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In the year 402 the Emperor fled to Ravenna, which was a sea-port and strongly fortified, and there, in the year 475, Odoacer, commander of a regiment of the German mercenaries, who wanted the farms of Italy to be divided among themselves, gently but effectively pushed Romulus Augustulus, the last of the emperors who ruled the western division, from his throne, and proclaimed himself Patriarch or ruler of Rome. The eastern Emperor, who was very busy with his own affairs, recognised him, and for ten years Odoacer ruled what was left of the western provinces.
公元402年，西羅馬皇帝逃往拉維納。這里是一座海港，城墻高大，防御堅(jiān)固。就是在這座海濱堡壘，公元475年，日爾曼雇傭軍的指揮官鄂多薩企圖瓜分意大利的土地。于是，他采用溫 和而有效的手段，將最后一任西羅馬帝國(guó)皇帝羅慕洛·奧古斯塔斯趕下了寶座，宣布自己是羅馬的新主宰。正被國(guó)內(nèi)事務(wù)弄得焦頭爛額的東羅馬皇帝無(wú)暇他顧，只得承認(rèn)這一事實(shí)。鄂多薩統(tǒng)治西羅馬帝國(guó)余下的省份，長(zhǎng)達(dá)十年之久。
A few years later, Theodoric, King of the East Goths, invaded the newly formed Patriciat, took Ravenna, murdered Odoacer at his own dinner table, and established a Gothic Kingdom amidst the ruins of the western part of the Empire. This Patriciate state did not last long. In the sixth century a motley crowd of Longobards and Saxons and Slavs and Avars invaded Italy, destroyed the Gothic kingdom, and established a new state of which Pavia became the capital.
過(guò)了幾年，東哥特國(guó)王西奧多里克率部侵人這個(gè)新建立的王國(guó)，攻克拉維納，在鄂多薩自己的餐桌上殺死了他。西奧多里克在西羅馬帝國(guó)的廢墟上建立起一個(gè)哥特王國(guó)。這個(gè)國(guó)家也未能維持多久。到公元6世紀(jì)，一伙倫巴德人、撒克遜人、斯拉夫人、阿瓦人拼湊起來(lái)的烏合之眾侵人意大利，摧毀哥特王國(guó)，建立了一個(gè)以帕維亞為首都的新國(guó)家。
Then at last the imperial city sank into a state of utter neglect and despair. The ancient palaces had been plundered time and again. The schools had been burned down. The teachers had been starved to death. The rich people had been thrown out of their villas which were now inhabited by evil-smelling and hairy barbarians. The roads had fallen into decay.
連綿的戰(zhàn)火，最終使帝國(guó)的首都淪為一片無(wú)人照管、絕望蔓延的瓦礫。古老的宮殿被強(qiáng)盜們反復(fù)洗劫，只剩下空空如也的殘?jiān)j壁。學(xué)校被燒毀，老師們被活活餓死。富人被趕出他們的別墅，取而代之的是渾身毛發(fā)、散發(fā)惡臭的野蠻人。
