評(píng)論
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As the second coming of Jesus Christ seemed less and less imminent the Christians had to organize their faith or else.
隨著耶穌的再臨看起來越來越遙遠(yuǎn)，基督徒不得不組織結(jié)構(gòu)自己的信仰。
But the Christian message itself never did change, the current world, the secular world with its Caesars and its civil wars was only passing,
但是基督教要傳達(dá)的信息并沒有發(fā)生改變，當(dāng)下的世界，這個(gè)有著凱撒和內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的俗世終會(huì)成為過去，
a rehearsal for the eternal heavenly life to come in the future following the second coming.
現(xiàn)在只是在為未來基督再臨后獲得永恒的天堂生活進(jìn)行排練。
Not only was this message especially attractive in especially difficult times
這個(gè)信息在艱難的時(shí)候不僅聽起來特別誘人，
but the Christian church actually had a very good track record for meeting the physical needs of the less fortunate among them.
事實(shí)上基督教堂也能夠滿足那些窮人的生理需求。
Consequently the Christian church provoked two drastically different reactions during these times.
因此基督教堂在當(dāng)時(shí)引發(fā)的是兩種截然不同的反應(yīng)。
Either wholehearted acceptance, sign me up, or desperate fury at this offence against the Mos Majorum and the roman gods.
人們要么是全心全意地接受，加入，要么是為基督教破壞了羅馬神明間的和平而憤怒不已。
Four, cult of personality.
第四點(diǎn) 個(gè)人崇拜
The cult of the emperor's personality had always been a crucial part of the principate
對(duì)于皇帝個(gè)人的崇拜一直是元首制的一個(gè)重要部分，
the princeps was worshipped as a god in the eastern parts of the empire
在帝國東部，元首像神明一樣接受崇拜，
and he was the subject of much great poetry and art devoted to his wonderful nature.
也是很多偉大詩歌和藝術(shù)所描摹的對(duì)象。
But the good old Mos Majorum would never have accepted in Augustus' time a princeps who called himself a living god among the Romans.
但是奧古斯都大帝時(shí)期的羅馬人是絕對(duì)不能接受元首自稱為羅馬神明中的一員的。
Yet, the crisis of the third century had so crippled the Roman world
然而，第三世界危機(jī)已經(jīng)使羅馬世界陷入癱瘓，
that the elaborate pretences of the principate were no longer necessary.
元首也就不再有必要遮遮掩掩。
Sadly Rome was ready to move from disguised tyranny to open tyranny.
羅馬從偽裝下的暴政走向了公開的暴政。
What mattered most by Diocletian's time was security at any cost.
在戴克里先之前，最重要的是不惜一切代價(jià)維持安定。
As long as the Roman world was ruled by a man; any man could challenge him,
但是只要統(tǒng)治羅馬世界的是一個(gè)人，他就可能遭到任何人的挑戰(zhàn)，
but if it was ruled by a god of so Diocletian believed men might be more afraid to challenge him.
而如果統(tǒng)治羅馬世界的是一個(gè)神，戴克里先認(rèn)為人們就不大敢質(zhì)疑權(quán)威了。
This was not the same sort of god as promoted by the emperor cult during the principate.
這和元首制時(shí)期所推崇的皇帝個(gè)人崇拜并不相同。
Diocletian adorned himself appointed divinity with a wide range of rituals and rules
戴克里先為自己增添了神性用一系列的禮儀和規(guī)矩
designed to exempt his status as dominus et deius. Master and god.
來體現(xiàn)自己作為上帝的地位。自己是主人，是神。
Even his Christian successors after dropping the god part of course retained the rituals and passed them down
而他之后的基督徒繼位者丟棄了禮儀中上帝的部分，保留了其余的禮制，一直沿襲了下去，
down through the Byzantines, down through the Russians, down through the British, down to our very day.
傳到拜占庭，傳到俄國，傳到英國，一直延續(xù)到今天。
