【简译】安东尼大瘟疫（Antonine Plague）

The Antonine Plague, sometimes referred to as the Plague of Galen, erupted in 165 CE, at the height of Roman power throughout the Mediterranean world during the reign of the last of the Five Good Emperors, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (161-180 CE). The first phase of the outbreak would last until 180 CE affecting the entirety of the Roman Empire, while a second outbreak occurred in 251-266 CE, compounding the effects of the earlier outbreak. It has been suggested by some historians that the plague represents a useful starting point for understanding the beginning of the decline of the Roman Empire in the West but also the underpinning to its ultimate fall.

          安东尼大瘟疫，有时也被称为盖伦瘟疫，爆发于公元165年。这一时期，是五位好皇帝中的最后一位——马可·奥理略·安东尼（公元161-180年）统治期间；此时，罗马权力在整个地中海世界达到了顶峰。第一阶段的疫情爆发将持续到公元180年，影响逐渐扩散到整个罗马帝国，而第二次疫情爆发发生在公元251-266年，加剧了早期疫情爆发的影响。一些历史学家认为，瘟疫是理解罗马帝国在西方开始衰落的一个有效起点，也是罗马帝国最终衰落的基础。

症状描述

Galen (129 - c. 216 CE), a Greek physician and author of Methodus Medendi, not only witnessed the outbreak but described its symptoms and course. Among the more common symptoms were fever, diarrhea, vomiting, thirstiness, swollen throat, and coughing. More specifically, Galen noted that the diarrhea appeared blackish which suggested gastrointestinal bleeding. The coughing produced a foul odor on the breath and an exanthema, skin eruptions or rash, over the entirety of the body distinguished by red and black papules or eruptions:

          Of some of theses which had become ulcerated, that part of the surface called the scab fell away and then the remaining part nearby was healthy and after one or two days became scarred over. In those places where it was not ulcerated, the exanthem was rough and scabby and fell away like some husk and hence all became healthy. (Littman & Littman, p. 246)

          希腊医生、《Methodus Medendi》的作者盖伦（公元129年-约216年）不仅目睹了疫情的爆发，而且记载了其症状和过程。其中比较常见的症状是发烧、腹泻、呕吐、口渴、喉咙肿胀和咳嗽。盖伦指出，腹泻呈黑色，表明胃肠道出血。咳嗽会产生呼吸中的恶臭，并出现外感，即皮肤糜烂或皮疹，遍布全身，以红色和黑色的丘疹或糜烂为特征：

          在一些已经溃烂的地方，表面被称为痂皮的部分脱落了，附近剩余的部分是健康的，一两天后变成了疤痕。在那些没有溃烂的地方，外皮是粗糙的、结痂的，像皮壳一样脱落，因此都变得健康。(Littman & Littman, p. 246)

Those infected suffered from the illness for roughly two weeks. Not all who caught the disease died, and those who survived developed immunity from further outbreaks. Based on Galen's description, modern researchers have concluded that the disease affecting the empire was most likely smallpox.

          被感染的人患这种疾病的时间大约为两个星期。并非所有染上这种疾病的人都会死亡，那些活下来的人在进一步的疫情中产生了免疫力。根据盖伦的描述，现代研究人员得出结论，影响帝国命运的疾病很可能是天花。

病因与疾病传播

The epidemic most likely emerged in China shortly before 166 CE spreading westward along the Silk Road and by trading ships headed for Rome. Sometime between late 165 to early 166 CE, the Roman military came into contact with the disease during the siege of Seleucia (a major city on the Tigris River). Troops returning from the wars in the East spread the disease northward to Gaul and among troops stationed along the Rhine River.

          这种流行病很可能是在公元166年之前不久在中国出现的，沿着丝绸之路和前往罗马的商船向西传播。在公元165年末至166年初的某个时候，罗马军队在围攻塞琉西亚（底格里斯河上的一个主要城市）时接触到了这种疾病。从东方战争中返回的军队将这种疾病向北传播到高卢和驻扎在莱茵河沿岸的军队中。

Two different legends arose discussing the exact origins of how the plague was released into the human population. In the first story, the Roman general, and later co-emperor, Lucius Verus opened a closed tomb in Seleucia during the subsequent sacking of the city thus releasing the disease. The tale suggests that the epidemic was a punishment as the Romans violated an oath to the gods not to pillage the city. In the second story, a Roman soldier opened a golden casket in the temple of Apollo in Babylon allowing the plague to escape. Two different 4th-century CE sources, Res Gestae by Ammianus Marcellinus (c. 330-391 – 400 CE) and the biographies of Lucius Verus & Marcus Aurelius, ascribe the outbreak to participating in a sacrilege, violating the sanctuary of a god and breaking the oath. Other Romans blamed Christians for making the gods angry precipitating the outbreak.

