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But the underlying causes of the decay of the State, of which I have told you in a former chapter, had not been removed and reform therefore was impossible.
不過正如我在上一章講過的，羅馬帝國的根基已經銹蝕，造成它衰敗的深層原因從未被弄清楚，因此任什么改革都不能挽救其注定滅亡的命運。
Rome was, first and last and all the time, a city-state as Athens and Corinth had been city-states in ancient Hellas. It had been able to dominate the Italian peninsula. But Rome as the ruler of the entire civilised world was a political impossibility and could not endure. Her young men were killed in her endless wars. Her farmers were ruined by long military service and by taxation. They either became professional beggars or hired themselves out to rich landowners who gave them board and lodging in exchange for their services and made them "serfs," those unfortunate human beings who are neither slaves nor freemen, but who have become part of the soil upon which they work, like so many cows, and the trees.
從根本上說，羅馬首先且一直是一個城邦，跟古希臘的雅典或科林斯并無多大區別。它有足夠的能力主宰整個意大利半島?？梢髡麄€文明世界的統治者，羅馬從政治上說是不合格的，從實力上講是無法承受的。它的年輕人大多數死于常年的戰爭。它的農民被沉重的軍役和賦稅拖垮，不是淪為職業乞丐，就是受雇于富有的莊園主，以勞動換取食宿，成為依附于富人們的"農奴"。這些不幸的農民既非奴隸，也不是自由 民，他們像樹木和牲畜一樣，成為他們所侍奉的那塊土地上的附屬品，終身無法離開。
The Empire, the State, had become everything. The common citizen had dwindled down to less than nothing. As for the slaves, they had heard the words that were spoken by Paul. They had accepted the message of the humble carpenter of Nazareth. They did not rebel against their masters. On the contrary, they had been taught to be meek and they obeyed their superiors. But they had lost all interest in the affairs of this world which had proved such a miserable place of abode. They were willing to fight the good fight that they might enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
帝國的榮耀是最高目標。國家意味著一切，普通公民則什么也不是。至于悲慘的奴隸，他們興奮地傾聽保羅宣講的言辭，接受了那位謙卑的拿撒勒木匠所散布的福音。他們并不反抗自己的主人，相反，他們被教導要溫 柔順從，盡力遵照主人的意旨行事。不過，既然眼前的世界無非是一個悲慘的寄身之所，不能有所改進，奴隸們也就全然喪失了對現世的興趣。他們寧愿"打那美好的仗"，為進人天堂樂土而傾力付出。
