obscurity of his birth, and raised him to the first honors of the state. He had successively governed most of the provinces of the empire; and in all his great employments, military as well as civil, he had uniformly distinguished himself by the firmness, the prudence, and the integrity of his conduct. ⁴⁵ He now remained almost alone of the friends and ministers of Marcus; and when, at a late hour of the night, he was awakened with the news, that the chamberlain and the præfect were at his door, he received them with intrepid resignation, and desired they would execute their master’s orders. Instead of death, they offered him the throne of the Roman world. During some moments he distrusted their intentions and assurances. Convinced at length of the death of Commodus, he accepted the purple with a sincere reluctance, the natural effect of his knowledge both of the duties and of the dangers of the supreme rank. ⁴⁶

密谋者行事，既有深思熟虑的冷静，又有雷厉风行的迅捷，一如这等大事所要求的。他们决意立即为空出的皇位另立新君，此人的德望须能为方才那桩行动正名，并稳住局面。他们选中了罗马城市长官佩蒂纳克斯——一位执政官级的老元老；他凭着出众的才干，冲破了寒微出身的局限，跻身国家的显位。帝国大多数行省，他都先后治理过；无论是军职还是文职，凡担当要任，他行事一贯以坚定、审慎、廉正著称。⁴⁵ 马可当年的旧友与重臣，如今几乎只剩他一人；那夜深时分，有人把他唤醒，报说内侍总管与禁卫军统领已到门前，他便从容不迫、无所畏惧地接见二人，只请他们执行主上的旨意。谁知他们献上的不是死亡，而是整个罗马世界的皇位。有那么片刻，他还怀疑他们的用意，不肯轻信他们的保证；直到确信康茂德已死，他才带着由衷的不情愿，披上了紫袍——他深知至尊之位既有职责之重，又有凶险之虞，这份迟疑原是自然而然的。⁴⁶

Lætus conducted without delay his new emperor to the camp of the Prætorians, diffusing at the same time through the city a seasonable report that Commodus died suddenly of an apoplexy; and that the virtuous Pertinax had already succeeded to the throne. The guards were rather surprised than pleased with the suspicious death of a prince, whose indulgence and liberality they alone had experienced; but the emergency of the occasion, the authority of their præfect, the reputation of Pertinax, and the clamors of the people, obliged them to stifle their secret discontents, to accept the donative promised by the new emperor, to swear allegiance to him, and with joyful acclamations and laurels in their hands to conduct him to the senate house, that the military consent might be ratified by the civil authority. This important night was now far spent; with the dawn of day, and the commencement of the new year, the senators expected a summons to attend an ignominious ceremony. ⁴⁶¹ In spite of all remonstrances, even of those of his creatures who yet preserved any regard for prudence or decency, Commodus had resolved to pass the night in the gladiators’ school, and from thence to take possession of the consulship, in the habit and with the attendance of that infamous crew. On a sudden, before the break of day, the senate was called together in the temple of Concord, to meet the guards, and to ratify the election of a new emperor. For a few minutes they sat in silent suspense, doubtful of their unexpected deliverance, and suspicious of the cruel artifices of Commodus: but when at length they were assured that the tyrant was no more, they resigned themselves to all the transports of joy and indignation. Pertinax, who modestly represented the meanness of his extraction, and pointed out several noble senators more deserving than himself of the empire, was constrained by their dutiful violence to ascend the throne, and received all the titles of Imperial power, confirmed by the most sincere vows of fidelity. The memory of Commodus was branded with eternal infamy. The names of tyrant, of gladiator, of public enemy resounded in every corner of the house. They decreed in tumultuous votes, ⁴⁶² that his honors should be reversed, his titles erased from the public monuments, his statues thrown down, his body dragged with a hook into the stripping room of the gladiators, to satiate the public fury; and they expressed some indignation against those officious servants who had already presumed to screen his remains from the justice of the senate. But Pertinax could not refuse those last rites to the memory of Marcus, and the tears of his first protector Claudius Pompeianus, who lamented the cruel fate of his brother-in-law, and lamented still more that he had deserved it. ⁴⁷

