十个鲜为人知的古罗马传统(上)

Depending on your personal view, ancient Rome was responsible for giving the modern world a number of traditions, including various legal ideas, democracy, and some of our religious celebrations. However, there are still many ancient Roman traditions that are slightly obscure, mostly relegated to the dustbin of history. Here are some lesser known ones.

从您个人的角度来看，古罗马负责给现代世界留下许多传统，其中包括各种法律观念，民主主义以及一些宗教庆典。然而，仍旧有许多古罗马的传统略显晦涩，这些大多都被扔进了历史的垃圾堆里。这里就有一些鲜为人知的。

10、Mos Maiorum

祖先之法

The mos maiorum was an unwritten code pertaining to behavioral customs mostly derived from the traditions of the Romans' ancestors. Much like the Jews in the first song in Fiddler on the Roof, the Romans loved tradition and felt that moral decay would occur if they strayed too far from the ideals of the past. Therefore, obedience to the mos maiorum was seen as tantamount to maintaining a proper civilized Rome and was almost given legal standing.

祖先之法是一条关于行为习俗的不成文的法则，大体上源自于罗马人祖先的传统。就像犹太人在《屋顶上的小提琴手》中所唱的开篇序曲那样，罗马人热爱传统并且认为如果太过于偏离过去的思想，那将会导致道德的沦丧。因此，遵循祖先之法被视为无异于维持罗马文明的一种方式，甚至几乎拥有法律地位。

There were occasions where breaking tradition was seen as subversive; in the case of legislation, it was considered customary to bring proposals before the Senate. Any magistrate who neglected to perform this duty ran the risk of being labeled a traitor. Even with the strict punishment handed down for certain offenses, it was still considered unwritten. As such, the transmission of the mos maiorum from one generation to the next was said to be the duty of the family, especially the paterfamilias (head of the household).

有一些打破传统的场合被视作是颠覆性的；在法律上，被认作是参议院提案的惯例。任何忽略履行这项职责的法官，都冒着被当作是叛徒的风险。即便对于某些罪行有严厉的惩罚手段，但这仍旧被看作是不成文的规定。因此，祖先之法的代代相传被当做是家庭的责任，尤其是家长（即户主）的责任。

9、Ludi

竞技庆典

The ludi were public games that were normally held in conjunction with religious festivals, though there were occasional events which were secular in nature. Many of them were annual events, especially the religious ones, andthe most famous was the Ludi Romani, which honored Jupiter and was held each September. (It's the oldest of the ludi and was the only one held in Rome for 300 years after it first began.)

虽然竞技庆典中偶尔也存在一些世俗性的节目，但通常都是在宗教节日的时候举行的公开竞技。其中许多都是一年一度的项目，尤其是那些与宗教相关的，在那之中最有名的就是"罗马节"了，这是为了表达对朱庇特（罗马神话中的宙斯大帝）的尊敬而在每年九月举行的盛典。（这是竞技庆典中最古老的节目，同时也是唯一一项在初次创立之后，时隔300年又在罗马举行的节目。）

Ludi normally consisted of chariot races, as well as animal hunts. Later editions incorporated gladiatorial combat and there were even special ludi, which were strictly theatrical performances. The ludi with the largest gap in celebration was probably the Ludi Saeculares, or Secular Games. Held in honor of a saeculum, or the longest estimated human lifespan, the Ludi Saeculares were held once every 110 years. (Historian Zosimus actually blames the fall of the Roman Empire on the Romans neglecting to honor this ancient festival.)

竞技庆典一般来说包括战车竞技和动物狩猎。再后来也加入了角斗甚至是一些特殊的竞技项目，那些节目完全属于戏剧性的表演。竞技庆典与普通的庆祝活动最大的不同可能在于罗马百年祭，也称为百年大祭。为了纪念一个百年，或者是估计的人类最长的寿命，罗马百年祭每110年举行一次。（实际上历史学家佐西穆斯将罗马帝国的衰落归咎为罗马人忽视了对这个古老的节日的纪念。）

8、dies Lustricus

净化日

Just as it is in our society today, the birth of a new child was seen as a joyous event, one which brought with it a number of interesting traditions. The dies lustricus, or "day of purification," was an eight- or nine-day period after birth, which carried with it special meaning for the newborn. Healthcare and technology being what they were back then, a large percentage of childrendidn't make it past one week, and the Romans felt that a child wasn't officially a part of the family until the dies lustricus had passed

