為什么羅馬帝國從未向西探索新大陸,或者繞過非洲到亞洲,即使他們財富豐厚,能夠資助大規(guī)模的海上探險?
Why didn't the Roman Empire ever explore west to the New World or around Africa to Asia even though they were immensely wealthy and could fund giant naval expeditions?譯文簡介
為什么羅馬帝國從未向西探索新大陸,或者繞過非洲到亞洲,即使他們財富豐厚,能夠資助大規(guī)模的海上探險?
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The Romans were not so much explorers as conquerors. Hence they tended to take an incremental approach to expansionism. They tended to try and conquer whatever people they found next, rather than taking a holistic look at the globe and thinking where they might like to go next.
羅馬人更多地是征服者,而不是探險家。因此,他們傾向于采取逐步擴張的方法。他們傾向于試圖征服他們下一個發(fā)現(xiàn)的任何人,而不是全球一攬子地考慮他們下一步可能想去的地方。
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新大陸。盡管他們從未嘗試橫渡大西洋,但當時的船只極有可能無法經(jīng)受住這樣的航行。當然,即使能夠,他們也不知道在糧食供應(yīng)方面需要航行多長時間,也不知道如果他們找不到陸地時應(yīng)該何時放棄返回。
然而,其他說法并不正確。他們確實向亞洲和非洲推進,但結(jié)果各不相同。
非洲(1)。至少有兩組已知的羅馬入侵非洲的活動。第一組(也更加復(fù)雜)是羅馬人從埃及向現(xiàn)代蘇丹南部推進。羅馬人遭遇了庫什人,并且 - 正如通常所見 - 發(fā)生了一段漫長的戰(zhàn)爭時期。盡管羅馬人能夠在戰(zhàn)場上擊敗庫什人,但遠距離作戰(zhàn)是困難的,最終羅馬人放棄了并返回了“家園”。(副注意:在這個時期,非洲庫什人由一位女戰(zhàn)士女王領(lǐng)導(dǎo) - 好萊塢為什么還沒有拍攝一部關(guān)于這個的電影?)
非洲(2)。第二組是一系列從大約現(xiàn)代摩洛哥和利比亞地區(qū)向南穿越撒哈拉沙漠的探險遠征?,F(xiàn)在,撒哈拉沙漠并不像今天那樣可怕(沿途有許多貿(mào)易城鎮(zhèn)),但仍然是一次艱難的穿越。然而,盡管這些遠征帶回了非洲的文物(并留下了羅馬的文物),但這些報告都沒有使當時的羅馬領(lǐng)導(dǎo)相信應(yīng)該進行一次艱難而代價高昂的跨撒哈拉遠征以擴大帝國的影響力。
亞洲。亞洲就比較容易理解了。為什么羅馬人沒有向亞洲擴張?簡短回答:他們確實這樣做了。至少,在他們被阻止之前是這樣。他們離開羅馬越遠,事情就越難。特別是公元363年的泰西封戰(zhàn)役是一個關(guān)鍵轉(zhuǎn)折點,顯示了羅馬人在向亞洲大范圍投射權(quán)力方面的能力的局限性。與非洲不同,羅馬人實際上對繼續(xù)征服和擴張亞洲的財富感興趣。但最終,他們不斷擴張和遠程投射權(quán)力的能力達到了自然限制,并遭受了一些沉重的失敗。
The Roman Empire, with its vast wealth and resources, undoubtedly had the means to undertake great naval expeditions. So why didn’t they explore west to the New World or around Africa to Asia? While we can never know for certain, several factors likely contributed to their lack of exploration in these directions.
