History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 1 — Page 6

吉本宏大的构想——他将古代文明的衰败与毁灭、新秩序的形成与诞生熔铸成一个壮丽的整体——这一构想本身，不论其浩繁计划的辛苦执行如何，都将使《罗马帝国衰亡史》成为后世史家难以企及的主题。

This vast design of Gibbon, the magnificent whole into which he has cast the decay and ruin of the ancient civilization, the formation and birth of the new order of things, will of itself, independent of the laborious execution of his immense plan, render "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" an unapproachable subject to the future historian:

正如他近来的法国编者基佐先生以雄辩的语言所言：

in the eloquent language of his recent French editor, M. Guizot:—

（注101：本序言已有相当一部分在《季刊评论》上公开发表。）

A considerable portion of this preface has already appeared before the public in the Quarterly Review.

曾经入侵并压迫世界的最非凡霸权的逐渐衰落；

The gradual decline of the most extraordinary dominion which has ever invaded and oppressed the world;

那个庞大帝国的覆灭——它建立在众多野蛮与文明的王国、共和国及国家的废墟之上，

the fall of that immense empire, erected on the ruins of so many kingdoms, republics, and states both barbarous and civilized;

而它本身的瓦解，又衍生出无数的国家、共和国与王国；

and forming in its turn, by its dismemberment, a multitude of states, republics, and kingdoms;

希腊与罗马宗教的消亡；

the annihilation of the religion of Greece and Rome;

两种新宗教的诞生与发展——它们共同占据了大地上最美丽的地区；

the birth and the progress of the two new religions which have shared the most beautiful regions of the earth;

古代世界的衰老，其垂死荣光与堕落风尚的景象；

the decrepitude of the ancient world, the spectacle of its expiring glory and degenerate manners;

现代世界的童年，其最初进步的图景，以及人类心智与品格所获得的新方向——

the infancy of the modern world, the picture of its first progress, of the new direction given to the mind and character of man—

如此主题必然吸引人们的注意，激起人们的兴趣——那些人无法冷漠地注视那些难忘的时代，正如科内耶以优美的语言所言：

such a subject must necessarily fix the attention and excite the interest of men, who cannot behold with indifference those memorable epochs, during which, in the fine language of Corneille—

'一个伟大的命运方开始，一个伟大的命运已终结。'

'Un grand destin commence, un grand destin s'achève.