Chapter 39 - Rome and the Christians / 第三十九章 - 罗马与基督教

Nero, the Evil Emperor / 尼禄，邪恶的皇帝

Augustus Caesar was a good and fair ruler of Rome. His people loved him, and his army obeyed him. His reign was a good time for the city of Rome, and for all of the lands that Rome controlled.

奥古斯都·凯撒是罗马的一位好而公正的统治者。他的人民爱戴他，他的军队服从他。他的统治对于罗马城以及罗马控制的所有土地来说都是美好的时期。

But after Augustus Caesar died, Rome had other emperors who weren't fair and just. They were cruel to their subjects. They got richer and richer and spent more and more money on themselves, while the people of Rome got poorer and poorer.

但是在奥古斯都·凯撒去世后，罗马出现了其他不公正的皇帝。他们对臣民十分残酷。他们变得越来越富有，在自己身上花费越来越多的金钱，而罗马人民却变得越来越贫穷。

The emperor of Rome was supposed to tell the army how to fight, but the emperors after Augustus Caesar were such bad generals that the army refused to obey them! One Roman emperor even made his horse a consul, and told all the people of Rome to do whatever the horse said.

罗马皇帝本应该指挥军队如何作战，但奥古斯都·凯撒之后的皇帝们都是如此糟糕的将军，以至于军队拒绝服从他们！有一个罗马皇帝甚至任命他的马为执政官，并告诉所有罗马人要听从这匹马的话。

The worst Roman emperor of all was named Nero. Nero had everyone who disagreed with him murdered. His favorite pastime was playing the lyre; he was a very bad lyre player, but everyone was afraid to tell him so.

所有罗马皇帝中最坏的一个叫做尼禄。尼禄把所有反对他的人都杀死了。他最喜欢的消遣是弹奏里拉琴；他弹得很糟糕，但每个人都害怕告诉他实情。

So they all praised his terrible music. "When I die," Nero used to say, "what a loss I shall be to the art of music!" And the Romans in the royal court all agreed with him, because they were afraid for their lives.

所以他们都赞美他糟糕的音乐。"当我死的时候，"尼禄常说，"对于音乐艺术来说将是多大的损失啊！"皇室宫廷里的所有罗马人都同意他的话，因为他们害怕丢掉性命。

After Nero had been emperor of Rome for ten years, he decided to take a vacation from Rome. He went out to his house in the country and invited his favorite friends to go with him. They had a party that went on for days and days.

在尼禄当了十年罗马皇帝之后，他决定离开罗马去度假。他去了乡下的房子，并邀请他最喜爱的朋友们一起去。他们举办了一个持续了很多天的聚会。

Meanwhile, Rome was burning. The fire began late at night, in a rickety wooden building in a dark and dirty Roman street.

与此同时，罗马正在燃烧。大火在深夜时分开始，起火点是在一个黑暗肮脏的罗马街道上一座摇摇欲坠的木制建筑里。

No one knows exactly how it started. But the poor families who lived in that part of town often built small fires to keep warm. Perhaps a coal fell out of one of these fires, onto the dry wooden floor. It smoldered away until the floorboard caught fire.

没人确切知道火是怎么开始的。但住在城市那个区域的贫穷家庭经常生小火来保持温暖。也许一块炭火从其中一堆火中掉出来，落到干燥的木制地板上。它慢慢燃烧直到地板着火。

The fire spread to a wall, and then to the entire building. And then the flames leapt to the building next door. Soon a whole section of Rome was on fire. The fire roared along until it came up against a stone wall. The rich people of Rome had built the wall to keep fires from spreading into the wealthy part of town.

火势蔓延到墙壁，然后蔓延到整座建筑。接着火焰跳到了隔壁的建筑。很快罗马的整个区域都着火了。大火咆哮着向前烧，直到遇到一堵石墙。罗马的富人建造了这堵墙来阻止火势蔓延到城里富裕的区域。

But this fire was stronger than the wall. The flames leapt right over the wall and kept on burning. The people of Rome realized that this was the worst fire in Roman history. They sent a messenger to Nero to tell him what was happening.

