《罗马帝国》章节试读

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第10页 - 第一章

我有一回旁敲侧击地对母亲说，她对希罗德慷恐怕是慷慨得有点过头，可是她勃然大怒道，如果钱非要浪费不可，她宁愿看到希罗德体面地挥霍掉，也不愿让我拿到低级的小酒馆里跟我那帮声名狼藉的朋友们掷骰子输掉。（我拿了一大笔钱送给我哥哥日尔曼尼库斯，帮助他平息日耳曼地区的叛变，可是这事又不能让母亲知道，所以便假装这笔钱是我赌钱输掉的。）
克劳狄乌斯滥赌的记载出自苏维托尼乌斯的《罗马十二帝王传》：“他极喜欢赌博，甚至写过一本赌博艺术方面的书；他还坐在车上一边走一边赌博。并在车上安上了一块牌板以防止别人干扰他的赌博。”（第五卷 神圣的克劳狄传，ⅩⅩⅩⅢ.，P248）

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第120页 - 九

我的朋友塞拉斯，我自己且给你一个忠告，永远不要提醒人家你过去为他们做了什么。如果他们是知恩图报的体面人，那就不需要什么提醒；如果他们是忘恩负义的无耻小人，那么提醒了也是徒劳
塞拉斯让我想起了焦大

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第39页 - 第四章

日耳曼人认为希罗德一定是在跟自己开玩笑，于是说道：“请不要以为，我对您说这些是为了贪图您的回报，我只是看见了那只鸟的所作所为，觉得必须就这个好兆头向您祝贺。我在祖国可是个有名的占卜官呢。现在我还有件事要告诉您。您下一次再看见这鸟儿时，可能正处在您的巅峰时期，它会停在您的身旁开始号叫，那时您就会知道，好日子要到头了。猫头鹰叫多少声，您就还能活多少天。但愿这一天来得越晚越好！”
希律·阿格里帕看到猫头鹰五天后去世的说法出自弗拉菲乌斯·约瑟夫斯（Flavius Josephus）的《犹太古事记（Antiquities of the Jews）》，并非作者向壁虚构。
原文如下：
“Now when Agrippa had reigned three years over all Judea, he came to the city Cesarea, which was formerly called Strato'sTower; and there he exhibited shows in honor of Caesar, upon his being informed that there was a certain festival celebrated to make vows for his safety. At which festival a great multitude was gotten together of the principal persons, and such as were of dignity through his province. On the second day of which shows he put on a garment made wholly of silver, and of a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the theater early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner, and was so resplendent as to spread a horror over those that looked intently upon him; and presently his flatterers cried out, one from one place, and another from another, (though not for his good,) that he was a god; and they added, "Be thou merciful to us; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, yet shall we henceforth own thee as superior to mortal nature." Upon this the king did neither rebuke them, nor reject their impious flattery. But as he presently afterward looked up, he saw an owl sitting on a certain rope over his head, and immediately understood that this bird was the messenger of ill tidings, as it had once been the messenger of good tidings to him; and fell into the deepest sorrow. A severe pain also arose in his belly, and began in a most violent manner. He therefore looked upon his friends, and said, "I, whom you call a god, am commanded presently to depart this life; while Providence thus reproves the lying words you just now said to me; and I, who was by you called immortal, am immediately to be hurried away by death. But I am bound to accept of what Providence allots, as it pleases God; for we have by no means lived ill, but in a splendid and happy manner." When he said this, his pain was become violent. Accordingly he was carried into the palace, and the rumor went abroad every where, that he would certainly die in a little time. But the multitude presently sat in sackcloth, with their wives and children, after the law of their country, and besought God for the king's recovery. All places were also full of mourning and lamentation. Now the king rested in a high chamber, and as he saw them below lying prostrate on the ground, he could not himself forbear weeping. And when he had been quite worn out by the pain in his belly for five days, he departed this life, being in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and in the seventh year of his reign; for he reigned four years under Caius Caesar, three of them were over Philip's tetrarchy only, and on the fourth he had that of Herod added to it; and he reigned, besides those, three years under the reign of Claudius Caesar; in which time he reigned over the forementioned countries, and also had Judea added to them, as well as Samaria and Cesarea. The revenues that he received out of them were very great, no less than twelve millions of drachme. Yet did he borrow great sums from others; for he was so very liberal that his expenses exceeded his incomes, and his generosity was boundless.”（BOOKⅩⅨ.CHAPTER 8.2.）

