Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of Maximin.—Part II. 第七章马克西明的暴政、叛乱、内战与马克西明之死——第二节

Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of Maximin.—Part II.

第七章马克西明的暴政、叛乱、内战与马克西明之死——第二节

The virtues and the reputation of the new emperors justified the most sanguine hopes of the Romans. The various nature of their talents seemed to appropriate to each his peculiar department of peace and war, without leaving room for jealous emulation. Balbinus was an admired orator, a poet of distinguished fame, and a wise magistrate, who had exercised with innocence and applause the civil jurisdiction in almost all the interior provinces of the empire. His birth was noble, ²⁸ his fortune affluent, his manners liberal and affable. In him the love of pleasure was corrected by a sense of dignity, nor had the habits of ease deprived him of a capacity for business. The mind of Maximus was formed in a rougher mould. By his valor and abilities he had raised himself from the meanest origin to the first employments of the state and army. His victories over the Sarmatians and the Germans, the austerity of his life, and the rigid impartiality of his justice, while he was a Præfect of the city, commanded the esteem of a people whose affections were engaged in favor of the more amiable Balbinus. The two colleagues had both been consuls, (Balbinus had twice enjoyed that honorable office,) both had been named among the twenty lieutenants of the senate; and since the one was sixty and the other seventy-four years old, ²⁹ they had both attained the full maturity of age and experience.

新登基的两位皇帝，德行与声望都足以印证罗马人最乐观的期望。二人才具各异，恰好各得其所：一司文治，一掌武功，彼此分工，无从生出争胜相妒之心。巴尔比努斯是众所推崇的雄辩家，又是声名卓著的诗人，还是一位贤明的官长；帝国腹地几乎每一个行省的民事审判，他都主持过，为政清廉，广受赞誉。他出身高贵，²⁸ 家资丰厚，待人慷慨而和蔼。他虽好享乐，却知自持体面，加以节制；虽久处安逸，办事的才干却丝毫未减。马克西穆斯的心性则是另一副更粗粝的模子铸成的。他出身寒微，全凭勇武与才干，一步步爬到了国家与军队的最高职位。他曾战胜萨尔马提亚人与日耳曼人，任罗马市长官期间，生活俭朴，执法又刚正无私；民众的情感虽偏向那位更为可亲的巴尔比努斯，对他却也不能不心生敬重。两位同僚都做过执政官（巴尔比努斯两度荣膺此职），也都名列元老院所推的二十委员之中；一人年届六十，一人已七十有四，²⁹ 阅历与年岁俱臻圆熟。

After the senate had conferred on Maximus and Balbinus an equal portion of the consular and tribunitian powers, the title of Fathers of their country, and the joint office of Supreme Pontiff, they ascended to the Capitol to return thanks to the gods, protectors of Rome. ³⁰ The solemn rites of sacrifice were disturbed by a sedition of the people. The licentious multitude neither loved the rigid Maximus, nor did they sufficiently fear the mild and humane Balbinus. Their increasing numbers surrounded the temple of Jupiter; with obstinate clamors they asserted their inherent right of consenting to the election of their sovereign; and demanded, with an apparent moderation, that, besides the two emperors, chosen by the senate, a third should be added of the family of the Gordians, as a just return of gratitude to those princes who had sacrificed their lives for the republic. At the head of the city-guards, and the youth of the equestrian order, Maximus and Balbinus attempted to cut their way through the seditious multitude. The multitude, armed with sticks and stones, drove them back into the Capitol. It is prudent to yield when the contest, whatever may be the issue of it, must be fatal to both parties. A boy, only thirteen years of age, the grandson of the elder, and nephew ³⁰¹ of the younger Gordian, was produced to the people, invested with the ornaments and title of Cæsar. The tumult was appeased by this easy condescension; and the two emperors, as soon as they had been peaceably acknowledged in Rome, prepared to defend Italy against the common enemy.

元老院把执政官与保民官的权力均分授予马克西穆斯和巴尔比努斯，又加封二人为“祖国之父”，并让他们共任大祭司长；礼成之后，二人登上卡皮托利山，向庇佑罗马的诸神谢恩。³⁰ 庄严的献祭之礼，却被一场民众骚乱打断了。这群放纵的乌合之众，既不爱严厉的马克西穆斯，也不怎么怕温和仁厚的巴尔比努斯。人越聚越多，把朱庇特神庙团团围住；他们吵嚷不休，声称推选君主本须经他们首肯，这是他们与生俱来的权利；随后又提出一个表面上颇为克制的要求：在元老院选定的两位皇帝之外，再从戈尔迪安家族中添立第三人，以此报答那两位为国捐躯的君主。马克西穆斯与巴尔比努斯亲率城防卫队和骑士阶层的青年，想从这群闹事者中杀出一条路来。众人却操起棍棒石块，把他们逼回了卡皮托利山上。一场争斗，无论结局如何，对双方都必是两败俱伤，此时退让才是明智之举。于是，他们把一个年仅十三岁的男孩推到民众面前——他是老戈尔迪安的外孙、小戈尔迪安的外甥 ³⁰¹——为他披上恺撒的服饰，加封恺撒的称号。这一让步来得轻易，骚动就此平息；两位皇帝在罗马获得众人拥戴之后，随即着手部署，抵御共同的敌人，保卫意大利。

Whilst in Rome and Africa, revolutions succeeded each other with such amazing rapidity, that the mind of Maximin was agitated by the most furious passions. He is said to have received the news of the rebellion of the Gordians, and of the decree of the senate against him, not with the temper of a man, but the rage of a wild beast; which, as it could not discharge itself on the distant senate, threatened the life of his son, of his friends, and of all who ventured to approach his person. The grateful intelligence of the death of the Gordians was quickly followed by the assurance that the senate, laying aside all hopes of pardon or accommodation, had substituted in their room two emperors, with whose merit he could not be unacquainted. Revenge was the only consolation left to Maximin, and revenge could only be obtained by arms. The strength of the legions had been assembled by Alexander from all parts of the empire. Three successful campaigns against the Germans and the Sarmatians, had raised their fame, confirmed their discipline, and even increased their numbers, by filling the ranks with the flower of the barbarian youth. The life of Maximin had been spent in war, and the candid severity of history cannot refuse him the valor of a soldier, or even the abilities of an experienced general. ³¹ It might naturally be expected, that a prince of such a character, instead of suffering the rebellion to gain stability by delay, should immediately have marched from the banks of the Danube to those of the Tyber, and that his victorious army, instigated by contempt for the senate, and eager to gather the spoils of Italy, should have burned with impatience to finish the easy and lucrative conquest. Yet as far as we can trust to the obscure chronology of that period, ³² it appears that the operations of some foreign war deferred the Italian expedition till the ensuing spring. From the prudent conduct of Maximin, we may learn that the savage features of his character have been exaggerated by the pencil of party, that his passions, however impetuous, submitted to the force of reason, and that the barbarian possessed something of the generous spirit of Sylla, who subdued the enemies of Rome before he suffered himself to revenge his private injuries. ³³

罗马与阿非利加两地，变乱一场接着一场，快得惊人；与此同时，马克西明胸中正翻腾着最狂暴的激情。据说，当戈尔迪安父子起兵、元老院又颁下讨伐他的敕令的消息传来时，他的反应不像一个人，倒像一头暴怒的野兽；这股怒火既无从发泄在远在罗马的元老院身上，便转而危及他儿子、他的友人，以及一切胆敢近身之人的性命。戈尔迪安父子的死讯令他称快，可紧接着又传来确报：元老院已彻底断了求他宽赦、与他和解的念头，另立了两位皇帝取而代之——而这两人的才干，他不会不知道。如今能给马克西明的唯一慰藉，只剩复仇；而复仇又只能诉诸刀兵。各路军团的精锐，早已由亚历山大从帝国四面八方调集起来。对日耳曼人和萨尔马提亚人的三次征战都告捷，既扬了军团的声威，又严了军纪，还从蛮族青年中挑选精壮补入行伍，连兵员也随之扩充。马克西明一生戎马；史家纵然秉笔直书、绝不徇情，也不能不承认他有士卒的勇武，甚至有久历沙场的将才。³¹ 照这样的性情推想，本该料到：他绝不会坐视叛乱因拖延而站稳脚跟，而应立刻挥师从多瑙河畔直扑台伯河畔；他那支百战百胜的大军，既鄙夷元老院，又急于攫取意大利的财货，自当摩拳擦掌，恨不得一举完成这桩既轻松又有厚利可图的征服。然而，就那个时期含混不清的纪年所能给出的线索来看，³² 似乎是某场对外战事把进军意大利之举拖延到了次年春天。从马克西明这一审慎的举措，我们不难看出：他性格中凶蛮的一面，实被党派之笔渲染过甚；他的激情纵然剽悍，终究还是服从了理智的约束；这个蛮子身上，也有几分苏拉那样的豪迈气度——当年苏拉先荡平罗马的外敌，然后才容许自己去报私仇。³³

