【简译】以弗所（Ephesus）

According legend, Ephesus (also Ephesos) was founded by the tribe of the Amazons, great female warriors. The name of the city is thought to have been derived from "Apasas", the name of a city in the "Kingdom of Arzawa" meaning the "city of the Mother Goddess".

          根据传说，以弗所（又称Ephesos）是由伟大的女战士Amazons部落（在希腊神话中，Las Amazonas是一个以骑术、勇气和骄傲而闻名的女性战士种族）建立的。这座城市的名字据信源自阿尔萨瓦王国的一座城市的名称“Apasa”，意思是“母神之城”。

Some scholars maintain that the sign of the labrys, the double-axe of the mother goddess which adorned the palace at Knossos, Crete, originated in Ephesus. As the labrys was associated only with female deities in Crete, it is possible that it was originally associated with the goddess Artemis in Ephesus whose temple there was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

          一些学者认为，装饰在克里特岛克诺索斯宫殿上的双头斧 (Labrys)标志，即母神的双斧，起源于以弗所。由于双头斧 (Labrys)在克里特岛只与女性神灵有关，因此有可能它最初与以弗所的阿耳忒弥斯女神有关，以弗所的神庙是古代世界七大奇迹之一。

Ephesus was inhabited from the end of the Bronze Age onwards, but the location was changed owing to floods and the whims of various rulers. While Carians and Lelegians were among the city's first inhabitants, Ionian migrations began around 1200 BCE and Ephesus is chiefly known as a Ionian Greek city. Ephesus is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

          以弗所从青铜时代末期开始就有人居住，但由于洪水和各个统治者的突发奇想而搬迁。虽然卡里亚人和Lelegians人是城市的第一批居民，但爱奥尼亚人的迁徙始于公元前1200年左右，以弗所主要是作为一个爱奥尼亚希腊城市而闻名。以弗所被联合国教科文组织列为世界文化遗产。

希腊以弗所

The city was founded for the second time by the Ionian Androclus, son of Codrus, and the cities that were established after the Ionian migrations joined in a confederacy under the leadership of the city of Ephesus. The region was devastated during the Cimmerian invasion at the beginning of the 7th century BCE but, under the rule of the Lydian kings, Ephesus became one of the wealthiest cities in the Mediterranean world through trade.

          这座城市是由科德鲁斯的儿子爱奥尼亚安德罗克里斯第二次建立的，爱奥尼亚人迁徙后建立的城市在以弗所城的领导下联合成一个联盟。公元前7世纪初，该地区在辛梅里亚人的入侵中遭到破坏，但在吕底亚国王的统治下，以弗所通过贸易成为地中海世界最富有的城市之一。

Ephesus was a center of learning and the birthplace and home of the great Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (l.c. 500 BCE). Women enjoyed rights and privileges equal to men and there are records of female artists, sculptors, painters and teachers, including the artist Timarete (l.c. 5th century BCE), known for her painting of Artemis. At night the streets of the city were brightly lit with oil lamps, a luxury not many cities could afford, and the citizens enjoyed a significantly high standard of living.

          以弗所是学术中心，也是伟大的前苏格拉底哲学家赫拉克利特（约公元前500年）的出生地和故乡。女性享有与男性同等的权利和特权，有女性艺术家、雕塑家、画家和教师的记录，包括艺术家蒂马雷特（约公元前5世纪），她以画阿耳忒弥斯而闻名。晚上，到了晚上，城市的街道上都亮起了油灯，这是很多城市都承担不起的奢侈品，市民们享受着相当高的生活水平。

Under the rule of King Croesus of Lydia (c. 585-c. 546 BCE), construction of the great Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was begun, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was destroyed, the first time, by fire in 356 BCE, (the same night Alexander the Great was born) by a man who wanted to become famous for this act; consequently, the Ephesians refused to record his name (though it later became known).

          在吕底亚国王克洛伊索斯的统治下（约公元前585-546年），以弗所的阿耳忒弥斯神庙开始兴建，这是古代世界七大奇迹之一。公元前356年，它第一次被火烧毁，（就在亚历山大大帝出生的当晚），被一个想以此出名的人烧毁；因此，以弗所人拒绝记录他的名字（尽管后来人们知道了）。

The defeat of Croesus by Cyrus II (the Great, r. c. 550-530 BCE), King of Persia, brought the whole of Anatolia under Persian rule but Ephesus continued to prosper as an important port of trade. When the Ionian city-states rebelled against Persian rule in the 5th century BCE, Ephesus remained neutral and thus escaped the destruction suffered by so many other cities at the hands of the Persians.

