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the story of mankind-第15章

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Sea; and a Greek on his mother's side; had seen the possibility

of establishing a second Alexandrian Empire。 He began his

campaign for world…domination with the murder of all Roman

citizens who happened to be in Asia Minor; men; women and

children。 Such an act; of course; meant war。 The Senate

equipped an army to march against the King of Pontus and

punish him for his crime。 But who was to be commander…in…

chief? ‘‘Sulla;'' said the Senate; ‘‘because he is Consul。''

‘‘Marius;'' said the mob; ‘‘because he has been Consul five times

and because he is the champion of our rights。''



Possession is nine points of the law。 Sulla happened to be

in actual command of the army。 He went west to defeat

Mithridates and Marius fled to Africa。 There he waited

until he heard that Sulla had crossed into Asia。 He then

returned to Italy; gathered a motley crew of malcontents;

marched on Rome and entered the city with his professional

highwaymen; spent five days and five nights; slaughtering the

enemies of the Senatorial party; got himself elected Consul and

promptly died from the excitement of the last fortnight。



There followed four years of disorder。 Then Sulla; having

defeated Mithridates; announced that he was ready to return

to Rome and settle a few old scores of his own。 He was as

good as his word。 For weeks his soldiers were busy executing

those of their fellow citizens who were suspected of democratic

sympathies。 One day they got hold of a young fellow who

had been often seen in the company of Marius。 They were

going to hang him when some one interfered。 ‘‘The boy is too

young;'' he said; and they let him go。 His name was Julius

Caesar。 You shall meet him again on the next page。



As for Sulla; he became ‘‘Dictator;'' which meant sole and

supreme ruler of all the Roman possessions。 He ruled Rome

for four years; and he died quietly in his bed; having spent the

last year of his life tenderly raising his cabbages; as was the

custom of so many Romans who had spent a lifetime killing

their fellow…men。



But conditions did not grow better。 On the contrary; they

grew worse。 Another general; Gnaeus Pompeius; or Pompey;

a close friend of Sulla; went east to renew the war against the

ever troublesome Mithridates。 He drove that energetic potentate

into the mountains where Mithridates took poison and

killed himself; well knowing what fate awaited him as a Roman

captive。 Next he re…established the authority of Rome over

Syria; destroyed Jerusalem; roamed through western Asia;

trying to revive the myth of Alexander the Great; and at last

(in the year 62) returned to Rome with a dozen ship…loads of

defeated Kings and Princes and Generals; all of whom were

forced to march in the triumphal procession of this enormously

popular Roman who presented his city with the sum of forty

million dollars in plunder。



It was necessary that the government of Rome be placed

in the hands of a strong man。 Only a few months before; the

town had almost fallen into the hands of a good…for…nothing

young aristocrat by the name of Catiline; who had gambled

away his money and hoped to reimburse himself for his losses by

a little plundering。 Cicero; a public…spirited lawyer; had discovered

the plot; had warned the Senate; and had forced Catiline

to flee。 But there were other young men with similar ambitions

and it was no time for idle talk。



Pompey organised a triumvirate which was to take charge

of affairs。 He became the leader of this Vigilante Committee。

Gaius Julius Caesar; who had made a reputation for himself

as governor of Spain; was the second in command。 The

third was an indifferent sort of person by the name of Crassus。

He had been elected because he was incredibly rich; having been

a successful contractor of war supplies。 He soon went upon

an expedition against the Parthians and was killed。



As for Caesar; who was by far the ablest of the three; he

decided that he needed a little more military glory to become

a popular hero。 He crossed the Alps and conquered that part

of the world which is now called France。 Then he hammered

a solid wooden bridge across the Rhine and invaded the land

of the wild Teutons。 Finally he took ship and visited England。

Heaven knows where he might have ended if he had not been

forced to return to Italy。 Pompey; so he was informed; had

been appointed dictator for life。 This of course meant that

Caesar was to be placed on the list of the ‘‘retired officers;'' and

the idea did not appeal to him。 He remembered that he had

begun life as a follower of Marius。 He decided to teach the

Senators and their ‘‘dictator'' another lesson。 He crossed the

Rubicon River which separated the province of Cis…alpine Gaul

from Italy。 Everywhere he was received as the ‘‘friend of the

people。'' Without difficulty Caesar entered Rome and Pompey

fled to Greece Caesar followed him and defeated his followers

near Pharsalus。 Pompey sailed across the Mediterranean and

escaped to Egypt。 When he landed he was murdered by order

of young king Ptolemy。 A few days later Caesar arrived。

He found himself caught in a trap。 Both the Egyptians and

the Roman garrison which had remained faithful to Pompey;

