The great conspiracy against Julius Caesar - Kathryn Tempest

翻译人员: Jerry Ho 校对人员: Gabriella Hu

What would you do if you thought your country was on the path to tyranny?

如果你认为你的国家正在走向一条暴政的路上， 你会怎么做？

If you saw one man gaining too much power, would you try to stop him?

如果你发现一个人手握过多的权力 你会尝试阻止他吗？

Even if that man was one of your closest friends and allies?

哪怕那个人是你最亲密的朋友和同盟之一呢？

These were the questions haunting Roman Senator Marcus Junius Brutus in 44 BCE,

公元前44年，罗马元老院议员 布鲁图斯就被这些问题困扰着

the year Julius Caesar would be assassinated.

而这一年正是凯撒被刺杀的那一年

Opposing unchecked power wasn't just a political matter for Brutus;

反对不受约束的权利对布鲁图斯来说 不仅是个政治问题

it was a personal one.

还是个私人问题

He claimed descent from Lucius Junius Brutus,

他向卢修斯·朱尼厄斯·布鲁特斯提出过异议

who had helped overthrow the tyrannical king known as Tarquin the Proud.

而此人曾推翻了暴君——骄矜者塔奎因的统治

Instead of seizing power himself,

但之后老布鲁图斯并没有自己手握大权

the elder Brutus led the people in a rousing oath

而是带领人们进行了激昂地宣誓

to never again allow a king to rule.

表示不再让一个国王统治整个国家

Rome became a republic

根据不让任何人过度集权的原则

based on the principle that no one man should hold too much power.

罗马成为了共和国

Now, four and a half centuries later, this principle was threatened.

而现在，四个半世纪后，这一原则受到了威胁

Julius Ceasar's rise to the powerful position of consul

尤利西斯·凯撒升任权倾朝野的执政官

had been dramatic.

是十分戏剧化的

Years of military triumphs had made him the wealthiest man in Rome.

军队连年高奏凯歌 使他成为了罗马最富有的人

And after defeating his rival Pompey the Great in a bitter civil war,

在激烈的内战中打败他的对手庞贝后

his power was at its peak.

他的权力到达了顶峰

His victories and initiatives, such as distributing lands to the poor,

他的胜利及其它举措，例如向穷人分田地

had made him popular with the public,

让他在群众中大受欢迎

and many senators vied for his favor by showering him with honors.

许多议员为了争宠而向他致敬

Statues were built, temples were dedicated,

开始大兴土木，修建雕塑和庙宇

and a whole month was renamed, still called July today.

甚至有一个月份因他而更名并且沿用至今

More importantly, the title of dictator,

更重要的是，独裁者的头衔

meant to grant temporary emergency powers in wartime,

本意指在战时获得暂时的紧急权力

had been bestowed upon Caesar several times in succession.

却被凯撒连年获得

And in 44 BCE, he was made dictator perpetuo,

在公元前44年 他成为dictator perpetuo

dictator for a potentially unlimited term.

即无限期的独裁者

All of this was too much for the senators

这一切对那些议员来说显然有些过分

who feared a return to the monarchy their ancestors had fought to abolish,

他们害怕祖先们奋力废除的帝制卷土重来

as well as those whose own power and ambition

那些权利和野心被凯撒牵制的议员

were impeded by Caesar's rule.

也十分不满

A group of conspirators calling themselves the liberators

一群自称解放者的谋叛者

began to secretly discuss plans for assassination.

开始密谋行刺计划

Leading them were the senator Gaius Cassius Longinus

带头的是议员卡西乌斯

and his friend and brother-in-law, Brutus.

和他的朋友兼妹夫，布鲁图斯

Joining the conspiracy was not an easy choice for Brutus.

加入本次密谋行动对布鲁图斯来说是个很难的抉择

Even though Brutus had sided with Pompey in the ill-fated civil war,

虽然布鲁图斯在内战中投靠的是庞培

Caesar had personally intervened to save his life,

但凯撒亲自出面干预救了他一命

not only pardoning him but even accepting him as a close advisor

凯撒不仅赦免了布鲁图斯 而且还让布鲁图斯成为自己的亲信

and elevating him to important posts.

并让他担当要职

Brutus was hesitant to conspire against the man who had treated him like a son,

面对待自己如亲生儿子的凯撒，布鲁图斯犹豫不决

but in the end,

但是最终

Cassius's insistence and Brutus's own fear of Caesar's ambitions won out.