但这场火比墙壁更强。火焰直接跳过墙壁继续燃烧。罗马人意识到这是罗马历史上最严重的火灾。他们派了一个信使去告诉尼禄发生的事情。

The messenger galloped hard until he reached the country house where Nero and his friends were celebrating. "Your Majesty!" the messenger cried. "Your city is burning!" But Nero didn't even answer the messenger. He ordered him taken away, before he ruined the party.

信使拼命疾驰，直到到达尼禄和他的朋友们正在庆祝的乡间别墅。"陛下！"信使叫道。"您的城市在燃烧！"但尼禄甚至都没有回答信使。他命令把他带走，免得破坏了聚会。

And he didn't return to Rome for days more. When he finally did come back to Rome, he found his people waiting for him. Hundreds of families had been driven out of their homes. Everything they owned had been burned. They were cold and hungry. They begged Nero for help.

他又过了好几天才回到罗马。当他最终回到罗马时，发现他的人民在等着他。数百个家庭被赶出了他们的家园。他们拥有的一切都被烧毁了。他们又冷又饿。他们向尼禄乞求帮助。

"Remember your great ancestor, Augustus Caesar!" they cried. "He gave money to every poor family in Rome! Surely you can help us out of your great wealth!" Nero did give some money to the poor and the homeless. But he made a big mistake.

"记住您伟大的祖先奥古斯都·凯撒！"他们哭喊道。"他给罗马的每个贫穷家庭都发过钱！您肯定能从您巨大的财富中拿出一些来帮助我们！"尼禄确实给了一些钱给穷人和无家可归的人。但他犯了一个大错误。

He announced, "The fire has cleared away ugly, broken-down houses and left space for my new building projects! I will take the land where those houses used to stand and build myself a new and bigger palace." The people of Rome were furious. Nero had been unpopular even before the fire. Now they hated him even more.

他宣布说："大火清除了丑陋、破旧的房屋，为我的新建筑项目留出了空间！我要占据那些房屋曾经矗立的土地，为自己建造一座更新更大的宫殿。"罗马人民愤怒了。尼禄在火灾前就不受欢迎。现在他们更加憎恨他了。

Soon, Nero realized that the Romans were on the edge of rebelling and taking his throne away. He had to find someone to blame for the fire—right away. "I know who set the fire to Rome!" he told the Romans. "It was those Christians! They set the fire on purpose!"

很快，尼禄意识到罗马人正处在起义的边缘，要夺取他的王位。他必须马上找到某个人来为火灾承担责任。"我知道是谁放火烧了罗马！"他告诉罗马人。"是那些基督教徒！他们故意放火！"

Christians in the Catacombs / 地下墓穴中的基督教徒

Of course, the Christians hadn't set the fire. But many people believed Nero's lies. The Romans began to persecute the Christians. Christians were arrested and executed. Some of them were forced to fight in gladiator shows. Others were killed by wild animals.

当然，基督教徒并没有放火。但许多人相信了尼禄的谎话。罗马人开始迫害基督教徒。基督教徒被逮捕和处死。有些人被迫参加角斗士表演。其他人被野生动物杀死。

The Romans punished runaway slaves, criminals, and Christians by making them fight wild animals. But what was wrong with being a Christian? In the Roman Empire, it was a crime to be a Christian, because Christians would not sacrifice to the emperor.

罗马人通过让逃跑的奴隶、罪犯和基督教徒与野兽搏斗来惩罚他们。但做基督教徒有什么错呢？在罗马帝国，做基督教徒是一种罪，因为基督教徒不愿意向皇帝献祭。

The Roman emperors kept control over their people by saying, "Obey us, because we are gods!" The emperors claimed to be descended from Jupiter, the king of the gods. Special feast days were held every year in honor of the emperors.