莱图斯毫不迟延，把新皇帝领往禁卫军营；同时在城中不失时机地散布一则消息，说康茂德是猝然中风而死，贤明的佩蒂纳克斯早已继承了皇位。这位君主纵容大方，唯有禁卫军领教过他的好处；如今他死得蹊跷，禁卫军与其说欣喜，不如说愕然。可是事出紧急，加上统领的权威、佩蒂纳克斯的声望、以及民众的鼓噪，逼得他们只好把暗地里的不满咽下，接受新皇帝许诺的赏金，向他宣誓效忠，欢呼雀跃，手持月桂枝，簇拥着他前往元老院，好让军方的推戴再经民政权威加以确认。这个紧要的夜晚此时已过去大半；随着天明破晓、新年伊始，元老们本以为会接到传召，去出席一场丢人的典礼。⁴⁶¹ 原来康茂德已打定主意，要在角斗士学校里过夜，第二天再穿着那身装束、由那伙声名狼藉的人簇拥着，从那里去就任执政官；任凭众人如何劝谏——连他手下尚存几分审慎与体面的亲信也来相劝——都拗不过他。不料天还没亮，元老院便被紧急召集到和谐女神庙，来会见禁卫军，并追认新皇帝的推举。有那么几分钟，他们默然枯坐，忐忑难安，既不敢相信这份意外的解脱，又疑心这是康茂德的又一条毒计；可等到最终确信暴君真已不在人世，他们便再无顾忌，尽情宣泄起狂喜与愤慨来。佩蒂纳克斯谦逊地陈说自己出身寒微，又指出好几位高贵的元老比他更配执掌帝国；然而众人出于拥戴，近乎强逼地把他推上御座，他这才接受了皇权的一切尊号，并领受了众人最诚挚的效忠誓言。康茂德的名声则被烙上了永世的耻辱。暴君、角斗士、公敌这一类骂名，在议事厅的每个角落回荡。他们在群情鼎沸的表决中议决⁴⁶²：撤销他的一切荣典，从公共碑铭上铲去他的名号，推倒他的塑像，用铁钩把他的尸体拖进角斗士的剥尸房，以泄公愤；他们还对那些多事的仆从颇为不满——那些人竟敢抢先把他的遗体藏起，使之逃脱元老院的裁判。但佩蒂纳克斯终究不忍拒绝给康茂德最后的葬礼——一则是顾念马可的英灵，二则是不忍看最初提携自己的克劳狄乌斯·蓬培阿努斯垂泪：蓬培阿努斯既痛惜这位内弟的惨死，更痛心他死得咎由自取。⁴⁷

These effusions of impotent rage against a dead emperor, whom the senate had flattered when alive with the most abject servility, betrayed a just but ungenerous spirit of revenge.

元老院对这位皇帝生前极尽卑屈的奉承，死后却对他倾泻这般无力的怒火，虽说事出有因，却也流露出一种睚眦必报、并不磊落的复仇心态。

The legality of these decrees was, however, supported by the principles of the Imperial constitution. To censure, to depose, or to punish with death, the first magistrate of the republic, who had abused his delegated trust, was the ancient and undoubted prerogative of the Roman senate; ⁴⁸ but the feeble assembly was obliged to content itself with inflicting on a fallen tyrant that public justice, from which, during his life and reign, he had been shielded by the strong arm of military despotism. ⁴⁸¹

不过，这些决议在法理上，倒是有帝国宪制的原则可循。共和国的首席执政若辜负了所受的托付，元老院有权申斥他、废黜他、乃至处以死刑——这原是罗马元老院自古便毋庸置疑的特权；⁴⁸ 只是这个软弱的议会，如今也只能满足于对一个已经倒台的暴君施加公道；而当他在位当权之时，正是军事专制的铁腕，一直把他护在这公道之外。⁴⁸¹

Pertinax found a nobler way of condemning his predecessor’s memory; by the contrast of his own virtues with the vices of Commodus. On the day of his accession, he resigned over to his wife and son his whole private fortune; that they might have no pretence to solicit favors at the expense of the state. He refused to flatter the vanity of the former with the title of Augusta; or to corrupt the inexperienced youth of the latter by the rank of Cæsar. Accurately distinguishing between the duties of a parent and those of a sovereign, he educated his son with a severe simplicity, which, while it gave him no assured prospect of the throne, might in time have rendered him worthy of it. In public, the behavior of Pertinax was grave and affable. He lived with the virtuous part of the senate, (and, in a private station, he had been acquainted with the true character of each individual,) without either pride or jealousy; considered them as friends and companions, with whom he had shared the danger of the tyranny, and with whom he wished to enjoy the security of the present time. He very frequently invited them to familiar entertainments, the frugality of which was ridiculed by those who remembered and regretted the luxurious prodigality of Commodus. ⁴⁹

佩蒂纳克斯谴责前任的方式则要高尚得多：以自己的德行，对照康茂德的恶行。即位当天，他就把自己全部私产移交给妻子和儿子，好叫他们没有借口去损公肥私、谋求恩宠。他不肯用“奥古斯塔”的封号去满足妻子的虚荣，也不愿以“恺撒”的尊位去腐蚀那涉世未深的儿子。他把为父之责与为君之责分得清清楚楚，以严格朴素的方式教养儿子；这样虽不给他稳登皇位的指望，日久却或能使他配得上那个位子。在公开场合，佩蒂纳克斯举止既庄重又和蔼。他与元老院中德行端方的一批人相处，既不倨傲，也无猜忌（当年身居微职时，他早已看清了他们各人的真性情），把他们视作朋友与同道——从前一同冒过暴政的凶险，如今愿一同享受这太平的安稳。他还常常请他们赴家常的宴饮；宴席之俭朴，却招来那些仍念念不忘、惋惜康茂德豪奢挥霍之辈的讥笑。⁴⁹

To heal, as far as it was possible, the wounds inflicted by the hand of tyranny, was the pleasing, but melancholy, task of Pertinax. The innocent victims, who yet survived, were recalled from exile, released from prison, and restored to the full possession of their honors and fortunes. The unburied bodies of murdered senators (for the cruelty of Commodus endeavored to extend itself beyond death) were deposited in the sepulchres of their ancestors; their memory was justified and every consolation was bestowed on their ruined and afflicted families. Among these consolations, one of the most grateful was the punishment of the Delators; the common enemies of their master, of virtue, and of their country. Yet even in the inquisition of these legal assassins, Pertinax proceeded with a steady temper, which gave every thing to justice, and nothing to popular prejudice and resentment.