When the troops of Maximin, advancing in excellent order, arrived at the foot of the Julian Alps, they were terrified by the silence and desolation that reigned on the frontiers of Italy. The villages and open towns had been abandoned on their approach by the inhabitants, the cattle was driven away, the provisions removed or destroyed, the bridges broken down, nor was any thing left which could afford either shelter or subsistence to an invader. Such had been the wise orders of the generals of the senate: whose design was to protract the war, to ruin the army of Maximin by the slow operation of famine, and to consume his strength in the sieges of the principal cities of Italy, which they had plentifully stored with men and provisions from the deserted country. Aquileia received and withstood the first shock of the invasion. The streams that issue from the head of the Hadriatic Gulf, swelled by the melting of the winter snows, ³⁴ opposed an unexpected obstacle to the arms of Maximin. At length, on a singular bridge, constructed with art and difficulty, of large hogsheads, he transported his army to the opposite bank, rooted up the beautiful vineyards in the neighborhood of Aquileia, demolished the suburbs, and employed the timber of the buildings in the engines and towers, with which on every side he attacked the city. The walls, fallen to decay during the security of a long peace, had been hastily repaired on this sudden emergency: but the firmest defence of Aquileia consisted in the constancy of the citizens; all ranks of whom, instead of being dismayed, were animated by the extreme danger, and their knowledge of the tyrant’s unrelenting temper. Their courage was supported and directed by Crispinus and Menophilus, two of the twenty lieutenants of the senate, who, with a small body of regular troops, had thrown themselves into the besieged place. The army of Maximin was repulsed in repeated attacks, his machines destroyed by showers of artificial fire; and the generous enthusiasm of the Aquileians was exalted into a confidence of success, by the opinion that Belenus, their tutelar deity, combated in person in the defence of his distressed worshippers. ³⁵

马克西明的军队阵容严整，一路开到尤利安阿尔卑斯山脚下，却被意大利边境上那片死寂与荒凉惊住了。他们一到，村庄和不设防的市镇早已人去屋空，牲畜被赶走，粮秣或搬走或焚毁，桥梁尽数拆断，凡能给入侵者提供栖身之所或口粮的东西，一概荡然无存。这正是元老院将领们的高明部署：他们存心把战事拖长，用饥荒的慢功夫拖垮马克西明的军队，再让他在围攻意大利各大城池时耗尽兵力；而这些城池，他们早已把弃置乡野的人力与粮草充实其中，储备充足。阿奎莱亚首当其冲，顶住了入侵的第一波冲击。从亚得里亚湾顶端流出的几道河水，因冬雪消融而暴涨，³⁴ 给马克西明的兵锋平添了一重意想不到的障碍。他费尽巧思，好不容易用一只只大酒桶架起一座奇特的浮桥，终于把大军渡到对岸；随即刨平阿奎莱亚近郊秀美的葡萄园，拆毁城郊房舍，把拆下的木料造成攻城器械和望楼，从四面围攻这座城。城墙在长久太平中年久失修，此番猝然临敌，才匆匆修补；然而阿奎莱亚最坚固的防线，还在于市民的坚贞不移：上上下下无一人畏怯，反倒因大难当头、又深知暴君心狠手辣，而个个斗志昂扬。元老院二十委员中的两位——克里斯皮努斯和梅诺菲卢斯——率一小队正规军驰入围城，既鼓舞士气，又居中指挥。马克西明的军队一次次进攻，一次次被击退，攻城器械也在如雨的燃火中尽数焚毁；阿奎莱亚人满腔热忱，更因笃信本城的守护神贝勒努斯亲自出阵、护卫身陷困厄的信徒，而升腾为必胜的信念。³⁵

The emperor Maximus, who had advanced as far as Ravenna, to secure that important place, and to hasten the military preparations, beheld the event of the war in the more faithful mirror of reason and policy. He was too sensible, that a single town could not resist the persevering efforts of a great army; and he dreaded, lest the enemy, tired with the obstinate resistance of Aquileia, should on a sudden relinquish the fruitless siege, and march directly towards Rome. The fate of the empire and the cause of freedom must then be committed to the chance of a battle; and what arms could he oppose to the veteran legions of the Rhine and Danube? Some troops newly levied among the generous but enervated youth of Italy; and a body of German auxiliaries, on whose firmness, in the hour of trial, it was dangerous to depend. In the midst of these just alarms, the stroke of domestic conspiracy punished the crimes of Maximin, and delivered Rome and the senate from the calamities that would surely have attended the victory of an enraged barbarian.

马克西穆斯皇帝已进抵拉文纳，一面固守这处要地，一面加紧军备；他则透过理智与谋略这面更为真切的镜子，来审视这场战争的前景。他心里很清楚，一座孤城终究挡不住一支大军锲而不舍的猛攻；他更担心，敌军若被阿奎莱亚的顽抗拖得不耐烦，会突然撇下这场徒劳的围城，径直扑向罗马。到那时，帝国的命运、自由的大业，就只能押在一场会战的胜负上了；可他又能拿什么样的兵力，去抵挡莱茵河与多瑙河一带那些身经百战的军团呢？无非是一些新近从意大利青年中征募来的兵——这些青年血性虽有，筋骨却已疲弱；此外便是一支日耳曼辅军，可一到生死关头，他们靠不靠得住，实在悬乎。正当他这般忧惧、而忧惧又不为无据之际，一场内部密谋的雷霆一击，惩治了马克西明的累累罪行，也使罗马和元老院免去了一场大祸——那本是一个暴怒蛮子一旦得胜，必然要带来的灾难。

The people of Aquileia had scarcely experienced any of the common miseries of a siege; their magazines were plentifully supplied, and several fountains within the walls assured them of an inexhaustible resource of fresh water. The soldiers of Maximin were, on the contrary, exposed to the inclemency of the season, the contagion of disease, and the horrors of famine. The open country was ruined, the rivers filled with the slain, and polluted with blood. A spirit of despair and disaffection began to diffuse itself among the troops; and as they were cut off from all intelligence, they easily believed that the whole empire had embraced the cause of the senate, and that they were left as devoted victims to perish under the impregnable walls of Aquileia. The fierce temper of the tyrant was exasperated by disappointments, which he imputed to the cowardice of his army; and his wanton and ill-timed cruelty, instead of striking terror, inspired hatred, and a just desire of revenge. A party of Prætorian guards, who trembled for their wives and children in the camp of Alba, near Rome, executed the sentence of the senate. Maximin, abandoned by his guards, was slain in his tent, with his son (whom he had associated to the honors of the purple), Anulinus the præfect, and the principal ministers of his tyranny. ³⁶ The sight of their heads, borne on the point of spears, convinced the citizens of Aquileia that the siege was at an end; the gates of the city were thrown open, a liberal market was provided for the hungry troops of Maximin, and the whole army joined in solemn protestations of fidelity to the senate and the people of Rome, and to their lawful emperors Maximus and Balbinus. Such was the deserved fate of a brutal savage, destitute, as he has generally been represented, of every sentiment that distinguishes a civilized, or even a human being. The body was suited to the soul. The stature of Maximin exceeded the measure of eight feet, and circumstances almost incredible are related of his matchless strength and appetite. ³⁷ Had he lived in a less enlightened age, tradition and poetry might well have described him as one of those monstrous giants, whose supernatural power was constantly exerted for the destruction of mankind.

