文/薩拉·約曼斯 譯/左連凱

公元166 年，羅馬帝國正在鼎盛時期，國力強(qiáng)大。羅馬軍團(tuán)在路奇烏斯·韋魯斯皇帝的指揮下，在羅馬帝國的東部邊境擊敗帕提亞敵軍后洋洋得意地回到羅馬。他們向西行軍到羅馬，身上攜帶的不僅是掠奪帕提亞神廟得來的戰(zhàn)利品，還帶著將在之后20 年肆虐羅馬帝國的流行病，這次疫情將無情地改變羅馬世界的格局。這場瘟疫得名“安東尼瘟疫”，傳播到羅馬帝國的各個角落，很可能在169 年要了路奇烏斯·韋魯斯本人的命，還可能在180 年奪了其共同執(zhí)政皇帝馬可·奧勒留的命。

2路奇烏斯·韋魯斯的軍隊回來以后，時疫在羅馬帝國快速蔓延，這在幾位同時代觀察家的著述中得到證實(shí)。名醫(yī)蓋侖本人不止一次，而是兩次置身于瘟疫。166 年，瘟疫首次暴發(fā)時，蓋侖就在羅馬，但他的自我防護(hù)意識顯然勝過對科學(xué)的好奇心，他躲到自己的家鄉(xiāng)帕加馬城。他臨時離開沒有多久，168 年瘟疫依然猖獗，兩位皇帝又將他召回羅馬。

3瘟疫對羅馬軍隊的影響顯然是毀滅性的。與感染的戰(zhàn)友密切接觸加上生活條件欠佳，都使瘟疫得以迅速在各個軍團(tuán)蔓延，如駐扎在阿奎萊亞北部邊陲的軍團(tuán)。冬季，瘟疫在整個兵營肆虐時，兩位皇帝及御醫(yī)蓋侖都在阿奎萊亞的軍團(tuán)。兩位皇帝被迫逃回羅馬，留下蓋侖照管軍隊。羅馬帝國其他地方的軍團(tuán)也遭受了類似的打擊；埃及征募士兵之子以擴(kuò)充其日益縮小的軍隊；巴爾干地區(qū)的軍人退伍證說明，瘟疫期間獲批退伍的士兵數(shù)量急劇減少。

4顯然，瘟疫對民眾的影響也很嚴(yán)重。174 年或175 年，馬可·奧勒留致信雅典，放寬了對成為戰(zhàn)神山議事會（雅典執(zhí)政委員會）委員的要求，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時雅典沒有多少幸存的上流人士能滿足他在瘟疫暴發(fā)前制訂的要求。埃及俄克喜林庫斯城和法尤姆城的紙莎草紙稅務(wù)文件表明，埃及的城市人口急劇減少；這兩座城市的管理者不是沒有注意到，死亡加上后來恐慌的幸存者出逃，極大地影響了他們的稅收。在羅馬本土，馬可·奧勒留（路奇烏斯·韋魯斯去世后，成為羅馬帝國的唯一統(tǒng)治者）遭遇圍困的同時，還要抵抗馬科曼尼人從帝國北方邊境的入侵、薩爾馬特人從東部邊境的侵略和波及整個帝國的傳染病。羅馬的碑文和建筑證據(jù)顯示，民用建筑項(xiàng)目雖是二世紀(jì)羅馬強(qiáng)勁經(jīng)濟(jì)的一個重要部分，卻從166年到180 年實(shí)際上停滯不前。同期，倫敦的民用建筑項(xiàng)目也出現(xiàn)了類似的停頓。

5考古和文本證據(jù)有助于我們了解安東尼瘟疫對羅馬帝國各個地區(qū)的影響，那么，安東尼瘟疫是什么？

6蓋侖遺留下來的病案描述了一種危險的病毒性疾病，其癥狀和病程進(jìn)展表明，至少有一種甚或兩種天花病毒。據(jù)迪奧·卡西烏斯描述，189 年一場特別致命的瘟疫期間，僅羅馬每天的死亡人數(shù)就多達(dá)2000人。據(jù)估計，安東尼瘟疫肆虐的23 年間，有7%—10%的人口死于該病；在軍人和人口更稠密城市的居民中，這個比例可能高達(dá)13%—15%。除了瘟疫帶來的實(shí)際后果，如羅馬軍事和經(jīng)濟(jì)的動蕩，瘟疫對各個人群的心理影響也必定無比巨大。不難想象，古羅馬人面對如此殘酷、痛苦、致人毀形且往往致命的疾病時，一定很恐懼無助。

7那么，這就不難理解，由于安東尼瘟疫，宗教習(xí)俗也發(fā)生了明顯變化。雖然民用建筑項(xiàng)目停止了，但祭祀場所和儀式專用道的建設(shè)加強(qiáng)了。無論是古代還是現(xiàn)代，人類在恐懼時以及在死亡即將來臨時，往往更樂意接受神的眷顧。即使在當(dāng)今美國，雖然辦公樓里很少有禮拜處，但幾乎每家醫(yī)院都有一個。古羅馬人在不明原因且無可救藥的疫情面前似乎向神求助了。但眾神步履緩慢，又過了1800 年，天花病毒才終于絕跡。 □