          关于瘟疫是如何被释放到人类世界中的，民间出现了两种不同的传说。在第一个传说中，罗马将军，也就是后来的联合皇帝，卢基乌斯·维鲁斯在随后对塞琉西亚的洗劫中打开了一座封闭的坟墓，从而释放了疾病。这个传说表明，这种流行病是一种惩罚，因为罗马人违反了对众神的誓言，掠夺了该城市。在第二个传说中，一名罗马士兵打开了巴比伦阿波罗神庙中的一个金匣子，使瘟疫得以逃脱。两个不同的公元4世纪的资料，即阿米阿努斯·馬爾切利努斯 （Ammianus Marcellinus，约公元330-391-400年）的Res Gestae和卢基乌斯·维鲁斯和马可·奥理略·安东尼的传记，将瘟疫的爆发归咎于参与亵渎，侵犯神的圣地和违背誓言。其他罗马人指责基督教徒使神灵发怒，导致了这次瘟疫的爆发。

死亡率与经济影响

There is much ongoing debate amongst scholars regarding the effects and consequences of the epidemic on the Roman Empire. This debate is focused on the methodology used to compute the actual number of people who died. The Roman historian Dio Cassius (155-235 CE) estimated 2,000 deaths per day in Rome at the height of the outbreak. In the second outbreak, the estimate of the rate of death was much higher, upwards of 5,000 per day. It is most probable that the extreme death toll was due to this disease exposure being new to people living around the Mediterranean. Mortality rises when infectious diseases are introduced into a 'virgin population', that is a population which lacks acquired or inherited immunity to a specific disease. All told it has been suggested that a quarter to a third of the entire population perished, estimated at 60-70 million throughout the empire. What is undisputed is that Lucius Verus, co-emperor with Marcus Aurelius, died from the illness in 169 CE; Marcus Aurelius died 11 years later from the same illness. Ironically, it was Verus' soldiers who contributed to spreading the disease from the Near East to the rest of the empire.

          学者们对这一流行病对罗马帝国的影响和后果有许多争议。这场争论的焦点是用于计算实际死亡人数的方法。罗马历史学家卡西乌斯·狄奥（Dio Cassius，公元155-235年）估计，在疫情最严重的时候，罗马每天有2000人死亡。在第二次瘟疫爆发时，对死亡率的估计要高得多，每天高达5000人以上。最有可能的是，极端的死亡人数是由于这种疾病的暴露对生活在地中海周围的人们来说是新的。当传染病传染到"处女人口"，即缺乏对某种特定疾病的获得性或遗传性免疫力的人口时，死亡率会上升。有人认为，整个帝国有四分之一到三分之一的人口死亡，估计当时整个帝国有6-7千万人。毋庸置疑的是，与马可·奥勒留共同执政的卢基乌斯·维鲁斯于公元169年死于这种疾病；马可·奥勒留11年后死于这种疾病。具有讽刺意味的是，正是卢基乌斯·维鲁斯的士兵促成了这种疾病从近东向帝国其他地区的传播。

At the outbreak of the plague, Rome's military consisted of 28 legions totaling approximately 150,000 men. The legions were well-trained, well-armed, and well-prepared, none of which prevented them from catching the disease, falling ill, and dying. Regardless of their posts, the legionaries contracted the disease from fellow soldiers who had been on leave returning to active duty. The ill and dying caused manpower shortages especially along the German frontiers thus weakening the Romans' abilities to defend the empire. The lack of available soldiers caused Marcus Aurelius to recruit any able-bodied man who could fight: freed slaves, Germans, criminals, and gladiators. Depleting the supply of gladiators resulted in fewer games at home, which upset the Roman people who demanded more, not less, entertainment during a time of intense stress. The patchwork army failed in its duty: in 167 CE, Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine River for the first time in more than 200 years. The success of the external attacks, especially by the Germans, facilitated the decline of the Roman military, which, along with the economic disruptions, contributed ultimately to the decline and fall of the Empire.