羅馬帝國擁有豐富的財富和資源,無疑有能力進行偉大的海上遠征。那么為什么他們不向西探索新大陸,或者繞過非洲去亞洲呢?雖然我們永遠無法確定,但有幾個因素可能導(dǎo)致他們在這些方向上缺乏探索。
首先,重要的是要理解羅馬人對世界的看法與后來的歐洲探險家不同。他們的重點主要是擴張他們的帝國、鞏固權(quán)力,并通過貿(mào)易確保經(jīng)濟繁榮。與后來的大發(fā)現(xiàn)時代不同,后者被對新知識和探索的渴望驅(qū)使,羅馬人對現(xiàn)有的領(lǐng)土和貿(mào)易路線感到滿足。
其次,羅馬人的地理知識有限。羅馬人知道東方的陸地,比如印度和中國,他們分別稱之為Seres和Sinae。然而,他們對這些領(lǐng)土以外的世界的理解最多也只是模糊的。橫渡廣闊的大西洋,發(fā)現(xiàn)一個全新的大陸的概念在他們的集體意識中根本不存在。
此外,羅馬人有不同的優(yōu)先事項。帝國在其存在的整個歷史中面臨著許多挑戰(zhàn),無論是內(nèi)部的還是外部的。從處理政治不穩(wěn)定到抵御蠻族入侵,羅馬人忙于管理和維護他們廣闊帝國的事務(wù)。這些緊迫的問題可能比進行大規(guī)模海上遠征探索未知土地更為重要。
此外,羅馬帝國有著繁榮的貿(mào)易網(wǎng)絡(luò),覆蓋從不列顛群島到中東的地區(qū)。他們在地中海、紅海和印度洋建立了海上貿(mào)易路線,這使他們能夠進口香料、絲綢和貴金屬等有價值的商品。有了這樣的利潤豐厚的貿(mào)易,羅馬人可能沒有動力去冒險涉足未知的領(lǐng)域。
此外,羅馬海軍雖然強大,但主要是為了軍事目的而建立的,而不是為了探索。它的主要功能是保護帝國的海上利益和確保貿(mào)易路線的安全,而不是進行宏偉的發(fā)現(xiàn)之旅。
最后,羅馬人確實進行了一些有限的探索。例如,他們沿著非洲海岸進行了一些探險,一直延伸到現(xiàn)代索馬里。然而,這些探險性冒險通常是出于特定目標,如尋找新的貿(mào)易伙伴或確保戰(zhàn)略位置,而不是為了更廣泛的探索之旅。
總之,雖然羅馬帝國擁有巨大的財富和海軍能力,但有幾個因素可以解釋他們?yōu)槭裁床幌蛭魈剿餍麓箨?,或者繞過非洲去亞洲。這些因素包括他們對世界的不同看法、有限的地理知識、競爭性優(yōu)先事項、繁榮的貿(mào)易網(wǎng)絡(luò)以及主要面向軍事目的的海軍。盡管他們的缺乏探索可能在今天看來令人好奇,但重要的是要將其置于當時的環(huán)境和羅馬帝國獨特的情況下加以考慮。
Why would they? The Romans were not explorers. The Roman Empire used conquest strategically, not because they were simply curious about what’s just beyond the horizon. Every part of the Empire was part of it because it served some purpose - if only to keep cities or some other resource out of the hands of potential rivals. But that’s about it. What lay beyond the Sahara? Who really cared? The known world itself was more than big enough to satisfy the needs of the Romans for wealth and resources. and it was work enough to protect and develop the empire they had without gambling on trying to conquer the completely unknown, let alone develop a navy that could go long distances.
The idea would simply seem impractical to the Roman mind.
為什么要這樣做呢?羅馬人不是探險家。羅馬帝國戰(zhàn)略性地利用征服,而不是因為他們對地平線之外的事物感到好奇。帝國的每一部分都是因為它有某種用途而被吞并的,哪怕只是為了防止城市或其他資源落入潛在競爭對手手中。但僅此而已。撒哈拉沙漠之外是什么?誰真的在乎呢?已知的世界本身就足夠大,能夠滿足羅馬人對財富和資源的需求。保護和發(fā)展他們已經(jīng)擁有的帝國已經(jīng)足夠艱巨,更別提冒險征服完全未知的地區(qū),更不用說發(fā)展一支能夠遠行的海軍了。這種想法在羅馬人的思維中似乎顯得不切實際。
The Romans weren’t comfortable blue-water sailors. Sailing in the open ocean is much different than sailing in the Mediterranean. And anyway, in a very general sense, the Romans were a more practical than curious people. While they were perfectly aware that the world was round, and that Han China was somewhere over the western horizon, they had no idea how far away it would be to the west, nor of the American landmass in the way.
