SECTION XIII. THE RISE OF MODERN NATIONS.

 

 

476—After a succession of puppet emperors in Rome, Odoacer abolished the name and took the title of king of Italy. He was a German in command of the auxiliaries¹ in Roman pay. Thus ended, in disaster and disgrace, the once mighty² Roman Empire. Its ruin was gradual and the barbarians³ who overthrew⁴ it had already embraced Christianity, so that the institutions of the church did not share its fall.

486—Clovis, king of the Franks, defeated the Romans and Gauls at the battle of Soissons. The Ostrogoths invaded 492—Italy under Theodoric the Great, deposed⁶ Odoacer, and founded a new kingdom.

496—Clovis defeated the invading Germans and embraced 500—Christianity. Clovis next defeated the Burgundians.

[130]

507—He subdued⁷ the Visigoths and all France was united under one rule. He was of the Merovingian line, or dynasty, of kings, which lasted over two hundred years, during which the remains⁸ of Roman civilization and the influence of the church were gradually modifying and penetrating⁹ the character of a new and energetic race.

527—Justinian became the ruler of the Eastern or Grecian Empire.

534—His generals waged war with the Vandals in Africa and the Ostrogoths in Italy, and after eighteen years of conflict, succeeded in reconquering part of Italy, which the Greek emperors continued to hold nominally¹⁰ for about three hundred years; the seat of their representative being at Ravenna. He was called an Exarch. Rome itself was left, substantially, to the control of the Christian⁵ bishop¹¹. When the Lombards founded a kingdom 568—in the north of Italy they were prevented, by the exarch and bishop, from spreading over the southern part; and when the exarch threatened to become too powerful to suit the views of the bishop, he supported the Lombards. Thus the temporal or political power of the popes arose, and they were the politic¹² authors of the “Balance of Power” theory, or system, that has played so large a part in European history. The result has been exceedingly favorable to progress in all directions, since it has secured the independence of states, and a more various and perfect civilization by the development of the special genius of each people. Many circumstances conspired¹³ to support this idea, in later times, and render it very prominent and influential¹⁴.

This gradual advance of the bishop of Rome in political influence associated him with the mighty memories of the “Eternal City,” and suggested the idea of a spiritual empire over all Christendom, which gradually became realized and quite changed the character[131] of Christianity for near 800 years. Hurtful as it ultimately became, by reviving a universal despotism over conscience and freedom of thought, it was long powerful for good by giving a common centre to Europe, broken into fragments as it was by the rise of feudalism. That was disorganizing; this was centralizing, and kept the channels of communication open and the missionary¹⁶ spirit and the elements of a restored learning in activity. Its influence in commencing and carrying forward the crusades, which substantially broke the strength of feudalism, was of immense importance.

622—Mahomet arose in the Arabian peninsula, and his new religion spread with astonishing rapidity. In one hundred 732—years from the death of Mahomet the Saracens had established a vast empire, covering two thirds of the Roman empire, viz.: all of the old Persian empire, Egypt, and all of northern Africa and Spain, and threatened to inundate¹⁷ Europe. They poured a vast army over the Pyrenees into France. This was defeated in a great battle at Tours, by Charles Martel, who founded a new dynasty, replacing the Merovingian, called the Carlovingian, and made France the most powerful, as it became the leading, nation in Europe, for promoting civilization during many centuries.

By this means the center of political influence, “The Star of Empire,” took another step westward¹⁸. His son, Pepin le Bref, or the Short, caused himself to be 752—crowned king of France by the Roman Pontiff, Stephen II., which added to his own prestige, as it also did to that of the pope. It was a sort of league between the rising temporal and spiritual powers in Europe, and set an example long followed. Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, the son of Pepin, ascended¹⁹ the throne in 771, 771—and by his intelligence, energy, and wise statesmanship, by his encouragement of learning, his organizing talents[132] and his success in conquering and civilizing²⁰ the seething²¹ mass of nationalities in Germany, he may be said to have really founded modern civilization during his long reign²² of forty-three years. He conquered the Lombard kingdom in Italy, and was crowned by the pope, Adrian I, “Emperor of the Romans,” kneeling at the altar in Rome; but he virtually confirmed the temporal authority of the popes, and associated their influence in all his conquests. He thoroughly²³ broke the spirit of the pagan Saxons, in northwestern Germany, by a war of thirty-three years, carried his conquests east over most of the present Austrian empire, civilizing and bringing the barbarians into the pale of Christendom by the aid of Christian missionaries²⁴, and conquered some portions of Spain from the Saracens.