          瘟疫爆发时，罗马的军队由28个军团组成，共约15万人。这些军团训练有素，装备精良，准备充分，但这些都不能阻止他们感染疾病，生病和死亡。不管他们在什么岗位上，军团成员都从休假返回现役的士兵那里感染了这种疾病。生病和死亡造成了人力短缺，特别是在日耳曼边境，从而削弱了罗马人保卫帝国的能力。由于缺乏可用的士兵，马可·奥勒留招募了任何能够战斗的健壮男子：被释放的奴隶、日耳曼人、罪犯和角斗士。角斗士的征召导致国内的比赛减少，这使罗马人民感到不安，他们在压力巨大的时期要求更多而不是更少的娱乐。拼凑起来的军队未能履行职责：公元167年，日耳曼部落200多年来首次渡过莱茵河。外部攻击的成功，特别是日耳曼人的攻击，使罗马军队进一步衰落，这与帝国经济上的混乱一起，最终导致了帝国的衰落与灭亡。

In more general terms, the horrific death toll reduced the number of taxpayers, recruits for the army, candidates for public office, businessmen, and farmers. At a time of increasing expenses for maintaining the empire and the necessary military forces to ensure the empire's security, government revenues declined. The decrease in tax revenues was attributable to less production on the farms as fewer farmers meant too much land left uncultivated. The scarcity of crops caused steep price increases along with decreasing food supplies. The plague's effect on the economy was not limited to the agricultural sector. Fewer craftsmen meant fewer things being made which stymied local economies. The shortage of workforce also led to higher wages for those who survived the epidemic and the lack of businessmen, merchants, traders, and financiers caused profound interruptions in domestic and international trade. All of these downturns meant fewer taxes for the state, which was already sorely pressed to meet its financial obligations.

          从更普遍的角度来看，可怕的死亡人数减少了纳税人、军队的新兵、公职候选人、商人和农民的数量。在维持帝国和确保帝国安全的必要军事力量的开支不断增加的时候，政府的收入下降了。税收的减少可归因于农场生产的减少，因为农民的减少意味着太多的土地没人来耕种。粮食稀缺导致了粮食价格急剧上升，同时食品供应也在减少。瘟疫对经济的影响并不限于农业部门。工匠数量的减少意味着货物产量的减少，这阻碍了地方经济。劳动力的短缺也导致那些在疫情中幸存下来的人的工资提高，而商人、商家、贸易商与金融家的缺乏则导致国内和国际贸易的严重中断。经济不景气意味着国家税收的减少，而国家在履行其财政义务方面已经承受着很大的压力。

对宗教的影响

The effect of the illness was not confined to the military and economy. Marcus Aurelius launched persecutions against Christians who refused to pay homage to the gods which, the emperor believed, in turn angered the gods whose wrath made itself known in the form of a devastating epidemic. Ironically the anti-Christian attacks produced the opposite effect amongst the general population.

          疾病的影响并不局限于军事和经济领域。马可·奥勒留对拒绝向神明致敬的基督徒进行了迫害，皇帝认为这反过来又激怒了神明，神明的愤怒以毁灭性的流行病的形式表现出来。具有讽刺意味的是，反基督教的攻击在普通民众中产生了相反的效果。

Unlike adherents to the Roman polytheistic system, Christians believed in an obligation to assist others in a time of need, including illness. Christians were willing to provide the most basic needs, food and water, for those too ill to fend for themselves. This simple level of nursing care produced good feelings between Christians and their pagan neighbors. Christians often stayed to provide assistance while pagans fled. Furthermore, Christianity provided meaning to life and death in times of crisis. Those who survived gained comfort in knowing that loved ones, who died as Christians, could receive the reward of heaven. The Christian promise of salvation in the afterlife attracted additional followers, thus expanding the growth of monotheism within a polytheistic culture. The gaining of adherents established the context in which Christianity would emerge as the sole, official religion of the empire.

