双语历史,中世纪──古今文明

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人民教育出版社历史室　陈　其　编译







Civilizations, Past and Present (14)



The Middle ages



After the "fall" Of Rome, the great classical tradition was carried on for another thousand years without interruption in Constantinople, or "New Rome". Until it fell in 1453 the Byzantine Empire acted as a buffer for Western Europe, staving off attack after attack from the east and projecting its civilization throughout Eastern Europe and Russia.



《古今文明》 (14)



中世纪



罗马“衰亡”后，伟大的古典传统在君士坦丁堡，或称“新罗马”，没有中断地又延续了一千多年。直到1453年陷落，拜占庭帝国一直扮演着西欧缓冲带的角色，挡住了来自东方的一次次进攻，并把自己的文明传遍东欧和俄罗斯。



The culminating series of attacks, resulting in the collapse of the empire, was launched by the adherents of Islam--a dynamic way of life developed by the followers of Muhammad, an eloquent prophet who instilled in his people a vital sense of their destiny to rule in the name of Allah. With unbelievable swiftness the followers of the prophet became rulers of Near East, swept across North Africa and surged into Spain, and expanded eastward to the frontiers of China.



导致拜占庭帝国崩溃的一系列进攻高潮，是伊斯兰教信徒发动的。伊斯兰教是穆罕默德的追随者发展出的一种充满活力的生活方式。穆罕默德是善于雄辩的先知，他向自己的人民灌输了以阿拉名义统治世界的强烈的天定命运意识。以令人无法置信的迅速，这位先知的追随者们成为近东的统治者，横扫了北非，涌入西班牙，并且东扩到中国的边疆。



The Muslims, the great middlemen of medieval times, shuttled back and forth across vast expanses, trading the wares of East and West and acting as the conveyors of culture, including their own. Throughout most of the Middle Ages the East outshone the West even as Constantinople and Baghdad outdazzled in material magnificence and intellectual and artistic triumphs the capitals of Western Europe.



穆斯林们，中世纪时期的伟大中介人，往返穿越着广袤的空间，进行东西方之间的货物贸易，扮演着包括自己文化在内的文化传递者的角色。在中世纪的绝大部分时间里，正是在君士坦丁堡和巴格达无论在物质的辉煌和文化艺术的成就比西欧各国国都更加灿烂夺目之时，东方使西方黯然失色。



In Europe, after the decline of the Roman Empire, a painful search for stability began. Centuries of confusion followed until Charlemagne established a new "Roman" Empire.  This ambitious experiment was premature, however, and after its collapse a new system had to be created--one that would offer at least a minimum of security, political Organization and law enforcement. Under this system, called feudalism, the landed nobility acted as police force, judiciary, and army. Crude as it was ，feudalism served to mitigate the chaos that followed the fall of Charlemagne's empire.



在欧洲，在罗马帝国衰亡后，开始了痛苦的寻求稳定的过程。紧接着是几百年的混乱，直到查理曼建立起一个新的“罗马”帝国。然而，这个野心勃勃的实验先天不足，帝国崩溃以后，必须创立一个新制度──这个制度至少要提供最小限度的安全、政治组织和法律实行。在这个称为封建制度的制度下面，土地贵族扮演着警察、法院和军队的角色。它当然是残酷的，但封建制度毕竟有助于减轻查里曼帝国灭亡后的混乱状态。



Yet the feudalism was inherently rural and   rigid, and by the eleventh century new forces were at work.Shadowy outlines of new kingdom--Germany, England, France, and Spain--began to emerge under directions of vigorous monarchs.  Europe went on the offensive, ejecting the Muslims from the southern part of the Continent, breaking Muslim control of the Mediterranean, and launching crusades to capture Jerusalem from the "infidels". The closed economy of the feudal countryside gave way before the revival of trade and communications, the growth of towns, the increased use of money as a medium of exchange, and the rise of a new class in society—bourgeoisie.



但是，封建主义在本质上是农业的和顽固的，到11世纪时，新生力量开始萌动。在强大君主的领导下，德意志、英格兰、法兰西和西班牙等新王国的模糊轮廓开始出现。欧洲继续它的进攻态势，把穆斯林从欧洲大陆南部驱逐出去，打破了穆斯林对地中海的控制，发动十字军东征从“异教徒”手中夺取耶路撒冷。在贸易和交通复兴、城镇发展、不断增长的作为交换中介物钱币的使用和社会新阶级即资产阶级的兴起面前，封建农村的封闭经济只得让路了。

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罗马法的演进──古今文明（十三）  



人民教育出版社历史室　陈　其　编译







Civilizations: Past and Present (13)



Evolution of Roman law



Of the contribution made by the Romans in government, Roman law is one of the most significant. Two great legal systems, Roman law and English common law, still remain the foundation of legal systems in most modern Western nations. Roman law is the basis for the law codes of Italy, France, Scotland, the Latin American countries, and Louisiana. Where English common law is used as in the United States (except in Louisiana), there is also a basic heritage of great legal principles developed by ancient Roman jurists.



古今文明（13）



罗马法的演进



在罗马人对[国家]治理的贡献中，罗马法是最有意义的贡献之一。罗马法和英国普通法这两大司法制度，仍然是所有现代西方国家司法制度的基础。罗马法是意大利、法国、苏格兰、拉丁美洲国家和路易斯安那州法典的基础。在使用英国普通法的地方如美国（除路易斯安那州），也存在着罗马法学家制定的伟大法律原则的基本遗产。



Roman law developed slowly over a period of about a thousand years. At first, as in all societies, the law was unwritten custom, handed down from a remote past, and harsh in its judgments. As noted earlier, in the fifth century B. C. E. this law was put in writing in the Law of the Twelve Tables, as the result of the plebeian demand.



罗马法是在约一千年的时期内慢慢发展起来的。最初，就像在所有国家一样，罗马法是从久远的过去传下来的不成文习惯，判决极其严苛。正如前面提到的，公元前5世纪在罗马平民的要求下，罗马法在《十二铜表法》中成为成文法。



During the remainder of the Republic the body of Roman Law (jus civile, “law of the citizen”) was enlarged by legislation passed by the Senate and the assembly and by judicial interpretation of existing law to meet new conditions. By the second century C.E. the emperor had become the sole source of law, a responsibility he entrusted to scholars “skilled in the law” (jusisprudentes). These scholars stuck fast to the principle of equity (“Follow the beneficial interpretation”; “Letter of law is height of injustice:”) and to Stoic philosophy with its concept of “law of nature” (jus naturale)common to all people and assessable by human reasons.



在共和国的最后时期，经过元老院和人民大会通过的立法和为适应新情况对现行法律进行的司法解释，罗马法（jus civile，“公民法”）的主体得到扩展。公元二世纪，皇帝通过把[制定法律]的职责委托给“精通法律的”(jusisprudentes)学者们，而成为法律的唯一来源。这些学者们坚定地恪守平等原则(“遵循有利解释”；“法律的严格字面意义是最大的不公正”)，他们还坚守斯多葛哲学中的观念──“自然法”(jus naturale)对所有人是共同的、人类理性能够对其作出评估。



As a result, the power of the father over   the family was weakened, women gained control over their property, and the principle that an accused person was innocent until proven guilty was established. Finally, in the sixth century C.E. the enormous bulk of Roman law from all sources was codified and so preserved for the future.



结果, 父亲对家庭的权力受到削弱, 妇女获得对自己财产的控制权,并确立起证明有罪前被控人无罪的原则。最后,公元六世纪时,出自不同来源的庞大的罗马法内容得到编纂整理，因而为未来保存下来。