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第75页 - 第六章

卡里古拉的雕像有两种，一种是外国神灵的雕像，他去掉了人家的脑袋，用自己的取而代之
“从此后，他开始追求神的尊严。他发布命令，把那些在神圣尊严或艺术特色方面著名的神像，包括奥林匹亚的朱庇特雕像，从希腊运来罗马，去掉它们的头部，换上自己的头像。”（苏维托尼乌斯，《罗马十二帝王传》，第四卷 盖乌斯·卡里古拉传，ⅩⅫ.）

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第56页 - 第五章

这两名信使都是护民官
护民官通译为保民官。手头无原书，如果原文是 tribune of the plebs, tribune of the people或者plebeian tribune，则应翻译为平民保民官。

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第57页 - 第五章

这时德鲁西拉朝他冲了过来，对他又抓又咬，他逮住这个小丫头，抓住她的双脚，把她的脑袋甩到一根大理石柱子上，撞得脑浆都出来了。听到孩子被害的事情总会让人有点难过，不过请你相信我，如果你也认识小德鲁西拉——她父亲的宝贝女儿，一定也会巴不得能像卢普斯那样做的。
卡里古拉女儿德鲁西拉之死：“和他一起被杀的还有他的妻子卡桑尼亚和他的女儿德鲁西拉，前者是被一个百夫长杀死的，后者是头被撞到墙上脑浆迸出而死。”（《罗马十二帝王传》，第四卷 盖乌斯·卡里古拉传，LIX.，P220）
德鲁西拉的残暴：“使他确信她是他的孩子的最好证据就是她的残暴秉性，她甚至在那么小的时候就要抓破与她一起戏闹的小孩的脸面和眼睛。”（前揭，ⅩⅩⅤ.，P197）

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第26页 - 第三章

“那天我就在卡普里过夜，到了早上，皇帝和我的关系更铁了——他把医生的忠告抛到脑后，整夜都在跟我喝酒。”
提比略贪杯且亲近酒友的说法出自苏维托尼乌斯的《罗马十二帝王传》：“他从军伊始，由于嗜酒如命，人们以绰号称他‘毕比略’（读音近似biberius,与喝谐音），称他‘克尔狄’（读音近似caldius,与热酒谐音），以代克劳狄，称他‘米禄’（读音近似mero,与纯酒谐音），以代尼禄。后来即位了，他在忙于整治公共道德时，有一次与庞波尼乌斯·弗拉库斯以及鲁基乌斯·庇索宴饮了两天一夜，而后立即任命一人为叙利亚行省总督，另一人为罗马市长，并且在给他们授职时甚至说他们是最知心可靠的朋友。”（第三卷 提比略传，XLII.，P157）

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第9页 - 第一章

希罗德去见了叙利亚总督弗拉库斯，看着我母亲安东尼娅的面子，他对希罗德非常客气。“So he went to Flaccus, one that had been consul, and had been a very great friend to him at Rome formerly, and was now president of Syria.”（《古犹太事记》，BOOK XVIII.CHAPTER 6.2.）
据《罗马十二帝王传》记载，此人之所以能出任叙利亚总督是因为曾和提比略对饮两天一夜，“后来即位了，他在忙于整治公共道德时，有一次与庞波尼乌斯·弗拉库斯以及鲁基乌斯·庇索宴饮了两天一夜，而后立即任命一人为叙利亚行省总督，另一人为罗马市长，并且在给他们授职时甚至说他们是最知心可靠的朋友。”（第三卷 提比略传，XLII.，P157）

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第89页 - 六

我引用了一个希腊警句：
白叟尚婚配，无视自然律——
’不把绿帽戴，生崽定体虚‘。
那律师考虑了片刻，随即当场道：
尔自是白叟，分明是傻瓜。
原非自然律，偏把自然加。
白叟若健旺，生子定健壮。
青年若体弱，生子便多病。
这话说的在理，尽管这律师把我叫做傻瓜，我还是宽恕了他。
克劳狄乌斯固然不是大家口里的傻瓜，却是仁慈的君主。

