爱德华吉本用蚕吐丝、蜂酿蜜的精神写了一本《罗马帝国衰亡史》

爱德华吉本用蚕吐丝、蜂酿蜜的精神写了一本罗马帝国衰亡史；

序：

好的学者使集中在一点的压力分散于每天的阅读之中，

进而他竟然还有点沾沾自喜。

因为考取了一个什么证书。但是那个有啥用呢？

爱德华吉本是个真人，真就真在，使用二十年的时间叙述罗马帝国是怎么没地。

阅读他老先生的书，

你得有过日子心。

他编书的都不着急，你读书的急什么？

一千三百多年的历史，二十年的文字来阐述，

就像司马迁把三千年的历史用十四年阐述，

这两位兄弟是可以谈一谈心得地。

吉本很好地利用了自己的刻薄，把它转化为一种文学形式，屡试不爽且暗爽，得到了自己内心在文学上的认可；

奇葩的是，当时英国教会瞪眼看着他没采取行动。

他的性格上也不允许有一些非议的困扰，所以考证务求全面而且来自于第一手材料。

这种自带美颜功能的历史书，就是《罗马帝国衰亡史》。

节选1：

The Conduct Of The Roman Government Towards The Christians, From The Reign Of Nero To That Of Constantine.

If we seriously consider the purity of the Christian religion, the sanctity of its moral precepts, and the innocent as well as austere lives of the greater number of those who during the first ages embraced the faith of the gospel, we should naturally suppose,that so benevolent a doctrine would have been received with due reverence, even by the unbelieving world;

 that the learned and the polite, however they may deride the miracles, would have esteemed the virtues, of the new sect; 

and that the magistrates,instead of persecuting, 

would have protected an order of men who yielded the most passive obedience to the laws, 

though they declined the active cares of war and Government. 

If, on the other hand, we recollect the universal toleration of Polytheism, 

as it was invariably maintained by the faith of the people, the incredulity of philosophers, 

and the policy of the Roman senate and emperors, 

we are at a loss to discover what new offence the Christians had committed, 

what new provocation could exasperate the mild indifference of antiquity, 

and what new motives could urge the Roman princes, 

who beheld without concern a thousand forms of religion subsisting in peace under their gentle sway,

to inflict a severe punishment on any part of their subjects, 

who had chosen for themselves a singular but an inoffensive mode of faith and worship.

The religious policy of the ancient world seems to have assumed a more stern and intolerant character,to oppose the progress of Christianity.     

About fourscore years after the death of Christ, his innocent disciples were punished with death by the sentence of a proconsul of the most amiable and philosophic character, and according to the laws of an emperor distinguished by the wisdom and justice of his general administration.

节选2：

The apology of Tertullian contains two very ancient,very singular, but at the same time very suspicious,instances of Imperial clemency; 

the edicts published by Tiberius, 

and by Marcus Antoninus, 

and designed not only to protect the innocence of the Christians, 

but even to proclaim those stupendous miracles which had attested the truth of their doctrine. 

The first of these examples is attended with some difficulties which might perplex a sceptical mind. 

We are required to believe, that Pontius Pilate informed the emperor of the unjust sentence of death which he had pronounced against an innocent, 

and, 

as it appeared,

a divine,person; 

and that, without acquiring the merit, he exposed himself to the danger of martyrdom; 

that Tiberius, who avowed his contempt for all religion,

immediately conceived the design of placing the Jewish Messiah among the gods of Rome;

 that his servile senate ventured to disobey the commands of their master;

that Tiberius, instead of resenting their refusal, contented himself with protecting the Christians from the severity of the laws, 

many years before such laws were enacted, or before the church had assumed any distinct name or existence;

and lastly,

 that the memory of this extraordinary transaction was preserved in the most public and authentic records,

 which escaped the knowledge of the historians of Greece and Rome, 

and were only visible to the eyes of an African Christian, 

who composed his apology one hundred and sixty years after the death of Tiberius. 

The edict of Marcus Antoninus is supposed to have been the effect of his devotion and gratitude for the miraculous deliverance which he had obtained in the Marcomannic war. 

The distress of the legions,the seasonable tempest of rain and hail, of thunder and of lightning, and the dismay and defeat of the barbarians, have been celebrated by the eloquence of several Pagan writers.

 If there were any Christians in that army, it was natural that they should ascribe some merit to the fervent prayers, which, in the moment of danger, they had offered up for their own and the public safety. 

But we are still assured by monuments of brass and marble, by the Imperial medals, and by the Antonine column, that neither the prince nor the people entertained any sense of this signal obligation,since they unanimously attribute their deliverance to the providence of Jupiter, and to the interposition of Mercury.

 During the whole course of his reign,Marcus despised the Christians as a philosopher, and punished them as a sovereign.

备忘录：

爱德华吉本，1737，1794，启蒙时代的作家。

吉本与康德同时代。

康德连头带尾比他多活23年。

吉本善于讽刺，康德敢于求知，他们这一代人的道德思想，独立于宗教以外。

所谓的启蒙时代，是有使命的学者们所承担起来的，不是阿谀奉承，顺风接屁的人开创的。

启蒙运动衔巴洛克之尾，引法国革命、美国独立之头，十八世纪并不平静。

霍布斯写《利维坦》、孟德斯鸠主张三权分立、伏尔泰写《老实人》、康德说“人不是工具！”、吉本写《罗马》、卢梭写《社会契约论》。

六零后的拿破仑抗拒历史潮流，虽然权霸欧洲，但最终落得孤岛残生；

七零后的执着的聋子贝多芬，耳聋心不聋，他能够倾听民众的低吟，忘我工作，贝多芬生受日耳曼民众的拥戴。

1793巴黎大学被拿破仑取缔，但是前贤们的书保存下来。

所以，学习的根我想不会断绝。

历史像座机听筒的电话线一样，转着圈圈前进。