尽力医治暴政之手所造成的创伤，是佩蒂纳克斯一桩令人欣慰、却也令人怅然的差事。那些无辜受害、侥幸还活着的人，被从流放地召回，从牢狱中释放，其名位与家产也悉数发还。那些被害元老尚未安葬的遗骸（康茂德的残暴，竟还想延伸到死亡之外），如今得以安放进祖茔；他们的名誉获得昭雪，对其破败受难的家属，也给予了种种抚恤。在这些抚慰之中，最叫人称快的一桩，便是惩办那些告密者——他们是主上、德行与祖国共同的仇敌。然而，即便是追究这些假借律法行凶之徒，佩蒂纳克斯也持一副沉稳的心态：一切唯以公道为凭，绝不迁就民众的成见与私愤。

The finances of the state demanded the most vigilant care of the emperor. Though every measure of injustice and extortion had been adopted, which could collect the property of the subject into the coffers of the prince, the rapaciousness of Commodus had been so very inadequate to his extravagance, that, upon his death, no more than eight thousand pounds were found in the exhausted treasury, ⁵⁰ to defray the current expenses of government, and to discharge the pressing demand of a liberal donative, which the new emperor had been obliged to promise to the Prætorian guards. Yet under these distressed circumstances, Pertinax had the generous firmness to remit all the oppressive taxes invented by Commodus, and to cancel all the unjust claims of the treasury; declaring, in a decree of the senate, “that he was better satisfied to administer a poor republic with innocence, than to acquire riches by the ways of tyranny and dishonor.” Economy and industry he considered as the pure and genuine sources of wealth; and from them he soon derived a copious supply for the public necessities. The expense of the household was immediately reduced to one half. All the instruments of luxury Pertinax exposed to public auction, ⁵¹ gold and silver plate, chariots of a singular construction, a superfluous wardrobe of silk and embroidery, and a great number of beautiful slaves of both sexes; excepting only, with attentive humanity, those who were born in a state of freedom, and had been ravished from the arms of their weeping parents. At the same time that he obliged the worthless favorites of the tyrant to resign a part of their ill-gotten wealth, he satisfied the just creditors of the state, and unexpectedly discharged the long arrears of honest services. He removed the oppressive restrictions which had been laid upon commerce, and granted all the uncultivated lands in Italy and the provinces to those who would improve them; with an exemption from tribute during the term of ten years. ⁵²

国家的财政，最需皇帝殚精竭虑地看顾。凡能把臣民财产搜刮进君主金库的种种不义与勒索手段，康茂德都用尽了；饶是如此，他贪得虽多，却仍远远填不上他的挥霍，以致他一死，那早已枯竭的国库里只剩下不到八千镑⁵⁰，既要应付政府的日常开支，又要偿付一笔火烧眉毛的巨额赏金——那是新皇帝不得不许给禁卫军的。然而处此窘境，佩蒂纳克斯却有一份慷慨的决断：把康茂德巧立的一切苛捐尽行蠲免，把国库一切不义的索求一概注销，并在一道元老院敕令中宣告：“与其凭暴虐无耻的门路去敛聚财富，我宁可清清白白地治理一个穷困的国家。”在他看来，节俭与勤劳才是财富纯正真实的源头；靠着这两样，他很快便为国库的用度筹得了充裕的进项。宫廷的开销当即削减了一半。一应奢靡之物，佩蒂纳克斯都拿出来公开拍卖⁵¹：金银器皿、样式奇巧的车驾、绫罗绣缎堆积如山的多余衣物，还有大批姿色出众的男女奴隶；只有一类他体恤地网开一面——那些本是自由之身、当初被人从啼哭的父母怀中强掳而来的人。他一面勒令暴君那班无耻宠幸吐出一部分不义之财，一面偿清了国家正当债主的欠款，还出人意料地补发了长期拖欠的、酬答忠勤之人的款项。他撤除了压在商贸头上的种种苛限，又把意大利和各行省一切未垦的荒地，尽数拨给愿意开垦的人，并许以十年之内免纳赋税。⁵²

Such a uniform conduct had already secured to Pertinax the noblest reward of a sovereign, the love and esteem of his people.