The year was 166 C.E., and the Roman Empire was at the zenith of its power. The triumphant Roman legions,under the command of Emperor Lucius Verrus, returned to Rome victorious after having defeated their Parthian enemies on the eastern border of the Roman Empire.As they marched west toward Rome, they carried with them more than the spoils of plundered Parthian temples; they also carried an epidemic that would ravage the Roman Empire over the course of the next two decades, an event that would inexorably alter the landscape of the Roman world. The Antonine Plague1現(xiàn)代對羅馬二世紀(jì)瘟疫的這個稱謂源于時任皇帝的朝代名。馬可·奧勒留及其共同執(zhí)政皇帝路奇烏斯·韋魯斯都是安東尼家族成員。, as it came to be known, would reach every corner of the empire and is what most likely claimed the life of Lucius Verrus himself in 169—and possibly that of his co-emperor Marcus Aurelius in 180.

2Thepestilentialthat swept through the Roman Empire following the return of Lucius Verrus’s army is attested to in the works of several contemporary observers. The famous physician Galen found himself in the middle of an outbreak not once, but twice. Present in Rome during the initial outbreak in 166,Galen’s sense of self-preservation evidently overcame his scientific curiosity,and he retreated to his home city of Pergamon. His respite didn’t last long; with the epidemic still raging, the emperors called him back to Rome in 168.

3The effect on Rome’s armies was apparently devastating. Close proximity to sick fellow soldiers and less-than-optimal living conditions made it possible for the outbreak to spread rapidly throughout the legions, such as those stationed along the northern frontier at Aquileia2意大利北部的古羅馬城市。. Both emperors and their attendant physician Galen were present with the legions in Aquileia when the plague swept through the winter barracks, prompting the emperors to flee to Rome and leave Galen behind to attend to the troops. Legions elsewhere in the empire were similarly stricken; military recruitment in Egypt drew upon the sons of soldiers to augment their shrinking ranks,and army discharge certificates from the Balkan region suggest that there was a significant decrease in the number of soldiers who were allowed to retire from military service during the period of the plague.

4The effect on the civilian population was evidently no less severe. In his letter to Athens in 174/175, Marcus Aurelius loosened the requirements for membership to the Areopagus (the ruling council of Athens), as there were now too few surviving upper-class Athenians who met the requirements he had introduced prior to the outbreak. Egyptian tax documents in the form of papyri from Oxyrhynchus3開羅西南約160 公里處的上埃及城市。and Fayum attest to significant population decreases in Egyptian cities; it did not escape the attention of the cities’ administrators that mortality and the subsequent flight of fearful survivors substantially impacted their tax revenues. In Rome itself a beleaguered Marcus Aurelius (who, after the death of Lucius Verrus, became the empire’s sole ruler) was simultaneously contending with a Marcomannic44 公元前100 年后定居在緬因河谷的日耳曼部落。invasion on the empire’s northern frontier, a Sarmatian invasion on its eastern frontier and an empire-wide pandemic. Epigraphic and architectural evidence in Rome indicate that civic building projects—a significant feature of second-century Rome’s robust economy—came to an effective halt between 166 and 180. A similar pause in civic building projects shows up in London during the same period.

5Archaeological and textual evidence help us paint a picture of the impact of the Antonine Plague in various regions of the Roman Empire, but what was it?

6Galen’s surviving case notes describe a virulent and dangerous disease, the symptoms and progression of which point to at least one—if not two—strains of the smallpox virus. Dio Cassius describes the deaths of up to 2,000 people per day in Rome alone during a particularly lethal outbreak in 189. It has been estimated that the mortality rate over the 23-year period of the Antonine Plague was 7–10 percent of the population; among the armies and the inhabitants of more densely populated cities, the rate could have been as high as 13–15 percent. Aside from the practical consequences of the outbreak, such as the destabilization of the Roman military and economy, the psychological impact on the populations must have been substantial.It is easy to imagine the sense of fear and helplessness ancient Romans must have felt in the face of such a ruthless, painful,disfgiuring and frequently fatal disease.

7It is not difficult to understand, then,the apparent shifts in religious practices that came about as a result of the Antonine Plague. While civic architectural projects were put on hold, the building of sacred sites and ceremonial ways intensified.Human beings, both ancient and modern,tend to be more open to considerations of the divine in times of fear and in the face of imminent mortality. Even today in modern America, while a place of worship is rare inside an office building, there is one in almost every hospital. It seems that the ancient Romans, in the face of an inexplicable and incurable epidemic,turned to the divine. But the gods moved slowly—it would be another 1,800 years before the smallpox virus was finally eradicated. ■