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The Roman economy had essentially come to a halt,
罗马的经济本质上说已经停滞不前，
agriculture had reached the point of diminishing returns,
农业的收成递减，
science could not bring the tired farmland back to life and the army could not conquer anymore.
科学也不能让疲软的农业重获生机,军队也不再是战无不胜。
The concentration of wealth had moved into the hands of a few.
财富集中到了少数人手中。
And even these wealthy few were feeling over taxed by the government's demands.
即便是这些富有的少数人也觉得政府的税收过重。
The government became more bloated all the time,
政府变得越来越臃肿尽管像罗马这样规模的帝国，
even though an empire the size of Rome's was expensive even in the best of times.
在盛世时期也开支高昂。
And now the taxpayers was dwindling both in the cities and in the countryside.
城市和农村地区的纳税人都在减少。
Poor people fled from the cities where they had no work and no charity to the countryside,
城市里没有工作，也享受不了慈善待遇的穷人从城市逃向乡村，
where at least they had a chance to work for food.
在那里他们至少可以自己辛勤忙到食物。
And worst of all, barbarians were pressing at the borders.
最糟糕的是，边疆地区的蛮族也在逼紧。
Marcus Aurelius had spent most of his reign fighting the Parthians in the East and then the tribes on the Deitian frontier.
马可·奥勒留在位期间，将大量时间花在东部与帕提亚人的交战以及在边境与部落的交战上。
More invaders were on the way, the Parthian empire itself had frittered out,
随着越来越多的入侵者逼近，帕提亚帝国也走向瓦解，
only to be replaced by 220 AD by the stronger and more aggressive Cicinate Persian empire.
公元220年取而代之的是更为强大，也更具侵略性的波斯帝国。
Out in the western half of the empire Britain once more became a flash point.
在帝国的西半部英国再次成为了触发点。
Commodus' succession to the throne made things even worse.
康茂德的继位使得事态更为糟糕。
It was the one serious blot on Marcus Aurelius' record.
也是马可·奥勒留的一大败笔。
But even if Commodus had been a clone of his father or the second coming of Augustus
但即便康茂德和他父亲如出一辙或者所作所为和奥古斯都一样，
he wouldn't have made much headway against the problems Rome had.
他也没法解决罗马帝国中存在的这些问题。
As it was Commodus was one of the top five lunatics to rule the Roman Empire which is no small achievement.
康茂德是罗马帝国史上最荒唐的统治者之一。
A conspiracy put Commodus out of Rome's misery in 192 AD.
公元192年，康茂德遇刺身亡。
It was helped by the Praetorian Prefect.
禁卫军长官参与了这起阴谋。