如此始终如一的作为，早已为佩蒂纳克斯赢得了一位君主所能得到的最崇高的报偿——万民的爱戴与敬重。

Those who remembered the virtues of Marcus were happy to contemplate in their new emperor the features of that bright original; and flattered themselves, that they should long enjoy the benign influence of his administration. A hasty zeal to reform the corrupted state, accompanied with less prudence than might have been expected from the years and experience of Pertinax, proved fatal to himself and to his country. His honest indiscretion united against him the servile crowd, who found their private benefit in the public disorders, and who preferred the favor of a tyrant to the inexorable equality of the laws. ⁵³

凡还记得马可德行的人，都乐于在新皇帝身上端详那位光辉典范的影子，并暗自欣幸：他仁厚的治理，想必能长久惠及众生。然而他一心急于革除积弊，其间所显的审慎，却不及人们凭他的年岁与阅历所期望的；这份操切，终于害了他自己，也害了他的国家。他出于正直而失于莽撞，把一帮谄佞之徒逼到了自己的对立面——这些人从公家的混乱中捞取私利，宁要暴君的恩宠，也不要法律那铁面无私的公平。⁵³

Amidst the general joy, the sullen and angry countenance of the Prætorian guards betrayed their inward dissatisfaction. They had reluctantly submitted to Pertinax; they dreaded the strictness of the ancient discipline, which he was preparing to restore; and they regretted the license of the former reign. Their discontents were secretly fomented by Lætus, their præfect, who found, when it was too late, that his new emperor would reward a servant, but would not be ruled by a favorite. On the third day of his reign, the soldiers seized on a noble senator, with a design to carry him to the camp, and to invest him with the Imperial purple. Instead of being dazzled by the dangerous honor, the affrighted victim escaped from their violence, and took refuge at the feet of Pertinax. A short time afterwards, Sosius Falco, one of the consuls of the year, a rash youth, ⁵⁴ but of an ancient and opulent family, listened to the voice of ambition; and a conspiracy was formed during a short absence of Pertinax, which was crushed by his sudden return to Rome, and his resolute behavior. Falco was on the point of being justly condemned to death as a public enemy had he not been saved by the earnest and sincere entreaties of the injured emperor, who conjured the senate, that the purity of his reign might not be stained by the blood even of a guilty senator.

举国欢腾之际，禁卫军阴沉恼怒的脸色，却泄露了他们内心的不满。他们本是勉强才归顺佩蒂纳克斯的；他们害怕他正着手恢复的那套严明的旧军纪，又留恋前朝那份放纵。他们的怨气，暗中还有统领莱图斯从旁煽风点火——莱图斯到头来才明白，为时已晚：他这位新皇帝固然会酬赏臣仆，却绝不肯任凭一个宠臣摆布。就在他即位的第三天，士兵们劫持了一位高贵的元老，打算把他带到军营，给他披上帝王的紫袍。这位受惊的元老非但没有被这凶险的“殊荣”冲昏头脑，反而挣脱了他们的胁迫，逃到佩蒂纳克斯脚下求庇。不久之后，本年度执政官之一、索西乌斯·法尔科——一个鲁莽的青年⁵⁴，却出身于古老而富有的世家——听从了野心的召唤；趁佩蒂纳克斯短暂离京之际，一场阴谋结成，却因他骤然返回罗马、处置果决而被粉碎。法尔科本要以公敌之罪被正当地判处死刑，多亏受害的皇帝恳切而真诚地求情，才保住性命；皇帝力劝元老院，说不愿让自己清明的治世，因流一个有罪元老的血而蒙上污点。

These disappointments served only to irritate the rage of the Prætorian guards. On the twenty-eighth of March, eighty-six days only after the death of Commodus, a general sedition broke out in the camp, which the officers wanted either power or inclination to suppress. Two or three hundred of the most desperate soldiers marched at noonday, with arms in their hands and fury in their looks, towards the Imperial palace. The gates were thrown open by their companions upon guard, and by the domestics of the old court, who had already formed a secret conspiracy against the life of the too virtuous emperor. On the news of their approach, Pertinax, disdaining either flight or concealment, advanced to meet his assassins; and recalled to their minds his own innocence, and the sanctity of their recent oath. For a few moments they stood in silent suspense, ashamed of their atrocious design, and awed by the venerable aspect and majestic firmness of their sovereign, till at length, the despair of pardon reviving their fury, a barbarian of the country of Tongress ⁵⁵ levelled the first blow against Pertinax, who was instantly despatched with a multitude of wounds. His head, separated from his body, and placed on a lance, was carried in triumph to the Prætorian camp, in the sight of a mournful and indignant people, who lamented the unworthy fate of that excellent prince, and the transient blessings of a reign, the memory of which could serve only to aggravate their approaching misfortunes. ⁵⁶

这一次次的落空，只是更激起了禁卫军的怒火。三月二十八日，距康茂德之死仅仅八十六天，军营里爆发了一场全面哗变，军官们要么无力弹压，要么无心弹压。两三百名最亡命的士兵，光天化日之下手执兵器、满面凶光，径直朝皇宫开去。宫门被他们当值的同伙、以及旧朝的内侍打开——这些人早已暗中结党，图谋这位太过贤德的皇帝的性命。听闻他们逼近，佩蒂纳克斯不屑逃走，也不屑躲藏，径直迎向那些行刺者，向他们提起自己的清白无辜，以及他们不久前所立誓言的神圣。有那么片刻，他们默然迟疑，既为自己狠毒的图谋而羞愧，又慑于君主那可敬的仪容与凛然的镇定；直到最后，自知绝无赦免的绝望重又燃起他们的凶性，一个来自通格雷斯地方的蛮族兵⁵⁵率先向佩蒂纳克斯下手，转瞬之间，他便身中无数创伤而死。他的头颅被割下，挑在一杆长矛上，趾高气扬地带回禁卫军营；沿途民众悲愤交加，眼睁睁看着这一切，痛惜这位贤君不该有的下场，痛惜那昙花一现的治世之福——而这段记忆，此后只会让他们行将到来的苦难显得愈发深重。⁵⁶

Notes 注释

Herodian, l. i. p. 28. Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1215. The latter says that two thousand persons died every day at Rome, during a considerable length of time.

