愛德華吉本用蠶吐絲、蜂釀蜜的精神寫了一本羅馬帝國衰亡史；

序：

好的學(xué)者使集中在一點的壓力分散于每天的閱讀之中，

進而他竟然還有點沾沾自喜。

因為考取了一個什么證書。但是那個有啥用呢？

愛德華吉本是個真人，真就真在，使用二十年的時間敘述羅馬帝國是怎么沒地。

閱讀他老先生的書，

你得有過日子心。

他編書的都不著急，你讀書的急什么？

一千三百多年的歷史，二十年的文字來闡述，

就像司馬遷把三千年的歷史用十四年闡述，

這兩位兄弟是可以談一談心得地。

吉本很好地利用了自己的刻薄，把它轉(zhuǎn)化為一種文學(xué)形式，屢試不爽且暗爽，得到了自己內(nèi)心在文學(xué)上的認可；

奇葩的是，當(dāng)時英國教會瞪眼看著他沒采取行動。

他的性格上也不允許有一些非議的困擾，所以考證務(wù)求全面而且來自于第一手材料。

這種自帶美顏功能的歷史書，就是《羅馬帝國衰亡史》。

節(jié)選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.

節(jié)選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.

備忘錄：

愛德華吉本，1737，1794，啟蒙時代的作家。

吉本與康德同時代。

康德連頭帶尾比他多活23年。

吉本善于諷刺，康德敢于求知，他們這一代人的道德思想，獨立于宗教以外。

所謂的啟蒙時代，是有使命的學(xué)者們所承擔(dān)起來的，不是阿諛奉承，順風(fēng)接屁的人開創(chuàng)的。

啟蒙運動銜巴洛克之尾，引法國革命、美國獨立之頭，十八世紀并不平靜。

霍布斯寫《利維坦》、孟德斯鳩主張三權(quán)分立、伏爾泰寫《老實人》、康德說“人不是工具！”、吉本寫《羅馬》、盧梭寫《社會契約論》。

六零后的拿破侖抗拒歷史潮流，雖然權(quán)霸歐洲，但最終落得孤島殘生；

七零后的執(zhí)著的聾子貝多芬，耳聾心不聾，他能夠傾聽民眾的低吟，忘我工作，貝多芬生受日耳曼民眾的擁戴。

1793巴黎大學(xué)被拿破侖取締，但是前賢們的書保存下來。

所以，學(xué)習(xí)的根我想不會斷絕。

歷史像座機聽筒的電話線一樣，轉(zhuǎn)著圈圈前進。