         波斯国王居鲁士二世（约公元前550-530年）打败了克洛伊索斯，使整个安纳托利亚处于波斯人的统治之下，但以弗所作为一个重要的贸易港口继续繁荣。公元前5世纪，当爱奥尼亚城邦反叛波斯统治时，以弗所保持中立，从而避免了许多其他城市在波斯人手中遭受的破坏。

希腊化时期的以弗所

Ephesus remained under Persian rule until liberated by Alexander the Great in 334 BCE. Upon entering Ephesus, and seeing the reconstruction of the Temple of Artemis not yet complete, Alexander offered to rebuild it. The Ephesians, however, refused his offer, claiming it was not seemly for one god to build a temple to another, flattering Alexander as a deity, as they did not wish to be in his debt.

          以弗所一直处于波斯人的统治之下，直到公元前334年被亚历山大大帝解放出来。进入以弗所后，看到重建的阿耳特弥斯神庙尚未完工，亚历山大提出要重建它。然而，以弗所人拒绝了他的提议，声称一个神为另一个神建庙是不合适的，因为他们不希望欠亚历山大人情。

Lysimachus, one of the generals of Alexander who became ruler of the region after Alexander's death, began renewal and development of the city, which he called Arsineia after his wife Arsinoe II. He constructed a new harbor, built defensive walls on the slopes of the Panayýr and Bülbül mountains and moved the city approximately two miles south-west. The Ephesians, however, refused to leave their homes and the traditional site of their city so Lysimachus had the city's sewage system blocked up during a great storm, thus rendering the houses uninhabitable and forcing the citizens to move. In 281 BCE the city was re-founded under the old name of Ephesus and, again, was known as one of the most important commercial ports in the Mediterranean.

          利西马科斯是亚历山大的将军之一，在亚历山大死后成为该地区的统治者，他开始修整和发展这个城市，他以他妻子阿尔西诺伊二世的名字命名为阿西内亚 (Arsineia)。他建造了一个新的港口，在Panayýr和Bülbül山的山坡上建造了防御墙，并将城市迁往西南约两英里处。然而，以弗所人拒绝离开他们的家园和城市的传统遗址，所以利西马库斯在一场大风暴中把城市的下水道系统堵住了，从而使房屋无法居住，迫使市民搬迁。公元前281年，这座城市以以弗所的旧名重新建立，并再次成为地中海最重要的商业港口之一。

罗马以弗所

In 129 BCE the Roman Empire acquired Ephesus according to the will left by Attalos, King of Pergamon, by which they were bequeathed his kingdom. During this time, the heavy taxes imposed by the Roman government led to the rebellion of Mithridates VI (r. 120-63 BCE) and, in 88 BCE, a massacre of all the Latin speaking inhabitants of the city (and surrounding regions) was carried out during the event that has come to be known as the Asiatic Vespers. Planned and implemented by Mithridates VI, the Asiatic Vespers resulted in the deaths of over 80,000 Romans and Italian citizens in the region of Asia Minor in a single day and Ephesus, of course, suffered significant losses with the other cities and villages.

          公元前129年，罗马帝国根据帕加马国王阿塔罗斯留下的遗嘱获得了以弗所，并遗赠了他的王国。在此期间，罗马政府征收的重税激起了米特拉达梯六世（公元前120-63年）的叛乱，并在公元前88年对该城（及周边地区）所有讲拉丁语的居民进行了大屠杀，这一事件被称为“亚洲晚祷”（Asiatic Vespers）。在米特拉达梯六世的策划和领导下，“亚洲晚祷”（Asiatic Vespers）导致小亚细亚地区8万多罗马人和意大利公民在一天内死亡，当然，以弗所与其他城市和村庄一样也遭受了重大损失。

Ephesus suffered severe damage in an earthquake in 17 CE but, after recovering, became once more a very important center of trade and commerce. The historian Aristio, and others, describe Ephesus as being recognized by all the inhabitants of the region as the most important trading center in Asia. It also remained a leading political and intellectual center, boasting the impressive Celsus Library and the second school of philosophy in the Aegean.

