評(píng)論
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The Roman economy had essentially come to a halt,
羅馬的經(jīng)濟(jì)本質(zhì)上說已經(jīng)停滯不前，
agriculture had reached the point of diminishing returns,
農(nóng)業(yè)的收成遞減，
science could not bring the tired farmland back to life and the army could not conquer anymore.
科學(xué)也不能讓疲軟的農(nóng)業(yè)重獲生機(jī),軍隊(duì)也不再是戰(zhàn)無不勝。
The concentration of wealth had moved into the hands of a few.
財(cái)富集中到了少數(shù)人手中。
And even these wealthy few were feeling over taxed by the government's demands.
即便是這些富有的少數(shù)人也覺得政府的稅收過重。
The government became more bloated all the time,
政府變得越來越臃腫盡管像羅馬這樣規(guī)模的帝國，
even though an empire the size of Rome's was expensive even in the best of times.
在盛世時(shí)期也開支高昂。
And now the taxpayers was dwindling both in the cities and in the countryside.
城市和農(nóng)村地區(qū)的納稅人都在減少。
Poor people fled from the cities where they had no work and no charity to the countryside,
城市里沒有工作，也享受不了慈善待遇的窮人從城市逃向鄉(xiāng)村，
where at least they had a chance to work for food.
在那里他們至少可以自己辛勤忙到食物。
And worst of all, barbarians were pressing at the borders.
最糟糕的是，邊疆地區(qū)的蠻族也在逼緊。
Marcus Aurelius had spent most of his reign fighting the Parthians in the East and then the tribes on the Deitian frontier.
馬可·奧勒留在位期間，將大量時(shí)間花在東部與帕提亞人的交戰(zhàn)以及在邊境與部落的交戰(zhàn)上。
More invaders were on the way, the Parthian empire itself had frittered out,
隨著越來越多的入侵者逼近，帕提亞帝國也走向瓦解，
only to be replaced by 220 AD by the stronger and more aggressive Cicinate Persian empire.
公元220年取而代之的是更為強(qiáng)大，也更具侵略性的波斯帝國。
Out in the western half of the empire Britain once more became a flash point.
在帝國的西半部英國再次成為了觸發(fā)點(diǎn)。
Commodus' succession to the throne made things even worse.
康茂德的繼位使得事態(tài)更為糟糕。
It was the one serious blot on Marcus Aurelius' record.
也是馬可·奧勒留的一大敗筆。
But even if Commodus had been a clone of his father or the second coming of Augustus
但即便康茂德和他父親如出一轍或者所作所為和奧古斯都一樣，
he wouldn't have made much headway against the problems Rome had.
他也沒法解決羅馬帝國中存在的這些問題。
As it was Commodus was one of the top five lunatics to rule the Roman Empire which is no small achievement.
康茂德是羅馬帝國史上最荒唐的統(tǒng)治者之一。
A conspiracy put Commodus out of Rome's misery in 192 AD.
公元192年，康茂德遇刺身亡。
It was helped by the Praetorian Prefect.
禁衛(wèi)軍長官參與了這起陰謀。