阿奎莱亚人几乎没尝到围城常有的种种苦楚：城中仓廪充盈，墙内又有好几眼泉水，取之不竭，淡水从不发愁。马克西明的士兵却恰恰相反，既要挨时令的酷烈，又要受瘟疫的传染，还要熬饥荒的折磨。四野的乡村已成废墟，河道里尽是尸首，血水污浊。绝望与离心的情绪开始在军中蔓延；由于消息全然断绝，他们轻易就信了：整个帝国都已倒向元老院一边，而他们则遭撇弃，成了注定的牺牲，终将葬身于阿奎莱亚坚不可摧的城墙之下。一次次失利激得暴君勃然大怒，他把这些都归咎于军队的怯懦；可他那不合时宜、任意妄为的残酷，非但没能镇住人心，反倒激起了仇恨，激起了一股名正言顺的复仇之念。有一队禁卫军，因惦念留在罗马近郊阿尔巴营中的妻儿而惶惶不安，终于动手执行了元老院的判决。马克西明被卫兵抛弃，连同他的儿子（他早已让儿子分享紫袍之尊）、禁卫军长官阿努利努斯，以及他麾下几个助纣为虐的主要爪牙，一起被杀死在营帐之中。³⁶ 一颗颗首级挑在矛尖上示众，阿奎莱亚人一见，便信了围城当真已经收场；于是城门大开，又备下丰足的集市，款待马克西明那些饥肠辘辘的士兵；全军则一齐庄严宣誓，效忠罗马的元老院与人民，效忠他们合法的皇帝马克西穆斯和巴尔比努斯。一个凶残的野人，落得如此下场，也算罪有应得；人们向来说他毫无半点情感——那种把文明人、乃至把人同禽兽区别开来的情感，他一概没有。他的形骸，恰与其心性相称。马克西明身高逾八英尺，关于他那无与伦比的膂力与食量，更有种种近乎难以置信的说法流传。³⁷ 倘若他生在一个不那么开化的年代，传说与诗歌大可把他描绘成那类狰狞的巨人——凭一身超凡的神力，无时无刻不在残害人类。

It is easier to conceive than to describe the universal joy of the Roman world on the fall of the tyrant, the news of which is said to have been carried in four days from Aquileia to Rome. The return of Maximus was a triumphal procession; his colleague and young Gordian went out to meet him, and the three princes made their entry into the capital, attended by the ambassadors of almost all the cities of Italy, saluted with the splendid offerings of gratitude and superstition, and received with the unfeigned acclamations of the senate and people, who persuaded themselves that a golden age would succeed to an age of iron. ³⁸ The conduct of the two emperors corresponded with these expectations. They administered justice in person; and the rigor of the one was tempered by the other’s clemency. The oppressive taxes with which Maximin had loaded the rights of inheritance and succession, were repealed, or at least moderated. Discipline was revived, and with the advice of the senate many wise laws were enacted by their imperial ministers, who endeavored to restore a civil constitution on the ruins of military tyranny. “What reward may we expect for delivering Rome from a monster?” was the question asked by Maximus, in a moment of freedom and confidence.

暴君一倒，举世罗马人的欢腾，只可意会，难以尽述；据说，这消息从阿奎莱亚传到罗马，只用了四天。马克西穆斯的归来俨然一场凯旋游行：他的同僚和小戈尔迪安出城相迎，三位君主一同进入都城；意大利几乎各城的使节都随行护驾，沿途有人献上感恩与祈神的丰盛供品，元老院与民众更报以发自肺腑的欢呼；人人都深信，一个黄金时代即将接踵这个黑铁时代而来。³⁸ 两位皇帝的施政，也正与这般期望相称。他们亲理讼狱；一个失之严峻，恰有另一个的宽仁加以调剂。马克西明当初在遗产继承与承袭权上课以的种种苛税，如今或废除，或至少也减轻了。纲纪重振；两位皇帝的辅臣秉承元老院之议，又颁行了许多善法，力图在军事暴政的废墟上重建文治的政体。“我们把罗马从一个恶魔手里解救出来，可指望得到什么样的酬报呢？”在一个无拘无束、推心置腹的时刻，马克西穆斯这样问道。

Balbinus answered it without hesitation—“The love of the senate, of the people, and of all mankind.” “Alas!” replied his more penetrating colleague—“alas! I dread the hatred of the soldiers, and the fatal effects of their resentment.” ³⁹ His apprehensions were but too well justified by the event.

巴尔比努斯不假思索便答道：“元老院、人民，乃至全人类的爱戴。”“唉！”他那位更有远见的同僚应道，“唉！我怕的是士兵的仇恨，怕他们的怨愤酿成致命之祸。”³⁹ 后来的事变，把他的忧惧证实得再确凿不过。

Whilst Maximus was preparing to defend Italy against the common foe, Balbinus, who remained at Rome, had been engaged in scenes of blood and intestine discord. Distrust and jealousy reigned in the senate; and even in the temples where they assembled, every senator carried either open or concealed arms. In the midst of their deliberations, two veterans of the guards, actuated either by curiosity or a sinister motive, audaciously thrust themselves into the house, and advanced by degrees beyond the altar of Victory. Gallicanus, a consular, and Mæcenas, a Prætorian senator, viewed with indignation their insolent intrusion: drawing their daggers, they laid the spies (for such they deemed them) dead at the foot of the altar, and then, advancing to the door of the senate, imprudently exhorted the multitude to massacre the Prætorians, as the secret adherents of the tyrant. Those who escaped the first fury of the tumult took refuge in the camp, which they defended with superior advantage against the reiterated attacks of the people, assisted by the numerous bands of gladiators, the property of opulent nobles. The civil war lasted many days, with infinite loss and confusion on both sides. When the pipes were broken that supplied the camp with water, the Prætorians were reduced to intolerable distress; but in their turn they made desperate sallies into the city, set fire to a great number of houses, and filled the streets with the blood of the inhabitants. The emperor Balbinus attempted, by ineffectual edicts and precarious truces, to reconcile the factions at Rome. But their animosity, though smothered for a while, burnt with redoubled violence. The soldiers, detesting the senate and the people, despised the weakness of a prince, who wanted either the spirit or the power to command the obedience of his subjects. ⁴⁰

马克西穆斯正部署军力、抵御共同之敌、保卫意大利，留守罗马的巴尔比努斯，却已陷入一片流血与内讧的乱局。猜忌与嫉恨笼罩着元老院；甚至在他们聚会的神庙里，每一位元老都或明或暗地带着兵器。正当众人议事之际，两名禁卫军老兵——或出于好奇，或别有居心——竟明目张胆地闯进议事厅，一步步挪过了胜利女神的祭坛。曾任执政官的加利卡努斯和具大法官资格的元老梅塞纳斯，见二人如此放肆闯入，不禁怒火中烧：他们拔出匕首，把这两个奸细（他们认定二人便是奸细）当场刺死在祭坛脚下，随即走到元老院门口，轻率地煽动民众去屠杀禁卫军，说他们是暴君暗中的党羽。有些禁卫军从头一阵骚乱的狂暴中脱身，躲进了营垒；民众一次次进攻，还得到大批角斗士相助——这些角斗士本是豪门贵族的私产——可禁卫军凭营垒之利，占尽上风，一一击退。这场内战延续了许多天，双方都损失惨重，乱作一团。给营垒供水的水管一被截断，禁卫军便陷入难以忍受的困境；可他们反过来又拼死冲进城里，放火烧了大批房屋，街巷之间尽是居民的鲜血。巴尔比努斯皇帝试图靠一道道不起作用的敕令和几次朝不保夕的休战，来调解罗马城中的党争。可两派的仇怨，压得住一时，再燃起来却愈发凶猛。士兵们既痛恨元老院和民众，又鄙夷这位软弱的君主——他既无胆识、也无力量，压根儿号令不动自己的臣民。⁴⁰

After the tyrant’s death, his formidable army had acknowledged, from necessity rather than from choice, the authority of Maximus, who transported himself without delay to the camp before Aquileia. As soon as he had received their oath of fidelity, he addressed them in terms full of mildness and moderation; lamented, rather than arraigned the wild disorders of the times, and assured the soldiers, that of all their past conduct the senate would remember only their generous desertion of the tyrant, and their voluntary return to their duty. Maximus enforced his exhortations by a liberal donative, purified the camp by a solemn sacrifice of expiation, and then dismissed the legions to their several provinces, impressed, as he hoped, with a lively sense of gratitude and obedience. ⁴¹ But nothing could reconcile the haughty spirit of the Prætorians. They attended the emperors on the memorable day of their public entry into Rome; but amidst the general acclamations, the sullen, dejected countenance of the guards sufficiently declared that they considered themselves as the object, rather than the partners, of the triumph. When the whole body was united in their camp, those who had served under Maximin, and those who had remained at Rome, insensibly communicated to each other their complaints and apprehensions. The emperors chosen by the army had perished with ignominy; those elected by the senate were seated on the throne. ⁴² The long discord between the civil and military powers was decided by a war, in which the former had obtained a complete victory. The soldiers must now learn a new doctrine of submission to the senate; and whatever clemency was affected by that politic assembly, they dreaded a slow revenge, colored by the name of discipline, and justified by fair pretences of the public good. But their fate was still in their own hands; and if they had courage to despise the vain terrors of an impotent republic, it was easy to convince the world, that those who were masters of the arms, were masters of the authority, of the state.

