The text-books of ancient History give the date 476 as the year in which Rome fell, because in that year the last emperor was driven off his throne. 古代历史教科书把公元476年定为罗马帝国灭亡之年，因为在那一年，末代罗马皇帝被赶下了宝座。

But Rome, which was not built in a day, took a long time falling. 不过正如罗马的建立并非朝夕之功，

The process was so slow and so gradual that most Romans did not realise how their old world was coming to an end. 罗马的灭亡也是一个缓慢消亡的过程，以至绝大多数罗马人根本未能觉察到他们热爱的旧世界气数已尽。

They complained about the unrest of the times-they grumbled about the high prices of food and about the low wages of the workmen-they cursed the profiteers who had a monopoly of the grain and the wool and the gold coin. 他们抱怨时局的动荡，喟叹生活之艰难。食品价格奇高，可工人的薪水少得可怜。他们诅骂奸商们囤积居奇的行为。这些人垄断了谷物、羊毛和金币，只管自己牟取暴利。

Occasionally they rebelled against an unusually rapacious governor. 有时遇上一个贪得无厌、横征暴敛的总督，他们也会起来造反。

But the majority of the people during the first four centuries of our era ate and drank (whatever their purse allowed them to buy) 不过总的说起来，在公元头4个世纪里，大多数的罗马人依旧过着正常日子。他们照常吃喝（视钱囊的鼓瘪，尽量购买），

and hated or loved (according to their nature) and went to the theatre (whenever there was a free show of fighting gladiators) 他们照常爱恨（根据他们各自的性格），他们照常去剧场（只要有免费的角斗士搏击表演）。当然，像所有时代一样，

or starved in the slums of the big cities, utterly ignorant of the fact that their empire had outlived its usefulness and was doomed to perish. 也有不幸的人们饿死。可生活在继续，而人们一点不知道，他们的帝国已注定要灭亡的命运。

How could they realise the threatened danger? 他们怎么意识得到迫在眉睫的危险呢？

Rome made a fine showing of outward glory. 罗马帝国正在处处显示着辉煌繁荣的外景。

Well-paved roads connected the different provinces, the imperial police were active and showed little tenderness for highwaymen. 有宽阔畅通的大道连接各个省份；有帝国警察在勤勉地工作，毫不留情地清除拦路盗贼；

The frontier was closely guarded against the savage tribes who seemed to be occupying the waste lands of northern Europe. 边界防御良好，使居住在欧洲北部荒野的蛮族不能越雷池一步；

The whole world was paying tribute to the mighty city of Rome,  全世界都在向强大的罗马进贡纳税；

and a score of able men were working day and night to undo the mistakes of the past and bring about a return to the happier conditions of the early Republic. 而且，还有一群精明能干的人们在夜以继日地工作，试图纠正过去的错误，争取使帝国重返共和国早期的幸福岁月。