卡西乌斯的决心和他自己对凯撒野心的恐惧 战胜了他的犹豫

The moment they had been waiting for came on March 15.

三月十五日，他们一直等待的那一刻终于来临了

At a senate meeting

在凯撒离开前往他的下一个军事行动前

held shortly before Caesar was to depart on his next military campaign,

的一个参议会议上，

as many as 60 conspirators surrounded him,

多达60位同谋者把他围得水泄不通

unsheathing daggers from their togas and stabbing at him from all sides.

同谋者从袖中拔出匕首从四面向凯撒刺去

As the story goes,

据说

Caesar struggled fiercely until he saw Brutus.

凯撒顽强地进行反抗 直到他看到了布鲁图斯

Despite the famous line, "Et tu, Brute?" written by Shakespeare,

除了莎翁写的那句著名的 “居然有你？布鲁图斯？”

we don't know Caesar's actual dying words.

我们并不知道凯撒临终前究竟说了些什么

Some ancient sources claim he said nothing,

一些古资料称他什么都没有说

while others record the phrase, "And you, child?",

而其它记载了的语句是 “还有你，孩子？”

fueling speculation that Brutus may have actually been Caesar's illegitimate son.

为布鲁图斯是凯撒私生子这一猜测推波助澜

But all agree that when Caesar saw Brutus among his attackers,

但所有人都同意的是， 当凯撒在一群袭击者中看见布鲁图斯时

he covered his face and gave up the fight,

他掩面放弃抵抗

falling to the ground after being stabbed 23 times.

在被刺23次后，倒地身亡

Unfortunately for Brutus,

不幸的是

he and the other conspirators had underestimated Caesar's popularity

布鲁图斯和他的同谋者低估了凯撒

在罗马群众里的声望

among the Roman public,

many of whom saw him as an effective leader,

许多人把他看成有能力的领导者

and the senate as a corrupt aristocracy.

并认为议员则是腐败的贵族

Within moments of Caesar's assassination, Rome was in a state of panic.

在凯撒被刺杀的瞬间，罗马陷入了恐慌

Most of the other senators had fled,

大多数的议员已经出逃

while the assassins barricaded themselves on the Capitoline Hill.

而刺客们则藏在了卡比托利欧山上

Mark Antony, Caesar's friend and co-consul,

马克安东尼，凯撒的朋友及联合行政官

was swift to seize the upper hand,

马上夺得先机

delivering a passionate speech at Caesar's funeral days later

几天后在凯撒的葬礼上发表的激情演说

that whipped the crowd into a frenzy of grief and anger.

在群众中掀起了悲愤的狂潮

As a result, the liberators were forced out of Rome.

结果，解放者们被迫离开罗马

The ensuing power vacuum led to a series of civil wars,

随之而来的权力真空带来了一系列的内战

during which Brutus, facing certain defeat, took his own life.

在这期间，布鲁图斯面临多次兵败而后自杀

Ironically, the ultimate result

讽刺的是，最终的结局

would be the opposite of what the conspirators had hoped to accomplish:

和同谋者的意愿背道而驰：

the end of the Republic

罗马共和国终结

and the concentration of power under the office of Emperor.

且权力集中在了皇帝手上

Opinions over the assassination of Caesar were divided from the start

人们对刺杀凯撒的观点从一开始就有分歧

and have remained so.

并延续至今

As for Brutus himself,

对与布鲁图斯本人

few historical figures have inspired such a conflicting legacy.

少数历史人物被这一矛盾所启发

In Dante's "Inferno," he was placed in the very center of Hell

在但丁的《神曲》地狱篇里， 他被放在了地狱的最中央

and eternally chewed by Satan himself for his crime of betrayal.

并且因背叛罪永世被撒旦撕咬咀嚼

But Swift's "Gulliver's Travels"

但是在斯威夫特的《格列弗游记》中

described him as one of the most virtuous and benevolent people to have lived.

他被描写成世上最善良和仁慈的人之一

The interpretation of Brutus as either a selfless fighter against dictatorship

布鲁图斯不是被解读为一个挑战独裁政权的无私斗士

or an opportunistic traitor

就是被描述成一个投机主义叛徒

has shifted with the tides of history and politics.

这些解读在历史与政治的潮流中不断改变

But even today, over 2000 years later,

但即便在2000多年后的今天

questions about the price of liberty,

自由的代价

the conflict between personal loyalties and universal ideals,

个人忠诚与普世理想之间的冲突及意料之外的结果

and unintended consequences remain more relevant than ever.

它们之间的联系却空前的紧密