十個鮮爲人知的古羅馬傳統(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.

從您個人的角度來看，古羅馬負責給現代世界留下許多傳統，其中包括各種法律觀念，民主主義以及一些宗教慶典。然而，仍舊有許多古羅馬的傳統略顯晦澀，這些大多都被扔進了歷史的垃圾堆裏。這裏就有一些鮮爲人知的。

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.

祖先之法是一條關於行爲習俗的不成文的法則，大體上源自於羅馬人祖先的傳統。就像猶太人在《屋頂上的小提琴手》中所唱的開篇序曲那樣，羅馬人熱愛傳統並且認爲如果太過於偏離過去的思想，那將會導致道德的淪喪。因此，遵循祖先之法被視爲無異於維持羅馬文明的一種方式，甚至幾乎擁有法律地位。

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).

有一些打破傳統的場合被視作是顛覆性的；在法律上，被認作是參議院提案的慣例。任何忽略履行這項職責的法官，都冒着被當作是叛徒的風險。即便對於某些罪行有嚴厲的懲罰手段，但這仍舊被看作是不成文的規定。因此，祖先之法的代代相傳被當做是家庭的責任，尤其是家長（即戶主）的責任。

9、Ludi

競技慶典

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.)

雖然競技慶典中偶爾也存在一些世俗性的節目，但通常都是在宗教節日的時候舉行的公開競技。其中許多都是一年一度的項目，尤其是那些與宗教相關的，在那之中最有名的就是"羅馬節"了，這是爲了表達對朱庇特（羅馬神話中的宙斯大帝）的尊敬而在每年九月舉行的盛典。（這是競技慶典中最古老的節目，同時也是唯一一項在初次創立之後，時隔300年又在羅馬舉行的節目。）

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.)

競技慶典一般來說包括戰車競技和動物狩獵。再後來也加入了角鬥甚至是一些特殊的競技項目，那些節目完全屬於戲劇性的表演。競技慶典與普通的慶祝活動最大的不同可能在於羅馬百年祭，也稱爲百年大祭。爲了紀念一個百年，或者是估計的人類最長的壽命，羅馬百年祭每110年舉行一次。（實際上歷史學家佐西穆斯將羅馬帝國的衰落歸咎爲羅馬人忽視了對這個古老的節日的紀念。）

8、Dies Lustricus

淨化日

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

正如如今的社會習慣，人們普遍認爲嬰兒出生是一件令人歡快的的大事，因此隨之而來的有些有趣的傳統習俗就這樣逐漸形成了。易招致死亡的日期或者說淨化日是指出生後八九天這段時期，他們認爲這幾天對新生的嬰兒是非常重要的。當時的醫療保健技術水平比較落後，大多數的嬰兒都活不過一週，所以羅馬人普遍認爲只有這個孩子經歷了淨化日這段時期後才能真正的將他們視爲家人。

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

淨化日的最後一天前各種儀式上演着，包括把嬰兒放在地面上然後孩子的父親把孩子高舉向天空。（據猜測這個習俗可能是檢測嬰兒的父親是否認同這個嬰兒是自己的。）在淨化日結束時，這個嬰兒纔會被正式的賜予名字，這就解釋了爲什麼早夭的嬰兒是沒有名字的。同時在儀式期間他們還被賜予了特殊的護身符——男孩兒的布拉式垂飾，女孩兒的新月形吊飾，這些護身符能夠保護他們免受惡魔的侵害。

7、Patria Potestas

7、父權主義

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.

父權主義，或是"父權力量"，是古羅馬最普遍的一個傳統。它很大程度上影響了當時以及現在的法律制度。父親臨於孩子的權勢被看做是古羅馬最重要的部分，孩子們不能違背父親的意願。社會慣例總是防止權力濫用，儘管它仍然取決於父親的意願，特別是在懲罰這一方面。

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，父親在任何孫子甚至曾孫子面前，都有着絕對的統治權。然而，實際上，由於上一代的死亡，很多孩子在25歲左右就從父權主義中解放出來。作爲一個最古老的傳統，父權主義在羅穆盧斯（羅馬神話中的一個形象）的故事中已被視爲理所當然，甚至給了一個父親控制自己孩子財產的權利，直到父親死亡。

6、Concubinage

納妾制度

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.

古羅馬的妾侍跟傳統的妾侍有一點細微的差別。首先，一個男人只能有一個妾侍，但是如果他已經結婚了的話，那麼他就不準再擁有妾侍了。除此之外，男人和妾侍這種關係是受法律承認的，而且人們普遍認爲這是婚姻的某一步驟，但是在法律方面還是截然不同的區別。

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.

事實上，大部分成爲妾侍的婦女不能成爲妻子，不僅僅是因爲社會地位，歸根結底還因爲男人不想要先前的這段婚姻來混淆他們子孫的繼承財產的權利。妾侍生下的孩子是不被法律承認的；然而，法律依舊希望父親要在孩子活着的時候撫養他。同時，妾侍自身不會提升到與男人擁有同等社會地位的妻位上，她將不再受到婚姻女神朱諾的保護。