          与罗马多神教系统的信徒不同，基督徒相信有义务在别人需要的时候帮助他们，包括疾病。基督徒愿意为那些生病无法自理的人提供最基本的需求，即食物和水。这种简单的护理水平在基督徒与他们的异教徒邻居之间产生了良好的感情。当异教徒逃离时，基督徒常常留下来提供帮助。此外，基督教在危机时刻为生命和死亡提供了意义。那些幸存下来的人因为知道作为基督徒死去的亲人可以得到天堂的奖赏而获得安慰。基督教对来世救赎的承诺吸引了更多的追随者，从而扩大了多神教文化中一神教的发展。信徒的增加为基督教成为帝国唯一的官方宗教创造了条件。

More recently, researchers and historians, such as A. E. R. Boak, suggest that the Antonine Plague, along with a series of other outbreaks, represents a useful starting point for understanding the beginning of the decline of the Roman Empire in the West. In Manpower Shortage and the Fall of the Roman Empire, Boak argues that the outbreak of plague in 166 CE contributed to a decline in population growth, leading the military to draft more peasants and local officials into its ranks resulting in lower food production and a lack of support for day-to-day affairs in administering the towns and cities, thus weakening Rome's abilities to fend off the barbarian invasions.

          最近，研究人员和历史学家，如阿瑟·爱德华·罗米莉·保克，认为安东尼大瘟疫以及其他一系列瘟疫的爆发，代表了理解罗马帝国在西方开始衰退的一个有效起点。在《人力短缺与罗马帝国的衰落》中，保克认为，公元166年爆发的瘟疫导致人口增长的下降，从而促使军队征召更多的农民和地方官员加入其队伍，又导致了粮食产量的下降，管理城镇的日常事务缺乏支持，从而削弱了罗马抵御野蛮人入侵的能力。

Eriny Hanna, in The Route to Crisis: Cities, Trade and Epidemics of the Roman Empire, argues that “Roman culture, urbanism, and the interdependence between cities and provinces” facilitated the spread of infectious disease thus creating the underpinnings for the collapse of the empire (Hanna, 1). Overcrowded cities, poor diets leading to malnutrition, and a lack of sanitary measures made Roman cities epicenters for disease transmission. The contagions easily spread along the land and sea trade routes which connected the cities to the outlying provinces.

          Eriny Hanna在《危机之路：罗马帝国的城市、贸易和流行病》中说，“罗马文化、城市主义以及城市和省份之间的相互依存关系”促进了传染病的传播，从而为帝国的崩溃打下了基础（Hanna，1）。拥挤的城市、营养不良的饮食，以及缺乏卫生措施，使罗马城市成为疾病传播的中心地带。传染病很容易沿着连接城市和外围省份的陆地和海上贸易路线传播。

Most recently, Kyle Harper suggests that "the paradoxes of social development and the inherent unpredictability of nature, worked in concert to bring about Rome's demise" (Harper, 2). In other words, climate change provided the environmental context for the introduction of new, more catastrophic diseases including the Antonine Plague which arrived at the end of a most favorable climate period and introduced the world to smallpox. Harper argues that the Antonine Plague was the first of three devasting pandemics, including the Plague of Cyprian (249-262 CE) and the Justinian Plague (541-542 CE), which rocked the foundations of the Roman Empire largely due to the high mortality rates. The very strengths which often characterize flattering descriptions of Rome's empire - the Roman army, the extent of the empire, the extensive trade networks, the size and number of Roman cities - ultimately provided the basis for devastating disease transmissions leading to the fall of the empire.

          最近，凯尔·哈珀提出，“社会发展的悖论和大自然固有的不可预测性，共同作用于罗马的灭亡”（Harper，2）。换句话说，气候变化为引入新的、更具灾难性的疾病提供了环境背景，包括在一个最有利的气候时期结束时到来的安东尼大瘟疫，并将天花引入世界。哈珀认为，安东尼大瘟疫是三次毁灭性大流行病中的第一次，包括塞浦路斯瘟疫（公元249-262年）和查士丁尼瘟疫（公元541-542年），它们主要由于高死亡率而撼动了罗马帝国的基础。对罗马帝国的谄媚描述中经常出现的优势——罗马军队、帝国的范围、广泛的贸易网络、罗马城市的规模和数量——最终为毁灭性的疾病传播提供了基础，导致帝国的衰落。

参考书目：

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How climate change and disease helped the fall of RomeAccessed 2 May 2019.

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Scheidel, W. "Roman wellbing and the economic consequences of the 'Antonine Plague." Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, November, 2009, pp. 1-29.

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原文作者：John Horgan

          目前是美国威斯康星州康科迪亚大学的历史助理教授。他正在进行研究的项目包括瘟疫和疾病以及世界历史中的食物。

原文网址：https://www.worldhistory.org/Antonine_Plague/