History vs. Cleopatra - Alex Gendler

翻译人员: Susannah Wang 校对人员: yue chen

"Order, order.

“肃静！肃静！

So who do we have here?"

所以这位是谁？”

"Your Honor, this is Cleopatra,

“法官大人，这位是克莉奥帕特拉，

the Egyptian queen whose lurid affairs destroyed two of Rome's finest generals

她令人瞠目结舌的私事，摧毁了两个罗马最好的将军

and brought the end of the Republic."

并且带来了罗马共和国的终结。”

"Your Honor, this is Cleopatra,

“法官大人，这才是克莉奥佩特拉，

one of the most powerful women in history

历史上最有权势的女人之一，

whose reign brought Egypt nearly 22 years of stability and prosperity."

她的统治为埃及带来了近22年的稳定和繁荣。”

"Uh, why don't we even know what she looked like?"

“噢，为什么我们却连她长什么样子都不知道？”

"Most of the art and descriptions came long after her lifetime

“大多数艺术品和叙述都是在公元前一世纪，

in the first century BCE,

也就是她去世之后才出现的。

just like most of the things written about her."

就和大部分对她的叙写差不多。”

"So what do we actually know?

“那我们究竟知道些什么？”

Cleopatra VII was the last of the Ptolemaic dynasty,

克莉奥佩特拉七世是托勒密王朝的最后一任君主，

a Macedonian Greek family that governed Egypt

在埃及被亚历山山大大帝征服后，

after its conquest by Alexander the Great.

其交由马其顿希腊王室统治。

She ruled jointly in Alexandria with her brother-

她在亚历山大省，与她的兄弟——

to whom she was also married-

亦丈夫

until he had her exiled."

共同统治埃及，直到她被他逐出埃及。”

"But what does all this have to do with Rome?"

“但这一切和罗马有什么关系？”

"Egypt had long been a Roman client state,

“埃及有很长一段时间是罗马的附属国，

and Cleopatra's father incurred large debts to the Republic.

而且克莉奥佩特拉的父亲向罗马共和国欠下了巨额债务。

After being defeated by Julius Caesar in Rome's civil war,

在罗马内战中被尤里乌斯·凯撒击败后，

the General Pompey sought refuge in Egypt

庞培将军前往埃及避难，

but was executed by Cleopatra's brother instead."

却不料被克莉奥佩特拉的兄弟处死。”

"Caesar must have liked that."

“凯撒一定很乐于看到这件事发生。”

"Actually, he found the murder unseemly and demanded repayment of Egypt's debt.

“事实上，他觉得这个谋杀并不光彩，于是要求埃及立即偿还债务。

He could have annexed Egypt,

这样他就有理由可以吞并埃及。

but Cleopatra convinced him to restore her to the throne instead."

但是克莉奥佩特拉却说服了他，用让她重回王座来代替之前的要求。”

"We hear she was quite convincing."

“听得出来，她非常有说服力。”

"And why not? Cleopatra was a fascinating woman.

“而且为什么不呢？克莉奥佩特拉的确是一位令人着迷的女性。

She commanded armies at 21,

她在21岁就会指挥军队，

spoke several languages,

会说多国语言，

and was educated in a city with the world's finest library

在当时拥有世界上最好的图书馆

and some of the greatest scholars of the time."

和一些最伟大的学者们的那座城市所接受的教育。”

"Hmm."

“嗯。”

"She kept Caesar lounging in Egypt for months when Rome needed him."

“当罗马需要凯撒时，她却让他在埃及放松了好几个月。”

"Caesar did more than lounge.

“凯撒可不仅仅在放松。

He was fascinated by Egypt's culture and knowledge,

他为埃及的文化和知识所倾倒，

and he learned much during his time there.

因此他在那儿学习了很多。

When he returned to Rome, he reformed the calendar,

当他回到罗马后，他改革了历法，

commissioned a census,

成立了人口普查委员会，

made plans for a public library,

制定了建造公共图书馆的计划，

and proposed many new infrastructure projects."

并提出了很多新的基础设施项目。”

"Yes, all very ambitious, exactly what got him assassinated."

“对，野心勃勃，正是让他被刺杀的原因。”

"Don't blame the Queen for Rome's strange politics.

“别因为罗马奇怪的政策把责任推到女王身上。

Her job was ruling Egypt, and she did it well.

她的职责是统治埃及，而且她做得很好。

She stabilized the economy,

她稳定了经济，

managed the vast bureaucracy,

管理了庞大的官僚机构，

and curbed corruption by priests and officials.

而且遏制了祭司们和官员们的腐败。

When drought hit, she opened the granaries to the public

当旱灾来临，她对百姓开放粮仓

and passed a tax amnesty,

并通过了税收特赦。

all while preserving her kingdom's stability and independence

她的余下的统治期间，

with no revolts during the rest of her reign."

在保持她的国家稳定和独立的同时，没有任何的起义事件。”

"So what went wrong?"

“那是哪里出了问题？”

"After Caesar's death, this foreign Queen couldn't stop meddling in Roman matters."

“凯撒去世后，这位外国女王还是停不下来要干预罗马的政事。”

"Actually, it was the Roman factions who came demanding her aid.

“实际上，是罗马的派系来请求她的援助的”

And of course she had no choice but to support Octavian and Marc Antony

出于无奈，她当然只能支持屋大维和马克·安东尼

in avenging Caesar, if only for the sake of their son."

以免他们报复凯撒，这都只是为了他们的孩子。”

"And again, she provided her particular kind of support to Marc Antony."

“于是又一次，她对马克·安东尼提供了她特殊的支持。”

"Why does that matter?

“这又怎么了？

Why doesn't anyone seem to care about

为什么没有人关心

Caesar or Antony's countless other affairs?

凯撒或者安东尼数之不尽的其他事情？

Why do we assume she instigated the relationships?

为什么我们都揣测是她主动挑起的关系？

And why are only powerful women defined by their sexuality?"

何况为什么只有强大的女性才被她们的性生活所定义？”

"Order."

“肃静！”

"Cleopatra and Antony were a disaster.

“克莉奥佩特拉和安东尼的结合是一场灾难。

They offended the Republic with their ridiculous celebrations

他们荒谬的庆祝仪式触犯了共和国——

sitting on golden thrones

坐金子做的王座，

and dressing up as gods

还穿戴得像神明，

until Octavian had all of Rome convinced of their megalomania."

直到屋大维让全罗马人都相信了他们的狂妄自大。”

"And yet Octavian was the one who attacked Antony,

“然而屋大维袭击了安东尼，

annexed Egypt,

吞并了埃及，

and declared himself Emperor.

并宣称自己是皇帝。

It was the Roman's fear of a woman in power that ended their Republic,

是罗马人对一位手握权势的女性的恐惧，终结了他们的共和国，

not the woman herself."

不是那位女性本身。”

"How ironic."

“真是讽刺。”

Cleopatra's story survived mainly in the accounts of her enemies in Rome,

克莉奥佩特拉的故事多数幸存于她在罗马的敌人们的描述中，

and later writers filled the gaps with rumors and stereotypes.

而后作家们用谣言和成见填补了那些空隙。

We may never know the full truth of her life and her reign,

我们也许永远无法了解她的一生和统治的全部真相，

but we can separate fact from rumor by putting history on trial.

但是我们可以通过审判历史从谣言中分辨出真实。