Herodian, l. i. p. 28. Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1215. 后者称，在相当长的一段时间里，罗马每天有两千人死去。

Tuneque primum tres præfecti prætorio fuere: inter quos libertinus. From some remains of modesty, Cleander declined the title, whilst he assumed the powers, of Prætorian præfect. As the other freedmen were styled, from their several departments, a rationibus, ab epistolis, Cleander called himself a pugione, as intrusted with the defence of his master’s person. Salmasius and Casaubon seem to have talked very idly upon this passage. * Note: M. Guizot denies that Lampridius means Cleander as præfect a pugione. The Libertinus seems to me to mean him.—M.

Tuneque primum tres præfecti prætorio fuere: inter quos libertinus.（拉丁文：其时始有三位禁卫军长官并任，其中一人为获释奴。）克莱安德尚存几分廉耻，故只揽禁卫军长官之权，而辞其名号。其余获释奴各按所掌部门得名，如“掌财务者”（a rationibus）、“掌书信者”（ab epistolis）；克莱安德则自称“掌匕首者”（a pugione），意谓受托护卫主上之身。萨尔马修斯与卡索邦对这段文字，似乎都议论得十分荒唐。* 编者注：基佐先生否认兰普里迪乌斯意在称克莱安德为“掌匕首”（a pugione）之长官。而在我看来，那个“获释奴”（Libertinus）指的正是他。—M.

Herodian, l. i. p. 31. It is doubtful whether he means the Prætorian infantry, or the cohortes urbanæ, a body of six thousand men, but whose rank and discipline were not equal to their numbers. Neither Tillemont nor Wotton choose to decide this question.

Herodian, l. i. p. 31. 他所指究竟是禁卫军步兵，还是 cohortes urbanæ（城防营）——那是一支六千人的队伍，只是其地位与纪律都及不上其人数之众——尚难断定。蒂耶蒙与沃顿都不愿就此下结论。

Dion Cassius, l. lxxii. p. 1215. Herodian, l. i. p. 32. Hist. August. p. 48.

Sororibus suis constupratis. Ipsas concubinas suas sub oculis...stuprari jubebat. Nec irruentium in se juvenum carebat infamia, omni parte corporis atque ore in sexum utrumque pollutus. Hist. Aug. p. 47.（此为拉丁文引文，历数康茂德乱伦纵欲之秽行；吉本正文有言，此等过于忠实的记载不宜以今人雅驯的语言译出，故仍存拉丁原文。）

The African lions, when pressed by hunger, infested the open villages and cultivated country; and they infested them with impunity. The royal beast was reserved for the pleasures of the emperor and the capital; and the unfortunate peasant who killed one of them though in his own defence, incurred a very heavy penalty. This extraordinary game-law was mitigated by Honorius, and finally repealed by Justinian. Codex Theodos. tom. v. p. 92, et Comment Gothofred.

非洲的狮子一旦饿极，便骚扰那些不设防的村庄与已垦的田地，且肆虐而无人敢究。这等“御兽”是专供皇帝与京城取乐用的；倒霉的农夫哪怕出于自卫杀了一头，也要遭受极重的刑罚。这条离奇的狩猎法，到霍诺留时有所放宽，最终由查士丁尼废止。Codex Theodos. tom. v. p. 92, et Comment Gothofred.

Spanheim de Numismat. Dissertat. xii. tom. ii. p. 493.

311

Commodus placed his own head on the colossal statue of Hercules with the inscription, Lucius Commodus Hercules. The wits of Rome, according to a new fragment of Dion, published an epigram, of which, like many other ancient jests, the point is not very clear. It seems to be a protest of the god against being confounded with the emperor. Mai Fragm. Vatican. ii. 225.—M.

康茂德把自己的头像安在赫拉克勒斯的巨型塑像上，铭文作 Lucius Commodus Hercules（卢基乌斯·康茂德·赫拉克勒斯）。据新近发现的一段狄奥残篇所载，罗马的机敏之士曾作一首讽刺短诗；一如许多古时的谐谑，其中的妙处如今已不甚分明。诗意似乎是那位天神在抗议，不愿被人与皇帝混为一谈。Mai Fragm. Vatican. ii. 225.—M.

Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1216. Hist. August. p. 49.

The ostrich’s neck is three feet long, and composed of seventeen vertebræ. See Buffon, Hist. Naturelle.