It seemed as if the history of the western Roman Empire, which had fallen three hundred years before, was to be repeated. That was the hope and dream of both Charlemagne and the Roman Pontiff, who joined hands to realize it. This new western emperor had great abilities and the church was very strong. The centre of Europe had so long been within the reach of civilizing influences, and had attained²⁵ such a point of development in its various nationalities, that they readily accepted permanent institutions, when presented by a power so strong as that of the mighty Frank ruler.

814—But when he died, it was found that there was no other hand strong enough to wield²⁶ his sceptre. All the memories of the old empire, all the influence of the Christian church, the remains of the Roman organization, and the ripening²⁷ vigor²⁸ of new races, which had begun to lay aside their barbarous impulses, were united to aid the vast designs of this great statesman. But the tendencies of the new society, in general, were in a different direction. The Germanic civilization was totally different from the Roman, and had there been[133] a succession of rulers as large minded and strong willed as Charlemagne, they could not have repeated the history of the ancient world. The tendency of the races that overthrew the empire was invincibly²⁹ against centralization, and instead of a new Roman Empire in western Europe, appeared the Feudal¹⁵ System.

1 auxiliaries   

n.助动词 ( auxiliary的名词复数 )；辅助工，辅助人员

参考例句：

• These auxiliaries have made our work much easier. 有了这些辅助人员，我们的工作才顺利多了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In English the future tense is often rendered by means of auxiliaries. 在英语中，将来时常用助动词来表现。 来自辞典例句

2 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

3 barbarians   

n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人

参考例句：

• The ancient city of Rome fell under the iron hooves of the barbarians. 古罗马城在蛮族的铁蹄下沦陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. 它战胜了征服者——蛮族。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

4 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 penetrating   

adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的

参考例句：

• He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
• He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。

10 nominally   

在名义上，表面地； 应名儿

参考例句：

• Dad, nominally a Methodist, entered Churches only for weddings and funerals. 爸名义上是卫理公会教徒，可只去教堂参加婚礼和葬礼。
• The company could not indicate a person even nominally responsible for staff training. 该公司甚至不能指出一个名义上负责职员培训的人。

11 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

12 politic   

adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政

参考例句：

• He was too politic to quarrel with so important a personage.他很聪明，不会与这么重要的人争吵。
• The politic man tried not to offend people.那个精明的人尽量不得罪人。

13 conspired   

密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They conspired to bring about the meeting of the two people. 他们共同促成了两人的会面。
• Bad weather and car trouble conspired to ruin our vacation. 恶劣的气候连同汽车故障断送了我们的假日。

14 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

15 feudal   

adj.封建的，封地的，领地的

参考例句：

• Feudal rulers ruled over the country several thousand years.封建统治者统治这个国家几千年。
• The feudal system lasted for two thousand years in China.封建制度在中国延续了两千年之久。

16 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

17 inundate   

vt.淹没，泛滥，压倒

参考例句：

• If the dam breaks,it will inundate large parts of the town.如果水坝坍塌，该城的大部分将被淹没。
• The course changes frequently,and the area is so flat that a small change in the level of the river may inundate a considerable area.河道变化多端，下游地区却很平坦，水位少许上涨河流就会淹没一大片土地。

18 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

19 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 civilizing   

v.使文明，使开化( civilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls in a class tend to have a civilizing influence on the boys. 班上的女生往往能让男生文雅起来。
• It exerts a civilizing influence on mankind. 这产生了教化人类的影响。 来自辞典例句

21 seething   

沸腾的，火热的

参考例句：

• The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
• The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。

22 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

23 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

24 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

25 attained   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。
• Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

26 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

27 ripening   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成

参考例句：

• The corn is blossoming [ripening]. 玉米正在开花[成熟]。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• When the summer crop is ripening, the autumn crop has to be sowed. 夏季作物成熟时，就得播种秋季作物。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。

29 invincibly   

adv.难战胜地，无敌地

参考例句：

• Invincibly, the troops moved forward. 这支军队一路前进，所向披靡。 来自互联网