罗马皇帝通过说"服从我们，因为我们是神！"来保持对人民的控制。皇帝们声称自己是众神之王朱庇特的后代。每年都会举行特殊的节日来纪念皇帝们。

At these celebrations, all Romans were supposed to worship the emperor and promise to obey only him. But Christians refused to do this. "We only worship our God!" they told other Romans. "We refuse to bow down to someone who is only a man! The emperor is not God. We will pray for him, but we will not worship him."

在这些庆祝活动中，所有罗马人都应该崇拜皇帝并承诺只服从他。但基督教徒拒绝这样做。"我们只崇拜我们的神！"他们告诉其他罗马人。"我们拒绝向一个只是凡人的人跪拜！皇帝不是神。我们会为他祈祷，但不会崇拜他。"

The Roman emperors were furious. If the Christians disobeyed them, other Romans might be brave enough to do the same. So the emperors ordered Christians arrested and put in jail. Many Christians were put in prison. Others were forced to fight lions.

罗马皇帝们愤怒了。如果基督教徒不服从他们，其他罗马人可能也会有勇气这样做。所以皇帝们命令逮捕基督教徒并关进监牢。许多基督教徒被关进监狱。其他人被迫与狮子搏斗。

The Christians were frightened by this persecution. So they stopped holding their meetings in public. Instead, they dug underground passages beneath Rome and beneath other cities in the Roman Empire.

基督教徒被这种迫害吓坏了。所以他们停止在公开场合举行聚会。取而代之，他们在罗马和罗马帝国其他城市的地下挖掘了地下通道。

They held their religious meetings in these underground passages, in secret. The passages were called catacombs. Down in the catacombs, the Christians also buried their dead. The underground tunnels were dark and damp. Stones lined the floors.

他们在这些地下通道里秘密举行宗教聚会。这些通道被称为地下墓穴。在地下墓穴里，基督教徒还埋葬他们的死者。地下隧道黑暗而潮湿。地面铺着石头。

They were lit only by torches. Shadows lurked in every corner. But when the Christians were underground, they were safe. This secrecy soon made people even more suspicious of the Christians. What were they doing down there, underground? Rumors started to fly around.

只有火把照明。影子潜伏在每个角落。但当基督教徒在地下时，他们是安全的。这种秘密性很快让人们对基督教徒更加怀疑。他们在地下到底在做什么？谣言开始四处传播。

Maybe the Christians were calling down floods and famine on the rest of the Roman Empire. Maybe they were planning to overthrow the government! "We must wipe out this new and harmful religion," one Roman senator wrote to another.

也许基督教徒在祈求洪水和饥荒降临到罗马帝国其他地方。也许他们在策划推翻政府！"我们必须消灭这个新的有害的宗教，"一个罗马参议员写信给另一个人说。

"Otherwise, Romans will cease to worship the emperor." Of course, the Christians weren't calling down famines or trying to overthrow the government. They were just meeting peacefully together to talk about Jesus and his teachings. They protested to the emperors that they were doing nothing wrong.

"否则，罗马人将不再崇拜皇帝。"当然，基督教徒并没有祈求饥荒或试图推翻政府。他们只是和平地聚在一起谈论耶稣和他的教导。他们向皇帝们抗议说他们没有做错任何事。

But the Roman emperors kept right on throwing them in jail. Soon Christians were even afraid to say to people they didn't know, "I am a Christian! Are you?" If they told the wrong person they were a Christian, they might end up in jail. So they decided on a secret symbol. It looked like a fish.

但罗马皇帝们仍然继续把他们关进监狱。很快基督教徒甚至害怕对不认识的人说"我是基督教徒！你是吗？"如果他们告诉了错误的人他们是基督教徒，他们可能最终会被关进监狱。所以他们决定使用一个秘密符号。它看起来像一条鱼。

When a Christian met someone she didn't know, she might draw a fish on a wall, or in the sand at her feet, or on the edge of a piece of paper. If the other person was a Christian, he would draw a fish too. Then both Christians knew that it was safe to talk to each other. Today, you can still see the catacombs that the Christians dug below the cities of the Roman Empire.