暴君死后，他那支令人生畏的大军承认了马克西穆斯的权威——与其说出于本心，不如说迫于形势；马克西穆斯则毫不迟延，亲赴阿奎莱亚城下的军营。一接受他们的效忠誓言，他便以极其温和、极有分寸的言辞训示全军：对这乱世的种种失序，他只是慨叹，而非责问；他向士兵们保证，他们过往的所作所为，元老院都将只记住一桩，那就是他们毅然背弃暴君、自愿重归本分。马克西穆斯又以丰厚的赏赐来加强这番训诫，举行了一场庄严的赎罪献祭以净化营地，然后遣散各军团各归本省；他但愿，他们心里都铭刻着一份鲜活的感激与恭顺之情。⁴¹ 然而，无论如何也抚不平禁卫军那颗高傲的心。两位皇帝公开进入罗马的那个值得铭记的日子，禁卫军也随行在列；可满城欢呼声中，这些卫兵阴沉沮丧的神色，足以表明：在这场凯旋里，他们自认是被示众的对象，而非同享荣耀的伙伴。等整支禁卫军在营中会合，曾在马克西明麾下效力的和一直留守罗马的，不知不觉便互吐起各自的牢骚与忧惧。由军队拥立的皇帝已蒙羞而死，由元老院选出的却安坐于宝座之上。⁴² 文官与武人两股势力积怨已久，如今由一场战争分出了胜负，而文官一方大获全胜。士兵们如今必须学一套新教条——俯首听命于元老院；而不管这个精于权术的机构装出何等宽仁的姿态，他们只怕迎来的是一场慢慢施加的报复：借“整肃军纪”之名加以粉饰，又以“公共福祉”的堂皇借口加以开脱。不过，他们的命运仍攥在自己手里；只要他们有胆量，把一个软弱无力的共和政体那点虚张声势的威吓不放在眼里，那要向天下昭示这样一个道理也易如反掌：谁掌握着兵权，谁就掌握着国家的权柄。

When the senate elected two princes, it is probable that, besides the declared reason of providing for the various emergencies of peace and war, they were actuated by the secret desire of weakening by division the despotism of the supreme magistrate. Their policy was effectual, but it proved fatal both to their emperors and to themselves. The jealousy of power was soon exasperated by the difference of character. Maximus despised Balbinus as a luxurious noble, and was in his turn disdained by his colleague as an obscure soldier. Their silent discord was understood rather than seen; ⁴³ but the mutual consciousness prevented them from uniting in any vigorous measures of defence against their common enemies of the Prætorian camp. The whole city was employed in the Capitoline games, and the emperors were left almost alone in the palace. On a sudden, they were alarmed by the approach of a troop of desperate assassins. Ignorant of each other’s situation or designs (for they already occupied very distant apartments), afraid to give or to receive assistance, they wasted the important moments in idle debates and fruitless recriminations. The arrival of the guards put an end to the vain strife. They seized on these emperors of the senate, for such they called them with malicious contempt, stripped them of their garments, and dragged them in insolent triumph through the streets of Rome, with the design of inflicting a slow and cruel death on these unfortunate princes. The fear of a rescue from the faithful Germans of the Imperial guards shortened their tortures; and their bodies, mangled with a thousand wounds, were left exposed to the insults or to the pity of the populace. ⁴⁴

元老院当初推选两位君主，除了明面上宣称的理由——为应付和平与战争中的种种不测——多半还暗藏一层心思：想借分权来削弱最高执政者的专断之权。这一策略确实奏效，可到头来，对他们所立的皇帝、对元老院自身，都是致命的。争权的猜忌，很快就因两人性情迥异而愈演愈烈。马克西穆斯瞧不起巴尔比努斯，当他是个贪图奢华的贵族；巴尔比努斯反过来也鄙薄他，当他是个出身微贱的丘八。二人的不和藏而不露，与其说看得见，不如说彼此心照不宣；⁴³ 可正因这份心照不宣，他们始终无法携手，拿出任何有力的举措，去防范禁卫军营那帮共同的敌人。其时满城的人都忙着看卡皮托利竞技会，两位皇帝却几乎孤零零地留在宫中。冷不防，一队亡命的刺客逼近宫来，把他们惊得措手不及。二人各居一处相距甚远的寝宫，彼此的处境与打算都一无所知，既不敢去救对方，也不敢接受对方相救，竟把这生死攸关的片刻，白白耗在无谓的争辩和徒劳的相互指责上。那伙卫兵一拥而入，这场徒劳的口角才算了结。他们一把抓住这两位“元老院的皇帝”——他们正是这样满怀恶意与轻蔑地称呼二人的——扒光他们的衣袍，趾高气扬地拖着他们游遍罗马街巷，存心要让这两位不幸的君主慢慢受尽酷刑而死。只因怕禁卫军中那些忠心的日耳曼卫士前来营救，才缩短了两人受刑的时辰；他们的尸身被砍得遍体鳞伤，弃置街头，任由民众或加以凌辱，或报以怜悯。⁴⁴

In the space of a few months, six princes had been cut off by the sword. Gordian, who had already received the title of Cæsar, was the only person that occurred to the soldiers as proper to fill the vacant throne. ⁴⁵ They carried him to the camp, and unanimously saluted him Augustus and Emperor. His name was dear to the senate and people; his tender age promised a long impunity of military license; and the submission of Rome and the provinces to the choice of the Prætorian guards saved the republic, at the expense indeed of its freedom and dignity, from the horrors of a new civil war in the heart of the capital. ⁴⁶

短短几个月间，已有六位君主死于刀下。而在士兵们看来，唯一堪继这空悬帝位的，只有早已受封恺撒之号的戈尔迪安一人。⁴⁵ 他们把他拥到营中，一致尊他为奥古斯都、为皇帝。他的名字为元老院和民众所钟爱；他年纪尚幼，正意味着军队的骄纵还能长久地逍遥法外；罗马和各行省都顺从了禁卫军的这一抉择，总算使国家免于在都城腹心再爆发一场惨烈内战的浩劫——只不过，代价是牺牲了国家的自由与尊严。⁴⁶

As the third Gordian was only nineteen years of age at the time of his death, the history of his life, were it known to us with greater accuracy than it really is, would contain little more than the account of his education, and the conduct of the ministers, who by turns abused or guided the simplicity of his unexperienced youth. Immediately after his accession, he fell into the hands of his mother’s eunuchs, that pernicious vermin of the East, who, since the days of Elagabalus, had infested the Roman palace. By the artful conspiracy of these wretches, an impenetrable veil was drawn between an innocent prince and his oppressed subjects, the virtuous disposition of Gordian was deceived, and the honors of the empire sold without his knowledge, though in a very public manner, to the most worthless of mankind. We are ignorant by what fortunate accident the emperor escaped from this ignominious slavery, and devolved his confidence on a minister, whose wise counsels had no object except the glory of his sovereign and the happiness of the people. It should seem that love and learning introduced Misitheus to the favor of Gordian. The young prince married the daughter of his master of rhetoric, and promoted his father-in-law to the first offices of the empire. Two admirable letters that passed between them are still extant. The minister, with the conscious dignity of virtue, congratulates Gordian that he is delivered from the tyranny of the eunuchs, ⁴⁷ and still more that he is sensible of his deliverance. The emperor acknowledges, with an amiable confusion, the errors of his past conduct; and laments, with singular propriety, the misfortune of a monarch from whom a venal tribe of courtiers perpetually labor to conceal the truth. ⁴⁸