羅馬人并不適應(yīng)遠洋航行。在開闊的海洋中航行與在地中海中航行大不相同。而且,從非常一般的意義上講,羅馬人更注重實際而不是好奇。雖然他們完全意識到世界是圓的,而且漢朝中國就在西方地平線的某處,但他們不知道往西方有多遠,也不知道途中是否有美洲大陸。
簡而言之,羅馬人是地中海盆地內(nèi)的一支海軍力量。在直布羅陀海峽之外維持一支海軍沒有真正的目的,除了試圖控制海盜;在直布羅陀海峽以西并沒有任何競爭對手的海軍力量。往西方的地平線上沒有已知的實際目的。雖然他們當然會好奇外面是什么,但就他們所知,最有可能的答案是什么也沒有; 或者至少,沒有任何實際價值的東西。而且,沿著疾病肆虐的海岸向南航行,當已經(jīng)有了東方的建立的貿(mào)易路線時,這似乎是荒謬的,更不用說可能是致命的了。
For two reasons
Firstly the Romans thought that in most areas they had reached the limits of the Known world. To the North lay cold winters and sparse population and savage tribes with no loot. To the South baking deserts and more savage dirt poor tribes. Only to the East were there lands with gold, art, populations to dominate. Unfortunately the first civilisation that would be met was the Parthian /Persian Empire and that was a tough nut to crack.
有兩個原因。
首先,羅馬人認為他們已經(jīng)到達了已知世界的大多數(shù)地區(qū)的邊界。向北是寒冷的冬季和稀疏的人口,還有野蠻部落,沒有任何可掠奪的財富。向南則是炎熱的沙漠和更加貧窮的野蠻部落。只有向東方有著黃金、藝術(shù)和可以統(tǒng)治的人口的土地。不幸的是,第一個遇到的文明是帕提亞/波斯帝國,而那是一個難啃的硬殼。
其次,羅馬的主導(dǎo)神話之一,因此也是羅馬心理的主導(dǎo)神話之一,就是亞歷山大大帝的故事。如果你想效仿史上最偉大的軍事英雄(這是一個適當?shù)牡蹏ж摚?,那么你就要效仿亞歷山大,往東征服。因此,像圖拉真、瓦勒良和朱利安這樣的皇帝都朝著東方前進,積累榮耀,但大多數(shù)時候都與波斯人打了一場艱苦的戰(zhàn)斗!繞過非洲可能發(fā)生在小范圍內(nèi),但如果你繞過撒哈拉沙漠,你只會抵達叢林,肯定不是羅馬想要的,也肯定不會有榮耀!
They didn’t have ocean going ships. Sailing round Spain in the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay was a risky journey. So much so that to invade Britain they preferred to build a fleet in Northern France. The Mediterranean Sea is a lot calmer so ships could get away with being weaker. It was a nine hundred years later and from a different maritime tradition that the Scandinavians built ships that crossed the Atlantic and even then it involved sailing from Norway via Iceland and Greenland to get to North America. None of these places were known to the Romans.
他們沒有遠洋船只。在大西洋和比斯開灣環(huán)繞西班牙航行是一次危險的旅程。以至于為了入侵英國,他們寧愿在法國北部建立一支艦隊。地中海要平靜得多,所以船只可能會變得更弱。900年后,斯堪的納維亞人從不同的航海傳統(tǒng)中建造了橫渡大西洋的船只,即使在那時,他們也要從挪威出發(fā),經(jīng)冰島和格陵蘭島到達北美。這些地方羅馬人都不知道。
Well, the question is based on some false premises. Let me explain.
First, the notion that the Romans were explorers who wandered on expeditions to find new lands is utterly false. The Romans only traveled to known places where there was a clear benefit. The provinces they conquered were places that already had proven resources. So there would never have been a reason for them to want to set out across the Western ocean hoping to find new lands. That would be counter to everything they did.
好的,這個問題基于一些錯誤的前提。讓我來解釋一下。
首先,羅馬人是探險家,四處遠征以尋找新土地的觀念是完全錯誤的。羅馬人只前往已知的地方,那里有明確的利益。他們征服的省份是已經(jīng)有可靠資源的地方。所以他們永遠不會有理由想要橫越西洋,希望找到新的土地。那與他們的一切做法相悖。
關(guān)于亞洲,首先,很多人忘記了羅馬人控制著埃及和西奈。地中海只是被一小片陸地與紅海(因此與印度洋)分開。雖然通過這小片陸地運輸貨物是件麻煩事,但它仍然比繞過非洲要短得多。事實上,羅馬人確實探索過非洲周圍的路線,但很快就放棄了這個想法,因為他們的航海技術(shù)相對落后。
Two answers: the first is that, generally, the Romans didn’t really value their navy as much as their legions. Even being an auxilliaryman was considered being better than a sailor. The Romans also weren’t particularly known for having great admirals either. Their great naval victory over Carthage involved reverse-engineering their enemy’s warships. They were also terribly superstitious and very nearly never invaded Britain because of this.