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第74页 - 第六章

不过，我拒绝了国父的头衔和奥古斯都的称号，我嘲笑元老院居然试图给我神的称号，甚至对他们说，我连被人称作“皇帝”都不想。关于这一点，我指出，从古至今只有在战场上有所建树的人才能获得这个荣誉。国父原文为Pater Patriae，来自拉丁语，应当翻译为祖国之父，是罗马元老院对维护罗马的国家安全和领土完整等方面做出了杰出的贡献的人授予的尊号，于公元前386第一次授予独裁官马库斯·弗里乌斯·卡米卢斯（Marcus Furius Camillus），西塞罗、恺撒也曾被授予该称号。
皇帝原文为imperator，来自拉丁语，应当音译为英白拉多或英佩拉托。洛布古典丛书本《内战记》卷二，26注：“英佩拉托（imperator）——这个字找不出适合的译法，它的含义也有许多变化：1.照字面解释，这个字是一个持有军政大权（imperium）的人的当然称号；2.共和时代，每逢一次战役取得大捷时，军团士兵就在欢呼声中把这个称号奉献给自己的统帅，这种士兵奉献称号的做法，一直到帝国时代还偶然在皇帝的同意下发生（如塔西佗的《编年史》卷三，74），但在帝国初期时已经认为每一个统帅取得的胜利，都是在皇帝的最高主持下取得的，这个称呼应该奉献给皇帝，因此每一次得胜，皇帝的名字后面就加记‘英佩拉托’一次。三世纪后半叶，索性在皇帝登位之后每年加一次，不问是否取得过胜利，从而它成为表明皇帝在位年代的数字。3.公元前45年，元老院曾决议把这一称号给凯撒终生使用，他的继承人也接着用下去，从此变成他们这个家族的姓氏的一部分，尤利乌斯王朝几个皇帝沿用的结果，这个字就转义为皇帝了。因而，举例来说，奥古斯都统治的最后一年，他的正式全称是：Imp.Caesar Divi F(ilius)Augustus，Pontif.Max.，Cos.ⅩⅢ.，Imp.ⅩⅩ.，Tribunic.Potestat.ⅩⅩⅩⅦ.，P(ater)P(atriae).第一个Imp.是他继承下来姓字的一部分，转义成皇帝；第二个Imp.ⅩⅩ表示他被奉献这个称号已二十次”（《内战记》中译本，商务印书馆，1986，P79）

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第7页 - 第一章

波斯杜姆斯被流放以后，希罗德就跟卡斯特混在了一起，他是我伯父提贝里乌斯的儿子……这时卡斯特也死了（多年以后我们才得知，他是被他妻子——也就是我的姐姐——莉维拉毒死的）
被妻子毒死的提贝里乌斯亲生儿子全名叫Nero Claudius Drusus（与其叔叔同名）或Drusus Julius Caesar 。这个卡斯特是怎么回事？

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第8页 - 第一章

他本想私下里向提贝里乌斯求助，可是提贝里乌斯已经公开声明不想再见死去儿子的朋友们，“以免勾起悲痛之情”。
“Tiberius also forbade the friends of his deceased son to come into his sight, because on seeing them he should be put in mind of his son, and his grief would there by be revived.”（《古犹太事记》，BOOK XVIII.CHAPTER 6.1.）

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第2页 - 第一章

犹太王希罗德·阿格里帕
Herod通译为希律。

《罗马帝国》的笔记-第24页 - 第三章

‘如果他是缺钱的话，’我对母亲说道，‘咱们就帮不了他了。’那会儿我们手里确实没有余钱。可我母亲却说：‘你这么说就有些不仁义了，克劳狄乌斯，你总是那么粗鲁。如果希罗德遇到了什么难处需要用钱，咱们就得想法去筹一些来。念着他死去的母亲贝雷妮丝，我也应该帮他。尽管贝雷妮丝的宗教习惯有些奇怪，但她仍然是我最好的朋友之一，而且管起家务事来也非常能干！’
安东尼娅借钱给希律·阿格里帕还债事见《古犹太事记》，BOOK XVIII.CHAPTER 6.4.
原文如下：
“When Caesar had read this letter, he was much troubled at it, and gave order that Agrippa should be excluded from his presence until he had paid that debt: upon which he was no way daunted at Caesar's anger,but entreated Antonia, the mother of Germanicus, and of Claudius,who was afterward Caesar himself, to lend him those three hundred thousand drachmae, that he might not be deprived of Tiberius's friendship; so, out of regard to the memory of Bernice his mother, (for those two women were very familiar with one another,) and out of regard to his and Claudius's education together, she lent him the money; and, upon the payment of this debt, there was nothing to hinder Tiberius's friendship to him.”