戈尔迪安三世死时年仅十九岁；因此，即便我们对他一生的了解比实际更为翔实，那也无非是他所受教育的记录，以及他那班辅臣行事的经过罢了——这些人轮番或蒙骗、或引导着这位涉世未深、天真单纯的少年。他一即位，便落入了他母亲那帮宦官之手；这些东方的害虫，自埃拉伽巴路斯当政以来，就一直盘踞在罗马宫廷，为祸不已。这帮无耻之徒巧施阴谋，在一位天真的君主与他饱受欺压的臣民之间，拉起了一道密不透风的帷幕；戈尔迪安秉性纯良，却被他们蒙蔽；帝国的种种荣衔，竟瞒着他公然标价出售，落到世上最卑劣之人手中。究竟是何等幸运的机缘，使这位皇帝挣脱了这可耻的奴役，转而把信任托付给一位贤臣——此人出谋划策，别无所图，只求君主的荣耀与人民的福祉——我们已无从知晓。看来，是爱情与学问把米西修斯引荐到了戈尔迪安的宠信之列。这位年少的君主娶了他修辞学老师的女儿，又把岳丈擢升到帝国的最高职位。二人之间往来的两封绝妙书信，至今仍存于世。那位大臣怀着德行赋予的自尊，向戈尔迪安道贺：贺他终于摆脱了宦官的暴虐，更贺他对自己这番解脱有所省悟。⁴⁷ 皇帝则带着几分可爱的赧然，承认了自己往日行事的过失；又极为得体地慨叹：身为君主，竟有这样一桩不幸——总有一群贪墨的近臣，处心积虑地要蒙住他，不让他见到真相。⁴⁸

The life of Misitheus had been spent in the profession of letters, not of arms; yet such was the versatile genius of that great man, that, when he was appointed Prætorian Præfect, he discharged the military duties of his place with vigor and ability. The Persians had invaded Mesopotamia, and threatened Antioch. By the persuasion of his father-in-law, the young emperor quitted the luxury of Rome, opened, for the last time recorded in history, the temple of Janus, and marched in person into the East. On his approach, with a great army, the Persians withdrew their garrisons from the cities which they had already taken, and retired from the Euphrates to the Tigris. Gordian enjoyed the pleasure of announcing to the senate the first success of his arms, which he ascribed, with a becoming modesty and gratitude, to the wisdom of his father and Præfect. During the whole expedition, Misitheus watched over the safety and discipline of the army; whilst he prevented their dangerous murmurs by maintaining a regular plenty in the camp, and by establishing ample magazines of vinegar, bacon, straw, barley, and wheat in all the cities of the frontier. ⁴⁹ But the prosperity of Gordian expired with Misitheus, who died of a flux, not without very strong suspicions of poison. Philip, his successor in the præfecture, was an Arab by birth, and consequently, in the earlier part of his life, a robber by profession. His rise from so obscure a station to the first dignities of the empire, seems to prove that he was a bold and able leader. But his boldness prompted him to aspire to the throne, and his abilities were employed to supplant, not to serve, his indulgent master. The minds of the soldiers were irritated by an artificial scarcity, created by his contrivance in the camp; and the distress of the army was attributed to the youth and incapacity of the prince. It is not in our power to trace the successive steps of the secret conspiracy and open sedition, which were at length fatal to Gordian. A sepulchral monument was erected to his memory on the spot ⁵⁰ where he was killed, near the conflux of the Euphrates with the little river Aboras. ⁵¹ The fortunate Philip, raised to the empire by the votes of the soldiers, found a ready obedience from the senate and the provinces. ⁵²

米西修斯一生投身文墨，而非行伍；然而这位伟人才具多方，一经任命为禁卫军长官，便把职内的军务处置得雷厉风行、干练有方。波斯人已侵入美索不达米亚，直逼安条克。在岳丈的劝说下，年轻的皇帝抛开罗马的奢华，开启了雅努斯神庙的大门——这是史册所载的最后一次——亲自领兵东征。他率大军一到，波斯人便从已经攻占的各城撤走守军，从幼发拉底河退向底格里斯河。戈尔迪安得以欣然向元老院奏报他初战的捷绩；而他又谦逊而知恩地把这份功劳，归于他岳父兼禁卫军长官的睿智。整个远征期间，米西修斯悉心照看着军队的安全与纪律；他让营中始终物资充裕，又在边境各城囤积了大量的醋、腌肉、草料、大麦和小麦，从而消弭了士兵们那种危险的怨言。⁴⁹ 但戈尔迪安的鸿运，也随着米西修斯的死而告终；此人死于痢疾，却极有可能是中了毒。接任禁卫军长官的腓力，生为阿拉伯人，故而早年也就顺理成章地干着打家劫舍的营生。他能从如此卑微的地位，一跃登上帝国的最高显位，似乎足以证明他是个既大胆又能干的首领。可他的大胆，驱使他觊觎起帝位；他的才干，也用来算计取代那位宽厚待他的主子，而非用来效忠于他。他在营中暗施伎俩，制造出一场人为的匮乏，把士兵们激得心浮气躁；而军队的困顿，却被归咎于君主年幼无能。那桩暗中的阴谋和公开的哗变，一步步终于要了戈尔迪安的命；可其间的原委，我们已无从一一追溯。人们在他遇害的地点，⁵⁰ 即幼发拉底河与阿博拉斯小河 ⁵¹ 交汇处附近，为他修筑了一座陵墓以志纪念。时来运转的腓力，靠士兵们的推举登上帝位，元老院与各行省也都俯首听命。⁵²

We cannot forbear transcribing the ingenious, though somewhat fanciful description, which a celebrated writer of our own times has traced of the military government of the Roman empire. What in that age was called the Roman empire, was only an irregular republic, not unlike the aristocracy ⁵³ of Algiers, ⁵⁴ where the militia, possessed of the sovereignty, creates and deposes a magistrate, who is styled a Dey. Perhaps, indeed, it may be laid down as a general rule, that a military government is, in some respects, more republican than monarchical. Nor can it be said that the soldiers only partook of the government by their disobedience and rebellions. The speeches made to them by the emperors, were they not at length of the same nature as those formerly pronounced to the people by the consuls and the tribunes? And although the armies had no regular place or forms of assembly; though their debates were short, their action sudden, and their resolves seldom the result of cool reflection, did they not dispose, with absolute sway, of the public fortune? What was the emperor, except the minister of a violent government, elected for the private benefit of the soldiers?

当代一位著名作家，曾为罗马帝国的军人政府勾勒出一幅精妙的图景，虽不免带几分想入非非；我们实在忍不住要把它照录于此。“那个时代所谓的罗马帝国，不过是一个不成体统的共和国，与阿尔及尔的贵族政制 ⁵³ 颇为相似 ⁵⁴：那里，民兵握有主权，一位被称作‘迪伊’的执政者，由他们随意拥立，也随意废黜。说实在的，或许可以立下这样一条通则：军人政府，就某些方面而言，与其说近乎君主制，不如说更近乎共和制。也不能说士兵们只是靠抗命与叛乱才参与到国政中来的。皇帝对他们发表的演说，究其实质，岂不正与当年执政官和保民官对民众所作的演说别无二致？尽管军队并没有固定的集会场所与议事程式，尽管他们议事简短、行动突然、决断也很少出自冷静的深思，可他们岂不照样以绝对的威权，主宰着国家的命运？而皇帝又算什么呢？不过是一个强暴政府的执事罢了，是为士兵们的一己私利而推选出来的。”

“When the army had elected Philip, who was Prætorian præfect to the third Gordian, the latter demanded that he might remain sole emperor; he was unable to obtain it. He requested that the power might be equally divided between them; the army would not listen to his speech. He consented to be degraded to the rank of Cæsar; the favor was refused him. He desired, at least, he might be appointed Prætorian præfect; his prayer was rejected. Finally, he pleaded for his life. The army, in these several judgments, exercised the supreme magistracy.” According to the historian, whose doubtful narrative the President De Montesquieu has adopted, Philip, who, during the whole transaction, had preserved a sullen silence, was inclined to spare the innocent life of his benefactor; till, recollecting that his innocence might excite a dangerous compassion in the Roman world, he commanded, without regard to his suppliant cries, that he should be seized, stripped, and led away to instant death. After a moment’s pause, the inhuman sentence was executed. ⁵⁵

