美国学生人类历史 第110期:罗马帝国的衰亡(3)

 But they were not willing to engage in warfare¹ for the benefit of an ambitious emperor who aspired² to glory by way of a foreign campaign in the land of the Parthians or the Numidians or the Scots. 但他们不愿为罗马帝国打仗，因为那不过是某个野心勃勃的皇帝为渴求更多更辉煌的胜利，在努米底亚或帕提亚或苏格兰发动的侵略战争。

And so conditions grew worse as the centuries went by. 这样，一个又一个世纪过去了，情形变得越来越糟。

The first Emperors had continued the tradition of "leadership" which had given the old tribal³ chieftains such a hold upon their subjects. 最初几位罗马皇帝还肯保持"领袖"传统，授权部族的头人管住各自的属民。

But the Emperors of the second and third centuries were Barrack-Emperors, professional soldiers, 可二、三世纪的罗马皇帝却是些职业军人，变成了地地道道的"兵营皇帝"，

who existed by the grace of their body-guards, the so-called Praetorians. 其生存全系于他们的保缥，即所谓禁卫军的忠诚。

They succeeded each other with terrifying rapidity, murdering their way into the palace 皇位的轮换如走马灯，你方唱罢我登台，靠着谋杀劈开通向帝王宝座的道路。

and being murdered out of it as soon as their successors had become rich enough to bribe⁴ the guards into a new rebellion. 随后，篡位者又迅速地被谋杀，因为另一个野心家掌握了足够财富，能贿赂禁卫军发动新一轮的政变。

Meanwhile the barbarians⁵ were hammering at the gates of the northern frontier. 与此同时，野蛮民族正在频频敲击北方边境的大门。

As there were no longer any native Roman armies to stop their progress, foreign mercenaries had to be hired to fight the invader⁶. 由于再没有土生土长的罗马士兵可抵御侵略，只能招募些外国雇佣军去对付来犯者。

As the foreign soldier happened to be of the same blood as his supposed enemy, he was apt to be quite lenient⁷ when he engaged in battle. 这些外国雇佣兵可能正巧与他抗击的敌人属于同一种族，不难想见，他们在战斗中很容易产生对敌人的怜悯之情。

Finally, by way of experiment, a few tribes were allowed to settle within the confines of the Empire. Others followed. 最后，皇帝决定实验一种新措施，允许一些野蛮部族在帝国境内定居。其他的部族也接踵而至。

Soon these tribes complained bitterly of the greedy Roman tax-gatherers, who took away their last penny. 不过他们很快就怨气冲天，抗议贪婪的罗马税吏夺走他们仅有的一切。

When they got no redress⁸ they marched to Rome and loudly demanded that they be heard. 当他们呼声未能得到重视，他们便进军罗马，更大声的呼吁，以便得到皇帝陛下的声音。

1 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

2 aspired   

v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She aspired to a scientific career. 她有志于科学事业。
• Britain,France,the United States and Japan all aspired to hegemony after the end of World War I. 第一次世界大战后，英、法、美、日都想争夺霸权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

4 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

5 barbarians   

n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人

参考例句：

• The ancient city of Rome fell under the iron hooves of the barbarians. 古罗马城在蛮族的铁蹄下沦陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. 它战胜了征服者——蛮族。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

6 invader   

n.侵略者，侵犯者，入侵者

参考例句：

• They suffered a lot under the invader's heel.在侵略者的铁蹄下，他们受尽了奴役。
• A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。

7 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

8 redress   

n.赔偿，救济，矫正；v.纠正，匡正，革除

参考例句：

• He did all that he possibly could to redress the wrongs.他尽了一切努力革除弊端。
• Any man deserves redress if he has been injured unfairly.任何人若蒙受不公平的损害都应获得赔偿。