兩個答案:第一個是,總的來說,羅馬人并沒有像對待他們的軍團那樣重視他們的海軍。甚至成為輔助兵被認為比成為水手更好。羅馬人也不以擁有偉大的海軍將領(lǐng)而著稱。他們對迦太基的偉大海戰(zhàn)勝利涉及逆向工程敵人的戰(zhàn)艦。他們也非常迷信,因此幾乎從未入侵過英國。
第二個答案是:有些人認為他們確實這樣做了!而且有證據(jù)支持這一觀點,因為據(jù)說在巴西海岸發(fā)現(xiàn)了羅馬花瓶。關(guān)于這一點存在一些陰謀論,因為如果這被證實為真,意味著意大利人而不是葡萄牙人對巴西有主張權(quán)。還有一幅馬賽克畫上有一張被一些人認為像菠蘿的圖片!
They didn’t need to.
You have to understand what the driving force for exploring West was in the first place. It was all lixed to finding a way to Asia - and all the lovely money the spices there would bring - that went around the Islamic holdings in Asia Minor and the Middle East and their monopoly on those same spices.
他們不需要這樣做。
你必須理解首次探索西部的驅(qū)動力是什么。這一切都與尋找一條繞過亞洲的路線有關(guān) - 那里的香料將帶來所有美好的財富 - 而這條路線繞過了亞洲小亞細亞和中東的伊斯蘭地區(qū),以及他們對同樣香料的壟斷。
所以我們有哥倫布(是個白癡)向西航行,穿越大西洋“向東方前進”,并且發(fā)現(xiàn)北美和中美洲,還有葡萄牙人在大西洋西部擺動,以繞過非洲的逆風,作為他們的“繞過非洲去東方”的計劃的一部分,并發(fā)現(xiàn)了南美洲。
Since they didn’t know there were lands (worth conquering) to the West, and had no need to bypass anyone to get spices from India…and never were of the “l(fā)et’s just explore and see what’s there” mindset…they never even thought about a “giant naval expedition” west.
好吧,你猜怎么著?羅馬人已經(jīng)可以進入印度洋和那里的東方貿(mào)易路線了。
由于他們不知道西方有(值得征服的)土地,也沒有必要繞過任何人去從印度獲取香料……并且從來沒有“讓我們探索一下看看有什么”的思維方式……他們從未想過進行一次“大規(guī)模的海上遠征”西去。
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Their were not that good sailors and the Mediterranean was big enough for them. The peoples who sailed around Africa were either (West)Europeans seeking another way to India and China that was not ruled by Venetians and Ottomans or they were Arabs who were great traders, and also slave traders. But that was much later from the 9th century. Fast ships of that era were the catamarans of the Pacific.
他們并不是那么優(yōu)秀的水手,地中海對他們來說已經(jīng)足夠大了。圍繞非洲航行的人要么是(西)歐洲人,他們尋求另一條通往印度和中國的道路,而不受威尼斯人和奧斯曼人的統(tǒng)治,要么是阿拉伯人,他們是偉大的商人,也是奴隸販子。但這發(fā)生在更晚的時期,從9世紀開始。那個時代的快速船只是太平洋上的雙體船。
Because the state of navigation at the time was practically non-existent. Maritime transport in the antiquity was limited to hugging the coast. They sailed along the coast during daytime, and moored in a harbour through the night. If you take a look at harbors in the Mediterranean in antiquity, they were spaced a day's sailing distance. That's because ships literally did a day of sailing, and then stayed in a safe harbor over night.
因為當時的航海技術(shù)幾乎不存在。古代的海上運輸局限于沿著海岸航行。他們在白天沿著海岸航行,夜晚??吭诟劭凇H绻憧纯垂糯刂泻5母劭?,它們相距一天航程的距離。這是因為船只確實一天航行一段距離,然后在一個安全的港口過夜。
因此,如果他們無法遠離海岸航行,也無法夜間航行,他們根本就沒有機會橫渡大西洋。
此外,當時的信念是,世界是一座島,大海環(huán)繞著它。他們不知道大洋對面還有另一片土地,也沒有考慮過這個問題。因此,他們沒有動力去探索大洋的彼岸。所以他們沒有這么做。
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