“军队选立了当时任戈尔迪安三世禁卫军长官的腓力之后，戈尔迪安要求让自己继续独任皇帝，未能如愿。他退而请求，让两人平分权力，军队却不肯听他把话说完。他情愿降为恺撒，这点恩典也遭拒绝。他最后只求能当上禁卫军长官，恳求仍被回绝。到头来，他只得为自己的性命求告。军队在这一桩桩裁决中，行使的正是至高无上的执政大权。”有一位史家的记述真伪难辨，孟德斯鸠院长却采信了它。据这位史家说，腓力在整桩事情里始终阴沉着脸，一言不发；他本有意饶过恩主这条无辜的性命，可转念一想，正因其无辜，反倒可能在罗马世人心中激起危险的同情，于是他全然不理会对方哀哀的求告，下令把他抓起来，扒去衣袍，当即拖出去处死。略一迟疑之后，这道灭绝人性的命令便执行了。⁵⁵

Notes 注释

He was descended from Cornelius Balbus, a noble Spaniard, and the adopted son of Theophanes, the Greek historian. Balbus obtained the freedom of Rome by the favor of Pompey, and preserved it by the eloquence of Cicero. (See Orat. pro Cornel. Balbo.) The friendship of Cæsar, (to whom he rendered the most important secret services in the civil war) raised him to the consulship and the pontificate, honors never yet possessed by a stranger. The nephew of this Balbus triumphed over the Garamantes. See Dictionnaire de Bayle, au mot Balbus, where he distinguishes the several persons of that name, and rectifies, with his usual accuracy, the mistakes of former writers concerning them.

他是科尔涅利乌斯·巴尔布斯的后裔；巴尔布斯是西班牙的一位贵族，也是希腊史家塞奥法尼斯的养子。巴尔布斯蒙庞培之恩得授罗马公民权，又赖西塞罗的辩才得以保全此权（参见 Orat. pro Cornel. Balbo）。恺撒的交谊——内战期间，巴尔布斯曾为恺撒立下最要紧的机密之功——把他抬上了执政官与大祭司之位，这两项荣衔，此前还从未有一个外邦人染指过。这位巴尔布斯的侄儿，曾因战胜加拉曼特人而举行凯旋。参见 Dictionnaire de Bayle, au mot Balbus；培尔在其中辨析了几个同名之人，又一如既往地精审，订正了前人关于他们的种种谬误。

Zonaras, l. xii. p. 622. But little dependence is to be had on the authority of a modern Greek, so grossly ignorant of the history of the third century, that he creates several imaginary emperors, and confounds those who really existed.

Zonaras, l. xii. p. 622。不过，这位晚近希腊作家的说法，实在没多少可信之处：他对三世纪的历史懵懂无知到了这般地步，竟凭空杜撰出好几位子虚乌有的皇帝，又把真实存在过的那些搅混一气。

Herodian, l. vii. p. 256, supposes that the senate was at first convoked in the Capitol, and is very eloquent on the occasion. The Augustar History p. 116, seems much more authentic.

Herodian, l. vii. p. 256，推测元老院起初是在卡皮托利山召集的，并就此大发了一通宏论。《奥古斯都史》p. 116 的记载则似乎可靠得多。

301

According to some, the son.—G.

另有一说，是其子。—G.

In Herodian, l. vii. p. 249, and in the Augustan History, we have three several orations of Maximin to his army, on the rebellion of Africa and Rome: M. de Tillemont has very justly observed that they neither agree with each other nor with truth. Histoire des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 799.

在 Herodian, l. vii. p. 249 与《奥古斯都史》中，载有马克西明就阿非利加和罗马叛乱一事对军队所作的三篇演说；蒂耶蒙先生极中肯地指出，这三篇既彼此不合，也与事实不符。Histoire des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 799。

The carelessness of the writers of that age, leaves us in a singular perplexity. 1. We know that Maximus and Balbinus were killed during the Capitoline games. Herodian, l. viii. p. 285. The authority of Censorinus (de Die Natali, c. 18) enables us to fix those games with certainty to the year 238, but leaves us in ignorance of the month or day. 2. The election of Gordian by the senate is fixed with equal certainty to the 27th of May; but we are at a loss to discover whether it was in the same or the preceding year. Tillemont and Muratori, who maintain the two opposite opinions, bring into the field a desultory troop of authorities, conjectures and probabilities. The one seems to draw out, the other to contract the series of events between those periods, more than can be well reconciled to reason and history. Yet it is necessary to choose between them. Note: Eckhel has more recently treated these chronological questions with a perspicuity which gives great probability to his conclusions. Setting aside all the historians, whose contradictions are irreconcilable, he has only consulted the medals, and has arranged the events before us in the following order:— Maximin, A. U. 990, after having conquered the Germans, reenters Pannonia, establishes his winter quarters at Sirmium, and prepares himself to make war against the people of the North. In the year 991, in the cal ends of January, commences his fourth tribunate. The Gordians are chosen emperors in Africa, probably at the beginning of the month of March. The senate confirms this election with joy, and declares Maximin the enemy of Rome. Five days after he had heard of this revolt, Maximin sets out from Sirmium on his march to Italy. These events took place about the beginning of April; a little after, the Gordians are slain in Africa by Capellianus, procurator of Mauritania. The senate, in its alarm, names as emperors Balbus and Maximus Pupianus, and intrusts the latter with the war against Maximin. Maximin is stopped on his road near Aquileia, by the want of provisions, and by the melting of the snows: he begins the siege of Aquileia at the end of April. Pupianus assembles his army at Ravenna. Maximin and his son are assassinated by the soldiers enraged at the resistance of Aquileia: and this was probably in the middle of May. Pupianus returns to Rome, and assumes the government with Balbinus; they are assassinated towards the end of July Gordian the younger ascends the throne. Eckhel de Doct. Vol vii 295.—G.

那个时代的作家行文疏忽，使我们陷入一种异乎寻常的困惑。其一，我们知道马克西穆斯和巴尔比努斯是在卡皮托利竞技会期间被杀的（Herodian, l. viii. p. 285）。凭岑索里努斯的记载（de Die Natali, c. 18），我们可以确凿地把这届竞技会定在公元 238 年，却仍不知其月份与日期。其二，元老院选立戈尔迪安一事，同样可以确凿地定在五月二十七日，但究竟是在同一年还是前一年，我们却无从查考。蒂耶蒙与穆拉托里各执相反之见，搬出一大堆杂乱无章的权威引证、臆测与或然之说。一个似乎要把这两个时点之间的一连串事件拉长，另一个则要将其压缩，而无论哪一种，都很难与情理和史实相调和；然而，又不得不在二者之间有所取舍。编者注：埃克赫尔晚近处理这些纪年问题时条理分明，使他的结论极具说服力。他撇开所有那些自相抵牾、无从调和的史家，单凭钱币加以考订，把眼下这些事件排成如下次序：——马克西明于罗马建城 990 年战胜日耳曼人之后，重返潘诺尼亚，在西尔米乌姆设下冬营，准备对北方民族用兵。991 年一月初，他开始第四任保民官任期。戈尔迪安父子在阿非利加被推为皇帝，大约是在三月初。元老院欣然确认这一推举，并宣布马克西明为罗马公敌。得知这场叛乱五天之后，马克西明便自西尔米乌姆启程，向意大利进军。这些事发生在四月初前后；稍后，戈尔迪安父子在阿非利加为毛里塔尼亚代理总督卡佩利阿努斯所杀。元老院惊惶之中，推举巴尔比努斯与马克西穆斯·普皮恩努斯为皇帝，并把对马克西明的战事托付给后者。马克西明在阿奎莱亚附近的途中，因粮草匮乏、又逢积雪消融而受阻；他于四月底开始围攻阿奎莱亚。普皮恩努斯在拉文纳集结军队。马克西明与其子被恼恨阿奎莱亚顽抗的士兵刺杀，此事大约发生在五月中旬。普皮恩努斯回到罗马，与巴尔比努斯共掌朝政；两人约于七月底遇刺身亡。小戈尔迪安登上帝位。Eckhel de Doct. Vol. vii. 295。—G.

Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 24. The president de Montesquieu (in his dialogue between Sylla and Eucrates) expresses the sentiments of the dictator in a spirited, and even a sublime manner.

Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 24。孟德斯鸠院长（在其苏拉与欧克拉底的对话中）以豪迈、乃至崇高的笔调，道出了这位独裁官的心迹。

Muratori (Annali d’ Italia, tom. ii. p. 294) thinks the melting of the snows suits better with the months of June or July, than with those of February. The opinion of a man who passed his life between the Alps and the Apennines, is undoubtedly of great weight; yet I observe, 1. That the long winter, of which Muratori takes advantage, is to be found only in the Latin version, and not in the Greek text of Herodian. 2. That the vicissitudes of suns and rains, to which the soldiers of Maximin were exposed, (Herodian, l. viii. p. 277,) denote the spring rather than the summer. We may observe, likewise, that these several streams, as they melted into one, composed the Timavus, so poetically (in every sense of the word) described by Virgil. They are about twelve miles to the east of Aquileia. See Cluver. Italia Antiqua, tom. i. p. 189, &c.

穆拉托里（Annali d’Italia, tom. ii. p. 294）认为，积雪消融放在六月或七月，要比放在二月更为妥帖。一个毕生生活在阿尔卑斯山与亚平宁山之间的人，其见解无疑分量甚重；不过我要指出：其一，穆拉托里所倚重的那个“漫长冬季”，只见于 Herodian 的拉丁文译本，而希腊原文中并无此说。其二，马克西明的士兵所饱受的那种忽晴忽雨的天气（Herodian, l. viii. p. 277），显示的是春天，而非夏天。我们还可以注意到，这几道河水汇而为一，便成了蒂马武斯河，即维吉尔曾以诗笔（此语的每一层含义上皆然）加以描摹的那条河。它们在阿奎莱亚以东约十二英里处。参见 Cluver. Italia Antiqua, tom. i. p. 189, &c.。

Herodian, l. viii. p. 272. The Celtic deity was supposed to be Apollo, and received under that name the thanks of the senate. A temple was likewise built to Venus the Bald, in honor of the women of Aquileia, who had given up their hair to make ropes for the military engines.

Herodian, l. viii. p. 272。这位凯尔特神祇被认作阿波罗，元老院便以阿波罗之名向他谢恩。此外，人们还为“秃头维纳斯”建了一座神庙，以表彰阿奎莱亚的妇女——她们剪下自己的头发，用来搓制军械上的绳索。

Herodian, l. viii. p. 279. Hist. August. p. 146. The duration of Maximin’s reign has not been defined with much accuracy, except by Eutropius, who allows him three years and a few days, (l. ix. 1;) we may depend on the integrity of the text, as the Latin original is checked by the Greek version of Pæanius.

Herodian, l. viii. p. 279。Hist. August. p. 146。马克西明在位的时长，除欧特罗皮乌斯外，别家都未曾精确界定；欧特罗皮乌斯给出的是三年零几天（l. ix. 1）。这段文字的可靠，我们尽可放心，因为拉丁原文有帕埃阿尼乌斯的希腊译本可资校勘。

Eight Roman feet and one third, which are equal to above eight English feet, as the two measures are to each other in the proportion of 967 to 1000. See Graves’s discourse on the Roman foot. We are told that Maximin could drink in a day an amphora (or about seven gallons) of wine, and eat thirty or forty pounds of meat. He could move a loaded wagon, break a horse’s leg with his fist, crumble stones in his hand, and tear up small trees by the roots. See his life in the Augustan History.

八又三分之一罗马尺，合英尺则略逾八尺，因为两种尺度之比约为 967 比 1000（参见格雷夫斯论罗马尺的文章）。据说马克西明一天能喝下一安佛拉（约合七加仑）葡萄酒，吃下三四十磅肉。他能推动一辆满载的大车，一拳打断马腿，把石头在手中捏碎，还能连根拔起小树。参见《奥古斯都史》中他的传记。

See the congratulatory letter of Claudius Julianus, the consul to the two emperors, in the Augustan History.

参见执政官克劳狄乌斯·尤利安努斯致两位皇帝的贺信，载《奥古斯都史》。

Hist. August. p. 171.

Hist. August. p. 171。

Herodian, l. viii. p. 258.

Herodian, l. viii. p. 258。

Herodian, l. viii. p. 213.

Herodian, l. viii. p. 213。

The observation had been made imprudently enough in the acclamations of the senate, and with regard to the soldiers it carried the appearance of a wanton insult. Hist. August. p. 170.

这句话原是在元老院的欢呼声中冒冒失失地说出来的，可对士兵而言，却带着几分肆意羞辱的意味。Hist. August. p. 170。

Discordiæ tacitæ, et quæ intelligerentur potius quam viderentur. Hist. August. p. 170. This well-chosen expression is probably stolen from some better writer.

Discordiæ tacitæ, et quæ intelligerentur potius quam viderentur（无声的不和，与其说看得见，不如说体会得到）。Hist. August. p. 170。这句遣词精当的话，多半是从某位更高明的作家那里偷来的。

Herodian, l. viii. p. 287, 288.

Herodian, l. viii. p. 287, 288。

Quia non alius erat in præsenti, is the expression of the Augustan History.

《奥古斯都史》的原话是 Quia non alius erat in præsenti（因为眼下再无他人）。

Quintus Curtius (l. x. c. 9,) pays an elegant compliment to the emperor of the day, for having, by his happy accession, extinguished so many firebrands, sheathed so many swords, and put an end to the evils of a divided government. After weighing with attention every word of the passage, I am of opinion, that it suits better with the elevation of Gordian, than with any other period of the Roman history. In that case, it may serve to decide the age of Quintus Curtius. Those who place him under the first Cæsars, argue from the purity of his style but are embarrassed by the silence of Quintilian, in his accurate list of Roman historians. * Note: This conjecture of Gibbon is without foundation. Many passages in the work of Quintus Curtius clearly place him at an earlier period. Thus, in speaking of the Parthians, he says, Hinc in Parthicum perventum est, tunc ignobilem gentem: nunc caput omnium qui post Euphratem et Tigrim amnes siti Rubro mari terminantur. The Parthian empire had this extent only in the first age of the vulgar æra: to that age, therefore, must be assigned the date of Quintus Curtius. Although the critics (says M. de Sainte Croix) have multiplied conjectures on this subject, most of them have ended by adopting the opinion which places Quintus Curtius under the reign of Claudius. See Just. Lips. ad Ann. Tac. ii. 20. Michel le Tellier Præf. in Curt. Tillemont Hist. des Emp. i. p. 251. Du Bos Reflections sur la Poesie, 2d Partie. Tiraboschi Storia della, Lett. Ital. ii. 149. Examen. crit. des Historiens d’Alexandre, 2d ed. p. 104, 849, 850.—G. ——This interminable question seems as much perplexed as ever. The first argument of M. Guizot is a strong one, except that Parthian is often used by later writers for Persian. Cunzius, in his preface to an edition published at Helmstadt, (1802,) maintains the opinion of Bagnolo, which assigns Q. Curtius to the time of Constantine the Great. Schmieder, in his edit. Gotting. 1803, sums up in this sentence, ætatem Curtii ignorari pala mest.—M.