鸵鸟的脖颈长三英尺，由十七节椎骨构成。参见 Buffon, Hist. Naturelle.（布丰《自然史》）

Commodus killed a camelopardalis or Giraffe, (Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1211,) the tallest, the most gentle, and the most useless of the large quadrupeds. This singular animal, a native only of the interior parts of Africa, has not been seen in Europe since the revival of letters; and though M. de Buffon (Hist. Naturelle, tom. xiii.) has endeavored to describe, he has not ventured to delineate, the Giraffe. * Note: The naturalists of our days have been more fortunate. London probably now contains more specimens of this animal than have been seen in Europe since the fall of the Roman empire, unless in the pleasure gardens of the emperor Frederic II., in Sicily, which possessed several. Frederic’s collections of wild beasts were exhibited, for the popular amusement, in many parts of Italy. Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, v. iii. p. 571. Gibbon, moreover, is mistaken; as a giraffe was presented to Lorenzo de Medici, either by the sultan of Egypt or the king of Tunis. Contemporary authorities are quoted in the old work, Gesner de Quadrupedibum p. 162.—M.

康茂德曾杀死一头 camelopardalis，即长颈鹿（Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1211），这是大型四足兽中最高、最温顺、也最无用的一种。此种奇兽只产于非洲腹地，自文艺复兴以来在欧洲便不曾一见；布丰先生（Hist. Naturelle, tom. xiii.）虽力图加以描述，却终究不敢为长颈鹿绘出图形。* 编者注：今日的博物学家则要幸运得多。如今伦敦所藏此兽的标本，恐怕比自罗马帝国倾覆以来全欧洲所见的还要多——除非算上西西里的腓特烈二世皇帝的游乐苑，那里曾养有数头。腓特烈搜罗的野兽，为博众人一乐，曾在意大利多处展出。Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, v. iii. p. 571. 此外，吉本还弄错了一点：曾有一头长颈鹿被献给洛伦佐·德·美第奇，献者或是埃及苏丹，或是突尼斯国王。同时代的证据可见于旧籍 Gesner de Quadrupedibum p. 162。—M.

Herodian, l. i. p. 37. Hist. August. p. 50.

The virtuous and even the wise princes forbade the senators and knights to embrace this scandalous profession, under pain of infamy, or, what was more dreaded by those profligate wretches, of exile. The tyrants allured them to dishonor by threats and rewards. Nero once produced in the arena forty senators and sixty knights. See Lipsius, Saturnalia, l. ii. c. 2. He has happily corrected a passage of Suetonius in Nerone, c. 12.

有德的、乃至贤明的君主，都禁止元老与骑士操此可耻之业，违者将被判处“丧失名誉”（infamia）之罚，或处以流放——对那些浪荡之徒而言，后者更为可怕。而暴君们则连威胁带利诱，勾引他们自甘堕落。尼禄曾一次在竞技场上让四十名元老、六十名骑士登场。参见 Lipsius, Saturnalia, l. ii. c. 2。他巧妙地校正了苏埃托尼乌斯《尼禄传》第十二章（Suetonius in Nerone, c. 12）中的一处文字。

Lipsius, l. ii. c. 7, 8. Juvenal, in the eighth satire, gives a picturesque description of this combat.

Lipsius, l. ii. c. 7, 8. 尤维纳利斯在第八首讽刺诗中，对这种搏斗有一段绘声绘色的描写。

Hist. August. p. 50. Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1220. He received, for each time, decies, about 8000l. sterling.

Hist. August. p. 50. Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1220. 他每次可得一笔 decies（十万），约合八千英镑。

Victor tells us, that Commodus only allowed his antagonists a...weapon, dreading most probably the consequences of their despair.

维克托告诉我们，康茂德只准他的对手用一种……兵器，多半是唯恐他们绝望之下铤而走险。

Footnote 40: They were obliged to repeat, six hundred and twenty-six times, Paolus first of the Secutors, &c.

他们被迫高呼六百二十六遍：“保卢斯，众追击斗士之冠”云云。

Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1221. He speaks of his own baseness and danger.

Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1221. 他谈及自己当时的卑屈与危殆。

He mixed, however, some prudence with his courage, and passed the greatest part of his time in a country retirement; alleging his advanced age, and the weakness of his eyes. “I never saw him in the senate,” says Dion, “except during the short reign of Pertinax.” All his infirmities had suddenly left him, and they returned as suddenly upon the murder of that excellent prince. Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1227.

不过，他勇气之外也掺了几分审慎，大半光阴都退居乡间度过，借口是自己年事已高、目力衰弱。狄奥说：“除了佩蒂纳克斯短暂在位那阵子，我从没在元老院见过他。”那时他的一身病痛忽然全消，而等到这位贤君遇弑，病痛又骤然复发。Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1227.

The prefects were changed almost hourly or daily; and the caprice of Commodus was often fatal to his most favored chamberlains. Hist. August. p. 46, 51.

那些长官几乎时时更换、日日更替；康茂德的喜怒无常，对他最宠信的内侍总管也常是致命的。Hist. August. p. 46, 51.

431

Commodus had already resolved to massacre them the following night they determined o anticipate his design. Herod. i. 17.—W.