当一个基督教徒遇到她不认识的人时，她可能会在墙上、脚下的沙地上，或者在一张纸的边上画一条鱼。如果对方也是基督教徒，他也会画一条鱼。这样两个基督教徒就知道彼此交谈是安全的。今天，你仍然可以看到基督教徒在罗马帝国城市地下挖掘的地下墓穴。

Some of the catacombs have tombs of ancient Christians in them. Others have pictures that the Christians drew of Jesus. Archaeologists have found fish carved on the walls as well—secret messages that the Christians sent to each other.

一些地下墓穴里有古代基督教徒的陵墓。其他的有基督教徒画的耶稣的图像。考古学家还发现了刻在墙上的鱼——基督教徒互相传递的秘密信息。

The Emperor Is a Christian! / 皇帝成为了基督教徒！

The Roman emperors kept on persecuting Christians until an emperor named Constantine came to the throne. Constantine was a fair man. He worshipped the Roman god Apollo, but he didn't think it was right to put people in jail because of the god they worshipped. So he ordered all persecution to stop. No one was to arrest Christians for being Christians any more.

罗马皇帝们一直迫害基督教徒，直到一个名叫君士坦丁的皇帝登上王位。君士坦丁是一个公正的人。他崇拜罗马神阿波罗，但他认为因为人们崇拜的神而把他们关进监狱是不对的。所以他下令停止所有迫害。不再因为是基督教徒而逮捕任何人。

Constantine himself went on worshipping Apollo—until something strange happened to him. Different ancient writers tell us different stories about Constantine. Some say he had a dream. Others say he had a vision. But whatever Constantine saw, everyone agrees about what happened next: The emperor himself became a Christian!

君士坦丁本人继续崇拜阿波罗——直到发生了一件奇异的事情。不同的古代作者讲述了关于君士坦丁的不同故事。有些人说他做了一个梦。其他人说他看到了一个异象。但无论君士坦丁看到了什么，每个人都同意接下来发生的事：皇帝本人成了基督教徒！

Constantine was marching towards the most important battle of his life. He had fought the enemy for months now, and had not been able to triumph. The coming battle was his last hope. Would he win? Would the Roman Empire remain safe? Or would his soldiers be defeated, driven backwards by the enemy and forced to surrender?

君士坦丁正在向他人生中最重要的战役进军。他已经与敌人作战了几个月，但一直无法获胜。即将到来的战斗是他最后的希望。他会赢吗？罗马帝国会保持安全吗？还是他的士兵会被打败，被敌人赶回去并被迫投降？

He would know tomorrow, when they met the enemy at the Milvian Bridge. He looked behind him at his army. They had fought hard against invaders and won. But now they were so tired they could barely drag themselves along. Their feet hurt; their heels were blistered in their shoes, and their armor was heavy on their shoulders.

明天他就会知道答案了，那时他们将在米尔维安桥与敌人相遇。他回头看了看他的军队。他们曾经与入侵者激烈作战并获胜。但现在他们如此疲惫，几乎拖不动自己。他们的脚疼；脚跟在鞋子里起了泡，他们的盔甲沉重地压在肩膀上。

[原书插图：尼禄皇帝肖像画]

Constantine glanced up at the gray, cloudy sky. On top of everything else, he thought, it was going to rain on them. They would be tired, discouraged, and soaking wet. They would have to set up camp in the pouring rain, and no one would sleep well before the next morning's battle.

君士坦丁抬头看了看灰暗多云的天空。最糟糕的是，他想，天要对他们下雨了。他们会又累又沮丧，还浑身湿透。他们将不得不在瓢泼大雨中搭建营地，在第二天早上的战斗前没人能睡好。

"Look," the soldier beside him said. "The sun is coming out." Constantine squinted at the sky. It did look brighter. But— "That's not the sun," he said. "What is it? It … it looks like a cross!" Constantine and his soldiers stared with open mouths. Above them in the sky hovered a cross of light, growing larger and brighter by the moment.