昆图斯·库尔提乌斯（l. x. c. 9）对当时的皇帝献上了一句雅致的颂词，说他幸而登基，扑灭了如许乱火，收起了如许刀剑，结束了政出多门的种种祸患。我把这段话逐字细加斟酌之后，以为它与戈尔迪安的登基最相吻合，胜过罗马历史上任何别的时期。果真如此，那便可据以判定昆图斯·库尔提乌斯生活的年代。有人把他归入最初几位恺撒治下，所持的理由是他文风纯正；可昆体良在其详备的罗马史家名录中对他只字未提，又叫这些人颇为犯难。编者注：吉本的这一臆测毫无根据。昆图斯·库尔提乌斯著作中的许多段落，都清楚地把他置于更早的年代。譬如，他谈及帕提亚人时说：Hinc in Parthicum perventum est, tunc ignobilem gentem: nunc caput omnium qui post Euphratem et Tigrim amnes siti Rubro mari terminantur（由此进入帕提亚人之地，当时还是个无名的民族，如今却是幼发拉底河、底格里斯河以东、直抵红海一带诸族之首）。帕提亚帝国有这般疆域，仅在公元纪元的最初一个时代；故昆图斯·库尔提乌斯的年代，也当归于此时。圣克鲁瓦先生说，尽管评家们就此题臆测纷纭，大多数人最终还是采信了把昆图斯·库尔提乌斯置于克劳狄乌斯治下的说法。参见 Just. Lips. ad Ann. Tac. ii. 20；Michel le Tellier Præf. in Curt.；Tillemont Hist. des Emp. i. p. 251；Du Bos Reflections sur la Poesie, 2d Partie；Tiraboschi Storia della Lett. Ital. ii. 149；Examen crit. des Historiens d’Alexandre, 2d ed. p. 104, 849, 850。—G. ——这桩没完没了的争议，似乎一如既往地纠缠不清。基佐先生的头一条论据颇为有力，只是“帕提亚人”一词，晚近作家常拿来指波斯人。库恩齐乌斯在其于赫尔姆施泰特刊行（1802 年）的一个版本序言中，主张巴尼奥洛之说，即把昆图斯·库尔提乌斯定在君士坦丁大帝之世。施米德在其哥廷根版（1803 年）中，以这样一句话作结：昆图斯·库尔提乌斯的年代已昭然无从确知（ætatem Curtii ignorari palam est）。—M.

Hist. August. p. 161. From some hints in the two letters, I should expect that the eunuchs were not expelled the palace without some degree of gentle violence, and that the young Gordian rather approved of, than consented to, their disgrace.

Hist. August. p. 161。从那两封信里的若干暗示看，我猜想那些宦官被逐出宫廷，多少还是动用了一点温和的强力的；而年少的戈尔迪安对他们的失势，与其说是首肯，不如说是乐见其成。

Duxit uxorem filiam Misithei, quem causa eloquentiæ dignum parentela sua putavit; et præfectum statim fecit; post quod, non puerile jam et contemptibile videbatur imperium.

Duxit uxorem filiam Misithei, quem causa eloquentiæ dignum parentela sua putavit; et præfectum statim fecit; post quod, non puerile jam et contemptibile videbatur imperium（他娶了米西修斯之女为妻，因其辩才而认定他配为姻亲，遂即刻任命他为长官；此后，帝国便不再显得幼稚而可鄙了）。

Hist. August. p. 162. Aurelius Victor. Porphyrius in Vit Plotin. ap. Fabricium, Biblioth. Græc. l. iv. c. 36. The philosopher Plotinus accompanied the army, prompted by the love of knowledge, and by the hope of penetrating as far as India.

Hist. August. p. 162。Aurelius Victor。Porphyrius in Vit. Plotin. ap. Fabricium, Biblioth. Græc. l. iv. c. 36。哲学家普罗提诺随军同行，只因求知心切，又盼着能一路深入，远抵印度。

About twenty miles from the little town of Circesium, on the frontier of the two empires. * Note: Now Kerkesia; placed in the angle formed by the juncture of the Chaboras, or al Khabour, with the Euphrates. This situation appeared advantageous to Diocletian, that he raised fortifications to make it the but wark of the empire on the side of Mesopotamia. D’Anville. Geog. Anc. ii. 196.—G. It is the Carchemish of the Old Testament, 2 Chron. xxxv. 20. ler. xlvi. 2.—M.

在两大帝国交界处的基尔克西乌姆小镇约二十英里外。编者注：今名凯尔凯西亚（Kerkesia），位于哈布尔河（Chaboras，又名 al Khabour）与幼发拉底河交汇所形成的夹角处。戴克里先看中此地形势之利，遂在此修筑工事，使之成为帝国在美索不达米亚一侧的堡垒。D’Anville. Geog. Anc. ii. 196。—G. 它便是《旧约》中的迦基米施，见 2 Chron. xxxv. 20；Jer. xlvi. 2。—M.

The inscription (which contained a very singular pun) was erased by the order of Licinius, who claimed some degree of relationship to Philip, (Hist. August. p. 166;) but the tumulus, or mound of earth which formed the sepulchre, still subsisted in the time of Julian. See Ammian Marcellin. xxiii. 5.

那篇碑铭（内含一个十分奇特的双关语）被李锡尼下令抹去，李锡尼自称与腓力多少沾些亲（Hist. August. p. 166）；但那座由土堆筑成的坟茔（tumulus），到尤利安在位时仍旧存留。参见 Ammian. Marcellin. xxiii. 5。

Aurelius Victor. Eutrop. ix. 2. Orosius, vii. 20. Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 5. Zosimus, l. i. p. 19. Philip, who was a native of Bostra, was about forty years of age. * Note: Now Bosra. It was once the metropolis of a province named Arabia, and the chief city of Auranitis, of which the name is preserved in Beled Hauran, the limits of which meet the desert. D’Anville. Geog. Anc. ii. 188. According to Victor, (in Cæsar.,) Philip was a native of Tracbonitis another province of Arabia.—G.

Aurelius Victor。Eutrop. ix. 2。Orosius, vii. 20。Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 5。Zosimus, l. i. p. 19。腓力是波斯特拉人，年约四十。编者注：今名布斯拉（Bosra）。它曾是一个名为阿拉伯的行省的首府，也是奥兰尼提斯地区的主城，此地名至今保留在“豪兰地区”（Beled Hauran）之中，其边界与沙漠相接。D’Anville. Geog. Anc. ii. 188。据维克托（in Cæsar.）所记，腓力是特拉可尼提斯人，那是阿拉伯的另一个行省。—G.

Can the epithet of Aristocracy be applied, with any propriety, to the government of Algiers? Every military government floats between two extremes of absolute monarchy and wild democracy.

“贵族政制”这个称谓，用在阿尔及尔的政府身上，当真妥帖吗？任何军人政府，都在绝对君主制与狂乱民主制这两个极端之间摇摆不定。

The military republic of the Mamelukes in Egypt would have afforded M. de Montesquieu (see Considerations sur la Grandeur et la Decadence des Romains, c. 16) a juster and more noble parallel.

埃及马穆鲁克的军事共和国，本可以给孟德斯鸠先生（见 Considerations sur la Grandeur et la Decadence des Romains, c. 16）提供一个更贴切、也更堂皇的类比。

The Augustan History (p. 163, 164) cannot, in this instance, be reconciled with itself or with probability. How could Philip condemn his predecessor, and yet consecrate his memory? How could he order his public execution, and yet, in his letters to the senate, exculpate himself from the guilt of his death? Philip, though an ambitious usurper, was by no means a mad tyrant. Some chronological difficulties have likewise been discovered by the nice eyes of Tillemont and Muratori, in this supposed association of Philip to the empire. * Note: Wenck endeavors to reconcile these discrepancies. He supposes that Gordian was led away, and died a natural death in prison. This is directly contrary to the statement of Capitolinus and of Zosimus, whom he adduces in support of his theory. He is more successful in his precedents of usurpers deifying the victims of their ambition. Sit divus, dummodo non sit vivus.—M.

《奥古斯都史》（p. 163, 164）在这件事上，既自相矛盾，也不合情理。腓力既然处死了他的前任，又怎会为其立祠奉祀？他既然下令将其公开处决，又怎会在致元老院的信中，为自己开脱致其死命之罪？腓力虽是个野心勃勃的篡位者，却绝不是个丧心病狂的暴君。蒂耶蒙与穆拉托里目光锐利，也在这桩所谓腓力共掌帝国之说中，发现了若干纪年上的窒碍。编者注：温克试图弥合这些抵牾。他推想戈尔迪安是被押走，后于狱中自然身故的。这却与他用来支撑其说的卡皮托利努斯和佐西莫斯的记载正相径庭。他在举证篡位者为其野心的牺牲品封神一事上，倒是更为成功。Sit divus, dummodo non sit vivus（让他成神，只要他别再活着就行）。—M.

Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of Maximin.—Part II. 第七章 马克西明的暴政、叛乱、内战与马克西明之死——第二节