正如如今的社会习惯，人们普遍认为婴儿出生是一件令人欢快的的大事，因此随之而来的有些有趣的传统习俗就这样逐渐形成了。易招致死亡的日期或者说净化日是指出生后八九天这段时期，他们认为这几天对新生的婴儿是非常重要的。当时的医疗保健技术水平比较落后，大多数的婴儿都活不过一周，所以罗马人普遍认为只有这个孩子经历了净化日这段时期后才能真正的将他们视为家人。

Various rites were performed leading up the final day, including the laying of the baby on the ground and its subsequent raising to the sky by the father. (This was supposed to signify the father's recognition of the child as one of his own.) At the conclusion of the dies lustricus, a baby was officially given a name, which is why babies who died early were left nameless. A special amulet—bulla for boys and lunula for girls—was also given to them during this period and it was meant to protect them from evil forces

净化日的最后一天前各种仪式上演着，包括把婴儿放在地面上然后孩子的父亲把孩子高举向天空。（据猜测这个习俗可能是检测婴儿的父亲是否认同这个婴儿是自己的。）在净化日结束时，这个婴儿才会被正式的赐予名字，这就解释了为什么早夭的婴儿是没有名字的。同时在仪式期间他们还被赐予了特殊的护身符——男孩儿的布拉式垂饰，女孩儿的新月形吊饰，这些护身符能够保护他们免受恶魔的侵害。

7、Patria Potestas

7、父权主义

Patria potestas, or "paternal power," was one of the most prevalent traditions in ancient Rome. It greatly influenced the law of the time, as well asaffecting our laws today. The power of a father over his children was seen as the highest of the land, with the children unable to go against their father's wishes. Social convention usually kept abuses of power from becoming too widespread, though it was still up to the father as to what he wanted to do, especially in regard to punishment.

父权主义，或是"父权力量"，是古罗马最普遍的一个传统。它很大程度上影响了当时以及现在的法律制度。父亲临于孩子的权势被看做是古罗马最重要的部分，孩子们不能违背父亲的意愿。社会惯例总是防止权力滥用，尽管它仍然取决于父亲的意愿，特别是在惩罚这一方面。

In addition, the father also had dominion over any of his grandchildren, or even his great-grandchildren. Although, in reality, many children were freed from patria potestas by the time they were in their mid-twenties, since the previous generation was normally dead already. One of the oldest traditions,patria potestas was said to have been granted by Romulus, and even gave a father control over his children's possessions, which remained his until he died.

除此之外，父亲在任何孙子甚至曾孙子面前，都有着绝对的统治权。然而，实际上，由于上一代的死亡，很多孩子在25岁左右就从父权主义中解放出来。作为一个最古老的传统，父权主义在罗穆卢斯（罗马神话中的一个形象）的故事中已被视为理所当然，甚至给了一个父亲控制自己孩子财产的权利，直到父亲死亡。

6、Concubinage

纳妾制度

A concubine in ancient Rome was slightly different from that of the traditional variety. First off, a man could only have one concubine at a time, and was not allowed to have a concubine if he was already married. In addition, the relationship between a man and his concubine had legal standing and was considered a step below marriage, though there werespecific legal differences.

古罗马的妾侍跟传统的妾侍有一点细微的差别。首先，一个男人只能有一个妾侍，但是如果他已经结婚了的话，那么他就不准再拥有妾侍了。除此之外，男人和妾侍这种关系是受法律承认的，而且人们普遍认为这是婚姻的某一步骤，但是在法律方面还是截然不同的区别。

In fact, most women who became concubines were only not wives due to social standing, or a man's wish not to complicate the inheritance of his wealth due to a previous marriage. Children born from concubinage were considered illegitimate; however, the father was still expected to provide for them while he was alive. Also, the concubine herself was not elevated to the same social status as the man—as opposed to a wife—and she was banned from worshiping Juno, the goddess of marriage.

事实上，大部分成为妾侍的妇女不能成为妻子，不仅仅是因为社会地位，归根结底还因为男人不想要先前的这段婚姻来混淆他们子孙的继承财产的权利。妾侍生下的孩子是不被法律承认的；然而，法律依旧希望父亲要在孩子活着的时候抚养他。同时，妾侍自身不会提升到与男人拥有同等社会地位的妻位上，她将不再受到婚姻女神朱诺的保护。