英語(yǔ)短文名人故事 政界精英 第2期:凱撒·奧古斯都

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　　Caesar Augustus 凱撒·奧古斯都

　　Many consider Augustus to be Rome's greatest emperor. 許多人認(rèn)為奧古斯都是羅馬最偉大的皇帝。

　　His policies certainly extended the Empire's life span and initiated the celebrated Pax Romana or Pax Augusta. 其政策無(wú)疑大大延長(zhǎng)了羅馬的壽命，并開(kāi)啟了羅馬的盛世，即“羅馬和平”或“奧古斯都的和平”。

　　He was intelligent,decisive，and a shrewd politician, but he was not perhaps as charismatic as Julius Caesar. Nevertheless, his legacy proved more enduring. 奧古斯都悟性很高，能斷大事，是極狡猾的一名政治天才。他并不像尤利鳥(niǎo)斯·凱撒般光彩照人，但其留給后人的遺產(chǎn)卻更持久。

　　The longevity of Augustus' reign and its legacy to the Roman world should not be overlooked as a key factor in its success. 奧古斯都的長(zhǎng)久統(tǒng)治和他留給羅馬的遺產(chǎn)是他成功的關(guān)鍵因素之一。

　　As Tacitus wrote, the younger generations alive in AD 14 had never known any form of government other than the Principate. 正如Tacitus所寫(xiě)的那樣，生活在公元14年的人，除了元首制外，不知道還有其他制度。

　　Had Augustus died earlier (in 23 BC,for instance), matters might have turned out differently. 要是他死得更早一些(比如公元前23年)，事情可能就大不一樣了。

　　The attrition of the civil wars on the old Republican oligarchy and the longevity of Augustus, therefore, must be seen as major contributing factors in the transformation of the Roman state into a monarchy in these years. 羅馬共和國(guó)寡頭政治時(shí)期的連年內(nèi)戰(zhàn)和奧古斯都的長(zhǎng)壽，是羅馬由共和制轉(zhuǎn)為帝制的決定性因素。

　　Augustus' own experience, his patience, his tact, and his political acumen also played their parts. 奧古斯都個(gè)人的城府、忍耐、手腕和他如日中天的政治聲望也起了一定作用。

　　He directed the future of the Empire down many lasting paths, from the existence of a standing professional army stationed at or near the frontiers, 其制定了在很多方面影響了以后的帝國(guó)政策:維持常備軍并屯軍于邊，

　　to the dynastic principle so often employed in the imperial succession, to the embellishment of the capital at the emperor's expense. 皇位的繼承原則與方式，使用皇帝的經(jīng)費(fèi)建設(shè)首都。

　　Augustus' ultimate legacy was the peace and prosperity the Empire enjoyed for the next two centuries under the system he initiated. 其最重要的遺產(chǎn)是建立了能讓帝國(guó)在未來(lái)二百年維持和平與繁榮的制度。

　　His memory was enshrined in the political ethos of the Imperial age as a paradigm of the good emperor. 在帝國(guó)時(shí)代，他的行為被奉為明君典范。

　　Every emperor of Rome adopted his name, Caesar Augustus, which gradually lost its character as a name and eventually became a title. 雖然后世羅馬皇帝都襲用“凱撒·奧古斯都”的稱(chēng)號(hào)，但只有少數(shù)人真正配得上。