          以弗所在公元17年的一次地震中遭受了严重的破坏，但在恢复后，再次成为一个非常重要的贸易和商业中心。历史学家阿里斯托和其他人将以弗所描述为被该地区所有居民认可的亚洲最重要的商业中心。它也仍然是一个著名的政治和知识中心，拥有令人印象深刻的塞尔苏斯图书馆和爱琴海的第二所哲学学校。

From the 1st century CE onwards, Ephesus was visited repeatedly by early Christians (most notably Saint Paul, who preached and was 'booed' in the theater there), and Mary, the mother of Jesus, is said to have retired there along with Saint John (John's tomb and Mary's house may still be visited today). The Biblical Book of Ephesians is an epistle written by Paul to the Christian community at Ephesus. The city became famous in later times for the Cave of the Seven Sleepers who were reputed to be seven Christian saints who were walled up in a cave above Ephesus for their faith in 'pagan times', slept for two hundred years, and emerged after Christianity had come to power, thus proving the 'truth' of the faith in the resurrection of the body.

        从公元1世纪开始，早期的基督徒多次访问以弗所（特别是圣保罗，他在剧院传教并遭到嘘声；据说耶稣的母亲玛利亚和圣约翰一起在那里隐居，今天仍可参观约翰的坟墓和玛利亚的房子）。圣经中的《以弗所书》是保罗写给以弗所的基督教团体的一封书信。这座城市在后世因七位沉睡者的洞穴而闻名，据说这七位基督教圣徒在“异教时代”因其信仰而被关在以弗所上部的洞穴中，沉睡了两百年，在基督教掌权后出现，从而证明了身体复活的信仰的“真理”。

衰     落

After Christianity became the dominant religion of the region, Ephesus declined in culture and intellectual pursuits. The Emperor Theodosius I (r. 379-395 CE), an ardent supporter of Christianity, had all of the pagan temples and schools closed and women were reduced to second-class citizen status, no longer allowed to teach men or work independently in the arts. The decrees of Theodosius I resulted in similar changes elsewhere but seem more dramatic in Ephesus owing to the high degree of culture the city enjoyed prior to the rise of Christianity.

          在基督教成为该地区的主流宗教后，以弗所的文化和知识追求都有所下降。皇帝狄奥多西一世（379-395年）是基督教的热情支持者，他关闭了所有的异教寺庙和学校，女性被降为二等公民，无权教导男性或独立从事艺术工作。狄奥多西一世的法令在其他地方也导致了类似的变化，但在以弗所似乎更具有戏剧性，因为在基督教兴起之前，该城市享有高度的文化自由。

Worship of the ancient mother goddess Artemis was forbidden and the Temple of Artemis was destroyed by a Christian mob, the ruins used as a quarry for building materials for other local projects such as churches. The streets, once adorned with statuary, highly maintained and lighted by the oil lamps at night, fell into decay and darkness as the attention of the now-Christian citizens of Ephesus was directed toward the Second Coming of The Light of the World, the new god Jesus Christ.

          对古代母神阿耳忒弥斯的崇拜被禁止，阿耳忒弥斯神庙被基督教暴徒摧毁，废墟被用作当地其他项目的建筑材料的采石场，如教堂。曾经用雕像装饰的街道，受到高度维护，晚上被油灯照亮，但随着以弗所公民（现在是基督徒）的注意（新神耶稣基督的第二次降临），街道变得年久失修和黑暗。

参考书目：

Ancient Ephesus cityAccessed 1 Dec 2016.

Archaeology and the Cities of Asia Minor in Late Antiquity: EphesosAccessed 1 Dec 2016.

Auden, W. H. The Portable Greek Reader . Penguin Classics, 2002.

Durant, W. The Life of Greece. Scribners Publishing, 2008.

Grant, M. Readings in the Classical Historians. Scribners Publishing, 2010.

Jordan, P. Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Routledge, 2000.

原文作者：Joshua J. Mark

          自由撰稿人，曾是纽约马里斯特学院的兼职哲学教授，他曾在希腊和德国生活过，并游历过埃及。曾在大学阶段教授历史、写作、文学和哲学。

原文网址：https://www.worldhistory.org/ephesos/