世界小史 第184期:农民

　　Confusion and misery¹ reigned² in the years after AD 200.

　　这是在200年后时期里的一场可怕的大混乱和一场可怕的大灾难。

　　In the Roman empire there was almost no one to keep order but slaves or foreign troops who couldn't understand one another.

　　在罗马帝国几乎只还有奴隶和外国军队，他们互相合不来。

　　The peasants in the provinces were unable to pay their taxes and rose up against their landowners.

　　各行省的农民再也不肯缴税并反抗他们的庄园主。

　　In those desperate times, when the land was in the grip of pestilence³ and lawlessness, many found consolation⁴ in the good news of the Gospel.

　　在这个可怕的灾难的时期里，在这个还有瘟疫肆虐、盗匪横行的时期里，许多人在愉快的消息——福音中找到安慰。

　　More and more free men and slaves became Christians⁵ and refused to make sacrifices to the emperor.

　　越来越多的自由人和奴隶成为基督徒并拒绝效忠皇帝。

　　At the height of the crisis a man from a poor family succeeded in wresting⁶ control of the empire.

　　当罗马帝国陷入最大的困境的时候，一个父母十分贫穷的人夺得帝国的统治权，

　　This was the Emperor Diocletian. He came to power in 284 and set about trying to rebuild the empire, which was by now in ruins.

　　那是戴克里先皇帝，他在284年夺取政权。他试图重建整个已衰败的国家。

　　Famine was everywhere, so he fixed⁷ a limit on the price of all foods.

　　由于到处饥荒肆虐，他便规定了一切食品的最高价格。

　　Realizing that the empire could no longer be governed from a single place, he chose four towns as his new imperial capitals and placed a deputy – or prefect – in each.

　　他认识到，再也不可能坐镇在一个地方统治帝国了，所以他规定全国的四座城市为新的首都并在那里委任了四个副皇帝。

1 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

2 reigned   

vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• Silence reigned in the hall. 全场肃静。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Night was deep and dead silence reigned everywhere. 夜深人静，一片死寂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 pestilence   

n.瘟疫

参考例句：

• They were crazed by the famine and pestilence of that bitter winter.他们因那年严冬的饥饿与瘟疫而折磨得发狂。
• A pestilence was raging in that area. 瘟疫正在那一地区流行。

4 consolation   

n.安慰，慰问

参考例句：

• The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。
• This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

5 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

6 wresting   

动词wrest的现在进行式

参考例句：

• The amphitheater was a sealed off round structure. Swordplay, wresting, gladiatoral and other contests were held there. 该竞技场为四周封闭式结构，可以举行斗剑、格斗、斗兽及其他竞赛项目。
• This paper introduces mechanism and control system of instrument for wresting training. 本文详细介绍了摔跤训练器的机械机构与控制方法。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。