谁能代表希腊文明——斯巴达?雅典?

Which of the Two Can Represent Greek Civilization——Sparta or Athens?

在两大城邦斯巴达和雅典中,只有雅典才能代表当时的希腊文明。(一)斯巴达优越的农业生产条件在希腊是个例外;(二)斯巴达的希洛特制度,是希腊文明引为特色的古典奴隶制的另类,雅典则是古典奴隶制的典范;(三)莱库古立法通过对原始共产主义制度的人为复原,使斯巴达成为希腊历史的“活化石”;雅典作为希腊世界的商业中心和文化之都,却成为希腊文明的缩影;(四)斯巴达所体现的“城邦原则”其实只见于原始农民公社的阶段,真正的城邦原则是由雅典体现的。

Between the two city-states of Sparta and Athens, documents of which available to prosperity permit some studies, and only Athens can represent Greek civilization of that age. The reasons are as follows： 1） the good agricultural conditions of Sparta was exceptional in Greece; 2） Sparta＇s Helot system was far different from the Classical slavery characterizing Greek civilization, the model of which was Athens; 3） Lycurgus Legislation, by artificial copy of primitive communist system, drew Sparta＇s normal historical process to a halt, rendered Sparta an “alive fossil” left behind by Greek world, while Athens epitomized Greek civilization, as the center of commerce and culture in Greek world; 4） the “city-state principle” embodied by Sparta can only be found at the stage of primitive peasant community, while the true “city-state principle” was embodied by Athens