attacked his camp。



Fortune was with Caesar。 He succeeded in setting fire to

the Egyptian fleet。 Incidentally the sparks of the burning

vessels fell on the roof of the famous library of Alexandria

(which was just off the water front;) and destroyed it。 Next

he attacked the Egyptian army; drove the soldiers into the

Nile; drowned Ptolemy; and established a new government

under Cleopatra; the sister of the late king。 Just then word

reached him that Pharnaces; the son and heir of Mithridates;

had gone on the war…path。 Caesar marched northward; defeated

Pharnaces in a war which lasted five days; sent word of

his victory to Rome in the famous sentence ‘‘veni; vidi; vici;''

which is Latin for ‘‘I came; I saw; I conquered;'' and returned

to Egypt where he fell desperately in love with Cleopatra; who

followed him to Rome when he returned to take charge of the

government; in the year 46。 He marched at the head of not

less than four different victory…parades; having won four

different campaigns。



Then Caesar appeared in the Senate to report upon his

adventures; and the grateful Senate made him ‘‘dictator'' for

ten years。 It was a fatal step。



The new dictator made serious attempts to reform the

Roman state。 He made it possible for freemen to become

members of the Senate。 He conferred the rights of citizenship

upon distant communities as had been done in the early days

of Roman history。 He permitted ‘‘foreigners'' to exercise

influence upon the government。 He reformed the administration

of the distant provinces which certain aristocratic families

had come to regard as their private possessions。 In short he

did many things for the good of the majority of the people but

which made him thoroughly unpopular with the most powerful

men in the state。 Half a hundred young aristocrats formed a

plot ‘‘to save the Republic。'' On the Ides of March (the fifteenth

of March according to that new calendar which Caesar

had brought with him from Egypt) Caesar was murdered when

he entered the Senate。 Once more Rome was without a master。



There were two men who tried to continue the tradition of

Caesar's glory。 One was Antony; his former secretary。 The

other was Octavian; Caesar's grand…nephew and heir to his

estate。 Octavian remained in Rome; but Antony went to Egypt

to be near Cleopatra with whom he too had fallen in love; as

seems to have been the habit of Roman generals。



A war broke out between the two。 In the battle of Actium;

Octavian defeated Antony。 Antony killed himself and

Cleopatra was left alone to face the enemy。 She tried very

hard to make Octavian her third Roman conquest。 When she

saw that she could make no impression upon this very proud

aristocrat; she killed herself; and Egypt became a Roman province。



As for Octavian; he was a very wise young man and he did

not repeat the mistake of his famous uncle。 He knew how

people will shy at words。 He was very modest in his demands

when he returned to Rome。 He did not want to be a ‘‘dictator。''

He would be entirely satisfied with the title of ‘‘the Honourable。''

But when the Senate; a few years later; addressed

him as Augustusthe Illustrioushe did not object and a few

years later the man in the street called him Caesar; or Kaiser;

while the soldiers; accustomed to regard Octavian as their

Commander…in…chief referred to him as the Chief; the Imperator or

Emperor。 The Republic had become an Empire; but the average

Roman was hardly aware of the fact。



In 14 A。D。 his position as the Absolute Ruler of the

Roman people had become so well established that he was made

an object of that divine worship which hitherto had been reserved

for the Gods。 And his successors were true ‘‘Emperors''the

absolute rulers of the greatest empire the world had

ever seen。



If the truth be told; the average citizen was sick and tired

of anarchy and disorder。 He did not care who ruled him provided

the new master gave him a chance to live quietly and

without the noise of eternal street riots。 Octavian assured his

subjects forty years of peace。 He had no desire to extend the

frontiers of his domains; In the year 9 A。D。 he had contem…

plated an invasion of the northwestern wilderness which was

inhabited by the Teutons。 But Varrus; his general; had been

killed with all his men in the Teutoburg Woods; and after that

the Romans made no further attempts to civilise these wild

people。



They concentrated their efforts upon the gigantic problem

of internal reform。 But it was too late to do much good。 Two

centuries of revolution and foreign war had repeatedly killed

the best men among the younger generations。 It had ruined

the class of the free farmers。 It had introduced slave labor;

against which no freeman could hope to compete。 It had

turned the cities into beehives inhabited by pauperized and

unhealthy mobs of runaway peasants。 It had created a large

bureaucracypetty officials who were underpaid and who were

forced to take graft in order to buy bread and clothing for

their families。 Worst of all; it had accustomed people to violence;

to blood…shed; to a barbarous pleasure in the pain and

suffering of others。



Outwardly; the Roman state during the first century of our

era was a magnificent political structure; so large that Alexander's

empire became one of its minor provinces。 Underneath

this glory there lived millions upon millions of poor and tired

human beings; toiling like ants who have built a nest underneath

a heavy stone。 They worked for the benefit of some one

else。 They shared their food with the animals of the fields。

They lived in stables。 They died without hope。



It was the seven hundred and fifty…t

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