評(píng)論
打印
As a matter of custom and practical advantage the senators were elected from the nobility. But their power had been strictly defined.
遵照習(xí)俗并出于現(xiàn)實(shí)的考慮，元老們通常選自貴族階層，可他們的權(quán)力同時(shí)也受到極其嚴(yán)格的限制。
Rome at one time had passed through the same sort of struggle between the poor and the rich which had forced Athens to adopt the laws of Draco and Solon. In Rome this conflict had occurred in the fifth century B. C. As a result the freemen had obtained a written code of laws which protected them against the despotism of the aristocratic judges by the institution of the "Tribune." These Tribunes were city-magistrates, elected by the freemen. They had the right to protect any citizen against those actions of the government officials which were thought to be unjust. A consul had the right to condemn a man to death, but if the case had not been absolutely proved the Tribune could interfere and the poor fellow's life.
正如雅典被迫制定解決貧富糾紛的德拉古法典與梭倫法典，當(dāng)歷史進(jìn)展到一定時(shí)期，即公元前5世紀(jì)，羅馬也發(fā)生了貧民和富人之間的類似斗爭(zhēng)。最終，自由民的抗?fàn)帪樗麄儞Q來(lái)了一部成文法典，規(guī)定設(shè)立一名"保民官"來(lái)保護(hù)他們免遭貴族法官的迫害。保民官是城市的地方長(zhǎng)官，由自由 民中選出。當(dāng)出現(xiàn)政府官員以不公正的行為對(duì)待市民時(shí)，他有權(quán)加以阻止，捍衛(wèi)自由民的權(quán)益。依照羅馬法律，執(zhí)政官有權(quán)判處一個(gè)人的死刑?？扇绻缸記](méi)有得到最充分的證實(shí)，保民宮即可介人，挽救這個(gè)可憐家伙的性命。
But when I use the word Rome, I seem to refer to a little city of a few thousand inhabitants. And the real strength of Rome lay in the country districts outside her walls. And it was in the government of these outlying provinces that Rome at an early age showed her wonderful gift as a colonising power.
當(dāng)我使用"羅馬"這個(gè)詞時(shí)，我的意思聽(tīng)起來(lái)是指僅僅擁有幾千居民的那個(gè)小城市，不過(guò)，羅馬城真正的實(shí)力其實(shí)蘊(yùn)藏在城墻之外的廣大鄉(xiāng)村地區(qū)。正是在對(duì)這些域外省份的管理上，早期的羅馬帝國(guó)展示了它令人驚嘆的殖民技巧。
In very early times Rome had been the only strongly fortified city in central Italy, but it had always offered a hospitable refuge to other Latin tribes who happened to be in danger of attack. The Latin neighbours had recognised the advantages of a close union with such a powerful friend and they had tried to find a basis for some sort of defensive and offensive alliance.
在歷史的早期，羅馬城是意大利中部唯一擁有高大城墻、防御堅(jiān)固的堡壘。不過(guò)，它向來(lái)都慷慨好客的敞開(kāi)城門，為其他不時(shí)遭遇外敵人侵的拉丁部落提供緊急避難。長(zhǎng)此以往，這些拉丁鄰居們開(kāi)始意識(shí)到，與如此強(qiáng)大的朋友發(fā)展聯(lián)系，對(duì)自身的安全是大有好處的。因此，他們?cè)噲D尋找一種合適的模式，來(lái)建立與羅馬城的攻守同盟。
