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Like many future emperors Caligula as he is better known began his reign pledging to model himself on Augustus and descended into madness.
像未来的很多皇帝一样，卡利古拉在一开始就发誓要效法奥古斯都。
Among other wacky stunts he declared himself to be Jupiter he appointed his horse Incitatus to the senate
但是逐渐转变成一种疯狂境界 在他的众多古怪的行径中， 他称自己为朱庇特把他的马，英西塔土斯任命为元老，
and he celebrated a triumph over the sea god Neptune.
他还凯旋庆祝自己战胜海神。
Since there was no precedent for deposing an incompetent wackjob Princepts,
因为之前没有过废除毫无作为的元首的先例，
Celigula was murdered by one of his guards at the command of, you guessed it, the Praetorian Prefect.
卡里古拉被他的一位侍卫，大家可能猜到了是近卫军首领杀死了。
The Praetorian Guard then replaced Caligula with his goofy old uncle Claudius 41 through 54 AD.
之后近卫军拥立卡利古拉蠢笨的舅舅克劳迪亚斯为王，公元41年至54年。

Claudius' goofiness was mostly an act intended to boost his life expectancy under his wingnut nephew Caligula,
克劳迪亚斯的愚蠢只是一出戏为了在能他的侄子卡利古拉手下活的久一点，
Claudius did however attempt to add three letters to the roman alphabet and he did set forth the famous decree on farts and belches.
克劳迪亚斯在罗马字母表上加上了3个字母，并且他还宣布了著名的关于放屁打嗝的法令。
If you have to you must because holding it back could be dangerous.
如果你想打嗝放屁，那就必须放出来，因为憋回去是很危险的。
Aside from that Claudius was actually a learned and competent Princepts who added Britain to the empire
除此之外，克拉迪亚斯实际上是一位博学并且称职的元首，他把英国收进了帝国，
and wrote a 20-volume history of the ancient Truscans.
还写了一部20卷的古特鲁斯坎人历史。
More than any of the other Julio-Claudians, Claudius tried to maintain good relations with the senate.
相比朱里亚·克劳狄王朝的任何一位统治者，克拉迪亚斯试图与元老保持良好的关系。
He may even have entertained ideas of giving the roman state back to the senate.
他甚至考虑过把罗马政府归还给元老院。
However it wasn't too smart when he married his much younger niece Agrippina.
然而当他和小他很多的侄女阿格里皮娜结婚后，他就愚笨了许多。
Not only did Agrippina cheat on him she poisoned him so she could bring her teenaged son Nero, ruled 53 to 68 AD to power.
阿格里皮娜不仅欺骗他，她还毒死了他，好让自己的儿子尼禄上台。尼禄执政于公元53至68年。
Nero started out in 54 AD with the usual promise to rule like another Augustus.
公元54年，尼禄也做出了惯常的承诺要学习奥古斯都。
He had studied philosophy with Rome's greatest stoic, Seneka the younger.
他和罗马最伟大的斯多葛派学者塞内卡学习哲学。
Himself of Spanish descent Seneka tried to train Nero in the Mos Majorum encouraging him to put Rome first and his own personal life second.
西班牙后裔塞内卡试着让尼禄学习罗马规范，鼓励他把罗马放在第一位。而把自己的个人生命放在第二位。
But soon Nero found himself immersed in his own personal hobbies.
但是后来尼禄沉浸于个人的喜好为所欲为。
Playing the Lire, persecuting Christians and utterly ignoring developments in the empire.
玩弄里拉，迫害基督教徒，完全忽视帝国的发展。
Many senators moved into outright opposition including his old teacher Seneka.
很多长老都开始反对他，包括他的老师塞内卡。
Nero didn't play the fiddle while Rome burned in 64 but he did build himself a huge new palace,
在公元64年罗马大火时尼禄没在玩乐，但是他确实在火灾结束后在原地
the so-called golden house on the scene of the fire.
给自己建了一个新的宫殿就是人们所说的金屋。
That was too much even for the masses, who had enjoyed his eccentricities at first but were now disgusted with him.
这对民众来说太过分了，人们原本很喜欢他的怪癖，但是现在很厌恶他。
Once Nero returned from his 67 AD concert tour of Greece the general Vindex commanding in France, was named Imperator by his troops.
公元67年，尼禄从希腊巡回音乐演出归来，将军文德克斯控制着法国，被他的军队拥立为王。
This was a recurrence of the old Roman client army thingy but his revolt failed.
这是古罗马私人军队的重新出现，但是他们的反抗失败了。
Next the governor of Spain, Galba, was named Imperator by his troops.
下一任西班牙的管理者加尔巴也被军队拥立为王。

视频及简介

课程介绍:

本课程对罗马帝国和前苏联的兴衰进行回顾，探讨它们历史变迁的内在规律，并将现代的超级大国——美国与它们进行比较，从而作出对未来可能的一些预测。

原声视频：