"看，"身边的士兵说。"太阳出来了。"君士坦丁眯着眼看天空。确实看起来更亮了。但是——"那不是太阳，"他说。"那是什么？它...它看起来像一个十字架！"君士坦丁和他的士兵们张着嘴凝视着。在他们上方的天空中悬浮着一个由光组成的十字架，正在逐渐变得更大更亮。

The golden light from the cross fell across their weary faces until they were forced to blink and shield their eyes with their hands. The grass around them glittered with light! Underneath the cross, fiery letters burned themselves across the sky. Constantine read them out, one by one: By this sign you will be victor.

十字架发出的金色光芒洒在他们疲惫的脸上，直到他们不得不眨眼并用手遮住眼睛。他们周围的草地闪闪发光！在十字架下方，燃烧的字母在天空中显现。君士坦丁一个一个地读了出来：凭借这个标记你将成为胜利者。

"It is the cross of Christ!" Constantine gasped. "What does it mean?" the soldiers asked. "It means that we must fight for God," Constantine answered. "The God of the Christians!" When they set up camp that night, Constantine sent out an order to his men. "Every soldier must have the sign of Christ on his shield!" he ordered. "Until that is done, we will not go into battle!"

"这是基督的十字架！"君士坦丁倒吸一口气。"这意味着什么？"士兵们问道。"这意味着我们必须为神而战，"君士坦丁回答。"基督教徒的神！"那天晚上当他们搭建营地时，君士坦丁向他的手下发出了一道命令。"每个士兵的盾牌上都必须有基督的标记！"他命令道。"直到做完这件事，我们才会进入战斗！"

So each soldier painted onto his shield the Greek letters standing for Christ's name. When they went into battle, Constantine led the charge under a banner bearing the name of the Christian God. And Constantine's army won the Battle of Milvian Bridge. When he stood victorious on the bridge, Constantine raised his sword to the sky.

所以每个士兵都在盾牌上画上代表基督名字的希腊字母。当他们进入战斗时，君士坦丁在印有基督教上帝名字的旗帜下率先冲锋。君士坦丁的军队赢得了米尔维安桥之战。当他胜利地站在桥上时，君士坦丁将剑举向天空。

"The God of the Christians gave me this victory!" he announced. "From now on, I will always fight under his banner. And I will only worship him!" After he won this battle, Constantine became a Christian. He claimed that the Christian God had helped him to beat the enemy. He made Sunday a holiday all over Rome, so that people could go to church.

"基督教徒的神给了我这个胜利！"他宣布。"从现在开始，我将永远在他的旗帜下战斗。我只崇拜他！"赢得这场战斗后，君士坦丁成为了基督教徒。他声称基督教的神帮助他战胜了敌人。他将星期日定为整个罗马的节日，这样人们就可以去教堂了。

Soon, many more people in the Roman Empire became Christians, following the example of their emperor. After he became a Christian, Constantine decided that the new center of the Roman Empire should no longer be in Rome. After all, Rome was an old city, beginning to look shabby and run-down. Constantine moved the capital of the empire to another city that he named after himself: Constantinople.

很快，罗马帝国中更多的人效仿他们皇帝的榜样成为了基督教徒。在成为基督教徒后，君士坦丁决定罗马帝国的新中心不应该再在罗马。毕竟，罗马是一个古老的城市，开始看起来破旧不堪。君士坦丁将帝国的首都迁移到另一个以他自己命名的城市：君士坦丁堡。

[原书插图：罗马和君士坦丁堡地图]

From now on, Constantinople, not Rome, would be the center of Roman power. But that power would not last long!

从现在开始，君士坦丁堡，而不是罗马，将成为罗马权力的中心。但这种权力不会持续很久！

Note to Parent: Nero ruled from AD/CE 54–68. Constantine ruled from AD/CE 312–337.