康茂德已经决意在次夜将他们尽行诛戮，于是他们下决心抢先动手。Herod. i. 17.—W.

Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1222. Herodian, l. i. p. 43. Hist. August. p. 52.

Pertinax was a native of Alba Pompeia, in Piedmont, and son of a timber merchant. The order of his employments (it is marked by Capitolinus) well deserves to be set down, as expressive of the form of government and manners of the age. 1. He was a centurion. 2. Præfect of a cohort in Syria, in the Parthian war, and in Britain. 3. He obtained an Ala, or squadron of horse, in Mæsia. 4. He was commissary of provisions on the Æmilian way. 5. He commanded the fleet upon the Rhine. 6. He was procurator of Dacia, with a salary of about 1600l. a year. 7. He commanded the veterans of a legion. 8. He obtained the rank of senator. 9. Of prætor. 10. With the command of the first legion in Rhætia and Noricum. 11. He was consul about the year 175. 12. He attended Marcus into the East. 13. He commanded an army on the Danube. 14. He was consular legate of Mæsia. 15. Of Dacia. 16. Of Syria. 17. Of Britain. 18. He had the care of the public provisions at Rome. 19. He was proconsul of Africa. 20. Præfect of the city. Herodian (l. i. p. 48) does justice to his disinterested spirit; but Capitolinus, who collected every popular rumor, charges him with a great fortune acquired by bribery and corruption.

佩蒂纳克斯是皮埃蒙特阿尔巴·蓬佩亚人，木材商之子。他历任的官职次第（卡皮托利努斯有载）很值得一一录下，因为它恰能反映那个时代的政制与世风。一、他先做百夫长。二、任叙利亚一营的营长，历经帕提亚战争，又转任不列颠。三、在默西亚统领一个 Ala（骑兵中队）。四、在埃米利亚大道上任粮务官。五、统领莱茵河上的舰队。六、任达契亚总督，年俸约一千六百镑。七、统领一个军团的老兵。八、获元老之衔。九、又获大法官之衔。十、兼领雷提亚与诺里库姆的第一军团。十一、约于公元一七五年任执政官。十二、随马可东征。十三、在多瑙河统率一军。十四、任默西亚的执政官级总督。十五、又任达契亚总督。十六、又任叙利亚总督。十七、又任不列颠总督。十八、掌管罗马城的公共粮秣。十九、任阿非利加代执政官。二十、任罗马城市长官。希罗狄安（l. i. p. 48）对他不谋私利的品格予以公允的评价；但搜罗一切市井传闻的卡皮托利努斯，却指控他靠行贿与舞弊聚敛了一大笔家财。

Julian, in the Cæsars, taxes him with being accessory to the death of Commodus.

尤利安在《诸恺撒》中，指摘他是杀害康茂德的从犯。

461

The senate always assembled at the beginning of the year, on the night of the 1st January, (see Savaron on Sid. Apoll. viii. 6,) and this happened the present year, as usual, without any particular order.—G from W.

元老院每年岁首、即一月一日之夜例行集会（见 Savaron on Sid. Apoll. viii. 6），当年也照常举行，并非另有特命召集。—G，采自 W

462

What Gibbon improperly calls, both here and in the note, tumultuous decrees, were no more than the applauses and acclamations which recur so often in the history of the emperors. The custom passed from the theatre to the forum, from the forum to the senate. Applauses on the adoption of the Imperial decrees were first introduced under Trajan. (Plin. jun. Panegyr. 75.) One senator read the form of the decree, and all the rest answered by acclamations, accompanied with a kind of chant or rhythm. These were some of the acclamations addressed to Pertinax, and against the memory of Commodus. Hosti patriæ honores detrahantur. Parricidæ honores detrahantur. Ut salvi simus, Jupiter, optime, maxime, serva nobis Pertinacem. This custom prevailed not only in the councils of state, but in all the meetings of the senate. However inconsistent it may appear with the solemnity of a religious assembly, the early Christians adopted and introduced it into their synods, notwithstanding the opposition of some of the Fathers, particularly of St. Chrysostom. See the Coll. of Franc. Bern. Ferrarius de veterum acclamatione in Grævii Thesaur. Antiq. Rom. i. 6.—W. This note is rather hypercritical, as regards Gibbon, but appears to be worthy of preservation.—M.

吉本在此处及注中称之为“群情鼎沸的决议”，其实并不确切；那不过是帝王史上屡见不鲜的鼓掌与欢呼罢了。此风先由剧场传入广场，再由广场传入元老院。对皇帝敕令表示鼓掌拥戴，最早始于图拉真治下（Plin. jun. Panegyr. 75）。由一名元老宣读敕令的格式，其余众人则以欢呼作答，并配以某种吟诵或韵律。以下便是当时献给佩蒂纳克斯、并声讨康茂德英灵的几句欢呼辞：Hosti patriæ honores detrahantur.（褫夺此祖国之敌的荣典。）Parricidæ honores detrahantur.（褫夺此弑亲者的荣典。）Ut salvi simus, Jupiter, optime, maxime, serva nobis Pertinacem.（至善至大的朱庇特啊，保佑我们平安，为我们护住佩蒂纳克斯吧。）此俗不独盛行于国务会议，凡元老院的一切集会亦皆如此。它与宗教集会的庄严看似格格不入，可早期基督徒仍将它采纳并引入自己的宗教会议，尽管有几位教父、尤其是圣克里索斯托表示反对。参见 Franc. Bern. Ferrarius, de veterum acclamatione, 载 Grævii Thesaur. Antiq. Rom. i. 6。—W. 这条注就吉本而言未免过于苛求，但似乎仍值得保留。—M.

