古代帝国中枢与地方政治之互动——公元前44年至前40年的犹太与罗马帝国

The Political Interaction Between Ancient Imperial Government and Its Localities: Judaea and the Roman Empire from 44 to 40 BC

公元前1世纪的罗马已经将其势力扩大到整个地中海周边地区,成为一个强大的帝国,其政治制度也在由共和制向君主制的过渡之中。古代犹太以及它的统治者在这一时期实际上依附于罗马帝国,其内部政治活动和治理体制都受到罗马深入的介入和干预。在公元前44到40年,罗马社会在经历一场内战,而大量的证据和细节都表明,犹太统治者此时已经完全依赖罗马的支持来维持他们的地位,犹太地区则被罗马政治家看成是罗马帝国的一个组成部分。与人们通常对古代中华帝国政治的印象不同,罗马帝国的行省、城市和依附于它的弱小王国都以不同的形式保留了相当程度的自治,但是自治传统的长期留存以及各地复杂多样政治形态,并不妨碍罗马成为一个中央政府强大有效的古代帝国,甚至可能是罗马帝国生存和繁荣的有利条件之一。

The aim of this article is to consider how dependent Judaea (犹太),and its leaders were on Rome after the intervention and administrative reforms of Pompey the Great (庞培)in the mid-60s BC. The focus will be on a short period from 44 until 40 BC during which Rome was involved in a civil war. Through a detailed consideration of all the evidence and instances of political interaction, it is argued that Judaea' s leaders were very much dependent on Rome for their position , and that Rome considered Judaea a part of their own empire. The argument put forward in the essay aims to help Chinese readers understand the workings of the Roman Empire, which was not contained within fixed clearly delineated boundaries, but by zones in which it held varying degrees of authority , often made up of kingdoms and principalities allied to Rome.