📚 Chapter Vocabulary / 本章词汇表

基础生活词汇 / Basic Life Vocabulary

house

/haʊs/

中文：房子，住宅
定义：人们居住的建筑物
例句：Nero went to his house in the country.

people

/ˈpiːpəl/

中文：人民，民众
定义：群体中的人们
例句：His people loved him.

money

/ˈmʌni/

中文：钱，金钱
定义：用于购买物品的货币
例句：They spent more and more money on themselves.

friends

/frɛndz/

中文：朋友们
定义：亲密的伙伴
例句：He invited his favorite friends to go with him.

time

/taɪm/

中文：时间，时期
定义：历史的某个阶段
例句：His reign was a good time for Rome.

help

/hɛlp/

中文：帮助，援助
定义：给予支持或协助
例句：They begged Nero for help.

历史专业词汇 / Historical Terms

emperor

/ˈɛmpərər/

中文：皇帝
定义：帝国的最高统治者
例句：Augustus Caesar was a good emperor.

empire

/ˈɛmpaɪər/

中文：帝国
定义：由皇帝统治的大国家
例句：The Roman Empire was very powerful.

Christians

/ˈkrɪstʃənz/

中文：基督教徒
定义：信仰耶稣基督的人
例句：Christians were persecuted by the Romans.

catacombs

/ˈkætəˌkomz/

中文：地下墓穴
定义：地下的墓地和聚会场所
例句：Christians held meetings in the catacombs.

persecution

/ˌpɜrsɪˈkjuʃən/

中文：迫害
定义：对某个群体的压迫和折磨
例句：Constantine ordered all persecution to stop.

Constantine

/ˈkɑnstənˌtin/

中文：君士坦丁
定义：第一位信基督教的罗马皇帝
例句：Constantine became a Christian after seeing a vision.

宗教相关词汇 / Religious Vocabulary

worship

/ˈwɜrʃɪp/

中文：崇拜，敬拜
定义：对神灵的宗教性敬仰
例句：Christians refused to worship the emperor.

sacrifice

/ˈsækrəˌfaɪs/

中文：祭祀，献祭
定义：向神明奉献物品的宗教仪式
例句：Christians would not sacrifice to the emperor.

cross

/krɔs/

中文：十字架
定义：基督教的主要象征
例句：Constantine saw a cross of light in the sky.

vision

/ˈvɪʒən/

中文：异象，幻象
定义：神奇的宗教性景象
例句：Some say Constantine had a vision.

church

/tʃɜrtʃ/

中文：教堂，教会
定义：基督教徒聚会和祈祷的地方
例句：People could go to church on Sunday.

fish

/fɪʃ/

中文：鱼
定义：早期基督教徒的秘密符号
例句：Christians used a fish as their secret symbol.

政治军事词汇 / Political & Military Terms

battle

/ˈbætəl/

中文：战斗，战役
定义：军队之间的武装冲突
例句：Constantine won the Battle of Milvian Bridge.

army

/ˈɑrmi/

中文：军队
定义：国家的武装力量
例句：His army obeyed him.

victory

/ˈvɪktəri/

中文：胜利
定义：在战斗或竞争中获胜
例句：The God of the Christians gave me this victory!

capital

/ˈkæpɪtəl/

中文：首都，首府
定义：国家或地区的政治中心
例句：Constantine moved the capital to Constantinople.

throne

/θroʊn/

中文：王座，王位
定义：君主的座椅或权力
例句：They wanted to take his throne away.

shield

/ʃild/

中文：盾牌
定义：战士用来防护的装备
例句：Every soldier must have the sign of Christ on his shield!

📋 处理统计信息 / Processing Statistics

✅ 章节标题：第39章 - 罗马与基督教
✅ 段落总数：32个双语对照段落
✅ 词汇标注：74个重点词汇
✅ 词汇卡片：24个分类词汇卡片
✅ 特殊元素：2个插图标记，1个时间标记
✅ JavaScript发音功能：已集成
✅ 响应式设计：支持移动端
✅ 质量检查：格式统一，功能完整