Capitolinus gives us the particulars of these tumultuary votes, which were moved by one senator, and repeated, or rather chanted by the whole body. Hist. August. p. 52.

卡皮托利努斯为我们记下了这些群情激奋的表决的细节：它们由一名元老提议，再由全体元老复诵——或者不如说是齐声吟唱。Hist. August. p. 52.

The senate condemned Nero to be put to death more majorum. Sueton. c. 49.

元老院曾判处尼禄按“祖制”（more majorum）处死。Sueton. c. 49.

481

No particular law assigned this right to the senate: it was deduced from the ancient principles of the republic. Gibbon appears to infer, from the passage of Suetonius, that the senate, according to its ancient right, punished Nero with death. The words, however, more majerum refer not to the decree of the senate, but to the kind of death, which was taken from an old law of Romulus. (See Victor. Epit. Ed. Artzen p. 484, n. 7.)—W.

并无某一具体法律把这项权力赋予元老院；它是从共和国古老的原则中推衍出来的。吉本似乎据苏埃托尼乌斯那段文字推断：元老院是依其古权判处尼禄死刑的。然而 more majerum（按祖制）一语，所指并非元老院的裁决，而是那种处死的方式——它出自罗慕路斯的一条古法。（见 Victor. Epit. Ed. Artzen p. 484, n. 7。）—W

Dion (l. lxxiii. p. 1223) speaks of these entertainments, as a senator who had supped with the emperor; Capitolinus, (Hist. August. p. 58,) like a slave, who had received his intelligence from one the scullions.

狄奥（l. lxxiii. p. 1223）谈起这些宴饮，是以一个曾与皇帝共膳的元老的口吻；卡皮托利努斯（Hist. August. p. 58）却像个奴才，所述都是从某个厨房下人那里听来的。

Decies. The blameless economy of Pius left his successors a treasure of vicies septies millies, above two and twenty millions sterling. Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1231.

Decies（十万）。庇护帝无可指摘的节俭，给继任者留下了一笔 vicies septies millies 的财富，合两千两百余万英镑。Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1231.

Besides the design of converting these useless ornaments into money, Dion (l. lxxiii. p. 1229) assigns two secret motives of Pertinax. He wished to expose the vices of Commodus, and to discover by the purchasers those who most resembled him.

除了想把这些无用的奢饰变卖成钱，狄奥（l. lxxiii. p. 1229）还提到佩蒂纳克斯的两桩隐秘用心：他想借此揭露康茂德的种种恶行，并通过买主来查出那些与康茂德臭味最相投的人。

Though Capitolinus has picked up many idle tales of the private life of Pertinax, he joins with Dion and Herodian in admiring his public conduct.

卡皮托利努斯虽拾掇了不少关于佩蒂纳克斯私生活的无稽之谈，但在称许他的公务作为这一点上，却与狄奥、希罗狄安所见略同。

Leges, rem surdam, inexorabilem esse. T. Liv. ii. 3.

Leges, rem surdam, inexorabilem esse.（法律是充耳不闻、铁面无情之物。）T. Liv. ii. 3.

If we credit Capitolinus, (which is rather difficult,) Falco behaved with the most petulant indecency to Pertinax, on the day of his accession. The wise emperor only admonished him of his youth and in experience. Hist. August. p. 55.

若信卡皮托利努斯之言（这颇有些难以取信），法尔科在佩蒂纳克斯即位那天，对他放肆无礼到了极点。而这位明智的皇帝，只不过提醒他年少而缺乏历练罢了。Hist. August. p. 55.

The modern bishopric of Liege. This soldier probably belonged to the Batavian horse-guards, who were mostly raised in the duchy of Gueldres and the neighborhood, and were distinguished by their valor, and by the boldness with which they swam their horses across the broadest and most rapid rivers. Tacit. Hist. iv. 12 Dion, l. lv p. 797 Lipsius de magnitudine Romana, l. i. c. 4.

即今之列日主教区。这名士兵多半属于巴塔维骑兵卫队；这支卫队大多征自海尔德兰公国及其邻近一带，以骁勇著称，尤其敢于骑马泅渡最宽阔、最湍急的河流。Tacit. Hist. iv. 12. Dion, l. lv. p. 797. Lipsius de magnitudine Romana, l. i. c. 4.

Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1232. Herodian, l. ii. p. 60. Hist. August. p. 58. Victor in Epitom. et in Cæsarib. Eutropius, viii. 16.

Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus.—Part II. 第四章 康茂德的残暴、荒唐与遇弑——第二节